Overall Ratings for the recording professional — 3.2/5.0 for the audio enthusiast — 4.3/5.0 Overall Impressions Since the monitors are named ESR (Empire-ears Studio Reference), I first approached these iems from the standpoint of a recording engineer (which I was for several years). From this perspective, I found the frequency response to be inadequately uneven. There is just too much bass and treble at louder volumes. Once I cranked the volume down to low levels, the tonal balance smoothed out. But at those volumes, it was difficult to...