I confirm. My filters looked clean, but they were clogged. Now I protect them with hearing-aid filters. (Yes, my filters have filters.) The good news is that the Etymotic filters can be cleaned up. @MattD Be careful with the little screw device when you remove the filter, so as not to damage...

Here we go again. A filter I changed just three weeks ago is already getting bad. I've just now installed a filter in front of the filter,* using high-quality stocking, but I don't know how well it'll work. * It sounds like a bad joke. :triportsad:

Changing the filter was easier than I thought, but didn't solve the problem. The volume of the right side has partly come back, but it is still not as loud as the left side. Also, if I listen only to the bad side and crank up the volume, I still don't get the clarity I get from the other side...

It took some work, but this combination (filter for the filter + "customized" tips + ear hooks) does work for me. [Edit:] Yeah, except no. The cable slides inside (and sometimes out of) the ear hooks, pulling the ER4SR out. :triportsad:

Having nothing to lose, I sprayed one of my gone-bad filters with alcohol, let it dry overnight, and used it to replace my latest failed filter. The alcohol-processed failed filter is back nearly to normal (the sound is still a tad louder coming through the other filter; I used a mono recording...

Where will I find one that fits?

I no longer have the HF5, but I did use it for years in Taiwan, even at the gym (when I was covered in sweat), and I never had to change the filter. When my HF5 died, both sides died, which means it was most probably a cable issue. I wasted a lot on money on Comply foam tips: they were all too...

And now it's the right side. Fine this morning, near inaudible this afternoon, when I put the ER4SR in my ears again. I'm down to my second-to-last filter. At $12 for 4 filters ($22, shipped to Taiwan), I'm looking at $36 per year (shipping not included) to keep using my Etys. :triportsad:

My HF5 finally gave out at the cable. If I'd known (the future), I'd salvaged the filters! The filter that was bad from the get-go was one of the additional filters (not one of the preinstalled filters). Just to be clear. Thank you kindly. Sometime a filter gets right again (as is the case...

A clogged or damaged filter would explain why the volume is down, not dead. <sigh> I can't believe it took me months to think about trying to change the filter of the muted earpiece to see if that solved the problem. I can't try right away -- I'm tense and exhausted, a very bad combo for precise...

@EtyDave The same scenario played out yesterday. I had recordings to do, though, so I changed the filter. I have only two left. :cold_sweat:

...Even the largest Comply tips are too small for me. I wasted a lot of money on them, too. Blah. :triportsad: I could try the Shure Olives with filters. I actually have two pairs of those that fit me. The filters have pretty wide holes, though. What I'm currently trying is simply longer tips...

Since my left filter (alcohol-sprayed) was still a tad more muffled than my right filter, I swapped it for one of the alcohol-soaked filters, and suddenly ... it was the right filter sounding muffled, by comparison! So I swapped it for another of the alcohol-soaked filters, and now I've got a...

I have. I posted a slew of messages in that thread about everything I tried, but linking you to this one should suffice.

Neither can I. That's why I didn't suspect the filters, at first. I didn't even try replacing them before I asked (and received) a replacement for my original ER4SR. No, it doesn't compute. If you look at my early posts on the topic (I've linked you to them, but yeah, that's a lot), you'll see...

...the whole day. In the past, I tried leaving the ER4SR overnight in a box with a tube of dessicant (the humidity in the box is <10%). The filter was still muffled the next day. Earlier today I put two muffled filters alone (not in the ER4SR) in the same box. We'll see if that changes...

...there was no problem for a couple of weeks, then the volume dropped again, more and more often, then for good. If just wearing the IEM for hours can wreck the filter (because of, what, ear-canal sweat?), then I'll need new filters every few days. That's not really an option -- not one I can...

...humidity (I leave in a very humid country, though my room has AC/dehumidifier and humidity is currently only 62%, compared to the 100% it can reach without the AC/dehumidifier), but leaving the Ety in a dry box (<10% humidity) with my mics when not in used didn't seem to improve the filters'...

It's most probably the filter. Yes, I know it looks clean, but the same thing happened to me; you can follow the whole saga, which lasted half a year and included Etymotic sending me a replacement ER4SR, in this very thread. Here's my "epiphany" post, which concluded the saga. (When I say...

The nozzle looks clean. It isn't my first deep-insert IEM; it isn't even my first pair of Etys, since I've owned the HF5 (no longer working) and whatever the fixed-cable ER2 predecessor was called (still working fine, despite a cracked housing). And now let's enter the Twilight Zone: Yesterday...

Ah, yes. Makes sense. I'm pretty sure humidity itself isn't the culprit, because my HF5 went through much worse, years ago; so either the filters have changed since then, or my earwax did. Both are possible. And in either case, your remark applies, of course. Filter officially dead. So at this...

And now it's the left side. 😫😭 @EtyDave There's a problem with the current filters. I used the HF5 for years, in muggy weather and at the gym, and never had to change the filters. Now, with the ER4SR, I have to use a new filter every few weeks -- it's barely been a month since last time -- and...

...in the very same place the two ER4SR pairs failed. The two ER4SR pairs never even left my bedroom. At that stage, I don't even know if the filter is responsible or not. I haven't trusted myself to change it, I've just been too tense and too tired. I haven't even tried listening again to the...

...Maybe the nature of my wax changed since I got the HF5. It wouldn't be the only aspect of my body that has. I understand, but that does make filters even more expensive for your customers outside the States. Sounds like a good idea, or you could simply sell the tool separately. I don't...

I was looking at Amazon. I should be able to buy closer, yes, but probably for more money (for the filters; not for the shipping). Americans get the best prices. Note that Amazon offers free shipping to Taiwan for orders totaling $60 or more, but the Ety filters aren't included in this "Amazon...