[Jonny_Greenwood]

Hi everyone,

I'm a noob about to splurge on a new set of hi quality earphones and I need advice. The forum is saturated with contradicting opinions so I'll provide some audio facts/preferences and you guys can hopefully help me choose the right earphones. My budget is $100~......E2c, ER6i or CX-300?

My sound preference: clean and detailed but with adequate bass. Comfort and super-isolation is second to quality for me.

My Equipment: Sony NH-900 Minidisc which has an in built VPT acoustic engine and HD digital amp (very sweet sounding). Yamaha SO3 synthesiser.

My Music: Bass-driven......trip-hop and warm electronica e.g. Massive Attack, Portishead, Air, Bjork, Goldfrapp

Indie/Avant-Garde: Guitar-driven Radiohead and glitch-driven Radiohead
Sigur-Ros. Falsetto vocals and mid-range are very prominent. Heavy production.

Soft Rock: Beatles, Blur, Verve, Doves. Basic guitar/acoustic guitar sound but not heavy.

Classical: Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Bebussy, Maessian ect...

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[Jonny_Greenwood]

bump

 

[LaBreaHead]

The Etymotics probably have the most detailed sound and the best isolation of those three, based on reviews. I have just the ER-6's, and the few Massive Attack songs I have, for example, sound pretty good on them. But if you like the car-shaking, room-shaking bass of major sub-woofers, I don't know whether the ER-6i's, even with more bass, will be enough for you. It's a question of expectations and taste -- what's adequate for you might be too much or not enough for me. The Ety's are a good value, though. Maybe using the foamies like I do now will give you a warmer sound than the flanges, which penetrate deep into the ear.

The Shures are supposed to be bass-heavy (but not as detailed as the Etymotics) and they are supposed to isolate well enough. And the new Senns are configured like less-expensive canal phones that aren't true isolaters (probably partially isolating, which might be enough, depending on your usage).

If you held a proverbial gun to my head and told me to decide for you, I'd say in your situation, with your good-sounding source, go with the Etymotics ... and then give them a chance to grow on you (do that with whatever you get) ... don't expect miracles, and learn to like what will be good sound, whichever you get.

PS: Are the Westone UM1's out of your price range? People are writing good things about them, too.

 

[mektarus]

I listen to a lot of the same music that you listen to and the CX300's are excellent. The bass is fantastic. To be fair, though, I haven't heard the others.

 

[coda87]

I have both the er-6i and the cx300. The cx300 is much better in my opinion. I thought the er-6i lacked the low end and the higher frequencies. I even sent them back to Etymotic because I thought something was wrong with them. They sent me a new pair, but they still sounded the same. I guess I just don't like their sound. The cx-300 has a much fuller sound and even somewhat of a soundstage.

 

[Jonny_Greenwood]

Hmm.......Thanks again for all the helpful input. Ok, the concensus on this board seems to be that the e2cs are not great compared to the er6i, while the less expensive cx-300s are receiving rave reviews.

I have been looking at the Westone um1s as suggested by LaBreaHead and they only cost ~$20 more than the etys. Reading up on them now.

Mektarus, I was hoping someone with similar tastes posted an opinion. Thanks and I will most certainly take it into consideration.

Can I safely eliminate the e2c from the list?

 

[GSTom1]

If sound isolation is important to you, then the Etymotic ER-6i work quite well. I've only been using them a week, but riding on New York's noisy subways and waiting on the platform, I can hardly hear any noise at all. Even the announcements are very faint if non-existant. I am using the double flange tips and will probably test the foam tips next week. I also find my self listening at lower volumes than before (used Sony MDR-EX71SL) and this should be good for my hearing in the long run.