[Sczervok]

Ok, so I've decided that mx500s have the 'perfect' sound stage for me. Not too big... not too small (like ear canal phones)
But, mx500s only have so much quality, and like so many of you on these forums, I am addicted. I just don't show it as much... until you come into my room littered with earphones, but other than that...

So my cousin recommends me the Shure E2c. And to me, from reading stuff on shure.com and head-fi.org, these seem like a very nice place for me to step up too. Not overkill, and not too small of a step.. But, I was kinda wondering about others...

Ety. They come as 4, and 6. 6s look cool. 4s... I don't even know how they got a driver into one of those, and the tri flange thing is hella weird... but even though it looks funky, it looks funky. Which does kinda seem like a nice touch... I like the ear plugs that come with the er4. The 6 looks nice, but people say it is sort of a bass heavy portable isolation phone. I have a bass heavy portable isolation phone already... (namely, the legendary, and infamous Sony EX71). So me getting these is sorta pointless... though they do look kinda nice. Shure E3c just doesn't seem like it's on my path to hi fidelity... I mean, they seem a bit too big of a step for what I am at right now, and if I get E2c, they might be too small of a step... and they look less attractive to me than the E2c as well. And if I get the Er4's... I must have gone insane, in which case you people should ban me from this board until I have paid off my loan.

So, background info aside, onward to the questions.

Can you swap various ear plugs and foamies? Like stick the Ety tri flanges onto Shure phones, and the other way around? It doesn't matter that it has a good fit on the canal phone. If it is something like koss plug foamies on EX71 phones, I call that acceptable.

If you get a foamie damp, will it hurt the phone that you stick it back on any? (I was thinking about water cooling my ear canal phones... you know... they catch heat too easily)

Do phones sound much different if they have different foamies on? If so, which foamie do most people prefer, which foamie sounds the best, and which foamie is the comfiest.

What do you people call the ear plug foam? I call them foamies.

People say the Er4 (s? p? I forgot) are really analytical. I think the EX71s are a bit too analytical. Is this bad if I somehow end up with Er4's? Is this bad if I even end up with E2c's?

Are the E2c's fragil? About how much weight do I exert on these phones before they break?

How are the E2c's sound tunnel shaped (the thing the foamie goes around)? What are the dimensions of the tube (how far it sticks out, how wide is it)

How is the human ear canal shaped? Anyone have a cross section picture or something? Whenever I stick something in, it first goes in towards my brain, then it starts to point forward, from my brain to my eyes. And then the tube... sorta... curves back towards my brain. If I stick it in too far, will it get lost permanently, or do no canal phones come with such dangerous foamies?

If I stick canal phones in my ears a lot, will the earcrap be pushed, and stuffed up inside my ear where I need some sort of probe like tool to dig it back out? What tool do people use to clean ears? I've only seen this 2 mm spoon that my mom uses...

Do E2c's silicone plugs go in that far? Some people say they just 'sit' at your ear, and not really go in much. Is that true?

Are the E2c's transparent? They look like it...

What do Ety4's look like without foamies on? What's the driver dimensions. Did Ety use to make earbuds? Cause I have a set of crappy ones that have the same color scheme as Ety4's.

And last of all... should I just get the CM5's for the hell of it? (in addition to ear canal phones)

Thank you all for your responses.

 

[Bolt San]

So, background info aside, onward to the questions.

"Can you swap various ear plugs and foamies? Like stick the Ety tri flanges onto Shure phones, and the other way around? It doesn't matter that it has a good fit on the canal phone. If it is something like koss plug foamies on EX71 phones, I call that acceptable."
..sort of. You usually have to do some cutting and such, but generally it'll work.

"If you get a foamie damp, will it hurt the phone that you stick it back on any? (I was thinking about water cooling my ear canal phones... you know... they catch heat too easily)"
Probably not, unless you get them really wet and such, but it's best not to mess around with that with 100+ dollar phones, best to just dry them.

"Do phones sound much different if they have different foamies on? If so, which foamie do most people prefer, which foamie sounds the best, and which foamie is the comfiest."
Yeah they do. It really depends on the person, although I prefer the foamies themselves.

"What do you people call the ear plug foam? I call them foamies."
Yeah.

"People say the Er4 (s? p? I forgot) are really analytical. I think the EX71s are a bit too analytical. Is this bad if I somehow end up with Er4's? Is this bad if I even end up with E2c's?"
You better not get the ER-4s then if you don't like the EX71s, because I don't think the EX71s are analytical at all.
Just get the E2Cs.

"Are the E2c's fragil? About how much weight do I exert on these phones before they break?

Umm, they're not really fragile, but I wouldn't be sitting on them.



"And then the tube... sorta... curves back towards my brain. If I stick it in too far, will it get lost permanently, or do no canal phones come with such dangerous foamies?"
No, that'd be scary.

"If I stick canal phones in my ears a lot, will the earcrap be pushed, and stuffed up inside my ear where I need some sort of probe like tool to dig it back out? What tool do people use to clean ears? I've only seen this 2 mm spoon that my mom uses..."
It's possible. I'd use eardrops like these:
http://www.drugstore.com/qxp12428_33..._ear_drops.htm
Messing around with spoons and such could be dangerous, if you hit the eardrum.

"Do E2c's silicone plugs go in that far? Some people say they just 'sit' at your ear, and not really go in much. Is that true?"

Well, not that far, but they go in far enough for good isolation.

"Are the E2c's transparent? They look like it..."
Not fully transparent, they look pretty clear though.

"What do Ety4's look like without foamies on? What's the driver dimensions. Did Ety use to make earbuds? Cause I have a set of crappy ones that have the same color scheme as Ety4's."
No clue, but I don't think they used to make earbuds.

"And last of all... should I just get the CM5's for the hell of it? (in addition to ear canal phones)"
Sure, it's not my wallet.

 

[Ryan1524]

i would reccommend the E3c. i used to have a 50$ MDR-G73, and buying something over 100$ for a pair of earphones seems like crazy to me, but after reading a lot of reviews here, i decided on the E3c instead of the E2c. i think that for that little bit more of money, you get the smaller design, which i think looks better and more subtle than the the E2c's hearing-aid impression. on top of that, the E3c sounds better and has been agreed as a worthy upgrade to the E2cs, and also it doesn't need for you to keep changing the wax guard on it.

to answer some of your questions:

Do phones sound much different if they have different foamies on? If so, which foamie do most people prefer, which foamie sounds the best, and which foamie is the comfiest.

i use the Soft Flex sleeve with the E3c, and it's very comfortable and easy to get a seal with.

What do you people call the ear plug foam? I call them foamies.
yes.

People say the Er4 (s? p? I forgot) are really analytical. I think the EX71s are a bit too analytical. Is this bad if I somehow end up with Er4's? Is this bad if I even end up with E2c's?

from what i've read, the Shures and Etys have different sound signatures and the Etys have much more detail that gives them a more analytical sound, while the Shures have a slightly less detailed but fuller and richer sound. i also read a lot that the Etys have terrible bass and the E3c have a much better one, and that E2cs are even better. but in exchange for the stronger bass on the E2c, you're letting go of the details you get on the E3c.

Are the E2c's fragil? About how much weight do I exert on these phones before they break?


i never used the E2c, so i don't know, but as you know, the Shures are designed to go behind your back, and neck, i have them off, and resting on my shoulders one day and they fell (oops), but my E3c were fine, not a scratch. (phew - i would've been so pissed at myself if i break a 180$ earphone not a week since i got them...

)

How are the E2c's sound tunnel shaped (the thing the foamie goes around)? What are the dimensions of the tube (how far it sticks out, how wide is it)

the tube is about 3mm in diameter and the sleeves simply wrap around it. it sticks out to about 7-8 mm, and are fully covered by whatever sleeve you put on. no hard/sharp edge will ever come in contact with your ear canal.

How is the human ear canal shaped? Anyone have a cross section picture or something? Whenever I stick something in, it first goes in towards my brain, then it starts to point forward, from my brain to my eyes. And then the tube... sorta... curves back towards my brain. If I stick it in too far, will it get lost permanently, or do no canal phones come with such dangerous foamies?

if you don't use the tri-flange, i don't think you'll even come close to touching your eardrums, so don't worry. and i don't think you'll be able to stick it in THAT far, for it to be dangerous. i think you'll see blood before it'll get in that far.

If I stick canal phones in my ears a lot, will the earcrap be pushed, and stuffed up inside my ear where I need some sort of probe like tool to dig it back out? What tool do people use to clean ears? I've only seen this 2 mm spoon that my mom uses...

it's highly reccommended that you clean your ears before using canal phones to avoid infections. especially the first few days when you're just getting used to them and stretching your ear's openings - there will be some miniscule breaks on the skin. you don't want anything getting through those.

 

[lindrone]

Quote:

How is the human ear canal shaped? Anyone have a cross section picture or something? Whenever I stick something in, it first goes in towards my brain, then it starts to point forward, from my brain to my eyes. And then the tube... sorta... curves back towards my brain. If I stick it in too far, will it get lost permanently, or do no canal phones come with such dangerous foamies?

Shure's canalphones, in their default configuration (using one of the flex sleeves, clear or soft), are designed to create a seal at the entry-way of your ear canal. This makes them easier to put on and pull off, without having to deal with a very deep insertion at all. Whether or not you prefer the slight sound differences using this type of fitting against others (foamies and tri-flange) is up to your own experimentation.

Tri-flange is not available with the E2c, only the E3c and E5c. Tri-flange sleeves are designed to go deeper into your ear and potentially get around that "bend" in your ear canal.

You are right, your ear canal actually points forward and then bend back inward again. The tri-flange for Shure and Ety both attempts to get close to that bend to ensure the least amount of sound distortion possible.

Only custom molds will get "around" the bend. It doesn't really get around either, it will place the end of the sound bores directly at the "bend" so it's not shooting the sound against the other side of the bend (that would be against a wall in your ear...).

Given that nothing can reach further than that.. you won't have any problem of the canalphones being stuck in your ear.. or any danger of piercing your eardrums at all.

Quote:

Are the E2c's transparent? They look like it...

Yes, they have a semi-transparent casing... there's no way they would disappear into your ear though, they're pretty big. However, they do fit pretty flush with your ears.

Quote:

The 6 looks nice, but people say it is sort of a bass heavy portable isolation phone.

ER-6 aren't anywhere close to being too bassy... they have less bass than the E2c & EX71. E2c has less bloaty and boomy bass than the EX71 as well.

 

[DJGeorgeT]

So my cousin recommends me the Shure E2c. And to me, from reading stuff on shure.com and head-fi.org, these seem like a very nice place for me to step up too. Not overkill, and not too small of a step.. But, I was kinda wondering about others...

The E2 is not a bad earphone. I know musicians who use it in a monitor system to play bass. It is not analytical, but it does stand out because of the mids and low end. I highly recommend it for its construction, extreme isolation, and comfort.

Ety. They come as 4, and 6. 6s look cool. 4s... I don't even know how they got a driver into one of those, and the tri flange thing is hella weird... but even though it looks funky, it looks funky. Which does kinda seem like a nice touch... I like the ear plugs that come with the er4. The 6 looks nice, but people say it is sort of a bass heavy portable isolation phone. I have a bass heavy portable isolation phone already... (namely, the legendary, and infamous Sony EX71). So me getting these is sorta pointless... though they do look kinda nice. Shure E3c just doesn't seem like it's on my path to hi fidelity... I mean, they seem a bit too big of a step for what I am at right now, and if I get E2c, they might be too small of a step... and they look less attractive to me than the E2c as well. And if I get the Er4's... I must have gone insane, in which case you people should ban me from this board until I have paid off my loan.

A good started canalphone is the Etymotic ER-6 (if you want to really get an audiophile-quality earphone for under $100) or the E2. If you decide to cross the $100 barrier, then get the ER4. There is no sense in getting the E3. I think the ER6 sounds better than the E3.

So, background info aside, onward to the questions.

Can you swap various ear plugs and foamies? Like stick the Ety tri flanges onto Shure phones, and the other way around? It doesn't matter that it has a good fit on the canal phone. If it is something like koss plug foamies on EX71 phones, I call that acceptable.

You can swap tips between the E1, E3, E5 and ER4. However, you cannot do so with the E2.

You can however swap the tips of the E2 and EX71. I have done so and I listen to my EX71 with the Shure E2 small flex sleeves. The sound quality of the EX71 has improved 100%. The highs have been tamed and the bass sounds more controlled. The whole earphone has a very nice flat sound. Anyways...that answers your next question.

If you get a foamie damp, will it hurt the phone that you stick it back on any? (I was thinking about water cooling my ear canal phones... you know... they catch heat too easily)

Do phones sound much different if they have different foamies on? If so, which foamie do most people prefer, which foamie sounds the best, and which foamie is the comfiest.

I don't think you will have problems with your ear canals catching heat. You can moist the tip to achieve better seal when you insert the earphone in your ear, but that's it.

The phones do sound different depending on the tips you use. The foams on the E2 causes the bass to increase. With the sleeves, the mids and highs increase instead.

What do you people call the ear plug foam? I call them foamies.

People say the Er4 (s? p? I forgot) are really analytical. I think the EX71s are a bit too analytical. Is this bad if I somehow end up with Er4's? Is this bad if I even end up with E2c's?

The ER4's are analytical and they sound closer to the EX71 than it would sound compared to the E2. There is a sharp contrast between the ER4 and E2 in terms of sound. The E2s are good, so I don't think it is 'bad' if you endup with one.

Are the E2c's fragil? About how much weight do I exert on these phones before they break?

They are surprisely strong and looks like they can take quite a beating.