[davide]

I travel by train, 50 min. 2 times a day. Trains are quiet noisy, in particular in the summer with windows open.
I listen to different kind of music (classical, jazz, rock) with a portable CD player and, especially for classical or soft music, I can hardly hear the music.
I was thinking about active noise reduction headphones, when, as many, I found out the Etymotics.
Now my question is what's the best for my use? Do ER6 provide enough isolation in a noisy environment like the train or subway? Do the quality of sound I hear out from ER6 and ER4P is similar in a noisy environment (can I still appreciate the differences)?
The price is significantly different (ER6 vs ER4P), but what's the best choice, considering the function and use?
Thank you

 

[Roy Rogers]

I have compared my ER4S noise reduction against the Bose and the Noise Buster noise cancelling headphones. Using the white rubber tip they were about equal in the low frequency range 8air craft rumble). The ER4S were better at reducing noise in the higher frequencies (fan noise).

With the foam tips on the ER4S they were clearly better than the active 'phones in reducing noise in both the low and high frequencies.

Sorry, don't know about the ER6 but if they are equal or slightly worse than the ER4S they should work very well.

Good luck.

 

[dstroot]

I bought the ER4p for travel - first off they work and sound great! So well, that I listen to them at home as my "reference" setup. Then I recently traveled again and decided that enough noise still leaks in on a plane that you can't really do reference type listening. Sound was a little muddy and muffled from the low frequency leakage.

Thus if the primary use would be on the train, I would choose the ER6 because the isolation and sound quality is "almost" as good - almost being very subjective, but they are much less expensive. I think the sonic benefits of the 4 series is better suited to listening at home, in bed, etc. Then they are amazing.

 

[MirandaX]

You might want to check out this thread; it has a lot of good responses to a similar question (a New Yorker taking the subway):
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...&threadid=5476

 

[dgs]

I just posted a long review of the 4p/s vs er6 last week. I discuss a fair amount about functionality of the different phones, sound differences, and so on. The thread is here:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...&threadid=6828

Perhaps I can convince our fearless moderators to put it in the full featured headphone reviews (hint hint) so that people can refer to it more easily...

 

[Wes]

I recently used the Ety 4s on a train ride and heard almost no noise creeping around them even in softer passages of classical music. This was, however, a passenger with a good many partitions and might be more noise-protected than a commuter train.

My guess is that any of the Ety's will give you a lot of relief from noise intrusion. If you can afford the 4p's without major strain, however, they reputedly isolate more than the 6's and, as dstroot said, stand a good chance of becoming your reference.

I say: Buy the Ety's and buy all you can afford.

(When is my commission coming?)