[Mr Iriver]

Between the ER4 ER6i, and E3, I prefered he E3. That is based on Rock/metal music. I find the ety's to be just so thin in the midrange and bass, that it is not very enjoyable to listen. Using an equalizer makes the bass louder, and so the midrange, but somehow their bass and midrange is always very thin regarless of loudness. The shures on the other hand have a full bodied bass, that takes EQ well.The Ety's however have a better high end, especially the ER4. The E3 on the other hand also sounds very clear (not as clear though close), though by comparison much fuller sounding in both bass and mids than the Ety's. Also the E3 mids I find to be the best midrange out of the 3. The bass also while not as tight as the Etys sounds closer to real bass. The highs are a shures problem however. The highs can be fixed with equalization. Once equalized, you get more detail, and a more balanced sound. If you can equalize all pairs I recommend the Shures. The will sound about as detailed as the 6is but with a fuller sound, and if you equalize them, even more detailed. ER4 detail is still unreachable by either, but E3 fullness also is unreachable by the other two. With an equalizer I would definately choose the shures (unless I look for detail meaning ER4), without one, it would depend on what you prefer, highs or bass.

 

[EdipisReks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IC-Silencer In my opinion the Shure E3c wins the race. I have compared it with Ety ER-4Ps and Ety ER-6/i`s. The Ety ER-6/i earphones have NO bass (sorry Etymothic you simply forgot it) and thin sound.To the other hand theres a clear, detailed sound and good highs. The Ety ER4 (which my brother owens) have the same problems (ok a little bit more bass). If someone prefers classic, he should go for the Ety ER4Ps. But for Rock/Pop/Progressive/Trance there are the Shure E3c's the right choice (full, warm sound, more bass). To the ER-6/i i can only say: Kick it to hell! Marco

i don't think you were getting a good seal with the ER6i. my ER6i are fairly rich sounding with balanced bass, but i can make them sound thin and bassless by purposefully getting a bad seal. they are nowhere near as good as my ER-4P/S, but they certainly have bass.

 

[Fishy]

I recently bought the ER6i's over the E3's after testing both.

I mostly listen to rock, classical and metal--i went with the ety's

IMO:
The ER6i's are fabu for the rock and classical--crisp bass, detailed (without being piercing) highs.

The stunk for metal--that really deep, meant-to-have-a-subwoofer-sound doesn't seem to translate well out of the ER6i's. In many cases, it made a cracking sound. If there is any kind of strong (STRONG) bass in your electronica (i dont' listen to it so i wouldn't know), i doubt you will like the ER6i's. I have to put my ipod on flat or bass reducer for the bass not to crack and be intolerable with the ETy's--but they are fantastic for the rest of my music.

I read for hours trying to figure out which would be the better buy, but it comes down to trying them both. I would suggest just ordering from somewhere (headroom?) that has a good return policy and demoing both to determine which sounds best to your ears--then return the other pair.

Good luck!

 

[NeoteriX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fishy The stunk for metal--that really deep, meant-to-have-a-subwoofer-sound doesn't seem to translate well out of the ER6i's. In many cases, it made a cracking sound. If there is any kind of strong (STRONG) bass in your electronica (i dont' listen to it so i wouldn't know), i doubt you will like the ER6i's. I have to put my ipod on flat or bass reducer for the bass not to crack and be intolerable with the ETy's--but they are fantastic for the rest of my music.

The iPods easily distort -- one thing you might want to try out is normalizing your MP3s using something like MP3Gain to something like 89 dB. I normalized my entire collection and it has done wonders to the sound quality of my mp3s on my iPod.

 

[kithng]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EdipisReks i don't think you were getting a good seal with the ER6i. my ER6i are fairly rich sounding with balanced bass, but i can make them sound thin and bassless by purposefully getting a bad seal. they are nowhere near as good as my ER-4P/S, but they certainly have bass.

I also find my er-6i have good bass, tight, go deep and good texture.

Good seal is the key.

 

[amp 36]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeoteriX The iPods easily distort -- one thing you might want to try out is normalizing your MP3s using something like MP3Gain to something like 89 dB. I normalized my entire collection and it has done wonders to the sound quality of my mp3s on my iPod.

Sorry, could you explain how to do that?

As for the thread discussion, I haven't tried the Shures so I cannot comment, but I have both the Etys 4p and 6i. Maybe the 4Pp are a bit lacking in bass, but I find the 6i, with a good seal as already pointed, to have very good bass, more than the 4P. But of course, the 4P are in a different league in terms of detail anda accuracy.

 

[sbb]

I have the Shure E3, ER6I and the Sony 71... for portable (iPod 4G) use I prefer the E3 (more bass than the ER6I).. but on my Headsave classic I prefer the ER6I (sounds cleaner and the bass is fine when amped)... the sony is boomy (not used anymore)

 

[kendrid]

I own the Ety ER-6s and I have on loan from a forum member the ER-4 P/S and Shure E3s (great forum member!). I also have his Xin SuperMicro.

I find the E3s to be somewhat 'blah' sounding, with a somewhat fat midrange and recessed treble. I prefer detail so for me the ER-4s or 6s work better.

 

[ZackT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sbb I have the Shure E3, ER6I and the Sony 71... for portable (iPod 4G) use I prefer the E3 (more bass than the ER6I).. but on my Headsave classic I prefer the ER6I (sounds cleaner and the bass is fine when amped)... the sony is boomy (not used anymore)

I too have both.

I initially bought the Ety 6's and was hgappy-ish with them but missed the full bass sound I was used to with my Koss ones.

So I bought the E3's and a Xin SM amp (with the bass switch) and I am loving the sound.

The Shure's are more comfortable over the ears (once you get used to it) and seem more substantial.

I vote go for E3c's.

ZT

 

[countach]

OMG, What a great forum.

Finally, i ordered the Shures E3c. I've done in the apple store web site. I cant wait....

 

[NeoteriX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amp 36 Sorry, could you explain how to do that? As for the thread discussion, I haven't tried the Shures so I cannot comment, but I have both the Etys 4p and 6i. Maybe the 4Pp are a bit lacking in bass, but I find the 6i, with a good seal as already pointed, to have very good bass, more than the 4P. But of course, the 4P are in a different league in terms of detail anda accuracy.

Some pretty good instructions can be found here:

http://www.dapreview.net/content.php?article.133

What I would do is I would find a song that you find really distorts when you play it through your iPod. Make a copy of that MP3 and run it through MP3 gain, (track gain, 89dB), and transfer that song to your iPod. See if it helps the distortion, if so, go ahead and MP3gain your whole collection. One kind of downside is that all your mp3s will be overall a little bit quieter since we are normalizing all the MP3s to a lower volume level, to give the iPod more ceiling space for distortion.