[TacticalPenguin]

4saken - they slide in like silicon tips and their shape makes them compress on their own. thats one of their primary advantages from the design.

zonto - actually, they don't go in nearly as far as my biflanges do; they're a bit long and big. biflanges have the butt of the driver (ER 6i) sitting farther in, not touching my ear flap, triflanges have it snugly up against it, and these are a little farther out pushing it off to the side and brushing onto its side. the slightly deeper "woah I'm deaf?" insertion makes them about like triflanges for how far in it is.
tenchi - it ought to be there by christmas if it's already been a week, took around 1-2 weeks for me each time but I'm sure it wasn't more than two.

 

[Tenchi211]

Hello All!

Got home from work today, and had a nice surprise waiting in my mailbox! The Ety Mushrooms and Baby Blue Tri-fllanges have arrived! What a nice X-Mas present from Etymotic! I snapped a few quick photos. I hope they came out ok (please forgive if they didn't).

A couple of interesting observations: whoever packaged the ear tips referred to them as "mushrooms", and "baby blues", although the pair I got are clear frost. I guess they discontinued use of the baby blues perhaps? Not that I mind. I actually prefer the frost color.

The "mushrooms" don't look very appealing. They rather resemble a "work in progress" so to speak, not that I mind or am complaining, just an observation. They seem to be made of a hard foam type of material that feels sort of stiff yet supple.

I'm not sure I'll get a chance to really try them out tonight although I'm DYING to but I will give them a good workout during the X-Mas weekend probably starting with the mushrooms.

Once again, I'd like to thank Etymotic and their wonderful Customer Service Dept. (Thank you Maureen (Moe) Defoort) for their time, courtesy and samples.

 

[ZoNtO]

I really like the baby blues, both the non-baby-blue frosty color and how they fit in deeper. They give me the insertion depth I was only able to get uncomfortably with the stock triflanges.

Mushrooms are very weird, and they don't stay compressed long enough to insert them very deep IME. Those blues though were very nice.

I'll report back on my later findings and such when I've tested more! Funny we got our packages the same day too.

 

[andrewsvt]

I'll drop them a line and see if they ship some samples to South America. The mushrooms do look interesting...

 

[Tenchi211]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZoNtO /img/forum/go_quote.gif I really like the baby blues, both the non-baby-blue frosty color and how they fit in deeper. They give me the insertion depth I was only able to get uncomfortably with the stock triflanges. Mushrooms are very weird, and they don't stay compressed long enough to insert them very deep IME. Those blues though were very nice. I'll report back on my later findings and such when I've tested more! Funny we got our packages the same day too.

Hi ZoNtO!

Yes, the mushrooms do look very weird. Though I have not tried them yet, I can see how they might not stay compressed very long. That's kind of the impression I got when squeezing them.

I initially liked the baby blues as well, but I think the frostys look better with the ER-4's. To me, they match better although it really doesn't matter. It's all about the sound as we all know.

It is funny how we got our packages on the same day. Ety must've gotten quite a few sample requests and probably mailed a lot of them out the same day. I'm glad you received yours before Christmas as well. Happy Listening!

 

[TacticalPenguin]

The mushrooms are made to just be pushed in like silicon tips, not compressed and put in like normal foams.

I have two of those same ety envelopes.....must say the sticker is very nice.

yes, the mushrooms are a workin progress. my first pair began to tear down the side on one of the tips after a couple weeks of frequent use.

they are almost solid and thus almost painful to insert when they're cold but once theyve been in your ears or just held in your fist they warm up and are nice and flexible to go wherever.

and by the way, zonto, about them coming off - they fit on as tight if not tighter than ety foam tips, they WONT be coming off.

 

[Tenchi211]

Ok...

A quick impression (I couldn't resist) of the mushrooms:

Isolation is FANTASTIC! They isolate almost as well as my tri-flanges and I got a great seal right away. I usually have to fiddle with the tri-flanges to get a good seal. So far, so good.

Bass seems a little tighter than normal (though I can't confirm this until I do a comparison), the mids and highs are sterling as usual. I have not heard all of the IEMs out there, but from the ones I've heard, they don't compare to the Ety's. Bass, as stated earlier, is tight. No, the Ety's don't slam you around like some others I've tried, but what they lack in quantity is made up in the QUALITY of bass that you get. What an awesome headphone.

I will post more as I get used to using the mushrooms and get a chance to do some comparisons, but it's late and I've gotta work early so I'll call it a night for now. I'm going to take them with me to work and see if I get a chance to do some more listening at the office. Plus it'll give me a chance to see how they perform while moving around as I'm on my feet l lot.

 

[Tenchi211]

Hey, Tactical,

You are indeed correct about the mushrooms. I got the impression that these would not last very long upon first looking at them. They feel extremely comfortable in my ears. MUCH better than the square shaped foamies that came with the Etys. The mushrooms should become standard issue instead of the ones they use now. They just need to refine the look a bit.

I have not experienced the pain that you mentioned upon inserting them luckily for me, they went in smoothly with no problems.

My initial impressions are positive. I really like these so far. I think I will purchase a few more pair. These are the first foamies I've used that fit right without any loss of bass output or extended fiddling, though I've not tried the complys and have heard great things about those as well.

 

[Tenchi211]

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrewsvt /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'll drop them a line and see if they ship some samples to South America. The mushrooms do look interesting...

Andrew, give it a shot! I hope you get to try them!

OK...still listening...have to turn Bitter:Sweet off now. Time for bed.

G'night everyone!

 

[oldschool]

I can't wait for my mushrooms (referred to as 'gliders' by Etymotic) to arrive!

My thoughts on the baby-blues: I tried them a couple of times and didn't like them. Sound was thin with them and I didn't even find them comfortable. The triflanges work better for me.

 

[ZoNtO]

I think the problem for me with the 'shrooms is that I couldn't get them in deep enough to get the same bass response. Whereas with the frost/blues if I don't straighten my canal even when I insert them all the way I can still pull them out with ease. As soon as I insert these the way the Ety video shows though I get a great, deep seal and wonderful sound.

I'm just putting one of their plastic bags with the olives, stock ety foam, gliders, baby frost, and stock tris to take home with me over break. =)

EDIT: Update for curiosity's sake, I just tried laying down on my pillow with the frosties in and I can almost do it comfortably. That's an improvement over stock eh?

 

[TacticalPenguin]

I can lay down on a pillow like nothings in my ear with small biflange tips. Theyre about the same size as baby triflanges minus the third flange.

The pain thing is for when they're like, REALLY cold..... like......where I live cold is single digits or teens Fahrenheit...... they become very stiff.

 

[mape00]

I got my mushrooms today and I was kind of disappointed. They are too big for my small ear canals: I can't get them deep enough, not even when warmed up. (I could force them down my ear canal, in which case they sounded better, but the pressure was unbearable.)

I tried to insert them shallowly, in which case I got a "good" seal, but then my ER4s stick out and sound quality was compromised (VERY apparent sibilance). I switched back to my slim complys (which go deep without hurting) for comparison, and the sibilance was completely gone.

If they were made smaller, they might have been quite good. For now, I'm sticking with my (dirty and fragile) complys. I'll try Shure olives next I think. Sigh.

 

[TacticalPenguin]

Yes I found the mushrooms quite big for even my normalish sized ear canals. You should email etymotic and ask them to/suggest that they make a baby mushroom like the make baby triflanges.

 

[dan1son]

Just wanted to include another quick comment about the new 'glider' tips. Ety sent me a sample pair, I received them a few days before Christmas and have been using them ever since. I find them to be a definitive improvement over the others.

I had been using the black foamies exclusively for a while (the tri-flanges never quite feel right for some reason). I put the new gliders in and immediately had a perfect seal in both ears with no fiddling. I find them to be more comfortable than the foamies, easier to insert and remove, and they sound just as good if not better. I'll be buying some more as soon as I can.

I do have relatively large ear canals, the triple flanges have to go completely in my ear before they seal. The gliders stick out about 1/8th of an inch further than before. With the other tips the slanted part of the earphone was up against my ear lobe, these don't rest on my skin at all anymore. Still in there pretty deep though, but not quite as far.