Average_Joe was at CES and he listened to the MC5, and said they compare favorably with the Westone 2, which he also heard at CES. He made the rounds, in fact, and heard a lot of phones. Anyway, he said via email that the MC5 is $79 and $99 (non-mic and mic) and mentioned that the MC5 and the W2 shared sonic qualities, despite being different technology. In either case, he liked both phones very much, he reported. Considering I just bought a used pair of W2, does this mean I have to plunk down $79 more for these Etys (if the sound tube is the same circumference as the ER4P, I can use the UM56 sleeves I have on hand, which is good)? Probably so.
http://www.iphonealley.com/current/e...etooth-headset
Here is the Ety press release from CES
LAS VEGAS - (Business Wire) Etymotic Research, the original inventor of noise-isolating, high-fidelity in-ear earphones, is launching new, lower-cost versions of its hf2™ and hf3™ headsets for iPhone®, Blackberry® and other smartphones, as well as mc5™ earphones for iPod and other music players. The mc-series uses more affordable moving coil drivers, and applies a clever Etymotic acoustic treatment to correct performance issues characteristic of moving coil (also known as dynamic) speakers.
“The mc-series uses a patent-pending, response-shaping method that creates an acoustic side branch to redistribute acoustic energy. This modification results in smoothing the undesirable response peak and compensating for weak highs,” said Mead Killion, Ph.D., CTO and president of Etymotic Research. “Each generation of Etymotic earphones has been designed to meet the needs of different user groups. We feel that better sounding earphones will introduce new, budget-conscious users to the Etymotic sound signature.”
MSRP for the mc3 headset is $99 and the mc5 earphones will be available at retail for $79. Etymotic Research will demonstrate the new mc-series of earphones and earphones at booth #3814 in the iLounge Pavilion in the North Hall at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), January 7-10, 2010, in Las Vegas.