[goodolcheez]

This set of IEM is worth several hundred dollars, not $150.
 
 
This is my 5~ 6 months of ownership now.  My previous set of IEM was Klipsch Image X4.
 
Oh wow, man, oh wee wee ... woohoo!  wow.
 
The more I listen to it, the more I like it.  You can't find many set of IEMs out there that sound gets better and better as time goes on. 
 
I listen to music but majority of the time I watch videos... anything from TV dramas to movies to music videos to TV-music performance on my iPad 2.  The HF-5 is very accurate. It picks up any sound recorded in indoor stage or anything in outdoor. When the two actors/actresses are acting in a small room you can hear that they are actually in a stage in a very large room. This could not be achived using any other earphones I have tried in the past. I also heard someone else making conversation in the background. In outdoor, I can hear birds singing that is a couple of blocks away!!   It also makes poorly recorded or compressed sound in music performance sound good. They sound more fresh, airy?  It sounds cool, which is the extremely important part.  And it does not absorb any sounds unlike the Klipsch S4 which sounds like you put mud in your ear so all that sound is blocked. Or take the sponge and stick them in your ears. It sounded like garbage when watching these TV performances.
 
This is an amazing work of art, Etymotic HF-5 that is.  I'm sure the ER-4 series are just as good if not better..   Something is really wrong they only charge $150 for this thing. What is wrong witht his company?

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

This set of IEM is worth several hundred dollars, not $150.
 
 
This is my 5~ 6 months of ownership now.  My previous set of IEM was Klipsch Image X4.
 
Oh wow, man, oh wee wee ... woohoo!  wow.
 
The more I listen to it, the more I like it.  You can't find many set of IEMs out there that sound gets better and better as time goes on. 
 
I listen to music but majority of the time I watch videos... anything from TV dramas to movies to music videos to TV-music performance on my iPad 2.  The HF-5 is very accurate. It picks up any sound recorded in indoor stage or anything in outdoor. When the two actors/actresses are acting in a small room you can hear that they are actually in a stage in a very large room. This could not be achived using any other earphones I have tried in the past. I also heard someone else making conversation in the background. In outdoor, I can hear birds singing that is a couple of blocks away!!   It also makes poorly recorded or compressed sound in music performance sound good. They sound more fresh, airy?  It sounds cool, which is the extremely important part.  And it does not absorb any sounds unlike the Klipsch S4 which sounds like you put mud in your ear so all that sound is blocked. Or take the sponge and stick them in your ears. It sounded like garbage when watching these TV performances.
 
This is an amazing work of art, Etymotic HF-5 that is.  I'm sure the ER-4 series are just as good if not better..   Something is really wrong they only charge $150 for this thing. What is wrong witht his company?

you know they go for $100 right? 

 
 

 

[GeneralSmirnoff]

I bought my HF3's for $180 at the apple store (Same thing as the HF5's but with a HQ mic and volume buttons)

 

[DCofficehack]

Quote:

I bought my HF3's for $180 at the apple store (Same thing as the HF5's but with a HQ mic and volume buttons)

I just bought my bro HF3s off of ebay for $95. Sorry.  I'm delighted people like these things so much. My bro's been listening to Apple standard buds for years until I got him a pair of alessandro MS-1s. That ruined him. So he's been wearing them outside and bothering people on the bus because of sound leakage, forcing him to resort to his buds when he goes out.  The HF3 should be just the ticket. 

 

[GeneralSmirnoff]

Good thing I used my Apple Store Credit to pay for them

 

[ashinyforehead]

difference between HF2 and HF3?

 

[goodvibes]

control cable.

 

[dj_mocok]

I bought my HF2 for around US$100 from Amazon UK, but now I wish I got the HF5 instead. I never need the microphone, so the extra is useless for me and just another thing dangling in front of me.
But yeah, they are surprisingly good - I never expected that earphones / IEM can have so much separations and they are very detailed.

 

[goodvibes]

I'm a big fan of the HF5 but Phonaks are their more comfortable equal. Bulkier carry and a bit less isolation from the shallower fit but similar price so it's not like the ETs are the only game in town.

 

[luckybaer]

I recently purchased the HF3.  I never owned any Etymotic headphones prior to this purchase.  I'd always been scared off by reviews of Etymotic products - uncomfortable due to deep insertion requirement, anemic bass, etc.  I count myself fortunate that my ears must be structured in such a way as to "accept" Etymotic headphones without any discomfort.
 
I use Comply tips, and gently twist back and forth on the headphone while inserting them into my ear canal.  I get a good seal, and more than enough depth of insertion.  
 
The sound is better than I had expected.  They aren't as bassy as my CK7s, but they are more than adequate at the low end for my tastes - and I like bass, but not MOAR BASE!!!  Compared to my venerable E4c, everything is clearer, crisper, and cleaner.  There are no "fuzzy edges" or hint of a veil.  Mids are not recessed.  Compared to my full-sized cans, I guess the closest comparison is my K601.  The DT880 are close, but they have more "sparkle" (probably due to a boosted high-end) than the HF3 and more sense of "airiness" (it may be psychological, or it may really be due to the open nature of the DT880).  The HF3 certainly are not like the HD650, and don't they have the extreme low-end bump of the D2000.
 
I like the HF3 a lot.

 

[kmhaynes]

Now you are all ready to step up to aural perfection (wink) with the ER4! 

 

 

[chewychewbacca]

So is it a good idea to buy some comply tips? I really liked using my E2C's foam tips. Only part of it I didn't like was that they got dirty and waxy real quick. I'm getting my HF5 today so I'm going to take a quick pre-burn run, then let them burn in for a while, and enjoy them in a few days during air travel time.

 

[planx]

It's nice seeing so many positive comments towards the HF. Using them as i speak in class

 

[chewychewbacca]

Well this thread is reassuring. I was a bit skeptical since Amazon was selling them for $100. I guess I should not rely on price so much as a factor for earphone quality  Can't wait to try them out.

 

[kmhaynes]

 
Quote:

So is it a good idea to buy some comply tips? I really liked using my E2C's foam tips. Only part of it I didn't like was that they got dirty and waxy real quick. I'm getting my HF5 today so I'm going to take a quick pre-burn run, then let them burn in for a while, and enjoy them in a few days during air travel time.

The Shure black foam ("Olive") tips work great with the HF5 -- they are a tight fit -- when trying to remove them be firm but careful as you twist and pull the Olive tip off the nozzle.  Good thing about the Olives, tho, is that they last longer than the Comply tips -- I just carefully wipe off the outside of the tips and carefully clean inside the tip, dry them off and keep going.  They can last months that way.
 
If you want to try the Comply tips, the T100 size is a hair bigger than the Shure tips, and fit on the HF5 easier -- but the Comply sleeves are more porous and don't last as long -- and can dis-color.