[Ronindvm]

How do you know if you have a good seal? Are the comments about not being able to hear yourself clapping a myth or reality?
I've been wearing my ER6's and they feel good, they sound good, and I can hear the music over background noise that drowns out my other headphones.

BUT, I can definately hear the background noises. I can hear rain hitting an umbrella, I can hear cars as they approach from behind me and I can hear people talking when they are right next to me.

Does this mean the seal isn't right or have people been exaggerating the "isolation?" I haven't been on an airplane yet with them but as things are now it's apparent that I'd be able to hear the engine also.

Thanks for any input y'all have.

 

[cscott23]

music on or off?

if off, i can hear people and things around me.

if on, i can't hear anything but maybe a frieght train next to me.

the best litmus is the bass response. if you have decent bass, then you have a good seal.

 

[Ronindvm]

I was talking about music on. I'll pay a little more attention to the bass and see if I can improve my seal.
(Now there is something I never thought I'd say!)
I think that the freight train would make my music inaudible at this point. Thanks for the input!

Has this been everyone's experience?

 

[fractus2]

I've got the ER-6 and ER-4S to compare and I get a better seal with the 4S and the rubber tips. They just have a better seal than the ER-6 to me. I've never tried or needed the foam tips myself.

 

[Ronindvm]

With a little more practice, the seal seems to be improved but,
I could hear the crickets chirping, a car horn and a weed whacker with the music playing. My ear drum's have each been ruptured at least once and I know I have worse hearing than most of my friends and coworkers so I can't help but wonder

Is it me or the phones.

 

[hazmat]

Quote:

Originally posted by gpalmer Amen to that, the first time I flew with them I was doing a California to Florida trip and both legs there was a crying baby going at it the whole trip either next to me or behind me. And you know what? I just didn't care! I find I can't even describe how much better flying with them is with or without crying babies.

Hah! Recently I was on a plane and listening to my ER-4's. Turned them off when we were told to (funny how they tell you when to turn off electronic devices, yet how am I supposed to hear when I have earphones in?) and heard a baby crying. I was wondering if it had been crying the whole time!

 

[zeplin]

if i snap my fingers about a foot away from my ear without the music playing (using foamies), i can barely hear the snapping noise. if the music is on, then i can't hear anything going on outside...even a huge semi barreling down the freeway in the next lane with my windows down (i wasn't driving of course). and cscott is 100% right...if you have no real bass presentation of impact, or real deep bass, then something is wrong. bottom line, when the music is playing and you have a perfect seal, you shouldn't be hearing anything at all...accept a shuttle launch! the problem is, the number of things that can wrong, far outnumbers the things that can go wrong with a normal headphone. it may take some time to figure it out, but don't give up. and remember, like any other speaker or headphone, these ety's need a good source and a great amp to sound great and even their best! but good luck and i hope your ears of OK.

 

[pingles]

I recently bought a set of Etymotic ER4-P earphones, mainly because I commute into London every day. It's only a 30 min journey by train + tube to the office, but it was still a pain in the ass trying to listen to my iPod over the background noise.

Well, I've been thoroughly impressed so far, and it's only been 2 commuting days! They really do block quite a substantial amount of background noise, it's not so much as you can't hear anything, but when the music's playing it blocks out quite a lot of surrounding noise. Certainly enough to hear delicate parts of tracks without trouble. With regards to fidelity they are incredible!

 

[Mr.PD]

With my ER-6 I can hear other things over the music. Unless I have the tunes cranked up.

But, that is at work, on a freight train. Everything is loud there and we all talk pretty loudly on the train. I have noticed that when standing around, automobiles can sneak up on me. People talking at normal levels around home can be heard but not understood.

I use the foamies. I would also like to point out that the ER4 is way more isolating than the ER6 when using foamies on each.

The test of a good seal is bass response, as already mentioned.
You are always going to be able to hear something when no music is playing.

Oh, I can hear the music when a freight train is going by, and I can never get the music loud enough to drown out a train either, without risking total deafness.

 

[daycart1]

Ety only claims 23 Db or so for the ER4. Obviously, that helps a lot.
But if you are dealing with significant external noise (say over 60 Db) it is going to be very noticeable even with music on.

 

[troublemaker]

no i find that with the music on and me on my mountain bike riding on a cycle track adjacent to a main road i cant hear cars.

likewise i am at work at the moment and the phone was going on my desk and i never heard it.

you get a muffled impression of people about you when the music is off but that is all it is......

 

[john_jcb]

Quote:

Originally posted by george I primarily use the 4S when I travel by air, and a times when a passenger in a car and always get a good seal. I can hear faint background noise during quiet passages of music or between tracks. With music at normal volume, I don't hear much else. They attenuate the background noise/sound but can not block it completely.

This is my experience as well. If music is playing you should not hear conversation or even the announcements made by the flight attendants. when flying I tend to listen a little louder than normal because the ambient noise is rather high. My normal level is quite low to start with though, not to give the impression that I crank it way up on a plane. I never hear the kids crying or the incessant chatter when flying. When I first got mine I was amazed at how tiring the noise really was. I arrived at my destination far fresher than I can ever remember.

 

[john_jcb]

Ronindvm

Welcome to Head-Fi. I hope you find tis a pleasant place to spend some time. There is a wealth of information here about most things audio.

 

[george]

I primarily use the 4S when I travel by air, and a times when a passenger in a car and always get a good seal. I can hear faint background noise during quiet passages of music or between tracks. With music at normal volume, I don't hear much else. They attenuate the background noise/sound but can not block it completely.

 

[Ronindvm]

Thanks for the welcome.

What y'all are describing seems to be what I am hearing. I was just concerned that the hype was real which meant that the phones weren't working for me. Now I'm reassured.

My newest problem is that I think I may have popped my eardrum removing them.

Since there wasn't a lot of pain at the time I removed them, I'm hoping I am wrong but my ear REALLY hurts which I've only experience when I've ruptured the eardrum before.

Who woulda thought headphones could be hazardous to my health