[apotek]

This is it.Lets see who is the winner.Please don't vote if you didn't use both canal phones.Just because you own it that doesn't mean it is better.You must used both peices to vote.

Thank you

 

[Skeeve]

Just as a matter of interest, why did you choose those two headphones to compare? Aren't the er-6 and E3 a more logical comparison.

 

[xand]

It's going to be almost impossible for the E3C to win this...

 

[apotek]

well...there are many people likes 3c more then er4.so I wanted to know how many people.I am a owner of ety but I may sell it to buy e3.I tought that er-6 compareable to old e1.Thats why I compare e3 to er4p.

lets see whats going to happen?

 

[plainsong]

For the record, I like both etys better than these Shures. You Shure fans have weird ears, that's what I say!

 

[wolfen68]

BTW...the E3's are supposed to be direct competitors to the ER4's. Whether the listener feels one is better than the other....that's up to them.

 

[Skeeve]

Quote:

Originally posted by wolfen68 BTW...the E3's are supposed to be direct competitors to the ER4's. Whether the listener feels one is better than the other....that's up to them.

Fair enough, seems odd to me though, why would they be competing with the headphones that are nearly twice as much as them rather than the ones that are basically the same price.

 

[br--]

Quote:

Fair enough, seems odd to me though, why would they be competing with the headphones that are nearly twice as much as them rather than the ones that are basically the same price.

ER-4 from iDealSound: $220
e3c from iDealSound: $180

A $40 difference is hardly double the price. Anyways this poll is valid since there are alot of e3c owners who believe their headphone is superior to the entire Etymotic range.

Personally, I have owned both the e3c and ER-4. The e3c does not sound good enough for Shure to be charging $180. If it was $80, then it would be a good headphone for the price. The reason is that it lacks in detail and the midrange is excessively boosted for a headphone of its supposed caliber. The ER-4 on the other hand sounds wonderful. It is crystal clear and sounds exactly as I would expect the recording to. I also find it more comfortable because with the e3c, I would always have to worry about losing the seal since the "tube" is quite short.

Anyway, the difference in sound between the ER-4 and e3c is MASSIVE. That extra $40 goes a long way.

 

[xand]

The E3c can be bought for between USD 130-140 at certain stores.

 

[pretzel]

Quote:

Originally posted by br-- ER-4 from iDealSound: $220 e3c from iDealSound: $180

try $150 for the e3c at idealsound

 

[br--]

Looks like $180 to me.

Although I'm pretty sure after Todd's 10% discount it sells for about $165. Anyways, the point is, the ER-4 is not nearly twice the price, and the ER-4 is well worth the difference in price.

 

[davvy]

Quote:

Personally, I have owned both the e3c and ER-4. The e3c does not sound good enough for Shure to be charging $180. If it was $80, then it would be a good headphone for the price. The reason is that it lacks in detail and the midrange is excessively boosted for a headphone of its supposed caliber. The ER-4 on the other hand sounds wonderful. It is crystal clear and sounds exactly as I would expect the recording to. I also find it more comfortable because with the e3c, I would always have to worry about losing the seal since the "tube" is quite short.

Good to hear a strong pro-Ety opinion as I have just bought some ER4Ps (off the for sale forum here).

I would be interested to hear from some of the seven people who have voted for the Shures though. I have come across Lindrone's comments when researching which 'phones to get, but I haven't heard too many other people praising the E3c sound over the ER4ps. Or were you taking into account the price difference and comfort issues ?

 

[br--]

Quote:

Or were you taking into account the price difference and comfort issues ?

My main basis of comparison was the sound. They sounded extremely different to my ears. The Shures sounded fatiguing, shrill at times, and really heavy on the midrange. The bass was slightly bloated as well. The Ety's sounded just right. With well recorded music, the ER-4 is so lively and realistic that it will blow you away. It was well worth the money. I didn't feel that way with the e3.

 

[apotek]

I would like to ask you br-- if you used the er4 with the old cable or new cable?I currently have the old cable version one.When it comes to portable and if you are walking around it is not easy to use er4.That is one of the reason why I started this poll.I would like to know if e3c is way better when it comes to microphonics souds and as good as ety's sound quality.I mean I love my etys when I am not walking around.I also used to have e2 but it was way uncomfortable for me.Now I am thinking to get the etys with new cable if it is much better than the old one.

so help me guys out here.I have three options.

1-sell ety get e3
2-sell ety old cable one and get braided one instead
3-keep what you have

which one I should do?

 

[br--]

The ER4 I have is the S version which does not come with the new braided cable. I don't find it very hard to walk around with them as long as I have it clipped to my shirt/jacket. With the e3cs, you will not run into microphonics (as with the Ety's), but there are other downsides to having it behind your neck.

1) When sitting down sometimes the cable (which is behind you) pulls down which is quite uncomfortable. I found myself readjusting the cable frequently so it wouldn't pull down on my ears.

2) There is this weird "under the arm" type maneuver that you must do to wear the e3 properly. It requires you to fling the cable around your back, under your arm, and then tighten the cords at the Y intersection so they don't move around. This is surprisingly very unintuitive compared to the Etymotics. This is pretty hard to do while sitting down and it takes a fairly long time to get setup.

3) The cable isn't fastened to your clothing. This means when walking, the cable will flop around and possibly get pulled and cause discomfort by inflicting a force on the ears.

4) When stitting down, sometimes you do not have enough slack on the cord located above your upper back, and the cord will pull on your ears or restrict head/neck movement. This is really annoying.

I ran into these issues constantly with the e3c and in my opinion, the microphonics are worth it to not deal with these issues. Now, with regards to sound quality, I already went over this. The e3's are not even in the same league as the ER-4's. The sound of the latter completely trumps the former.