[lifeonaplate1791]

Today I had the privelage of listening to a pair of ER-6s that my friend bought, as well as a few of the HD models at a store.

My first point of concern is this...with the etys, it isn't too much trouble to put them in my right ear, but somehow the left is a bitch. I tried for 15 minutes and still just could not get a good seal. When I got a fairly decent seal, I left them that way, but the sound still seemed favored more towards the right. Is this normal for first-time users, or do many people have that problem? The sound on the ety's was great, but the bass seemed just a tad light, and they sounded rather bright overall. Also, the pressure they put on my ears made them a little sore after a while. Does this go away with repeated use?

As for the HD series, I tried the HD 280, 580, 590 prestige, and 600. They sounded great as well, although the 280s had rather crappy pads IMO for closed headphones. I didn't demo them long enough so I can't say for sure which of the latter three I prefer. The sound on all three was rather amazing, although I was saddened that there was absolutely no isolation. However, my house is usually a rather quiet environment, so this doesn't concern me. Which do you prefer?

General questions about both the HDs and etys: Which of either set have the best bass response? I admit, I'm somewhat of a bass freak, but only somewhat...I don't want the bass to overpower everything, but I DO want them to be able to handle as much bass as possible. Also, I don't really like a very bright sound. I'm also saddened that there is no way I can take them all home and try them on my own stereo. So basically, which of the etys and of the HDs do you all like the most? How is the bass response on the HDs compared to the triports and the etys?

One more question...Hi-Fi buys had some demo pairs of headphones, and when I played an AFI cd, I noticed that both the HD570s and the 590s would get horribly distorted due to the bass at relatively loud, but not all that loud of volumes. This kind of surprised me...is that normal with those cans, or does hi-fi buys just keep their demo pairs in bad condition? There, however, the headphones were driven by a portable cd player, which I found odd. At the store I went to previously, they were driven by a stereo and I could turn them up quite loudly with no distortion.

So yes, those are my basic questions, and in addition to those, any feedback you have on any of the above mentioned cans would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Knocturnal]

First the etys take a while to get used to. I demoed them and could not get used to them but went back the next day( my friends house) and got them in every time. They are like contact lenses. The Triports are not evein in the same league so I would get rid of those immediately. The HD600s are the closest to the etys and they are headsphones so you just put them on. The 580s are close too. I would go with the etys, you will get used to them and may I also recomend that you clean your ears if you havent in a while it might make it easier to get a seal.

 

[lifeonaplate1791]

Oh, one more thing...I tried the ety's on a part of the CKY song "To all of you", which at the end of the actual song has this tone that starts out very very high and then drops in pitch until it is in the sub-bass frequencies. What surprised my when I listened through my friend's er-6s is that the high part was completely and utterly distorted. Regular music sounded fine, but I couldn't even tell what I was supposed to be listening to. On the website the er-6s are rated up to 16 Khz (I think), and I guess that's part of it. Anyway, does anybody have any distortion problems with the etys? Are the ER-4P/S much different from the ER-6s? Between those and the HD580/590/600s, which have the better bass response?

 

[swalker]

Quote:

high part was completely and utterly distorted

As far as I know, that has nothing to do with frequency response. Etys can go higher than any other cheapo headphones and normal human ears wouldn't really hear very audible distortion above 16khz anyway. It was either 1) the song was badly recorded and Etys were just reproducing the recording faithfully 2) The equipment was not able to put out the dynamic range. ER6 is known to require an amp to sound best.

 

[PeterG]

For your purposes, hd580=hd600. The differences should only come out with very nice gear from what I have heard. Better to get the 580 and invest the saved money elsewhere.

 

[zeplin]

lifeonaplate,

Out of the 5 phones I have (HD600, ATW1000, MDR F1, MDR V6, and the Ety 4P), the Ety's a the best, in my opinion. Sure they are the4P's, but the 6's still maintain the Etymotic characteristic of sound. But keep in mind, they are not for everyone, as you have noticed. I agree with swalker in that the Ety's are soooo revealing of crappy recordings that they could have been showing you the true sound of the recording you were listening to. I have never had any distortion problems with mine. I can turn them higher in volume than any other phone I have. The Ety's allow this because the drivers used are so, so small that they can take a great deal of stress and are incredibly fast moving, which therefore makes for optimum sound reproduction without distortion. They are simply amazing to me and I have yet to hear a better headphone in its price range!

 

[lifeonaplate1791]

I did play the song through my stereo amp, and all other times I've listened to it, both with speakers and with other phones, I could hear it crystal clear. anyways, I dunno, could be a number of things. Are the ER-4s less bright than the ER-6s?

 

[iamdone]

I 1st owned the er-6 and returned it because I thought the highs were too harsh and there just wasn't enough bass. I was amazed at the detail but something just didn't sound right. I figured it was better to buy the er-4p instead of buying an amp.

The er-4p sounded so much better than the er-6. The bass was now there and the highs had more detail and felt clean. They also fit much better using either the white tips or the foam but I prefer the foam.

Next, I bought a $25 adapter for fixup.net to convert it from er-4p to er-4s. On an Ipod, the sound was even better. There was much more detail in the music. Everything sounded crip. The bass was reduced just a bit but still much better than the er-6.

Lastly, I just bought a supermin v6 with crossfeed and a free built in er-4p to er-4s so I wouldn't need to hook up the adapter. I ran it for 48 hours to burn it in. It brings up the bass a bit, add more punch, opens the soundstage, and brings out the hidden sounds. It basically gives the very detailed and technical etys more life. I now get lost in the music instead of just noticing things I haven't heard before.

It funny because when I 1st got the er-6s, I though it was the best sound I heard. For one of the worst sounds, try the stock Ipod headphones. They sound like tin cans.