[saidinstouch]

I have read through a large portion of the posts here and been unable to make a final decision. I currently have sony ex51 headphones and decided I want to upgrade them. I am considering the shure e2c, e3c or the etymotic er6. I have a karma and have been told it will drive the er6 so I dont have to spend extra on the er6i. I would mostly be using these for walking to classes and travel on a bus, but they need to work on a treadmill (I drape my karma from a handle so it is motionless) and not have a microphonics issue. From seeing pictures of the er6 and reading reviews I hear the microphonics get very bad and annoying and they also look very easy to break with thin cables. They must be durable because they usually end up in my pockets during classes for quick access after class. However, the er6 are described as having the best clarity which is what I want from my headphones. Given the issues I have read about though I am not leaning to these as much. Now I consider the two shure models which I gather get very different sounds. It seems the e3cs are the ones that are more clear of the two, but I am having a hard time justifying spending $50-$60 more on them over the e2cs if the e2cs will work fine for me. I am by no means an audiophile, but I want these headphones to last and if it is worth getting the e3cs over the e2cs then I will do it.

The people over at riovolution have been helpful in pointing me toward a decision, but no one seems to have direct comparison experience between the two so I figured I could ask here for anyone who has used one, two, or all three of the models I am looking at. I am going to good guys sometime this week to test the two shure models with my karma in hand, but I will be unable to test the er6s because I do not know any stores in the los angeles county area that carry them. Any help, especially form people with er6 experience would be helpful. The er6 seem like they would give the sound I want, but the functionality is just as important and I need comments about microphonics and durability of them.

 

[sbulack]

I own the EX71 and the ER6. The ER6 give a substantially higher sound image than the EX71, AND have two drawbacks: 1) there is a hump in their treble frequency response that makes them edgy in the highs 2) they are NOT balanced spectrally - they favor the highs (for detail) and are light in the lows.

The ER6i, according to Scrypt's review, have been improved to deal with both of these drawbacks to the ER6. Scrypt has noted that the ER6i do NOT have the emphasis in the highs that the ER6 have. The ER6i has been built to give a more balanced spectral representation, with more bass.

I use Winamp as the source for virtually all of my ER6 listening, so I can use the EQ to pull down the treble hump and accentuate the lows, giving a fully satisfying sound. Without the EQ, my ears get fatigued by the treble in a few hours. With the EQ, I can listen, delighted and amazed, all day. From a portable, your EQ posibilities are likely lower and more coarse. Given my experience with the ER6, I'd say it would be worth the additional expense to go with the ER6i for a portable solution.

 

[saidinstouch]

Well the nice thing about my karma is its got a fully customizable 5 band parametric equalizer so I can equalize any sound issues with ease. What about quality of craftsmanship and microphonics while walking though?

 

[commando]

EQs are handy but they can't fix fundamental problems of headphones, or significantly change their characteristics. Get the ER6i's, the additional cost is very small.

 

[saidinstouch]

Ok so if I were to choose the etymotics over either of the shure headphones, I still cant try them to decide. Would the microphonics be a big deal if I'm on a treadmill or walking to class and how durable are they cause the images make them seem very weak and the chord seems easy to break.

I'm just trying to make sure I don't get the wrong phones. I'm hoping when I test the e2c and e3c I will decide either of them are perfect and not really have to decide, but if I don't like either then I want to have a backup option even though sound wise I think it is probably the better choice. The confusion of buying headphones

.

 

[commando]

Both Todd and Headroom give you 30 days to try canal phones. If you're using them in the gym don't bother, the noises around you and inside you will drown out the increased quality. I'd even say you're better off with cheap EX51s for te gym, less isolation's better for that environment.