[princesultan]

Hey guys,
 
I've read quite a bit on this site, a lot of the threads I read were quite older however. Just wondering if you guys could recommend me a set of IEM's for an airplane. Budget is around 100$. From what I read, the Etymotic MC5's look quite good, however, the lack of bass worries me a bit. I listen to a lot of different music, however I also listen to a lot of electronic music. I like a clean, crisp, punchy sound, nothing too booming, so it's possible the lack of bass I've reading about still might be OK for me.
 
Anything else I should consider? Do the Etymotic ER-6i's still exist or are they discontinued?
 
Thanks!
 
p.s. I've never tried IEM's, but it seems like they're the way to go for planes.

 

[alv4426]

might as well go for HF5 or HF2 if you're considering the MC5.. They go for around $90-110 on amazon if you wait for a deal.

 

[ednaz]

I have the ER6i (quite an old set), the HF5 (again, had them for quite awhile), and ER4P and 4S (which is out of your stated budget, and which I've had seemingly forever.)  I have them specifically for air travel, as noise cancelling headphones can give me a ripping headache.
 
I think there's plenty of bass with either the ER6 and HF5, without any tinkering with EQ.  I listen to a wide range of music - jazz, classical, classic rock, techno, bluegrass, everything except opera - and I haven't felt a lack of bass.  (To the contrary, see my comment below on bass pressure.)  I do think the two have very different characters.  The ER6 sounds a bit more lively, probably not near as accurate but more musical.  A little pushed up at both top and bottom.  To some extent the way they sound compared to the ER4P remind me of how Ultrasone 780s compare to some of the high end Sennheisers or AKG - more musical, more engaging, which on graphs and charts almost always means less accurate in some way.  However, I don't listen to graphs and charts...  I actually reach for the ER6 when I'm going to time travel to the 60s and 70s and 80s, and reach for the HF5 when I'm in a jazz or classical mood.  Not saying both don't work well against certain types of music, just that they have a character that for me matches up with certain moods and music, just like my traditional headphone collection.  The ER6 are a lot easier to sleep in when you get a bad hotel room, since they're so small; the HF5 seem to be more isolating.  Both of them, the cable seems so flimsy to me, but it's held up well.
 
The ER4 are, at least for me, more accurate and dry-ish sounding compared to the other two.  I like that precision, just not all the time.  The cable is a lot more robust, the sound isolation way better, and they're reasonably sleepable.
 
I find any of them can, with really strong bass and a really good insertion seal, using the three layer soft ear tips, cause bass pressure on my ears at higher altitudes if I've not popped my ears a few times once at altitude.  I had a mild cold once and the bass was positively painful.  For whatever reason, after a decade of loving my IEMs I'm starting to have some issues with air pressure changes that makes the Ety's less comfortable for me when the plane is changing altitudes.

 

[dfrost]

Quote:

... p.s. I've never tried IEM's, but it seems like they're the way to go for planes.

Nearly all IEMs will sound great in an airplane after the music starts. There are a few "partial in-ears" for which that may not be true, but otherwise just about any of them will be substantially better than earbuds.
 
 

 

[Dsnuts]

Get an IEM you want to try and then get one of these. monoprice 8320.. @ monoprice.com  People think I am crazy for throwing these up as suggestions as they only cost $7.11
They sound like a $200 headphone. Clean balanced fully defined and dynamic bass..The only bad thing is they only come with medium size rubber tips but you can buy other sizes online for cheap. These are awesome.  If you want to try a lesser bassy IEM the Sony XB41EX is a good IEM but they cost X8 more and the sound not as good as these monoprice. Try one and you won't think I am so crazy for suggesting these. 

 

[princesultan]

well, the hf5's look good, but everywhere i look shows them at about doubt the price of the mc5's.
 
i'm just a bit concerned over what i'm reading about the lack of bass and what that actually means. the RE0's also look interesting...

 

[imackler]

Not sure of the price of the mc5 but you can get the HF5 from Earphonesolutions for $102 shipped w/ code CHILL11.

 

[princesultan]

Quote:

Not sure of the price of the mc5 but you can get the HF5 from Earphonesolutions for $102 shipped w/ code CHILL11.

are the hf5's that much better than the mc5's? i read the bass is even worse.

 

[rangerid]

HF5>>MC5s. I auditioned the MC5s for a bit and it strays away from the Ety sound sig. Bass is more accurate and detailed on the HF5s while MC5s has slightly more body. But the HF5s beats out MC5s in everything else. 

 

[yipcanjo]

Quote:

are the hf5's that much better than the mc5's? i read the bass is even worse.

It's not as if the HF5's are missing bass.  Not at all.  It's just that the bass they have is focused on being detailed rather than being felt.  I used the HF5's as my primary IEMs for nearly a year and a half, and they are great.  For ~$100 you're not going to find anything better -- especially if isolation is a desirable trait as well.
 
 

 

[princesultan]

do both the mc5's and hf5's give the same isolation?

 

[navmau]

To the OP, your concerns over bass for electronica are well founded. I have had several Etymotic IEMs in the past and I can assure you that you will be disappointed with the bass. It is very thin, doesn't extend very deep at all. Yes, it is "controlled and tight" but at the same time, it is also "boring"!
 
You can get good isolation from just about any IEM with the correct tips so you should find an IEM that suits your music requirements, not just isolation, otherwise, you might as well save money and get earplugs because the Etymotic's will be be good for your genre of music.
 
You can check out Klipsch IEMs, DUNU (Trident or Hephaes, the Hephaes will open up to better mids and highs than Trident), Future Sonics Atrio (highly recommended), TFT Accoustics (haven't tried these yet but from reviews, they sound great). These are a starting point for good isolation with great bass and clear,defined mids and highs.

 

[princesultan]

Wow, I haven't heard oF any of those, lol. You've given me a lot to think about. I think I need to research more and report back. Basically I like a clean sound, nothing too boomy. I do listen to other music as well, but I'm also a professional dj who needs to hear certain electronic music tracks as they were intended, thus maybe having something flat and not too colored is good (I use studio grade monitors at home), so maybe the etymotics would be good for this purpose???

 

[navmau]

Quote:

Wow, I haven't heard oF any of those, lol. You've given me a lot to think about. I think I need to research more and report back. Basically I like a clean sound, nothing too boomy. I do listen to other music as well, but I'm also a professional dj who needs to hear certain electronic music tracks as they were intended, thus maybe having something flat and not too colored is good (I use studio grade monitors at home), so maybe the etymotics would be good for this purpose???

Unfortunately, I can't help you on the monitoring front but if you monitor electronic music, (excuse my inexperience with monitoring) wouldn't you need to get a feel for how the bass is interacting with other frequencies out of speakers that have stronger bass? If so, the Etymotic's wont really help you here.
 
There are other IEMs which are still balanced armature based and don't have "boomy" bass which you could check out (Westone 4, Shure 535 for eg). You could check out Future Sonics Atrio's too. I feel that with the right tips (most people use tips which ruin the sound and claim they are poor IEMs) they are very revealing, very defined and the bass is DEEP and very textured. They are the original IEM experts and probably the most trusted by professional performers and sound engineers.
 
 

 

[Eric_C]

Btw, if you're going to plug the IEMs into the plane's entertainment system, you might want to look into getting a volume attenuator. Whenever the pilot or crew make announcements, the volume on their mic is VERY loud and could damage your earphones and your ears.