[Sinocelt]

Quote:

Best Isolation: Etymotic (any)

I don't get it. What makes the Etys so great, isolation-wise? According to everything I've read, they isolate at least a bit better than any other IEM... even when they use the same Comply foam tips as many other brands/models.

I've just received (and immediately posted on these boards) a deal offer for the Ety HF5, so the question has become, for me, more than rhetorical. What's the best deal, would you say? HF5 for $100 (well, more, since I'll have to ask a friend to forward them to me) or SHE9850 for $60, as can be had locally? How isolating is the SHE9850 compared to the Etys? How comfortable, compared to the UM2? Are the Etys a bit more isolating but a lot less comfortable? Have you tried customs or custom tips? Does God exist, and if he does, does he use ES3x or UE11? Is Head-Fi slowly driving me insane?

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinocelt /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't get it. What makes the Etys so great, isolation-wise? According to everything I've read, they isolate at least a bit better than any other IEM... even when they use the same Comply foam tips as many other brands/models.

Ety is at its best (isolation wise) when used with tri-flange.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinocelt /img/forum/go_quote.gif What's the best deal, would you say? HF5 for $100 (well, more, since I'll have to ask a friend to forward them to me) or SHE9850 for $60, as can be had locally?

Haven't tried HF5 yet, so can't comment on which really is better. However, I'll pick HF5, assuming it is on the level of iM716, if not better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinocelt /img/forum/go_quote.gif How isolating is the SHE9850 compared to the Etys?

SHE9850's isolation is very good as well, if used if foam tips. Both are more than enough for daily commute.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinocelt /img/forum/go_quote.gif How comfortable, compared to the UM2? Are the Etys a bit more isolating but a lot less comfortable?

Most will probably say that Ety isn't the most comfortable IEM in the market after they stick the little X'mas tree into their ear.
Attachment 15515

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinocelt /img/forum/go_quote.gif Have you tried customs or custom tips?

No custom for me, at least I don't have any plan for one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinocelt /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does God exist, and if he does, does he use ES3x or UE11? Is Head-Fi slowly driving me insane?

God will probably have all of them, Head-fi style.

No, you're not insane, just a bad case of upgraditus.

 

[Sinocelt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif SHE9850's isolation is very good as well, if used if foam tips. Both are more than enough for daily commute.

I should have specified: I've got over-sensitive ears. It's a hereditary condition: my sister suffers from it too, to a lesser degree, and my father also, to a greater degree. He's wearing medical custom ear plugs/filters. As for me, I spend my days with foam earplugs -- even the whine of my laptop's hard drive is enough to really bother me. I once went to see an audiologist because I heard better from my left ear than from the right, and after testing me, he told me that, while it was possible that my right ear was less sensitive than the left, he couldn't tell for sure, because either ear was more sensitive than any of his instruments.


Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most will probably say that Ety isn't the most comfortable IEM in the market after they stick the little X'mas tree into their ear. Attachment 15515

I tried those that came with the RE2, and they don't fit me. They're lose. They don't provide a seal.

I usually wear the biggest tips of any canalphone I buy. I must have Dumbo-like ear canals.


Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif No custom for me, at least I don't have any plan for one.

Don't like the idea, or are you just plain satisfied with universals?


Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif God will probably have all of them, Head-fi style. No, you're not insane, just a bad case of upgraditus.

It hurts, doctor. It hurts.

 

[ClieOS]

Etymotic is generally rated at -36dB of isolation. I'll venture a guess and say SHE9850 should be around -30dB - not sure how much you'll need so you have to make the call.

Tri-flanges goes deeper than the big bi-flanges from Head-Direct, but you should be fine since you already accustom to earplug.

Most of the custom I'll be interested in is too expensive, plus my goal is not to get the end-all rig but to explore all the different kind of sound, so universal fits me better.

 

[Sinocelt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Etymotic is generally rated at -36dB of isolation. I'll venture a guess and say SHE9850 should be around -30dB - not sure how much you'll need so you have to make the call.

Thank you for your comparison. I couldn't rely on pure numbers since Ety uses its own testing method, different from that of the standard NRR (for which the best foam earplugs top at 33, IIRC).

According to your evaluation, the difference is definitely there, but it's not night and day, and SHE9850 would allow me to use the Shure olives, while I've read that using the olives on the Etys may damage the IEM's stem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Tri-flanges goes deeper than the big bi-flanges from Head-Direct, but you should be fine since you already accustom to earplug.

Yeah. One day I entered an earplug through the left ear and pulled it out through the right one. My brain came out with it, which is when I realized I didn't really need that extra chunk of meat. Or maybe I do, as with it I wouldn't have forgotten that the RE2's tips are indeed bi- and not tri-flanges. I've tried the tri-flanges coming with another IEM, but a very cheap one, so the quality of the flanges is certainly at fault, more than their design.


Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most of the custom I'll be interested in is too expensive, plus my goal is not to get the end-all rig but to explore all the different kind of sound, so universal fits me better.

Your quest is admirable. And expensive. And neverending. But we all benefit from it;

I've been reading your reviews (I was a little surprised to see you'd skipped the current darling of those boards, the PFE), as well as your awe-inspiring Basic Guide to In-Ear-Canalphones.

 

[Sinocelt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Etymotic is generally rated at -36dB of isolation. I'll venture a guess and say SHE9850 should be around -30dB - not sure how much you'll need so you have to make the call.

Thank you for your comparison. I couldn't rely on pure numbers since Ety uses its own testing method, different from that of the standard NRR (for which the best foam earplugs top at 33, IIRC).

According to your evaluation, the difference is definitely there, but it's not night and day, and SHE9850 would allow me to use the Shure olives, while I've read that using the olives on the Etys may damage the IEM's stem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Tri-flanges goes deeper than the big bi-flanges from Head-Direct, but you should be fine since you already accustom to earplug.

Yeah. One day I entered an earplug through the left ear and pulled it out through the right one. My brain came out with it, which is when I realized I didn't really need that extra chunk of meat. Or maybe I do, as with it I wouldn't have forgotten that the RE2's tips are indeed bi- and not tri-flanges. I've tried the tri-flanges coming with another IEM, but a very cheap one, so the quality of the flanges is certainly at fault, more than their design.


Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most of the custom I'll be interested in is too expensive, plus my goal is not to get the end-all rig but to explore all the different kind of sound, so universal fits me better.

Your quest is admirable. And expensive. And neverending. But we all benefit from it;

I've been reading your reviews (I was a little surprised to see you'd skipped the current darling of these boards, the PFE), as well as your awe-inspiring Basic Guide to In-Ear-Canalphones.

 

[Sinocelt]

Let me take advantage of a friend of mine having left me with her camera:

This, my friend, is a pair of $10 IEM from Sampo. The sound is muddy, muffled, and the cable is a pain (way too stiff, and it's an asymmetrical design with the left cord being no longer than two inches), but it looks rather good, the construction is better than what you'd expect for that price, and above all... I get a perfect seal without effort, much better than with any of the similar tips from the other dozen IEMs I owe, including those coming with the RE2. The isolation it provides me with is close-ish to that I enjoy from earplugs. Too bad I've already destroyed two pairs (walked on one, dipped the other in a cup of tea), and that they aren't sold around here anymore. I don't even know the model number.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinocelt /img/forum/go_quote.gif Your quest is admirable. And expensive. And neverending. But we all benefit from it; I've been reading your reviews (I was a little surprised to see you'd skipped the current darling of these boards, the PFE), as well as your awe-inspiring Basic Guide to In-Ear-Canalphones.

Not skipping the PFE since I can get it at pretty good price, but unfortunately the local stock went out and I am still waiting for the new stock to arrive... not in any hurry though.

 

[Sinocelt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not skipping the PFE since I can get it at pretty good price, but unfortunately the local stock went out and I am still waiting for the new stock to arrive... not in any hurry though.

Pretty good price?

 

[jyle_t]

I think he missed out westone 3 too.

 

[ClieOS]

IE8, W3, I would like to try them all, but I don't print money so I am taking thing one step of a time. I can of course sell some of my stuffs to fund the purchase, but I'll rather buy things when I have extra money, not make money just so I can afford extra things.

 

[Sinocelt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyle_t /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think he missed out westone 3 too.

The W3 are nearly three times the price of the PFE, and while they've been discussed on these boards, they haven't given birth to the... the love fest that the PFE has.

 

[Sinocelt]

Team ER20, ClieOS? Those I really need to try. I wear foam earplugs all the time, like now, but they don't just reduce the noise, they muffle it and make me feel less... awake.

 

[ClieOS]

ER20 is pretty good but might not be enough for you. ER25 will be better but it is real expensive.

 

[mark2410]

just got a pair of the these philips and they are really quite nice, a little warm but rather nice indeed.