[terrymx]

well after waiting for 9 days i got my etymotic er6i. its the best canalphone i heard (at below $125). its very efficience and easy to power. the cable is 4.3ft long. the color is white. very light and very small.

the bass have good impact and is deep, although is a bit too much out of my iriver ihp120 headphone out. sound a lot more balanced out of the line out. the trebles is detailed and clear, but it doesnt have the sweetness offered by the akg sound. maybe a bit better out of the foamies. sometimes the treble sound like its coming from outside of your ears. the overall sound is undeniably neutral. not insane, but very good amount of details.

i dont have anything bad to say about it..............actaully i lied, i hate the white, now i look like an ipod owner. its a bit bassy for me. for ipod it might be perfect, but for the iriver that already has a good amount of bass to start with it is a bit bassy. i can see the potential to improve imaging and better instrument seperation with an amp, too bad i dont have any right now.

occlusion and microphonic effects are inevitable with canalphones, but the er6i suffer very little from them, almost none.

i cant comment much on the comfort because i have iron ears. i can tolerate almost anything. the triflange is already very comfortable to me, the foams are soft like pillows.

beside the phones, the package comes with a square velcro pouch, a shirt clip, 1 pair of triflange, 1 pair of foam, a filter changer, and 2 filter replacements.

pics:
box
package contents
overall
triflange
foam
driver1
driver2
my own seperate earsleeves (just for looks, no sound improvement, except lighten bass)

 

[MrSlacker]

thanks for good pics and review! now i am getting them for sure

 

[TrunksGoku]

The cord is 4.3 ft long? I thought it was supposed to be 5ft long(that's what etymotic told me) not that I'm complaining bout 4.3ft cords (I actually think that length is perfect) how'd you measure the cord?
Also, did you order them from discountheadphones?

btw : great pics

 

[terrymx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrunksGoku The cord is 4.3 ft long? I thought it was supposed to be 5ft long(that's what etymotic told me) not that I'm complaining bout 4.3ft cords (I actually think that length is perfect) how'd you measure the cord? Also, did you order them from discountheadphones? btw : great pics

i didnt measure the entire cable, only from the Y-splitter downward. i ordered it from discountheaphones.

OMG! the left ear just stopped working, i can barely hear anything out of it, while ht right ear works perfect. i went to use the filter changer and poke out the filter and now its working again. great, now i only have 1 filter left.

i dont know what that was, but it gave it a scare. it was not plug in loose nor the fault of my player either since i tested it with a different headphone.

 

[DanT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by terrymx OMG! the left ear just stopped working, i can barely hear anything out of it, while ht right ear works perfect. i went to use the filter changer and poke out the filter and now its working again. great, now i only have 1 filter left.

Did you get water or any liquid near the phones. Or use them after a shower. From what I read it give instant filter clogging and very low sound level. So I'm very careful with my ER-4S.

 

[JeffS]

Ok, now I can't stand the wait.
I just got the email from paypal about the shipping and tracking number.

strange though, that it came with the velcro case, when I talked
to Etymotics yesterday (I forget which person) they said they were
using the zipper case currently.

hmmm.

How long did it take you to get them, from placing order to in your hands?
I have a bad feeling the holiday weekend will delay things. I should have ordered earlier.

-Jeff

 

[appar111]

I notice that the piece that the tips attach to looks like its plastic this time, and not metal, as it was on the ER6-- is that correct? I wonder if that makes any difference in durability with repeated changing of tips.

 

[Chaka Zulu]

Thanks for the pics (btw:i wasn't serious about the camera thing)

 

[VicAjax]

i'm very curious how it compares to the ety er4p (as the P also has a boosted low end).

 

[ProdeeK]

^^ and with the shure E2c's in the Bass section.

 

[bLue_oNioN]

And with the Shure E3s?

 

[joelongwood]

I received my ER6i today........ripped open the box and plugged 'em in. A few impressions and comparisons with my ER4P and Shure E2c are in order.
First, the thin cord is exactly like my now defunct ER6 (doggie breakfast), except it's white, and is a Y shape. My original, early model ER6 had a behind the neck cord, ala Sony E888 buds.
The case is identical to the cases that came with my ER4P and ER4S......the little velcro closing pouch.
The transducer housing is also identical (from what I remember), but the tips are now the 3 flange variety. I hated the 2 flange ER6, because I couldn't get the right earpiece to maintain a good seal, no matter how hard I tried.
As soon as I popped these babies in, I knew they would be as comfy for me as my trusty ER4Ps.
As for the sound, right out of the box, I'm really liking them hooked up to an iPod. The bass is most definitely improved over what I remember the ER6 delivering, but, then again, I had such a hard time maintaining a good seal with those 2 flanged things, I don't know if I ever realized the full potential of the ER6. Anyway, to my ears, the bass is just right. It's definitely not for bass heads, but it's classic Ety bass......and it's well defined.
I listened to a variety of music encoded at varying bitrates, from standard MP3 at 192 VBR, to AAC at 292. Everything so far has sounded wonderful.
As I recall, the ER6 could, at times, sound shrill........not the case with the ER6i.
In direct comparison to the ER4P, here's what I heard. First off, the ER6i is much more sensitive. Halfway on the iPod volume bar with the ER6i is equivalent to almost 3/4 with the 4P. In terms of bass, they're actually quite close, and so far, I think the ER6i has a bit more. But that may be due to the less extended top end. The ER4P is more detailed......I can hear everything that is wrong with the recording and encoding. On poorly recorded stuff, the ER4Ps sound rather grainy, but excel with better recordings. The ER6is tend to gloss over the details......some of the stuff, particularly some early rock and roll, actually sounds better (smoother, more refined) to my ears. This may be a benefit for many MP3s.
Vocals sound more realistic and more immediate on the ER4P. Norah Jones is right there, breathing into the mike. With the 6i, she's not quite as close....the breathiness isn't there.
And what about the Shure E2c? To be honest, I don't think they'll see much use in the future. About the only thing they have going for them is their non-microphonic cord. The ER6i cord, while being less microphonic than the 4P, is still noisier than the Shures. And the Shures are a pain in the neck to put on. The ergonomics of those things leaves a lot to be desired, IMHO.
Bass on both is pretty similar, but the E2c is a tad muddy in comparison. Again, this may be due to those damned 2-flange silicon tips. As with the original ER6, I can't maintain a good seal in my right ear. And, believe me, I've tried all the tips supplied!
To my ears, the rest of the spectrum is all ER6i.....more detailed, more extended top end.......a more enjoyable listening experience all around. I'm sure the comfort (for me) of the ER6i has a lot to do with it.
In a nutshell, if I had to give a number ranking to these three canal phones, using an iPod, it would be as follows:
Ety ER4P=9.9 (hey, nothing's perfect)
Ety ER6i= 9.5
Shure E2c= 6
The two Etys could actually change places on the list, depending on the music listened to. The Shures will remain at the bottom..............of the drawer.

As usual, remember my ears are 56 years old.............so please take my impressions with a grain of salt. I'm just telling you what I hear.....thank goodness, most of you can probably hear a helluva lot better.

 

[terrymx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanT Did you get water or any liquid near the phones. Or use them after a shower. From what I read it give instant filter clogging and very low sound level. So I'm very careful with my ER-4S.

i put it on the counter of the sink when i was washing the sleeves. thats probably what happened.

Quote:

Originally Posted by appar111 I notice that the piece that the tips attach to looks like its plastic this time, and not metal, as it was on the ER6-- is that correct? I wonder if that makes any difference in durability with repeated changing of tips.

yes its plastic now. i was walking down the streetand pulling out the phones. the triflane slip out and fell down onto the road. it doesnt hold on very well so you gotta be careful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffS How long did it take you to get them, from placing order to in your hands? -Jeff

9 days, but idealsound is getting more in stock now so you'll get it much faster.

 

[go_vtec]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joelongwood In a nutshell, if I had to give a number ranking to these three canal phones, using an iPod, it would be as follows: Ety ER4P=9.9 (hey, nothing's perfect) Ety ER6i= 9.5 Shure E2c= 6 The two Etys could actually change places on the list, depending on the music listened to. The Shures will remain at the bottom..............of the drawer. As usual, remember my ears are 56 years old.............so please take my impressions with a grain of salt. I'm just telling you what I hear.....thank goodness, most of you can probably hear a helluva lot better.

Good impression. Now where would you place Sony E888?

 

[ProdeeK]

but see the thing that really sucks is that most pplk ion this board listen to rock and country and jazz and all that. and when u do these comparisons i cant really take them in consideration, 98% of the 3,000 aongs i have on my iPod are hip hop/rap. rest is r&b. And the Etymotics are to be used for ppl who liek jazz and classical stuff and all that. but in some of ur reviews, u only review the headphones with the songs YOU like. i find that pretty selfish. i think in these revies u type up, u should test them in all categories of music (genres) so that ur review will reahc out to more ppl and it will mean more to more ppl.