[CENTRAL]

These are still going strong for me (well, after discovering the Shure olives that is)...
 
As long as one is after a natural, uncompressed sound signature these are still absolute gems today.
 
I have found out that every genre sounds good on the HF5s, especially music with a focus on human voice and natural instruments. I still use them for rock & metal, but my arsenal can deal with such genres in more effective ways (JVCs/ SONYs).
 
One quality that is hard to beat on the HF5s is the separation of individual sounds. Every nuance is described separately - not at all detached - but still with a life of its own.
 
Listening to UNISONIC as we speak, there is a brilliant musicality and coherence in the sound (despite the recordings extreme compression - 5db dynamic range).
 
Voices shine - what can anyone say about Michael Kiske's iconic vocal signature - every time in every song I've heard.
 
Soundstage is ok - nothing extreme - no bummer either.
 
Isolation is top notch. Have these on and you forget the f..ng chaos in the train going to work. You have to focus on spotting the stop however.
 
End of the mature user report.
 
Keep going strong and enjoying music!

 

[Saoshyant]

I haven't used mine in such a long time, I wonder if I should sell em to someone who'd actually benefit from having them.

 

[ls20]

bought a pair of ER4PT , HF2, and HF3 at the same time
 
the housing and tips look identical between the ER & the HF but for whatever reason the ER inserts easier and seals much, much better.  i have to put the larger tips on the HF to approach seal of ER on the base (clear gray) tips
 
also, i was expecting the HF series to have the same signature of ER but a scaled down version that loses in resolution, detail, etc.... but it seems much much weaker in the low-end and more busy and fatiguing
 
hrmm....

 

[ls20]

second observation:  the HF3 obviates the HF2!!!
 
bought both because i was planning on swapping between android and iphone.  HF2 has single button and made for android, and supposedly HF3 with 3 buttons programmed only for iOS.....
 
 
turns out, the center button of HF3 functions just like HF2... (on android phone, the 2 buttons for volume just doesnt work).    that the HF3 remote control unit looks smaller means HF2 is going back to amazon...

 

[Saoshyant]

For Ety HF users that are out in Australia, read up on http://www.head-fi.org/t/730831/kogan-8gb-mp4-the-player-that-came-from-nowhere and see if it's a DAP that might interest you.  Kogan + HF5 listening to Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto was quite impressive.

 

[Airlight]

Just to share some insights that might be useful to people perusing this board, those that like the Etymotic HF5 but would like a dynamic driver alternative, I'd highly recommend the Vsonic GR07 Classic Edition.
 
Doing some direct comparisons between these and they feel like they share alot of similar properties. They are very similar in transient attack and clarity across the spectrum, and decay times. The GR07 here sounds remarkably like a BA driver despite having an 11mm dynamic.
 
The GR07 has a more V-shaped response from the Ety, with fuller lower spectrum, and more present treble.
Their texturing ability are remarkably similar, and the timbres and fast attack properties are also very similar, for example in rendering complex elements like metallic cymbal or hihats.
 
The Ety has better isolation, while the GR07 is a double-ported design, which manages quite good high-frequency isolation but not nearly as complete blockage of lower frequency outside noises. On the plus side the GR07 never achieves a vacuum seal and feel effortless in that aspect.
 
Both are not very immersive as far as soundstage goes, but the GR07 to my ears are wider and a bit more "realistic" as far as rendering a 3d feeling of the room of drum hits or similar (might just be the different frequency responses and the GR07 having a bit more treble though). While both are not presenting a upfront, large soundstage, conversely, both are superb at instrument separation and avoiding a "saturated", "smoothed over" or compressed feeling, making even overly compressed material get sometimes an almost undeservedly snappy, crisp and lively feel.
 
Besides the general V-shape of the Vsonic over the Ety, the Etymotic has a perceived slight focus on the mids around 2.5-3.5KHz, while the GR07 recesses this area slightly and puts slightly more focus on the 6-7KHz area.
 
 
Changing between these 2 earphones, there is almost no brain readjustment necessary. They both feel like much the same earphone with just a very gently different EQ emphasis, and it's likely lovers of either will find the other a very appealing complement.

 

[joel96]

I've had my Ety hf5's for maybe nine months. I bought mine off of eBay from a seller of airport lost-and-found items. The left channel's wire has gradually worsened at the Y-split where the two cables merge into one cable; it's at the point where I have to sit very still and have to adjust it for a few minutes before the break has abated enough to pass signal. I'm thinking of recabling that one spot, but my success to failure ratio with headphone repair is 1:6 at best. 
 
The microphonics have always bugged me. The shortness of the cable may have contributed towards the break--I use the buds exclusively at my PC; when I move around, they get caught on the furniture and get yanked out of my ears. I'm thinking of abandoning the HF5's and going for buds in the same range (mine were $88), and hopefully with a longer cable. 

 

[plonter]

Hello audiophiles , 
I must share my enthusiasm, I recently got back to Hi-Fi after some time off.  My beloved HF5 were resting for couple of years or so..  But now,listening to them again and I fell in love all over again.
So balanced along the entire frequency range,so neutral, but with the added little bit extra bass just to fill my bassheads needs (I am a basshead in rehab LOL).  sound amazing with every genre and recording I throw at them,I can hear every little pipsss in the recording.  Truly one of the best price to performance ratio Headphones!   

nice to be back to the IEM's world!  Now considering getting some ER4

 

[deepee]

 
Admittedly, I did not like my HF5 much when I bought it ($90 at Ben Gurion airport a few years back).
The bass was thin. I listened to it several times over the years, and noticed the cable degrading.
I had to keep putting magic glue on the connectors, near the drivers and at the pug. But the wire
was degrading and peeling off all over. Also the sound degraded, and I used my spare filters
provided with the earphones.
 
Recently I had an accident with my UE TF 10 (actually TF 15 version for the Chinese market).
I tried to switch the ports and the wired poped up. It was unrecoverable. I decided to take the TF 10
apart, and found I have two pairs of filters, green and red. I understood that these are Knowles filters,
and the green ones are technically the same as the HF5. Reading about change in filters, I decided
to put the red ones on my HF5. Wow! These little earphones were great! better than my TF 10.
 
I had to make some changes as the wires were almost dead. I decided to change the wires myself.
I amputated my HTC-one stock earphones with flat cable and remote. Peeled the wires. Luckily
both the HTC and HF5 were holding to standards, and there was inside colored isolation (read and blue
depending in size). I used a solder. Then to make this strong, I removed the isolation of an old computer
wire and used glue to cover the solded part. I cut a Klipsch rubber to fit the narrow nozle of the HF5, and
pass through it some of the new Bose tips (I needed the former to hold the Bose, which have a large
hole). And, Walla, I have some excellent sounding earphones made from pieces of 5 earphones.
 

 

[Artist2]

My HF5 is connected to a JDS Labs C5D and iPad2 cck, and the sound is superb. The dual bass of the C5D is deep and still whole with detail. The gain is powerful, and the only time there is hiss is when there is no track playing while the volume is maxed. With the very clean and detailed deep bass of the C5D, i wonder how great it might sound paired with an ER4-S iem. That could be amazing.

 

[goodvibes]

  Just found some info about HF5 (after recabling my), and my opinion that unfortunatly, they have different driver than ER4s Knowles Acoustic ED29689. ED29689 have 3 terminals, and another polarity than HF5 driver.
 
HF5, blue wire (+) on the left side, 2 terminals                      ER4, x-ray image

 
ED29689, 3 terminals                                                         Terminals polarity, from datasheet

 
Rin Choi also think that they are close, but not the same:
 
http://rinchoi.blogspot.ru/2013/04/etymotic-research-hf-3-er-4-equivalent.html
 
Addition...
 
Made some search on KA site... Maybe its http://www.knowles.com/search/prods_pdf/ED-23619-000.pdf? But strange why they are used inverted polarity?

If you read the datasheet, it says a pos voltage at the pos terminal creates neg pressure at the outlet. Means that if it's wired as marked, it will be phase inverted. All Etymotic has done is correct this situation for proper absolute phase. It's good engineering.

 This config is not uncommon in BAs.

 

[Mooses9]

very good imformation now the er4 are not the same, now go out and buy the ER4!

   
 
NAH i cant say anything the hf5 is a good iem, i love all etymotic
 
NOW GO BUY ER4

 

[Spyro]

  -Sigh- I just lost mine. I guess I'm back in the market for another pair of <150 IEM's. I don't want to buy the same headphones again even though I loved these to death, but new headphones will have high expectations in order to match this. 

 
DUNU Titan 1
 
Same level of detail but a little more bass and a MUCH larger soundstage.  Total no brainer.

 

[sheldonkreger]

  The HF5 and ER4 share the definitive Ety DNA, only the ER4 does it a lot better. If you're considering an upgrade, I would recommend going the whole hog, skip the 4P and get the ER4S. The level of detail you get from these is absolutely mind blowing. At 100 ohms impedance, it's right at the limit with my iPhone 5 as source. Some quiet or low-gain encoded songs struggle, but most do fine.

 
What is the optimal impedance for the HF5 and ER4?
 
-sheldon

 

[sheldonkreger]

My HF5 is connected to a JDS Labs C5D and iPad2 cck, and the sound is superb. The dual bass of the C5D is deep and still whole with detail. The gain is powerful, and the only time there is hiss is when there is no track playing while the volume is maxed. With the very clean and detailed deep bass of the C5D, i wonder how great it might sound paired with an ER4-S iem. That could be amazing.

 
I actually had a C5D for about two weeks and couldn't stand it! I found that the gain made everything feel harsh, and the bass boost made everything feel imbalanced. Lots of people like that sound, but not me. Even without the gain and bass boost, the highs seemed crunchy and the overall balance didn't meet my taste.
 
I say it is worth a try for those who are considering it, especially because they maintain their value well on the used market.
 
I tried some of the Cypher Labs products last year and might have to splurge at some point.
 
-sheldon