[whobuiltthelove]

Hey guys, I just purchased the Etymotic HF5's for use with my 160GB iPod and am a little disappointed. I used the default flanged eartips and inserted them pretty deep, but the sound left much to be desired. What I was hearing wasn't all that clear, and they sounded much like a fuzzy radio. Why do my $40 Zune premium earphones sound better than these things? I'm thinking I may have to return them and get my $120 back.

 

[Mortuus]

There's a high chance your song quality is low..hence the fuzzy radio sound.

 

[Spyro]

Lack of bass...perhaps but the HF5 should NOT sound fuzzy at all. Should be quite detailed. Something doesn't sound right.

 

[Young Spade]

Yea I was going to say that it might be the quality of your mp3s. What is the bitrate you encoded your music at? I don't listen to anything less than 256k on my setup and I can easily discern between that and my 320k and WAV songs.

 

[RAFA]

Sounds like they are faulty or you listen to 128k

 

[krmathis]

Yeah, unless you have Apple Lossless files on the iPod you may indeed have ran into the fact that your audio files no longer can keep up with the rest of the system.

Welcome to Head-Fi!

 

[whobuiltthelove]

Most of my collection is between 256-320 kbps, I don't have anything lower than 192. I tried all the included eartips, and the default ones gave me the best seal. Maybe I just have to burn them in?

 

[Leto Atreides II]

To me the flange tips sound bad too (on ER-4p). I like the foam tips.

It's also possible you just don't like the sound of Etymotics -- nothing wrong with that.

 

[theKraken11]

Seems very much like an issue with the pressure in your ear canals. I've noticed that if there's too much pressure, the sound seems farther away and I just need to get a better fit.

When this happens, try pulling them out slowly, and then reinserting them. Pull the top of your ear tip up and away from your head to straighten out your ear canal, and then twist the IEM into place slowly. You can tell you have a good seal (at least moderately good) when your voice sounds louder as you speak. Make sure to turn the volume down first, though, in case you had it up loud to compensate for a build-up of pressure.

 

[whobuiltthelove]

I don't think I'm putting them in right, because I could still hear the sound on my computer with them in...

EDIT: Found the insertion video on the Etymotic website. Seal is much better now. I played music on my computer speakers at full blast and couldn't hear it!

 

[rawrster]

yeah u definitely weren't putting them in right. regardless if its 128 kbps or flac it shouldn't sound fuzzy.

 

[whobuiltthelove]

Sound quality still isn't amazing though...the Zune earphones definitely have more clarity...and no hissing noise.

 

[yipcanjo]

Something *definitely* isn't right. I have both the Zune Premium headphones *and* the Ety HF5s, and the clarity of the HF5s is far, far superior. "Fuzzy" is never a description of the Ety sound, whether or not you like it.

Try them on another source, if you can (different player, computer, or what have you) and if they're still sounding that way, then I'd say they're defective.

 

[Michiyo-Fir]

Perhpas you got a faulty pair? Maybe try and exchange it for a new pair and see.

 

[whobuiltthelove]

I just listened to the same song twice through, once with the Zunes and once with the Etys. The Zunes make the song sound SO much clearer. I don't know how Etymotic gets away with charging that much for crappy headphones when you can get a better pair for less than half the price.