Etymotic Er-6i mini Review

I just got my package from buy.com with my brand new Er-6is. Initially i thought wow this packaging is pretty cheap, my shure e2cs came in a huge plastic capsule thing with a small hard cloth shell inside for the headphones. Well after that i opened up the package and felt a little jipped since I only got 1 size of bi-flanges and foamies, not that it matters since these fit but I just wonder what would happen if they didn't. Since I lost my E2c's I would have to compare by memory and thats not a good idea. I could also compare them to my grado sr225s, but the two arent in the same leage so that also isnt a good idea. I will post my impressions i guess.
The bi-flanges dont work nearly as well as the foamies for me, a little dissapointed since they look like they would work really well. Well after I got them into my ears I was a little suprised to hear some noise when I plugged them into my Ipod, this isnt present with any other set of headphones I have. I guess its because they are really sensitive. I loaded up one of Lagwagon MP3s and was suprised how constricted and clostraphobic the headphones felt, 192kbps mp3. Well that wasn't good. Loaded up a lossless Rise Against MP3 and was in awe of the immersion and soundstaging, I think its better than my sr-225s . The sound quality is top notch, a little more muted in the highs and voices arent as pronounced as some of the other headphones I ahve heard. One thing I am amazed at is how fast these little buggers are. They have no problem hitting every single note fast music throughs at them, really amazing to me since my Hd497s couldn't do that. The bass is so much more controlled than I remember the e2c's being it is also not overpowering or bloated.
And how could I forget the ISOLATION!!!! these are amazing I have a huge airconditioner about 10 feet from my head that is usually loud as hell but now I cant hear it. This does have its downside though since my little sister was able to sneak up to me, and shes not good at sneaking at all, and scare the &*^$ out of me. I'm kind of interested in seeing if these can block out a lawnmower, I'm not about to test it though because then I would have to mow the lawn.
Overall I am extremely impressed at these cheap headphones. They are half the price of my Sr-225's and about 70% as good, overall both have there advantages. I can't not recommend these over the e2c's, only advantage the e2cs have is the packaging oh and they werent this dorky white. However when you get these beware the dreaded sound of quality. You will definitely need to reconsider your music encoding format when you get these since they are unforgiving when it comes to detail.
I fear for myself now since in the future I'm going to really want a pair of er-4 or something equally expensive.

Seconded! I have the ER-6, which are very similar, and I absolutely love them.

For the future, you might want to look at the Shure E4c, the Etymotic ER-4P (as you mentioned) and the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 line. The Shure E4s are getting a lot of love right now. Apparently they're very punchy and fun, have a great midrange and good highs, too. And are pretty detailed too. Have not heard much about the Super.fi line...it's Ultimate Ear's first IEMs that aren't custom molds.

I love my ER6i too, and I have no problems with the triflange tips. Just mowed the lawn with them for the first time today, and they were great. I like them much more than the old E2c they replace. Much better sound, better isolation, and much smaller. The noise that you hear is from the sensativity, there are ways around it, such as an impedance adapter, probably used with a headphone amp, better sources, and listening to music, which I find makes the hiss virtually inaudible. Speaking of amps, I find they help, but not nearly as much as some other headphones. That said, I still havnt built an impedance adapter, since I dont have the correct resistors here, but once I have that, I suspect the amp will play more of a role. What problem did you have with the flange tips?

they were just uncomfortable for prolonged use. My ears are a bit more adjusted to them now, they are a huge step up in seal over the foamies IMHO though.

I found that because the silicone flange tips flex more, I was able to insert them much further into my ear canal, which caused pain over time. Insert the foamies as far as you can, take note (by touch) of where the ends of the buds on your ears, and insert the triflanges only that deep. A general rule is that if you can barely grab the bud and need the cable to pull the phone out, it's in too deep. You should easily be able to grab the edge and pull. Unless you're Fatty McSausage Fingers.

As for amplification, I've heard the ER-6 to benefit (don't have an amp yet, just a poor student, sigh), or so I've heard. The ER-6i are a lower impedence version...which either means the drivers are slightly different or there's not a resistor inline. I couldn't see any resistors inline on my ER-6, so unless they were tiny, it's just a different driver. And since the barrel is a different size, I'm betting the driver is also slightly different. But it's always worth trying to add an ampedence adapter. Use an inline volume control for testing.

Hm...you say that the soundstage is really impressive, as compared to your Grados, but Grados aren't really known for having a wide open soundstage. Anyone else have any opinions on this?

Emon said:

I found that because the silicone flange tips flex more, I was able to insert them much further into my ear canal, which caused pain over time. Insert the foamies as far as you can, take note (by touch) of where the ends of the buds on your ears, and insert the triflanges only that deep. A general rule is that if you can barely grab the bud and need the cable to pull the phone out, it's in too deep. You should easily be able to grab the edge and pull. Unless you're Fatty McSausage Fingers.

As for amplification, I've heard the ER-6 to benefit (don't have an amp yet, just a poor student, sigh), or so I've heard. The ER-6i are a lower impedence version...which either means the drivers are slightly different or there's not a resistor inline. I couldn't see any resistors inline on my ER-6, so unless they were tiny, it's just a different driver. And since the barrel is a different size, I'm betting the driver is also slightly different. But it's always worth trying to add an ampedence adapter. Use an inline volume control for testing.

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The resistors could also be inside the casing for the driver, or that of the 3.5mm mini, but I dont know. I dont think anyone has dissected the ER6 and ER6i yet to be sure, but the different barrel makes me wonder if it truely is a different driver, not just what they did with the ER4p/s. You are using the HD600 without an amp? When you get one, even if it is a CMoy, it will be suprising how much better it gets. I have a feeling that I am inserting a bit too deep at times, a bit hard to remove, but they sound good, isolate well, and really make me want to finish that mint up. As for soundstage, I dont really have my test stuff on this comp, dont even have a dvd drive to try a movie, and until I finish modding the main comp, I wont be able to tell for sure, but they seem to have much less soundstage than my HD580.

I don't really use my HD600. I only bought them since I got a great deal. $110 shipped, the right driver internal connection was broken, which Sennheiser fixed for free. The seller also didn't have the cable, which Sennheiser also replaced when I sent it in for repair. I bought a HD650 cable and I have some teflon insulated, silver plated copper I got from navships on eBay (I think you linked to it!). I honestly doubt teflon has any effect on sound (perhaps its dielectric properties do affect the analog signal, but nothing we can detect, only fancy equipment)...but I wanted silver plated copper for my dark Senns, and I just like working with teflon, it's a much nicer material to boot. So now I've got two HD6x0 cables and nice materials for a DIY cable...it all cost me around $160. Couldn't pass up a bargain like that!

I'm going to build a MINT. I don't have a job for the summer (although it's not at all too late), just making some money doing odd jobs and selling a lot of stuff on eBay (already paid for my soundcard, E-MU 1212m with that). I'm about halfway to the funds for a nice MINT, although I haven't been trying hard lately...I'm going to build it in the smallest Hammond enclosure with one 9v battery, an Alps RK097 (the switching one), some beefy caps (there's lengthwise room in the Hammond I can string them back into) and very very small trickle charge circuit for wall charging with simultanious listening. It's going to be jam packed, but it'll rock! I figured since I won't be able to afford a Dynahi anytime soon (I have the skills to make it, just no money...) I might as well go as small as possible. No point in making a PIMETA if I can't take it with my after my Dynahi replaces it someday.

madcow235 said:

I fear for myself now since in the future I'm going to really want a pair of er-4 or something equally expensive.

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I love my ER4Ps. Truly brilliant earphones. The point about picking up on imperfections within MP3s is very true, I use mine mainly with DVDs on my Portable. i prfer the 3 flanged Tips, I can get a better seal, I dont find them particularly uncomfortable. I can go with them in for 10hrs and be fine, I've even slept in them. One point about putting them in to deep, dont do it just after cleaning the things! I had just cleaned them, put them back on the phones, put them in my ears at which point someone wanted to talk to me, I went to pull them out and the Tips Got stuck in my Ear Canals, wasnt pleasant I assure you.