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Good noise cancelling/isolating headphones?

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brickout

Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2005
Location
Bozeman
Much to my chagrin, I misplaced my Bose QuietComfort 2's yesterday in an airport. Needless to say, they definitely were not turned in to lost and found. I loved them since I travel very frequently (been on ~13 flights this month, and am going to northern Europe in a month). I also loved them because I didn't pay anywhere near full price for them...

So, I'm looking for your suggestions for noise cancelling/isolating headphones. I actually prefer earbud style isolators since active noise cancelling still has a long ways to go.

Things I didn't like about the Bose 'phones: big and bulky, additional battery requirement, expensive, imperfect functionality, so-so sound quality.

Because of all of this, I'm looking at Etymotic's lineup, and like the looks (and price) of the ER-6.

Can anyone comment on these, or suggest others? Thanks a ton.
 
brickout said:
Much to my chagrin, I misplaced my Bose QuietComfort 2's yesterday in an airport. Needless to say, they definitely were not turned in to lost and found. I loved them since I travel very frequently (been on ~13 flights this month, and am going to northern Europe in a month). I also loved them because I didn't pay anywhere near full price for them...

So, I'm looking for your suggestions for noise cancelling/isolating headphones. I actually prefer earbud style isolators since active noise cancelling still has a long ways to go.

Things I didn't like about the Bose 'phones: big and bulky, additional battery requirement, expensive, imperfect functionality, so-so sound quality.

Because of all of this, I'm looking at Etymotic's lineup, and like the looks (and price) of the ER-6.

Can anyone comment on these, or suggest others? Thanks a ton.
Definatly sounds like canalphones are what you want. the Shure E2Cs are also worth a look. http://www.shurestore.com/earphones/eseries_e2c.html

Also, head over to headfi. Theres lots of good info there on headphones.
 
I have both the ER6i and the Shure E2c, and have tried the E3c, ER6, and ER4p/s/b. I definitly prefer the Ety lineup, IMO, the ER6 and ER6i are much better sounding than the Shure E2c and E3c, and the ER4 line is even better than the ER6 line. If you get the ER4, I would go for the ER4p, because you will probably want to be able to use them without a headphone amp at times, and if you decide you want the ER4s, you can just use a 75 ohm impedance adapter to get exactly the same sound. All of these, except maybe the E2c, destroy the Bose QC2.
 
I own a pair of Ety ER4P and Sennheiser HD580 w/ HD600 grills. IMHO the Etys pale in comparison, but that's probably not fair. I can't compare with what you had, but in usability terms, just know that the Etys tend to stick a bit out of your ear whereas the Shures are more inline. I also don't know how much you're willing to spend, but I really want to check out the Shure E5C, since I've heard really good things about them. That might be another option for you, too.
 
the er6 is very neutral phone with very little bass. the e2c is a much more fun canalphone
 
ER6 and ER6i dont stick out nearly as much as the ER4. As to the E2c being "more fun," it might be, if it wasnt so muddy.
 
Shure E4(you can find them for less than 200 bucks). :D Get the E5s if you really have cash to blow(like 400-500), I'm picking up a pair soon.

The ER6s are great canalphones, better sounding than the E2s and even E3s somewhat, but you can't even begin to argue that they sound as good as E4s. I've found ER6s to be a bit too bright, which is definitely NOT good especially for the kind of music I listen to at times. If you ever tried to listen to J-Pop on those, your ears would bleed(I'm serious, when I tried them out I wasn't ready for the grating sound in my head). Plus, they really lack any decent bass(no I'm not a bass junkie, but SOME bass is appreciated). I don't like how inefficient they are either.

E4s are overall a great deal. They sound wonderful, and at prices as low as 170 bucks, they are a bargain. Clarity, bass, great highs, it's all there. For some, the upgrade to E5s would only be marginally better, and definitely not worth paying twice as much.
 
Thanks for all the input. A pair of Ety ER6's will be at my door tomorrow morning, along with my new mp3 player.

As far as the discrepancies surrounding the sound quality of the ER6's, I made sure to find a player with robust EQ controls. I know that's not the same as having good sound naturally, but the ER6's seemed to be the best bang/buck for what I'm looking for.

I'll report back about the sound quality, and if it's not up to my liking (the Bose 'phones sounded pretty good) maybe I'll shell out some more ducats for what you were suggesting.
 
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