If you happen to be one such user trying to decide who gets your hard-earned at the end of this month, the definitely consider the Etymotics as a potential contender. In talking about the ER6’s, it has to be said that you will more than likely tend to run your iPod’s volume in the upper end of it’s range, and probably engage the EQ for Bass Boost to even out the response of these inner-earphone. These are the opposite of the Future Sonics I reviewed a while ago, where they needed a top end lift to sound spot-on. The ER6’s are definitely bass shy, even with the volume turned up. They are also one of the best design of inner-earphones I’ve had the pleasure to use for prolonged periods, better than the Future Sonics, better than the Shure E3cs. Their shape is quite different for a professional ear-monitor, given that is where they ply their trade first and foremost. The iPod aftermarket is only just a new direction for them, and hence the modified version – ER6i – being the result. Certainly the clear earphones and white wires make them more appealing to the iPod users, who wish to maintain the white theme started by the earbuds provided with the iPod by default.

In terms of sonics, like the majority of replacement earphones or cutdown professional ear-monitors, they let you hear into the music more and communicate more of what it is about the music that makes you enjoy it – whether it be more clearly defined lyrics, the bass resounding through your head, or the driving rhythm of the song being more fully delineated.

Going back to the design, the oblong shape, at first, seems awkward and anticipated to be uncomfortable. That is not the case, but using the silicon flanges provided, required that they be inserted further than other earphones/monitors, that used foam to fill the ear canal. As far as noise reduction is concerned, the flanges do a good job, but don’t take things as far as the foam ones do. The difference is noticeably slight – perhaps a few dB. This difference will only be relevant if you use the ER6’s with your iPod/MP3 player and/or if you are in a fairly noisy environment, as you may run out of volume to drown out the background noise to a similar level as that of the Future Sonics/Shures or the ER6i’s.

Given the price difference between the ER6 and ER6i’s is only £10 or so, then you really ought to go for the latter unless you are also a performing musician, and plan to make use of the ER6’s in a gigging capacity, where you can play with an equalizer to get the sound you desire, on stage. If it’s purely for an iPod usage, then grab the ER6i’s – they will play louder or at a lower volume setting on your iPod for a given SPL (sound pressure level), and with the added bass boost, preserve battery life (however much or little) by not needing that extra function turned on.

I’m very impressed with the Etymotics, and can heartily recommend them to anyone planning on moving up to the next level of earphones, once their original earbuds are considered inadequate.

Again, I’ll remind those reading, that if your music predominantly contains tracks encoded at 128 kbps (the same as those bought via Apple’s iTunes Music Store), you may start hearing distortions of certain instruments, that were masked by the original earbuds. It’s not a fault, just a trade off of low bit rates and smaller file sizes with superior earphones’ resolution capabilities. Encode a few tracks you’re very familiar with at 192 kbps (AAC/MP3, doesn’t matter) and you’ll immediately hear the difference.

The Etymotic ER6’s (and I presume the ER6i’s) come in a neat little zippered pouch, with additional earpieces to play around with, to get the best solution for you, with. It’s surprising how small the overall presentation is, and doesn’t impress given the cost, initially. However, once you’ve connected the earphones to the iPod/MP3 player, and start listening with them, that aspect soon gets forgotten about and you find yourself immersed in a clarity of sound that makes you realise they were worth the money spent on them.

Are they the best earphones for their money? That’s a tough call – for the price, £100 for the ER6i’s, they make a very persuasive argument. However, they might face a bit of competition towards the end of the year, when Future Sonics / ExtremeMac’s joint development arrives for a similar price or less. For now, though, if I had to decide between the Etymotics and the Shures, I’d hard pushed to decide either way. One difference other than price, might be that the Shure E3c’s have a thicker cable, and therefore could be considered as being more robust. A similar point with the Future Sonics – which isn’t to say thin cables are necessarily weak by default, but just the impression you might think when looking at the 2 or 3 brands, and deciding who gets the nod.

Review by - PJ Skelton

Published - 19/06/2005

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