Shure e2 / etymotic Er6 / etymotic 6i isolator

[necrotoxico]

Hello to all md enthusiastic

Shure e2 / etymotic Er6 / etymotic 6i isolator

The thing is I’m in the need of a great in-ear phones and those three mentioned are just the right thing to my wallet (so cant spend $499 on the advanced shure model) and have read a lot that this phones are one of the greatest in the universe for this range of money

So after poorly expressing my self in English I ask for some advanced and full of knowledge sound user or some sound engineer or someone like that. To give me a purely tech based facts to choose the best phone between this three mentioned. So don’t need advices just based on brand favouritism

Salutes and thanks in advance for the help

Edit:

Forgot to say..... I don’t care about ear adjust and fitting problems... just care about sound quality

Edited November 20, 2006 by necrotoxico

[A440]

ER6 is also called the ER6 Isolator. Same thing.

Tech facts won't tell you anything. You have to hear them and use them. Especially with inner ear monitor (IEM) headphones, the way they suit the shape of your ear is going to be the most important factor in sound quality.

But you can look at the way they are built. The Etymotic are on thin wires. The Shure are on a thicker cord that seems sturdier.

I tried the more expensive Etymotic, ER4P. They had no presence at all in the bass. The Shure in a lower price range, Shure E3, sounded much richer to me.

Most people who do write about the Etymotic ER6 or ER4 say the bass is "clean" or "precise" or "not exaggerated." What they mean is that it has weak bass.

But you need to see how it sounds for yourself.

[necrotoxico]

ER6 is also called the ER6 Isolator. Same thing.

Thanks for the tip but those two etymotic mentioned by me are not the same http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/epcomp.aspx

Please reply only if you are fully familiar to these models on a technical level

Not my intention to be rude but is what I ask for

Edited November 21, 2006 by necrotoxico

[actorlife]

I highly recommend: Sharp MD33S($50),Fujilabs E3220(25) & if you have $165.00 UE 5 Pro(amazon.com)i'd highly recommend them. All of them have bass, but not overblown. Detail, good highs and mids. I have the Ety 6i, but don't use them as there is hardly any bass and i'm not a bass head. Headphones? Koss Porta Pros= Excellent!

Edited November 21, 2006 by actorlife

[A440]

Interesting that the two Etymotics are different. They certainly do their best to confuse things.

I don't think you're going to find a lot of professional sound engineers paying much attention to these low-level consumer phones. A music professional would likely find both of them unlistenable.

From the specs, it looks like one is louder than the other to suit the modest amplification of some portable players. So you'd want to get the more sensitive one, the 6i, for minidisc.

If you can find frequency-response curves for both Shure and Etymotic--and I doubt you can, because the frequency response will depend on the shape of your ear and the companies can't figure that out for every ear--then you can see which one is flatter.

The flattest curve is technically better because it is reproducing the music more precisely. Without that kind of technical information, you are going to have to try them. Numbers are not going to give you the answer.

Look at these specs from Etymotic.

ER6

50 Hz - 6 kHz ± 3 dB;

20 Hz - 16 kHz ±6 dB

ER6i

50 Hz - 6 kHz ± 3 dB;

20 Hz - 16 kHz ±6 dB

What they are telling you is that in a middle range, 50Hz-6Hz, that the frequency response is almost flat, very accurate, within 3dB. Outside that range, below it and above it, there is more variation, within 6dB.

The bottom note of a piano is 27.5 Hz, so between 20 and 50 are some serious bass notes. And between 6 Hz and 16 Hz are the overtones that greatly shape the sound of instruments. Will you like the Etymotic's interpretation of those overtones? You have to try it.

The Etymotic specs say they ER6i are less accurate than the ER6. But maybe the tradeoff for volume is worth it, or the inaccuracies make music sound warmer.

Shure doesn't even provide that information, because each person will hear the phones differently.

If one were clearly better than the other for everybody, only one would have survived the market.

But read actorlife's post. He has a lot of headphones and doesn't use his Etymotics much because he doesn't think they have enough bass. I tried better Etymotics and also didn't hear full bass. There's a pattern here.

If you want to read a lot of debate on this try http://www.head-fi.org and http://www.ipodlounge.com . And some people will say the Etymotics are "clean" and "understated" and others will say they have weak bass. IEM's (in-ear monitors) are not the best headphones for bass to begin with. But in my experience, the Shures (E3 and E4--I haven't tried the E2) work better than the Etymotic 4P (I haven't tried the ER6).

If you look on eBay and have a little patience, you can probably find Shure E3 (gray) or E3c (white) for about $100. That's what I'd recommend.

Edited November 21, 2006 by A440

[necrotoxico]

Thanks a lot A440 for the info and links.... you put me walking to the right way

I have made my choice er6i is the way to go.... but will keep my mind open till The very last moment