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| Etymotic Research ER6 Isolator In-Ear Earphones (Black) | 
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| Brand: Etymotic Research
Category: CE
List Price: $99.99
Buy New: $69.99
You Save: $30.00 (30%)
New (32) Used (3)
Avg. Customer Rating:  148 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 2 x 11 x 6
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: ER6-P
Model: ER6-P
UPC: 898234000602
EAN: 0898234000640
ASIN: B0007WTHLY
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 sounds awesome August 7, 2005
15 out of 19 found this review helpful
Sound is awesome, even in NYC subways. Only drawback is that the in-th-ear design makes it easy to be accidentally pulled out. But if you are careful with them, the sound quality is well worth it.
hey, they do what they do! August 2, 2005
5 out of 18 found this review helpful
The product is what it should be, and the value was great.
ER-6 for Air Travel June 24, 2005
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I travel quite a bit with my job, so I bought the ER-6 earphones to use with my iPod and PSP on flights. Initially, I was very dissapointed by the weak bass response with the rubber earpieces. The foam earpieces do a much better job of blocking out external sound and providing bass.
The ER-6 earphones are perfect for air travel. They block out all ambient noise including engine sounds and even silence the annoying chatty people who always have a need to boast about their great jobs to everyone around. You can still hear announcements over the intercom though which is helpful.
Yes, just like earplugs you can hear yourself breath and hear the wire when it brushes your shirt, but once volume from your device is turned on that noise ceases as well.
The only "con" I have is the price. If you don't mind the aesthetics, the Koss "Plug" earphones are just as good at blocking out noise and can be found at your local electronics giant for around $20.
Overall, these are great earphones as they block out almost all external noise and also sound incredibly clear.
 ER6 vs. ER6i Earphones for Apple's iPod / Winner: ER6 June 1, 2005
56 out of 58 found this review helpful
After checking with the vendors that these headphones were returnable after being opened, I proceeded to test Etymotic Research's more economically accessible earphones - the ER6 and ER6i headphones - to more objectively make a comparison between the two. I compared their respective power usage, bass response, clarity, connection to the iPod, convenience, and sound isolation capabilities. The overall winner: ER6 Isolation Earphones. The report is below (*note this was not a scientific study but I did try to control whatever I could)
iPod Battery Life Winner: ER6i
The battery life of iPods isn't particularly great, and can be affected by a number of sources such as if EQ settings are on, if the iPod is on "hold", the song-encoded bit rate, whether or not the screen light is on, or in this case, what type of headphone is being used. I tested the battery life of the iPod using the ER6i and ER6 earphones by playing the "All Songs" function which plays every song in the library continuously until the power runs out. By starting it from the first song in the library using both earphones, I was able to factor out the bit rate in determining which earphone lasted longer. Of course, the earphones that lasted longer would be subjected to songs with bit rates that might have been much larger (say 824kbs using the Apple Lossless Encoder instead of the default 128kbs ACC encoder) or much smaller than the earphones that ran out quicker. Therefore, if the longer-lasting earphones hit a string of large bit-rate songs, the battery would run out faster than if there were lower encoded bit-rate songs. Therefore, the times that I will report should not be compared as absolute ratios. I kept the volume exactly the same for both trials and I never touched the screen so the light was never enabled. The results: the ER6 ran the battery out in 6hrs:23min while the ER6i ran it out in 9hrs.26mins. Winner: ER6i
Connection to the iPod Winner: ER6i
Because the ER6is were specifically designed for the iPod, the headphone jack connection was perfect and not as sensitive as the ER6 connection. When a headphone is disconnected from the iPod, it pauses the music automatically. Twisting the headphone jack while the iPod is in use has no effect when using the ER6i but the more tenuous connection established between the ER6 and the iPod renders the music to stop when doing this. (There is definitely some flexibility, but running with these or ascending stairs will continuously stop the music and become quite a nuisance.) Winner: ER6i
Bass Response Winner: TIE
Almost any criticism of these headphones in other product reviews always comes back to the bass response. Admittedly, for the price tag, I think the bass could be better on both models, but the major criticism of the iPod ALSO is bass response. In order to hear the bass response well, I set the iPod EQ setting to "R&B" which GREATLY enhances the bass with any headphone. I found that the ER6i lived up to its advertised enhanced bass response. However, the bass was much boomier and subsequently less accurate than that of the ER6s. In addition, the enhanced bass sacrificed mid and upper frequencies rendering a much more immature sound, and frankly, merely as impressive as my Sony Fontopia headphones that were $60 cheaper. Even though the ER6 bass response is a little thinner than that of the ER6i, it's HIGHLY accurate. I can hear each note with remarkable clarity exposing how succinct the notes truly were when they were recorded. For example, check out the beginning of Dave Matthew's Band "Crush"; you can hear his finger strike the string and the transition from each note to the other omitting that muddled "fake bass" that Sennheiser can produce. Any R&B song will really expose the accuracy. However, having that full bass response that the ER6i offers is an important basement for listening to music. Just for fun, I hooked up the ER6s to my Sony Discman and the bass was AMAZING, absolutely the BEST bass I've ever heard; highly accurate with some serious depth. Therefore, I'm convinced that the lack of bass with the ER6 is only a function of the iPod's notoriously thin low frequency output. Both earphones have something to offer; therefore they tie in this category, but I'm leaning towards the ER6.
Musical Clarity and Realism Winner: ER6
If you go to Etymotic's website you can see how they measure sonic response accuracy. The higher the accuracy score, the closer the earphone-produced sound is to live music. The ER6 is 90% accurate whereas the ER6i is 81% accurate and boy is this noticeably different. The ER6i doesn't have the same near-live sound that the ER6 can produce. High frequencies are fuzzier, substantially muted, and not as accurate rendering the ER6is incapable of producing the near-live musical experience of the ER6s. Singers' voices aren't as exposed, sounding more distant and washed out by the bass. The ER6s are just plain amazing in this category. You can hear the decay of each note as if you were standing in a concert hall (as long as the recording is high quality), and I have heard at least 5 to 10 seconds of additional sound at the beginning and ending of each song, especially during fade outs. It's also fun to hear musician's comments after the song, especially on Dave Matthews Band and Ben Folds Five/Ben Folds recordings. Cymbals are bright, crisp, and crystal clear; singers' enunciations are quite clear, trumpets sound fantastic, etc. - virtually any high frequency is the best I've ever heard. The mid-ranges are unbelievable as well and overall balance of sound is impeccable. I can hear layers of songs with the ER6s I didn't hear before. Therefore, the ER6 CLEARLY wins.
Noise Isolation Winner: TIE
When you spend over $100 dollars for earphones, you think that they better sound like they were a gift from God. For me, the reason that these earphones are this expensive is because the noise isolation is flat out incredible. I have tried the famous Bose Noise Canceling Headphones and both of the Etymotic Research earphones cancel sound BETTER (and they're HALF the price with MORE convenience i.e. not as bulky). Don't run, bike, or drive with these in your ears; you will die. I am a drummer and I've been using earplugs since I was 7, trying to find ways to completely isolate sound. Well these earphones do just that. When I walked down the street outside my apartment along a very busy road, I could not hear ANY ambient noise, literally (*the volume was half up). Along my walk I could not hear a backhoe dropping building rubble 15 feet away which I could usually hear from my apartment two blocks away! This feature alone makes these products complete steals in my mind. Winner: Tie, both World Class
Convenience Winner: ER6
By convenience I mean for removing and inserting them into your ear canals... The ER6is are smaller than the ER6s and are harder to grasp when pulling them out of your ears. I can quickly pull the ER6s out of my ears but it takes longer to inch the ER6is out of my ears. Winner: ER6
Overall Winner: ER6
Both of these products are WAY better than conventional headphones, but choosing between them will depend on your priorities. Do you want more bass and longer battery life with the ER6i? Or do you want clearer, more accurate bass with more convenience offered by the ER6s? Maybe you're a runner, and the thought of constantly adjusting the headphone jack sounds too cumbersome and distracting....go with the ER6is. Like in life, you have to sacrifice something to gain something with these headphones....unless you're Bill Gates in which case you could buy the premier ER4 model headphones which have the best of both worlds but require a second mortgage to purchase (list: $330!!!!!). For me, the clarity of a headphone determines its maturity and quality which really put the ER6 over the top even though it sucks in the iPod battery department. Any way you slice it, these headphones will improve sound, period. And the sound isolation is not hyped...it's real.
Great Value for Money April 23, 2005
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
ER-6 gives great value for money.I got it through palm for $40 and its better than bose.Very good with portables and if u have a headphone amplifier it gives better output.Get something like m-audio transit for people listening through computer
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