Etymotic Research

The sound quality on the mc5’s exceptional considering the price. However, I’ve had 5 pairs now and everyone has broken within 18 months. And I’ve learned to treat my headphones like a Faberge Egg. Expect to have to replace the headphones every couple of years.
Luckily, there’s a two year warranty. But this requires working with Etymotic’s customer service, who are unfriendly and nonresponsive. Expect a fuss when you try to claim your warranty.
In short, the sound quality is impeccable, but quality of the customer service and durability are sub-​par.

A fine example of exceptional American technology coupled with old-​fashioned customer service! I’ve purchased several Etymotic Research headphones: They’ve always been a cut above the «mass» brands; no wonder the pros use them! But what really sets Etymotic apart is the care they provide when I’ve needed to return items for service: Recently, my hgf2s were beyond their warranty period — yet they sent me a New replacement pair. Bravo!

I have been a faithful user of Etymotic Research’s headset for ten years. Its design is simple, elegant and compact, fits easily is my pocket. Most of all, it offers the best sound and great noise insulation. I travel more than 200,000 miles on airplanes each year. My Etymotic ER-​4 is the most essential piece of on-​board equipment for me, more than my notebook, smart phone or my Economist magazine. The ER-​4 provides me with the best audio when I use the on-​board entertainment system be it for movies or music. Unplugged from the airplane, it becomes my ear plug to shield me from the crying baby or the mid-​air announcements so I can sleep. And it all disappears into its little porch in my packet when I land. Invaluable!!!
However, i am writing this review in praise of its superb customer service. One of my ER-​4 microphone broke after I have had it for more than four years. It broke in an unusual manner so I emailed Etymotic’s customer support to describe the problem and simply showed my disappointment. The Customer Support promptly replied and asked me to send it back to them for evaluation. A couple of weeks after i sent my headset in, I received it back from Etymotic completely repaired, no charge, no question asked! Mind you, this is a set that has been outside their stated warranty for several years. I do not expect, nor want to imply, that Etymotic makes free out-​of-​warranty repairs. But the fact that they did, and did it n such a matter-​of-​fact low-​key fashion, clearly demonstrated that they truly place their customer satisfaction first by actions, bot merely words. It places Etymotic Research as one of the best companies in my list. Thank you, Etymotic Research.

I seriously cannot believe I haven’t damaged these suckers (6i) yet. It seems no amount of careless abuse will break these cords, and their customer service is great: I ordered the wrong foam replacement tips, and the dudes sent me a replacement free of charge. I am impressed and will continue to use their phones.
Turn it up!

er6i was a match made in heaven for the iPhone. Those who are bass heads look elsewhere. If you want punchy bass with clarity then these are the isolation earphones for you. Listed at 149.99 on their website but they can be had for under 100 online (J&R, etc). I had mine modded via

I used to go to clubs without any protection. errr… EAR protection.
I would go out, dance for a while — go home with a bit of the old ringing in the ears — but it would dissipate quickly and I thought nothing of it. My earplug-​related religous conversion occurred in a club in Amsterdam. I danced for hours, and it was LOUD in that place. Went back to the hotel, ears were ringing — in fact I really couldn’t hear anything. But, I figured that this too would dissapate by the next morning. Morning, in this case, meant about 3 hours. Plus, I had to be working on a trade show floor.
Well, 4 hours later — the ears were still ringing. I was effectively deaf.
Same for 5 hours later, and 8 hours later… and 12 hours later. By this point, as you can imagine, I was pretty freaked out. Now, the next morning everything was back to normal in the hearing department — but I figured that I had used up pretty much all of my karmic ear damage for one lifetime in that evening.
so — I went and got myself some earplugs. Now, just about all of the plain old foam type will work — but they usually have the effect of changing the sound of music. Usually they tend to cut out more bass than other frequencies. This makes going to concerts and clubs annoying — its like having an equalizer in your head with all the boom turned off.
But, etymotic makes earplugs that don’t do this. The ER-​20 earplugs trim the level of all frequencies at the same time — so everything is equally quieter.

They’re $ 12 a pair, and come with a handy carrying case — and they even come in different colors.
The only thing I’ve found better than these are the +$ 100 earplugs that require a custom mold by an audiologist.
Go buy a pair. Don’t make me scold you the next time I see you in a club without protection.