Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Earphones

Kit
Plug

Aside: on the 7th of December, my Shure E2C cabling failed. About 3/4" away from the right side earpiece, the cable cracked open. I dropped them off at the Union Mail Boxes Etc. on Monday the 11th. UPS received the billing information later that night, meaning they had the package on their radar or something. As of this past Thursday, it still hadn't gone anywhere. I resolved to go down there, and was told that "this happens sometimes" and it would eventually either start moving or result in the insurance process going into action. I am, as you might be aware, flying to Tallahassee on Sunday. I "need" earphones for that that don't suck, so I decided to go ahead and purchase a set of Etymotic Research's ER-6isolator earphones. These are the 16ohm phones, not the more professional ER-6 phones.

Given that, I'd like to compare them (just in case someone ever cares enough to search for it).

The most striking difference between the ER-6i and E2C phones is their construction. Both sets are isolating in-ear monitors, so the nature of the fit in my ears is the same for both. I prefer the three-flange rubber tips (you see them above) to Shure's single rubber covering because it's smaller around and deeper, so I feel more secure wearing them. The end of the phone itself, though, is open to the atmosphere. The E2C phones are (apparently) completely sealed to the outside world - the stress relief is embedded into the housing, which is, itself, glued together quite securely. The ER-6i phones have a small flap covering the end of the opening. The overall feel is closer to earplugs than phones. The bigger problem, though, is that the ER-6i cabling is HORRID. It's about the same quality you'd expect to find on a pair of $7.99 Koss headphones you bought at a Giant. Yes, they include a shirt clip, but the cable has to be about half the diameter of the Shure cable, and it's of the type that, if it weren't for the little metal thing around them where they spread off to your ears, you could pull the two earphone cables separate all the way back to the plug. I bought the kind that came with a right-angle plug, though, which is helpful for the way I use my iPod.

When I plugged these in and sealed them (initially painful because the triple flanges seal better than the rubber sleeves on the Shures), I noticed almost immediately a much boomier bass stage. After getting them home and trying a couple of the other included sleeve options, I decided that these are much more consumer than the E2C phones are. The high and low range are both very prominent in the sound stage, and (while I'm willing to chalk this up to having not broken these in yet, I still feel obligated to mention it) the overall midrange sound is much, much harsher or colder than the Shures. I will have to keep an ear on it over the next two weeks to see if they improve as I use them, but I would definitely need to re-encode my music to at least 160kbps or 192kbps (AAC) to be pleased with these for everyday use. I think a part of that, though, is that these reveal the high-end failings of the AAC codec - I think it's not as warm as MP3 as it throws away information.

Anyway, as it turns out, UPS found my warranty repair envelope. Eventually, I'll be getting a new set of E2C phones, which will go back to being my primary headset (thanks to the better weather sealing and the fact that it's easier to replace the tips, now that I know B&H sells them). I will keep the ER-6i's around, but I just don't think they're as good as the E2C. For the 15 dollars difference, I'd be hard pressed to say the upgrade isn't worth it - and the Shures come with a 2-year warranty. Etymotic gives you 90 days, I think, but even then - these are not built to last in the outside world.

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