Great sound. Great on aircraft for isolating noise (my primary use now). Noise isolation should be the ONLY reason you can justify spending this amount of money.

Touching the cord transmits too much sound to the braincase to make this a serious audiophile device. Professional earmolds might make the experience less painful but shouldn't be a problem for average to large men. I felt this was such an expensive device that people without money to burn should be warned in fairness that you may be stunned when you find it is far from what you can get for this amount of money considering only sound reproduction as a criterion.

I've used these earphones for two years now and I cannot recommend them to anyone who doesn't have an excess of money. Yes, they sound superb. But you must sit absolutely still with your head and body leaning forward so the wire does not touch any object except the device it plugs into. Otherwise, you will be miserable with the resonating booms in your head as the wire brushes against your chest with the motions of mere breathing. If you tend to get excited listening to music like I do, don't buy these. The other reviewers, in my opinion, greatly underestimate this grave shortcoming. Secondly, these plugs must be pushed well into your ear canals to get the full frequency response stated. Not all of us have the same size ear canals. For me and most diminutive people I've introduced this to, no one could tolerate more than about one hour without physical pain. Even without listening to anything, you will have to take these out and rest every 20 or so minutes to allow your ears to breathe and the skin to regain the circulation. And this is coming from an ENT doc.

Similar Products Used:

I found this website while searching for reviews on the Shure E5C. Maybe a review after 1-2 years of use.

The sound from my SIMS Digital Audio Player and Nomad Jukebox 2 are fantastic compared to my Koss headphones or the junk that comes with the MP3 players.

The cord thump is somewhat distracting but not a big deal.

The ER-4P's are like a direct link between your MP3 player and your brain. It brings out the best and worst of your MP3's because you hear it all. It was not such a high price to pay if you consider the Shure E5c earphones are $499.

Similar Products Used:

OEM earphones ,headphones and Koss full size headphones.

Best-sounding portable headphones I have listened to.

Obviously, the price. Friction noise prevents use of headphones in some conditions.

I was a bit hesitent to spend this much money on headphones, but after already having splurged on an iPod, I felt the need to get better headphones. In summary, these things are the best portables I have listened to. There are better headphones out there, but not in such a portable package. I don't want to repeat the rave reviews already given, but I decided to write this to share the following tip. People complain about the irritating effect of friction on the cord. This bothered me as well, especially since I wanted to use the ER-4P while running. I solved the problem by tying a twist-tie around the cord just beneath my chin. This keeps any noise from friction below the twist-tie from traveling up the cord. Result: greatly reduced friction noise. Ety should realy make a small adjustable plastic ring for this purpose.

Musical fidelity while isolating you from the outside world. This includes the subway, cars, etc... Musical sounding, excellent bass,

After a few hours you'll find that they are harder to wear. Given that this is the PORTABLE model of the phones Etymotic should have a way of isolating cord sound. The seal makes friction on the cord very audible, when walking, this is a major pain in the ass. I have figured out how to keep the cord away from my body in the winter by using my scarf creativly but they should do a little work to remove this problem. The cord is also fairy stiff, probably a quality issue (better perhaps for sound) but that also makes any friction on the cord more audible. They are expensive. The Sony plugs sound good, not audiophile good, but are much cheaper, approx $50 or so... The portable model should have come with more adaptors. Not suited to outdoor activity. You would go mad listening to your breath and the cords friction if you used these when jogging, a good thing perhaps, they isolate you a little too well on streets for your safety.

Excellent headphones if you dont' like moving! These phones sound as good as they get. They also isolate you from the outside world, something I find very nice when at the office. I took both my Seinheiser Noise Cancelling phones and my Etymotic 4Ps on my last trip to London. The Etymotics offered much better isolation from outside sound and aircraft noise than the Seinheiser. Since they don't muck with sound as the Seinheiser's do, they sound a lot better on planes. In addition, since they isolate, they do well with reducing outside noise, period, not just sounds that are easily drowned by NC circuits. Wetting the plugs slightly helps create a seal w/o you having to push the phones in really deep. It says so on the manual and it's really true.

Similar Products Used:

Seinheiser NC phones, Sony NC phones, Sony plugs.

Musical fidelity while isolating you from the outside world. This includes the subway, cars, etc... Musical sounding, excellent bass,

After a few hours you'll find that they are harder to wear. Given that this is the PORTABLE model of the phones Etymotic should have a way of isolating cord sound. The seal makes friction on the cord very audible, when walking, this is a major pain in the ass. I have figured out how to keep the cord away from my body in the winter by using my scarf creativly but they should do a little work to remove this problem. The cord is also fairy stiff, probably a quality issue (better perhaps for sound) but that also makes any friction on the cord more audible. They are expensive. The Sony plugs sound good, not audiophile good, but are much cheaper, approx $50 or so... The portable model should have come with more adaptors. Not suited to outdoor activity. You would go mad listening to your breath and the cords friction if you used these when jogging, a good thing perhaps, they isolate you a little too well on streets for your safety.

Excellent headphones if you dont' like moving! These phones sound as good as they get. They also isolate you from the outside world, something I find very nice when at the office. I took both my Seinheiser Noise Cancelling phones and my Etymotic 4Ps on my last trip to London. The Etymotics offered much better isolation from outside sound and aircraft noise than the Seinheiser. Since they don't muck with sound as the Seinheiser's do, they sound a lot better on planes. In addition, since they isolate, they do well with reducing outside noise, period, not just sounds that are easily drowned by NC circuits. Wetting the plugs slightly helps create a seal w/o you having to push the phones in really deep. It says so on the manual and it's really true.

Similar Products Used:

Seinheiser NC phones, Sony NC phones, Sony plugs.

Crisp sound, virtually seals off all ambient/environmental sound.

The "stethoscope" effect comes in a bit because they are in-ear canal design. However, you get used to it pretty quickly.

A phenomenal set of headphones. I heartily agree with the other positive comments placed by the last few reviewers. I have been using this with the Apple iPod, and could not be happier. Since purchasing them, I have not taken my Bose Noise Reduction headphones out of the drawer. They are also excellent for any crowded areas and on public transportation (I can''t even hear the conversations going on next to me anymore, yay!)

Wonderful sound. Amazing noise isolation. Brings cheap CD players to life. Eliminates the clutter of an amplifier and external power source. Family members will thank you for months if you give a pair as a gift.a

Clipping the cord to your shirt may reduce the friction noise, but it turns the little phones into a quasi-stethoscope. This is more an observation than a significant gripe.

According to www.headphone.com, the ER4P earphone was designed for electronics with low power amplification (basically line-level). If readers interpret this as a sign that the ER4P is lo-fi, then they will be mistaken. I cannot comment on the relative sonic qualitiy of the ER4S (the higher impedance sister to the ER4P), but I can say that after 4 months of using the ER4P''s, I think that my money was well-spent. The setup: just a cheap Sony CD portable, circa 1995, no external amp, no external power source. For everyday use, the 4P''s are sometimes more revealing than my Dynaudio speakers (driven by Meridian CD, Melos pre, EAR 509 mono''s), but they are never fatiguing. They also confirm my long-time hunch that the little Sony is an excellent CD player. The sound is never harsh or fatiguing, it is very detailed, expansive, and has deep, tight bass. As far as comfort, I have used cheap ear buds that become painful after 20-30 minutes. In contrast, I have worn the Etymotics comfortably for 3 hrs at a time. For people who find the phones uncomfortable, I believe that Etymotic can make a custom fit. As impressive as the sound is around the house, the real wow factor begins with air travel. I have used foam ear plugs on planes for years. They never shut out the sound completely; they just attenuate it to a tolerable level. With the 4P''s, however, when the music starts, the airplane noise disappears! Gone are the screaming children, the roar of wind over the skin of the plane, the blaring announcements overhead. If you already own 4P''s, you owe it to yourself to take them on your next flight with a CD player. No, you don''t have to turn them up to a higher SPL. I keep the Sony turned up to about a 4-5 volume both at home and on the plane and can''t tell the difference. Oh, and if you see some unfortunate soul who spent their hard-earned bucks on a pair of Bose sound-canceling headphones, be a humanitarian. Lend them your Etymotics and turn their life around. These headphones are that good!

Similar Products Used:

none e

sensitive, great sound

not as good as the er4s

These should only be purchased if you will be using them with an extremely low powered portable unit, such as a minidisk player. Many portable CD players are capable of driving the ER4S to sufficient volumes.
If you have tried the ER4S but thought the bass was ever-so-slightly lacking and the treble was ever-so-slightly exaggerated, then you are not properly sealing them in your ear canal, or you have hearing damage. Follow the directions in the Etymotics manual for inserting them into the ear. You will notice a drop in volume and full bass when you have a proper seal that is both deep and trapping the correct amount of air between the transducer and your eardrum. The ER4S should go very deep and have a warm, non-fatiguing sound.

Similar Products Used:

Sony MDR-V600, Sony MDR-7506, JVC HA-D727, Denon 959, ER4S

I'm starting to second-guess my claims that most CD portables can run the 4S. On an early eighties classical CD I have there was a noticeable click/cracking distortion to a few very powerful bass sounds on some of the percussion. The CD itself is much lower in volume than most of my others I own and needed to be turned up to at least 8. There was absolutely no need for extra bass or less treble. The amp on my Panasonic sl-361 just seemed to have a lack of sufficient current for the er4s. This has only been noticeable on that one CD, since learning how to seal them properly in my ears, and having to compensate for the resulting drop in volume. I probably should have tested this out again before I posted the review. I don't like the idea of worrying about batteries for an amp and the Airhead amp has that high noise floor to worry about. However, the 4s sounds so amazing out the headphone jack of my Denon, I don't want to move to the lower fidelity 4p just so I can play a few old CDs on my portable. I'm considering getting an Airhead when they fix the noise problem.

Sound

cord friction noise

Non-fatiguing sound is very listenable for extended periods, not bright like Sennheiser. I have not tried the ER-4S--though I have the impression from the Etymotic manual that the 4S model may be louder in the highs.

Base in the ER-4P is rich and deep, even without an additional amp out of my portable Panasonic CD player. Not boomy or unbalanced as the headroom.com site seems to imply. Bought for $269 at headphone.com. 5 stars.