Etymotic Research ER6i Earbud Review!
I got these Etymotic Research ER6i earbuds in the mail couple days ago and can I say one thing first, what a waste of $64.99.
Why?
The triple flange buds (which are supposed to work better than regular earbuds) actually lose isolation like a baby without diapers plus the overall sound quality is horrible.
I can’t believe how many great reviews of this earbud is on the internet today, they are all lies!
Not only that, the build of these ER6i earbuds are cheap, easily broken if you yank it. You can see my video below for proof.
These are one of the worst, most-expensive earbuds I’ve tried.
Our rating: 2.3 out of 5
- Average treble/mid, almost no bass.
- No reinforced couplings and “cheap” build, easy to break.
- Not very good earbuds period.
Categories: Earbud Reviews.
July 21st, 2010 at 2:36 pm
I have to disagree entirely. I’ve had a pair of er6i for almost 5 years. They were the first thing I bought when I bought my first ipod. They’ve endured daily use during that time. However flimsy they feel mine haven’t proven to be under built. As for sound quality, It depends entirely on fit. If you have the buds positioned properly in the ear canal, bass response is better than average – tight and clean. You should try the foam tips instead of the three flange. I find they fit my ears better, and provide better isolation – good enough to cut grass with my ipod at only about 50% volume. These buds are designed for fidelity – accurate reproduction of music, and they do that better than almost any other single driver ear bud even though they’re old technology. If you’re too impatient to work with the variety of tips they provide until you find a good fit, or if you want punchy unrealistic bass these aren’t the earbuds for you. If you want tight, crystal clear sound reproduction these are buds worth trying.
August 24th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Yes, I’ve tried all the different buds, if you bought them 5 years ago, you are a bit behind in earbud technology. Don’t get me wrong, ER6i are great earbuds for sound recording and studios but the price is way too expensive in my opinion in comparison to earbuds on the market today where prices have dropped drastically every year. My reviews are based on what you get for what you pay for. In that sense, I think ER6i are way over-priced for what it does.
August 25th, 2010 at 3:22 am
I have used shure e2c, d-jays now etymotic er-6i and I have to entirely disagree with you too.. If you lack in bass it either means that you aren’t getting a tight enough seal or that you just like more bass. Which is absolutely fine. But these earbuds aren’t well known for their heavy bass. you can hear all kinds of other details that were easily muffled in other earbuds with their heavy bass.
Anyway the normal triple flang was too big for my ears, I tried the smaller ones and they work perfect. I can set the volume of my ipod @ 1/4 of the maximum volume without hearing anything from outside world. That is a proper seal.
Aside from that the build quality isn’t the strongest, but i broke my shure e2c faster than the etymotic ones. And I abuse them both. They feel flimsy but they are actually very flexible. other than that I wished they made a shorter cable length like shure where they have a extension.
October 31st, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Yes, they are flimsy, yes, they are overpriced however I find them reasonably comfortable, the isolation properties are pretty good (when fitted correctly) and they are the ONLY buds I can find that are motorcycle helmet friendly.
February 18th, 2011 at 11:23 pm
i have had my er-6i for about 2 years, and i have found that with my first mp3 player the bass was very weak, so i bought a bass booster that did an ok job, but not great. so i took them and hooked them up to everything in the house; CD players and PC’s and found that the earbuds have nice bass response, but they need a fair amount of bass from the source to present it in quantity to your ear. Now i have an iphone and EQU and with a little bass added i am blown away by how good they sound!!! and as others have said you have to find the right fit, i was not happy with anything but the foam insertables, they are comfortable and sound great. my .02