Etymotic Er2xr Extended Response Earphone

etymotic er2xr extended response earphone

Etymotic ER2XR Extended Response Earphone

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True high-accuracy sound with enhanced and extended bass
Product Note : If the size of the earbud tips does not match the size of your ear canals or the headset is not worn properly in your ears, you may not obtain the correct sound qualities or call performance. Change the earbud tips to ones that fit more snugly in your ears
35+ dB of external noise isolation
Detachable cable allows for easy replacement

Buy Now : Etymotic ER2XR Extended Response Earphone

Brand : Etymotic Research
Category : Electronics,Headphones, Earbuds & Accessories,Headphones & Earbuds,Earbud Headphones
Rating : 4.2
Review Count : 541
SalesRank : 0

etymotic er2xr extended response earphone

Etymotic ER2XR Extended Response Earphone

The short of this is:1. These sound spectacular, are well tuned, detailed, and resolving. The sound quality and price is spot on and class-leading. They do require more power than most other IEMs and have the below caveat.2. The cable is nearly unusable in any situation where you cannot sit down and not move at all. The cable just rubbing on my shirt overpowers what I am listening to. Using these while moving around or working out is not a good experience.Sound:From the sound perspective (the main reason why I purchased the ER2XR), these are at the top of anything I have listened to IEM (in-ear monitor) wise for under $200. While I tend to prefer neutral tuning, I wanted something a bit warmer with good bass extension which these hit effortlessly (if you don\'t want the bass boost, get the ER2SE instead). The bass is detailed and reasonably tight while not overpowering the mids. The extension is great as well, listening to deep house or chopped and screwed music is honestly a lot of fun with these without being overdone! The mids are also quite good, neutral, detailed, not recessed or pushed forward, just right! The treble, while slightly boosted over neutral, is not sibilant, harsh, or fatiguing. After getting the right tips on for my ears, I can listen with these for hours at a time without my ears fatiguing from the sound or fit.Ear Tips:Using the triple-flange ear tips that are included (the small ones that were on the IEMs out of the box were too small for me and did not seal well), the isolation achieved is better than any IEM I have ever used, but these need to be inserted really far into your ear. The isolation is as good or better than any earplugs I have used. I can only think that well executed active noise cancellation can be better than the isolation these provide. Seriously, even at low volume I can barely hear people in the same room. If swapped over to the any of the dual-flange tips that are included, the isolation isn\'t as great, but still is at the top of any IEM I have used.Now, two points of consideration when it comes to the ear tips. One, if you are used to single-flange tips, you will probably feel like your ear is getting violated by these IEMs. Even the dual-flange tips insert pretty far compared to other dual-flange tips on other IEMs. Two, the stem on the IEM is very long and thin. To use tips from other brands, a small nozzle that is long is needed. Using a nozzle that isn\'t long enough will either cause the end of the stem to be exposed (and may get clogged with ear wax) or the tip will slide around a lot on the stem.I do have two small complaints with the included tips. First, they are all glossy smooth and honestly have a \"sticky\" feel with how grippy the material is. Sometimes it is uncomfortable to remove the ER2s from my ears because the tips are yanking on the inside of my ear so hard (the biggest flange almost always gets folded backwards). Second, the glossy finish makes cleaning the tips without wipes or cleaner very difficult. Normally, removing earwax from other ear tips without cleaner or wipes is pretty easy thanks to a satin finish but that is far from the case here.The Cable:I despise the cable that the ER2XR comes with. The construction and quality control is fine, that is not the issue. The issue is the design and intent for how Etymotic wants the user to wear the ER2. As can be seen by the product images, the connector at each IEM comes out at an angle that is clearly intended to be worn straight down out of the ear. When worn as intended, the microphonics are downright awful. The cable material transfers noise really well especially with how deep of insertion into your ears these IEMs are intended for. The cable just rubbing against my shirt can be heard loud and clear. If I am not sitting completely still while listening, the microphonics easily overpower the music. It honestly reminds me of the cheap ear buds that I used as a kid. Using the included shirt clip or using the slider to cinch the cable below your chin would both help the microphonics. Personally, I find both of these solutions to be inferior to ear loops and the slider is very hard to move in my case.Looping the cable over the ear makes the microphonics almost unnoticeable unless nothing is playing. The issue there is with how the cable comes out at an angle from the IEM, the cable is pushed away from the ear. This results in the cable often falling off the ear when turning the head or moving around. The cable lacks a rigid wire to form an ear loop and doesn\'t feature any pre-defined ear loop.Normally I would not complain so much about the included cable and just replace it with an aftermarket one. However, Etymotic designed the ER2 with a semi-custom MMCX connector meaning there are nearly no aftermarket options for a cable. The connector is slightly recessed into the IEM and there is a small \"key\" that locks the included cable into one position so it does not rotate. Using a straight MMCX connector cable would result in a worse cabling situation than what I\'ve already described with the included cable. Then there is the fact that it may not even have enough depth to clear the \"key\" protruding from each connector at the IEM. What is really needed for a cable to effectively loop around the ear is a 90-degree MMCX cable. At the time of review, there are no such cables offered on Amazon. Looking to popular 3rd party sources, none of them have such a cable on offer either. The only places I have found a 90-degree MMCX connector cable with adequate depth to clear the \"key\" is either Chinese marketplaces, or custom made by Audiophiles on various forums. Buying from a Chinese marketplace has its risks and buying custom is simply expensive (the cable alone can be 50-100% the cost of the ER2).Other Items:Lastly, the product box and included accessories are fairly nice. The foam inserts in the box hold everything securely in place. The included ear tips have many different sizes that should work for the vast majority of users. The included soft pouch not too small or too big, includes a small internal pocket for holding extra tips, tools, filters, etc., and the materials feel rather nice. No complaints here, but swapping the plastic packaging materials for renewable materials would be a nice touch.Closing Thoughts:These are phenomenal IEMs from a sound quality perspective, though they are not very sensitive. On my EarStudio ES100, I can max out the volume and the volume still is not uncomfortable. Doing that with any of my other IEMs is downright painful. These want power like many over-ear headphones in order to achieve \"loud\" volumes. Once I get the cable on these replaced with something that can go over my ears with a balanced connection, they will likely become my daily drivers.
When these were first made, they might have been value kings. Now, they show their age. While the graphs may show a solid response across the board, the severe limitations of single driver tech is readily apparent when listening to any music more complicated than three instruments. Dynamic range is very narrow, resulting in a crunched down sound image that used to be the norm before extensive research was done on psychoacoustics.While imaging may be rather weak, the set plays back the signal precisely with little noticable distortion, making them good for non-music applications with the exception of gaming.The competition in the $80~$100 bracket is way too stiff for these to make the cut soundwise. What they excel at now IMO is the form factor, as they are the best sleep \'phones I have ever used. They turn the rest of the world off and let me play binaural tones or a podcast or whatever so I can sleep easier. It has the best NRR and lowest physical profile of any of my IEMs, firmly cementing them in my rotation as non-active listening utility phones.
Good sound!
I received, and subsequently had to return, a factory sealed set of ER2XRs. There was damage to some of the silicone ear tips straight out of the box, the worst actually missing a small chunk. Inspect everything thoroughly, and be ready to return/exchange/replace.Now, while I wouldn\'t normally consider that a huge deal, the base of the ear piece *must* mate with the shoulder on the earphone and seal completely or you basically lose your seal, effectively all bass, and it sounds like you have a blown speaker rattling around your head.I really wish that there was a way for Amazon to work with their vendors and/or manufacturers so that they could replace part of an order and not demand the entire thing be returned, I\'d have loved to resolved this situation by just getting the damaged items replaced. Etymotic Research even produces/sells just ear tips in sets as their own SKU. In stead, amazon is refunding the entire order and will have a pair of used IEMs (gross). On top of that, they\'re no longer in stock on Amazon.Now, originally, I was under the mistaken impression that I had ordered straight through Etymotic Research\'s storefront on Amazon and started to try to resolve this issue directly with them. The myriad of less than stellar reviews you can find about their Customer Support over the last 5 years, in my experience, seemed fairly accurate. Shame on me for getting sucked into the resounding hype over audio quality and isolation (which, in fairness, the sound isolation was unmatched in my experience).I can\'t really speak fairly to the sound quality, because the poor manufacturing on some of the ear tips I received directly interfered with proper fit and function.Comfort was a mixed bag... but Etys have a, shall we say, unique fit. \"Violatingly deep\" is the general description, and they\'re not wrong. Depending on your individual ear canals, you may or may not be able to tolerate these for long periods of time. Beyond that, you may find that one of your ear canals can, and one can\'t. Do your research here, and please, at the least, watch a video of how these get inserted and how far before buying them.Comfort Pt. 2: BE CAREFUL WHEN WEARING THESE. These suckers go DEEP in your ear, and they STICK OUT. Microphonics are very noticeable, even with the shirt clip. I have a large beard, so perhaps that was part of the issue? When I manipulated things a bit and wore the wire over my ear (not comfortable, or what they were designed for), it dramatically reduced the microphones for me. I don\'t consider that a viable solution though, as it puts a significant amount of stress on the cable at one of the weakest points (right where the reinforcement ends and a sharp angle).P.S. While the plug/socket for the headphones are an industry standard, Etymotic Research\'s cable is proprietary. They add a little plastic notch/tab - no widely available aftermarket cable set will work. I\'m sure their explanation will be that it\'s a keyed plug to positively register the positioning of the cable and the earphone... but there are plenty of ways to accomplish that which don\'t prevent owners from using their cable of choice (or buying a more cost effective replacement).Anyway, all in all, for the $75 that this item dropped to (from the $90 I bought it for a week prior)... It might be a good deal, or not. I\'m sad to say that I really can\'t recommend them out of hand like so many others, in large part because they\'re 1 for 1 with quality control issues for me and I get the sense it\'d be an unnecessary uphill battle to receive support from the manufacturer if there were many other issues. If you\'re going to use them in a stationary position, for accurate sound work? They\'re surprisingly adequate for their price range. Not suggested if you\'re looking for any kind of \"on the go\" solution.