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Noise Cancelling Headphones...

I just got my ER6i's back from service yesterday. There was a problem where the cable meets the jack, causing loss of sound in one ear. Despite this, they're still the best headphones I've used so far (vs. a few cheaper Sennheisers, Koss KSC55, KSC15, cheaper Sonys) and do a good job of blocking out noise when it comes to situations like being on the train or bus. They also sound wonderful, I had almost forgotten how good they were, being trapped with iPod buds while they were off being serviced.

Incidentally, if you ever need to get them repaired, send them via courier - I sent them via Australia Post/U.S. Mail from Western Australia, it took *two months* for them to reach Ety, who determined they were faulty and sent a brand new replacement on the same day. It took perhaps 3 days to return via UPS.

Check http://headfi.org for headphone enthusiast reviews and opinions.
 
I had the same concerns about size, and went with the etymotic er-6i. Essentially they are a pretty good earplug, which just happen to pipe in music (with pretty good quality, although they are not bass-heavy). I like that you can listen to music at pretty low volumes becasue they do a great job at blocking out ambient sounds. In fact, sometimes using them are a little embarrasing - I have had people approach me from the side and try to talk to me, and I cannot hear them at all (and unless I see the stewardess on the airplane, I often miss getting my drink!)

Comfort is an consideration, but from responses I have seen appears to be highly individual. I personally don't have major issues with in-the-ear headphones, but others do find them uncomfortable.
 
Scottyk9 said:
Essentially they are a pretty good earplug, which just happen to pipe in music (with pretty good quality, although they are not bass-heavy)
Click to expand...

I suspect (though this is complete unreliable speculation), that Ety may be shipping slightly bassier ER6i's than the earlier ones. I got mine relatively soon after they were announced and found the bass levels to be acceptable but noticably lower than my previous Koss phones, but when I recieved the new replacement pair and tried them yesterday the bass seems quite a bit stronger than I remembered.

That said - for those considering buying - the ER6 and 4's aim to reproduce sound accurately, rather than simply increasing bass as most consumer headphones do - as most consumers (admittedly including myself to a degree) associate lots of bass with good sound. Ety realised this with the iPod focused ER6i's and increased the bass a tad, but they're still probably not the headphone of choice for Drum'n'Bass fantics etc.
 
I recently bought a pair of the Shure E2c's and have no complaints about them. They work just like ear plugs but with music coming out of them. And it's surprising how well they work.
 
I owned a pair of Etymotic 6i's, and I was astonished at the noise cancellation. I really couldn't believe that I'd used the iPod headphones for so long, to finally realise how music 'should sound'. However, after only 2 months, the cable buggered up and it broke. Kindly, Etymotic replaced them, but as it was going to take 3 weeks to get them to America, have Etymotic fix them and return them, I concluded that I couldn't go that long listening to high-quality music on some crap headphones. So, I purchased a pair of Shure E4c. Suffice to say, I've never used the Etymotic's since.
 
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