Etymotic ER-4P Portable In-Ear Earphones

I have owned these earphones for over 3 years now. It is VERY important that you get the fit right to get the best sound quality. If you are concerned about having something "in your ears", then these might not be the phones for you. However, once properly fitted, the frequency response is amazingly flat and you will hear details and transients in your music that you have never heard before! If you like over-emphasized bass, then these may not be for you, either. I personally find that the bass is more than adequate, but my primary objective in any music reproduction is flat response, as opposed to lots of bass or midrange. These phones have served me well on all sorts of music from metal to classical - if you enjoy a lot of different types of music, then you will LOVE these - buy them! Great price on amazon, too!

Just figured I'd mention that the cable running from the splitter to the left ear bud stopped playing sound if it moved too much after about 1 year of heavy use. Luckily I still had one week left before the warranty expired. Customer service was polite and replied to my email in 2 days. They fixed and returned the headphones with a new cable, ear tips, and filters in just about a weeks time.

That said, these headphones are, by far, the best sounding canal-phones I've worn. Given their small size, they have exceptionally pronounced bass. (Not overblown like the Bose in-ears) The foam tips sound the best but need to be replaced every month or so if you use them on a daily basis. I tried washing them to prolong use, but found that once they get dirty you pretty much need to throw them away. At this price, I hope they last much longer now that they have been repaired.

If you are like me, you are struggling through the various reviews to divine what the review considers great sound and how these compare to the real world (versus a recording engineer loving their URI's all mid-range.) In most cars, I would configure the audio system (on a -5 to +5 system) Treble +5, Mid 0 to -5, and Bass +5. I believe at low volume, a system should give you the dynamics of sitting in front of an orchestra, not just acoustic guitar and voice. I use a 5th Generation iPod, and with these ear phones, the LOUDNESS EQ setting. (My past phones on this unit: Original, Bose in-ear, Tri-Ports & Quiet Comfort2.) I like (and have) pretty much all music but country, opera and gangsta.

Addressing the concerns I had when reading the reviews:

Bass.

Yes, these do not compare to Bose's in-ear and tri-ports for booming bass. However, the treble response and crispness do rival the Bose . First you must carefully follow insertion instructions. Then, the Bass is there, however it is very, very accurate and tight. It also requires some volume to bring it out. Throw on some Techmaster PEB and it will render the speaker blowing sub-bass perfectly (this killed my original iPod units.) Have the volume below 50% on Lady Gaga / Beyonce's Telephone, and you will not hear any bass presence. 75% volume and you hear the bass, perfectly and as it was meant to be heard.

In fact, below 50% volume on anything and you do not really hear the bass. This is also because the treble and mid-range performance is amazing and drowns it out. If you are like me and do not like a lot of Mid-Range, you must use the LOUDNESS EQ setting, or the mid-range can bring a headache on.

Volume.

The P versions do not suffer the power issues Bose QC2's do, and better the Tri-Ports and in-ears for ability to pump volume cleanly. You can almost max out every song and feel like you're in a South Beach club with you head next to an amp with an iPod's power. The sweet spot is 60% to 90%. I could also spot the iTunes Plus songs I bought versus the CD's I ripped by compression issues of the iTunes music. These things have a clarity that is truly amazing.

Comfort & Fit.

They fit well when you follow the instructions, but they take a bit to get out of your ears, and it can hurt if you rush it. While I like to throw them on while brushing my teeth in the morning, these are not quick on quick off things. You must remove one side to take a phone call, they do block. Also, like any ear plug, they feel a bit unnatural to me, and the absence of ambient noise feels strange. The "rustling" of the cables has not bothered me much yet, but they do make it thump, so I guess if you jog with them it might get irritating. PS: No matter how clean you think your ears are, have a napkin ready when you take these out.

Conclusion:

I do not know about the wire's longevity (my last Bose In-Ears died from cable failure) and that is my biggest concern. However, I do think they are better than the Bose offerings, the price and discomfort of them being paid back and then some in clarity and accuracy of sound. Really, you will not believe an iPod is capable of this quality.

I'm a professional drummer and i'm on my second pair of Etymotics. This isn't because the others gave out... i've had them for 5 years and they still work great. I just prefer the new design and would like a back-up pair. These earphones are the most accurate that i've come across... and certainly at this price. They also isolate noise incredibly well and are absolutely worth every penny. You could have your ipod volume up halfway and it would take a jack hammer for you to hear a surrounding noise.
I have heard some complaints about the bass, which can be a little low on certain records or could be that the in-ears just aren't inserted properly. But the beauty of these earphones for me is the accuracy. Records from the 60's were obviously recorded with less low-end and i love that these phones don't try to enhance that. If you switch over to most recent records, you will get plenty of bass. In my opinion, for any earphones that are remotely close to this price range, it doesn't get any better. Hey, if The Edge of U2 can wear them, they are good enough for me.

I received these phones and they worked fine after a couple of days and then the right side stopped working for some reason. Yogi Computers immediately upon return with RA number they gave me and had the replacement pair within a week of my returning. Great Store would buy from this merchant again.
Sincerely,
Mark Allison