Etymotic ER2SE Studio Edition Earphone

These earphones are well built and sound excellent. The bass is nice and punchy, the mids are clear, and the treble stays controlled and doesn’t distort at higher volumes. I also appreciate that Etymotic includes extras: a case, foam tips, large triple-flange tips, and extra double-flange tips in all sizes.

I got this to cut down on the AC noise near one of my rooms. I expected decent sound and decent noise isolation. My expectations have been greatly exceeded. First the isolation: when no music is playing I can still hear the AC if I get close enough. Once something starts playing, nothing. The downside is that you won't hear it if someone's trying to talk to you, so one should be careful using it outdoors or anywhere situational awareness is required. The sound: absolutely outstanding. I really can't find any weaknesses. Everything is natural and balanced. The timbre of instruments and voices is natural and there's enough bass, as much as can be expected from IEMs which can't produce the visceral bass of speakers, anyway. The spatial qualities of the sound are as good as can be expected from IEMs but again don't compare to speakers of course. Other things such as detail, balance between treble and mids etc are outstanding. Comfort: for the first couple of days my ear canals got itchy after about an hour or so but now they've accommodated and I can wear them without any discomfort. They are pretty light and the included case is pretty small. Value: Amazon had them for 125 before the holidays and they are outstanding value for money. They seem to be well built and should last quite a while unless mistreated.

I bought these first, and I really liked them, so I thought I would "upgrade" to the ER4SR, which is their flagship. The first thing I encountered upon opening the box was a custom measurement report. That's pretty cool. But then I looked at the report. One side had 0.7% THD, the other 0.4%. Not only is that awful on both sides, it's quite inconsistent. Upon listening to them, I heard what you might expect. In terms of tonal balance and color, not too bad, but in terms of imaging, sound stage, clarity, not very good at all. The ER2SE sounded much better. Then I looked up the numbers. It seems the ER2SE has generally about 10 times lower distortion! Yet they cost much less, at least when I bought mine. What gives? The ER4SR is their flagship "reference" IEM, which has a pedigree going back to research and audiology use, and they have BA drivers, which audiologists might know about because they are so common in hearing aids, being small and power efficient. These ER2SE IEMs have simpler dynamic drivers, but they also have measurably far better distortion performance and sound better to my ears. I rated these 4 stars instead of 5 because none of the eartips that came with them really lived up to the promise of high ambient-noise rejection and a secure, comfortable seal in the ear canal, and when I reordered Etymotic eartips, those were even worse than the ones supplied with the IEMs in the first place. I ended up going with a third party: Comply foam eartips, which work well for me. So the out-of-box experience wasn't so good, as I had to do a lot of experimenting to find eartips that work for me. Also, it's a bit lame that I paid a significant chunk of money to "upgrade" to IEMs that have deplorable distortion performance and sound worse than the ones I already had by the same company. I guess I should have checked first, but you wouldn't think a reputable company would sell you a "downgrade" positioning it as their best.

I got my ER2SE about a month ago. Here I will compare it to my HD600 over-ear open-back headphone since both are tuned towards the diffuse field target. Also because HD600 has a very large user base. Both sound very natural to me. ER2 is more realistic for some of the instruments I play. The hd600 is slightly bassy/darker, and the vocal is just slightly recessed. So if you feel HD600 is intimate, this IEM may surprise you. The ER2 is a bit sibilant compared to hd600, though itself is definitely not. I prefer male vocal on the hd600 because it sounds fuller, and I prefer female vocal on the Ety because it sounds sweeter. Here is how I would describe it. If the brightest headphone is like the noon, and the darkest headphone is the midnight. Then ER2 is like the dawn, a little energetic, while hd600 is like the dusk, very relaxing. Although the lighting is similar, the feeling is different. HD600 has a larger soundstage and is inoffensive. There is a tendency to forget it is on my head after a while. Transient seems to be better on ER2. Everything feels faster. I seriously doubt I heard much detail difference. HD600 is a little more detailed? But ER2 has at least 90% of details I heard on the hd600 at normal listening volume. However, ER2 is only one-third of that price (Let's exclude amp and dac here...) Good job Etymotic. The soundstage is not very wide but there is no feeling of congestion. Instrument separation is still better on HD600. The form factor is of course very different. When I switched to my ER2 while hd600 still playing, the sound leakage from hd600 and every other noise from outside world is suddenly blocked. And when I put on my hd600 while ER2 playing. I can even hear the sound leakage from ER2 on my desk clearly. The new package comes with four double-flange tips. These are my favorites, miles ahead of triple-flange ones comfort wise. It is easy to insert and feels more secure than single-flange. Insert depth affects sound very little because of the new dynamic driver. One side note is that a good seal is necessary for this IEM to shine. Otherwise there can be weird peaks in the FR that isn't supposed to be there as well as detail loss.

These have the same sound quality as any average 20$ ear buds. There are several different ear buds rubbers to choose from. The only ones that would stay in my ears are the 3 level type (shown on the product picture) and then the ear bud peice and the connection to the wires would sometimes cut out. I wear a headband, baklava for work and if it puts any amount of pressure on the ear bud the sound will go in and out depending on my movements. When I first started wearing them. And I found which ones would stay in, my ears would hurt after about 30 min. Causing a sharp pain when going in and when coming out. This pain still happens but after about 2 hours+. The wire itself seems like good quality. The clip that came with, (used for securing the wire to your clothes) broke instantly when used.

The ER2 SE has fantastic sound, dynamics and frequency response. The bass is neutral without being fatiguing. I chose the right earbuds as far as sound is concerned. Minus 1 star because finding replacement eartips (large triple-flange) is difficult. Even the Etymotic site doesn't list compatible earbud models for many of their replacement eartip products. When you take the eartip off, you feel like your going to rip it; so having replacements on hand is essential. Minus 1 star because the cord is flimsy, basic, and not rugged. They charge too much the same cheap replacement cable. MInus 1 star because even though the used a standard MMCX connector, they recessed it and added a tab/notch to make it non-standard. So they force you to buy their more expensive replacement cable. There are tiny removable "filters" one for each earbud. They included a special tool to remove them, and one set of replacement filters. They are only meant to be replaced if they get clogged. The instructions say that the tool is for removal only, and not to use the tool to put the new ones in. I don't have any other earbuds with this "feature". I guess if it helps them sound this good, well that's ok-- I'll make sure to keep the tool and spare filters in the little case. OK, I had to add one star back, because a 2-star review isn't fair for earbuds that do an excellent job with passive isolation and sound so good.

These are the first IEMs Ive ever gotten. But after using them for about a year and trying other IEMs. These are the best in my opinion. They may not have the most bass and exciting EQ, but the accuracy is insane. The noise isolation alone is very impressive, you could wear these shooting, I kid you not. And the quality is so good you can hear things you've never heard in songs like the click tracks, lol. If you want an accurate listening experience, I would get these. They are a bit uncomfortable though, but they give you tons of ear tips.

Excellent value. Timbre and tonality is about as accurate as one can achieve in an IEM. Despite the average instrument separation, transparency might be the best that I've encountered in an IEM due to the flat response. Most will perceive the ER2SE as "mid forward". Sure it is probably the most mid forward compared to the majority of IEMs where mids are recessed and/or bass/treble are boosted. But in reality the mids are just as forward as the actual recording, but nothing more. The mids are probably the most accurate that I've heard in an IEM timbre / tone-wise. Highs are crystal clear without sibilance or any hint of compression. I've never heard cymbals so real from an IEM. Bass is very good in quality but is also linear and many might perceive it as lacking. While I can agree that this IEM might be too boring and lifeless to some EDM and bass-centric genres, being fun and engaging is not what it's about. You will buy this for its accuracy, very true to the recording nature at a very reasonable price!

Very good sound quality, I can compare with Audesy LCD2. But, with foam year plugs (grey).

Som perfeito. Fit dolorido

Purchased this for monitoring audio recording on the go. Positives - Balanced sound signature - Blocks a lot of noise out. Way more than my Bose QC35 and Apple airpods pro. Negatives - Deep insertion isn't for everyone. I'm pretty much ok with this, though it might take a little while to get the right fit. - The cable seems a bit flimsy. They do provide a case though. I foresee myself changing this every 2 years with constant usage.

Me le aveva consigliate un amico. Le ho trovate scomode (bisogna infilare nel canale auricolare) e non ben suonanti.

Etymotic. ER2SE Review Cost:£70, supplier was Amazon UK prime next day delivery. The little iem that can. Equipment used : FiiO M11 Plus used as both A DAP and a transport for the Hip DAC 2 Ifi Hip. DAC 2 (connected to both phone and M11 Plus Included dongle to run from phone DAC (Poco F3) TLDR: get a set they're amazing! Packaging : Nice big box for good store presence, designed to hang from a shelf peg. Very good quality carry case, faux leather and faux suade. Inside the carry case were the goodies. A bag containing a filter removal tool and two extra filters in case the originals get blocked. Don't think I'll need them personally but nice to have. Also inside was two different sizes of triple flange ear tips a medium (I'd say) and a large. A pair of foam ear tips are also included, along with a great selection of double flange tips from small to extra large. The cable is MMCX but don't expect to be able to use your fave MMCX cable with these. They've customised the MMCX so that there's a slot you have to line up to get the cable to snap in. It's a shame as the included cable while Perfectly serviceable is a little microphonic. Fit: Try as I might I could not get on with either size of triple flange tips. They were OK in my right ear but wouldn't go deep enough to seal and.trust me these things go in really deep. Extremely deep. I ended up settling on the XL double flange. Fit is still extremely deep but not uncomfortable. You get a tremendous seal and the IEM almost completely disappears into your ears. I recommend trying the triple flange first and if you can't.get them to fit right do what I did and go for the double flange. I should have tried the foam tips for this review but avoided them as they seemed cheap and nasty. I'll try them and post if they're any good. Sound : The. SE are studio tuned so lack any real bass thump from stock. Vocals are forward, male and female both soumd smooth. Mids are where you want them and the highs shine without a hint of sibilance, just a sparkling performance. For the following tracks I listened to them both through the M11 Plus as a DAP and. The Hip. DAC 2 using both my phone and the M11 as transports. All music is.sttramed from Tidal in "up to" Master quality. For Example Dire Straits was unfolded to 192KHz. All the following were listened to using either Wavelet EQ or ifi XBass. Listening to Dire Straits (Money For Nothing) the guitar and drums including symbals are equally represented without one masking the other. They also excel at dance music. Listening to the best of Scooter the artificial instruments were silky smooth and really represented what I've heard from some good sets of speakers. My G by Ed Sheeran and Aitch when EQd or Xbassed sounds full and. Has a wide sound stage. Aitch's rapping and the backing track are perfectly balanced. There are layers to the back g track that are only apparent when I use the Etymotic. Psycho by Aitch and Anne-Marie really thumps with a decent EQ bass.shelf and lyrics and the piano are almost 3D sounding. My Humps.by Black Eyed Peas really thumps.with the right EQ (for me). The song is sub bass and semi mid bass heavy on the beat and this really comes through clean and snappy especially using XBass. XBass really works magic on these IEMs. Jucy by Doja Cat sounds the best I've ever heard. The bass line when EQd to my tastes is.forward but not too dominant. The female lyrics are lush and you can hear every word even when the bass line is at its peak. Simply a fantastic rendition of one of my favorite Tracks. Ed Sheeran Shape of You has.everuthing in its place. The high pitched.beat that runs.throuhh the whole.trsck is always present but doesn't take over like on for example. QKZ x HBB. A perfect balance.of instruments all in the right places and very clear lyrics. Lack of Bass (EQ) EQ and final thoughts.on source pairing: As I got the SE and. Not the XR (Xtended Range) the bass is extremely light. To cure this and bring the bass shelf up to my personal tastes I used Wavelet combined with Tidal to increase all frequencies from 80Hz to 300Hz. A boost of +3 on each really brought out some smooth non boomy bass. On the Hip DAC 2 I used the XBass function which adds a nice dollop of bass to anything plugged into it. They sound great through this DAC with. XBass! The lack of bass really isn't an issue as these respond to EQ so well. If you want more bass simply increase the frequencies of your choice. I did not find that doing this over shadowed the mids or highs and there was no bass bleed or boominess. As for source pairing I was supremely impressed by ifi's XBass. It just adds the perfect amount of bass and in my opinion wins over anything I've tried in wavelet including custom EQ files. I'll. Definitely be reaching for the HIP DAC 2 when using the Etymotic! My phone could drive these but at a very reduced maximum volume. It was listenable but left you wanting to turn it up a bit more. The M11 Plus with wavelet was decent and had plenty of power to bring out the best in these earphones. I did have to use higher volume. Than usual but still had 30 clicks left after they became loud enough for me. Conclusion: For £70 these things are a steal. As long as you're prepared for an IEM that inserts very deep in the ear canal you will love the sound of these. EQ is the icing on the cake. They respond so well to EQ ing a decent bass shelf. XBass. Is the star of the show though for me. I highly recommend this set as long as you're prepared to EQ if you like a bit of bass. I'm not bothering with Moondrop Variations. I've got such a versatile set in these ER2SE I'm going to save the £400+ and get the car a full service. What ever is left over I may try the latest interesting IEMs Like I did with QKZ x HBB. In short…… get the ER2SE or ER2XR, they're worth the money and with some tinkering they're honestly the best sounding set I've got in my collection. They beat Timeless and. Dioko hands down for detail retrieval. Get on Amazon and grab a pair. You have 30 days to return them if you don't like them. It's a no loose situation if you have a localised version of Amazon. Anyway, enough rambling. Get them!