Etymotic Er6i's Vs. Shure E3c's

[Jon28]

After someone said "I'm more confused than ever" in the in ear headphones thread.....I have to agree. So I spent some time researching the topic for my personal use which is an mp3 player while riding. I narrowed my choice between the aforementioned choices. I'm curious from those who have tried both and which one you preferred and why. I know this is a highly subjective topic but I'm hoping to clear up *some* confusion.

I am also concerned with something that could damage your eardrum in the event of a "getoff" with the bike. And from judging on appearance only the ER6i's seem to be smaller so I am leaning towards them. I am also equally concerned with sound insulation....which is pretty close between the two.

EDIT: while surfing I found this on the net that compares the two.....a good review but still misses the motorcyclists "IMHO"

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=121808

[Guest]

I love my Shure E3c's. I use the triple flange. It works great as an ear plug even without the music playing.

[Hobie1dog]

I feel the article you linked was a very accurate description of the sound qualities of both earphones. When he said," Most will feel that the bass is weak on

the ER6i's" he was right. I wasn't happy with the bottom end of the Shure E4's I tried either and sold them on Ebay.

I don't think from a safety point that having the earphones will be a factor in a crash as most helmets have adequate padding or even deep pockets where

your ears are and should absorb any shock that you would experience inside the helmet. But, I'm usually wrong. :goofy:

You are very correct when you say that this is a highly subjective subject....some people think Bose are the best speakers, and others

have experienced really great speakers that make you realize that Bose is only mid-fi, not Hi-fi.

No highs, No lows, must be Bose. :thumbsup:

[Rice]

All this talk in the previous thread made me order some ER6i's - If I don't like them, you guys owe me $80 :goofy:

I'll report on my experience when I get them.

One thing puzzles me though. How can anyone hear anything when riding?

When I am on the highway, at about 80mph, the wind noise is overpowering.

I will be really surprised if I hear any music at all.

Hope I'm wrong though.

[Hobie1dog]

All this talk in the previous thread made me order some ER6i's - If I don't like them, you guys owe me $80 :goofy:

I'll report on my experience when I get them.

One thing puzzles me though. How can anyone hear anything when riding?

When I am on the highway, at about 80mph, the wind noise is overpowering.

I will be really surprised if I hear any music at all.

Hope I'm wrong though.

Well.....with earphones, there is about 26db or so of noise reduction, which is quite a bit, then the sound is coming out of the tubes

extremely close to your eardrums, so you're blocking wind noise while having a minature speaker right next your ear.

Definitely post back up with report on how they sound to you and how well they fit you.....they just didn't fit my ear canals worth

a darn, so the sound was crappy as a result.

[SpamIAm]

I have both, and I like the fit and sound of the ER6i set better.

[jeremy556]

I don't think from a safety point that having the earphones will be a factor in a crash as most helmets have adequate padding or even deep pockets where

your ears are and should absorb any shock that you would experience inside the helmet. But, I'm usually wrong. :goofy:

I have crashed a couple times with my Sony earbuds in and no damage so from them so far.

some people think Bose are the best speakers, and others

have experienced...

Aiwa :goofy:

No highs, No lows, must be Bose. :thumbsup:

No, no, it's "No highs, no lows, must be Blows"

[Jon28]

Well I just ordered a pair of Er6i's in the new black color :thumbsup: for $85 to my door. I will post my 2cents later on!

[CrazyInNYC]

It's very difficult to re-create accurate bass with any in-ear headphone. The best way to compensate is to use an equalizer. Take a look at the preset curves for Bass Booster and Small Speakers in iTunes. I haven't yet worn in canal headphones, but I know with my Sony earbuds, I lose base response as soon as I put my helmet on.

How well headphones reproduce bass depends on several factors such as whether the type of phones is closed-ear, open-air or in-ear. The open-air types tend to leak sound, so the bass may not be as defined as with closed-ear types. Canalphones that form an acoustic seal inside the ear canal have excellent clarity, but the close-coupling tends to highlight the lighter quality of headphone bass. Compared to loudspeakers, the best headphones seem to be bass-shy, regardless of how far down the frequency response extends. Headphone manufacturers may incorporate a bass boost to compensate. The overall response of a pair of phones can sound flat, yet the low notes lack heft, so these "mega" boosts appear to be justified.

When a person hears bass notes, the experience is both aural and visceral. The feeling of bass notes as they are conducted through the body contributes to the sensation of bass. Headphone listening limits the experience to the ears alone. In that respect, standard headphones will always have less dramatic bass than speakers (canalphones more so, since they radiate bass straight to the ear drums with little or no bone conduction). Therefore, it is important to distinguish between truly anemic bass and bass which feels light from the lack of physical impact.

The lightweight headphones that come with portables are likely to have truly anemic bass. When lightweight headphones have transducers too small to reproduce low bass, a boost in the midbass response can create the illusion of deep bass and a more balanced sound. Al Fasoldt recounts an incident that illustrates how the brain can synthesize missing bass notes:

I watched [a utility crew put in new light poles]as I listened to an old organ recording. The performance was full of extended pedal notes, down to 16 Hz. That's low enough to qualify as thunder. After two or three minutes I began to realize that I was hearing more than just the usual Walkman-type sounds from my tiny headphones. As the organist stepped down onto the pedals, rumbles of the deepest imaginable bass poured into my ears. I became so excited that I tripped over the headphone cord....

With my headphones dangling near the ground, I was still hearing those bass notes. One of the workers walked over to the diesel generator and switched it off, and my bass notes disappeared. I had been hearing an ordinary engine's chug-chugs and interpreting them as Bach's mellifluous pedal-point. Frequency-response checks on my portable player's headphones showed them to have almost no bass at all. And yet the bass sounded fine when I listened to music....

The solution to this mystery of the missing bass notes is found in the study of psychoacoustics. Music is a complex mix of different frequencies superimposed on each other. The sounds from a voice or an instrument are characterized by a fundamental tone and a series of overtones or harmonics that are mathematically related the fundamental tone. Thus, two different musical instruments are said to have the same pitch, if they are playing the same note. Yet, the sound of a violin is clearly distinguishable from that of a trumpet. They have different timbre because the harmonics from each instrument are not the same.

A fundamental note and its harmonics are mathematically related such that the brain can actually synthesize a missing fundamental note, so long as the harmonics are audible. The exact psychoacoustic process for this synthesis is still a subject of debate, but may be a combination of recognizing the timing intervals and the patterns of harmonics. Thus, low bass sounds from headphones that cannot physically reproduce low bass are nothing more than an illusion. Further, this synthesized bass often has a lighter timbre in comparison with the real thing.

[CrazyInNYC]

No highs, No lows, must be Bose. :thumbsup:

No, no, it's "No highs, no lows, must be Blows"

I thought it was Better Off w/ Something Else!

[Hobie1dog]

No highs, No lows, must be Bose. :thumbsup:

No, no, it's "No highs, no lows, must be Blows"

I thought it was Better Off w/ Something Else!

I can't believe I haven't heard that one before. Thanks, I will add that to my arsenal. :thumbsup:

[Jon28]

Update: I've had the Er6i's for about two weeks. The fit is a bit odd at first but I love them. They work great and block out a lot of "noise". I got them shipped for $85. I'd highly recommend these. The only negative thing is the wires seem to thin, and fragile. And sometimes taking them out is difficult. But all and all there are awesome :thumbsup:

[Hobie1dog]

Great to hear they are working for you, and that YOU like the sound of them. Thanks for posting back up.

[house]

I just upgraded from the E2c's to the E3c's and couldn't be happier. They sound great (better than the E2c's) and block out just about any noise. Thinking of dropping the $300 to try the E4c's

[Hobie1dog]

I just upgraded from the E2c's to the E3c's and couldn't be happier. They sound great (better than the E2c's) and block out just about any noise. Thinking of dropping the $300 to try the E4c's

I hope you got to "try" the E4c's before you bought them. I sold mine on Ebay the same week I bought mine.

Give us an update.

[house]

I just upgraded from the E2c's to the E3c's and couldn't be happier. They sound great (better than the E2c's) and block out just about any noise. Thinking of dropping the $300 to try the E4c's

I hope you got to "try" the E4c's before you bought them. I sold mine on Ebay the same week I bought mine.

Give us an update.

Hi-Fi buys has them on the floor... but they didn't have the ear things on the end (I guess someone swiped them.) Heading down there today with the ear thingys from my E3C's to give them a listen

[CrazyInNYC]

No highs, No lows, must be Bose. :thumbsup:

No, no, it's "No highs, no lows, must be Blows"

I thought it was Better Off w/ Something Else!

I can't believe I haven't heard that one before. Thanks, I will add that to my arsenal. :thumbsup:

How about Buy Other Sound Equipment...

[Guest matt_c]

I voted for the er6i's because thats what I have and they are fantastic, very worth the money.

[Guest]

er6i's are great, I love mine. They work well as ear plugs and provide clear sound at high way speeds. Comfortable for 6 hours at a time too.

But be warned some members here have discovered that they are highly prized doggy snacks. If your pouch is use to gourmet fare, then these are the bomb....... :goofy:

[Cdn Arctic]

I bought the Shure E3. Same as the EC3 but retailed through Music Supply stores, not retailers here in Canada, and they are less expensive. I decided on the Shure because they were more robust where the wire enters the ear monitor. Audio quality was about equal for my ears. Instead of using one of the multitude of ends for the E3's I decided to have custom ear molds made. A local audiologist has a mold to incorporate the E3's. They are great. I can listen at about half the volume I used to listen at. I also have a Amplirider installed so I have complete control over audio on the bike. Amplirider by the way, is a great product. Do a search on the site and read about the product. Here is Gary' web page and this thingie works as advertised.

shttp://www.electric-avenues.com/amplirider.html

This is a costly approach to tunes on a bike, but I figured it would be less expensive than having to buy hearing aids if I continued to crank up the volume at speed.

[Guest]

All this talk in the previous thread made me order some ER6i's - If I don't like them, you guys owe me $80 :goofy:

I'll report on my experience when I get them.

One thing puzzles me though. How can anyone hear anything when riding?

When I am on the highway, at about 80mph, the wind noise is overpowering.

I will be really surprised if I hear any music at all.

Hope I'm wrong though.

Read on about the ER6i's - A rider's very first day impression.

I'v been riding with the iPod Shuffle and the standard earbuds it came with. I would have to nearly crank it all the way up to hear it well. Even still, I would hear the wind buffeting VERY loudly riuught along with the engine sound. (which in and of itself is pretty sweet)

Well,....today was my first commute to work and back (34 miles each way), with the new ER61's. HOLY CRAP!

They are so quiet it is almost too quiet. I could barely hear my bike. The morning ride was chilly, so I had on my balaclava as well which really helped to reduce the buffeting noise and made it almost silent in between songs.

I found myself really looking around alot more because I could not hear squat as far as outside ambient noises were concerned. :rolleyes:

This afternoon's ride was just as incredible. No balaclava, but the normal buffeting sound around the base of the helmet was reduced to a VERY mild hum. I can just barely hear the engine revs unless hitting it hard into VTEC.

I rode with the music turned nearly all the way down and the quality and clarity was fantastic. :music:

I can't speak for the Shures cause I've never tried them, but I think it is pretty much six in one hand, half a dozen in the other. Both companies have earned their names and reps by building a quality product.

As for the Etymotic ER6i,....it is nothing but quality and if fitted right, it delivers exactly as promised. At least they do for me.

I'm even going to try to leave them slightly less inserted tomorrow to see if I can let in just a little outside sound cause that silence will take some getting use to. Although it was pretty darn cool cruising at 85 - 90 mph in 68 degree, no wind weather with some kicking tunes playing perfectly and NO LOUD NOISE! :thumbsup:

Very highly recommended and I would probably pay double if I had no alternative.

[Guest]

Oh,....by the way,...I have some very minor hearing loss already in the audible frequency range (the wife filter) which may lend to the level of silence I seem to experience when using the ER6i's. That is why I wanted them though, in orser to get away from hgaving to blast the music just to hear it over the ambient noise.

That and they seem to fit perfectly in my ear canal. I really need to twist at them good to get them to break suction and pull out.

I hope I'm not jamming them in too far. Probably not suppose to rest against your eardrums. :rolleyes:

[Guest]

Oh,....by the way,...I have some very minor hearing loss already in the audible frequency range (the wife filter) which may lend to the level of silence I seem to experience when using the ER6i's. That is why I wanted them though, in orser to get away from hgaving to blast the music just to hear it over the ambient noise.

That and they seem to fit perfectly in my ear canal. I really need to twist at them good to get them to break suction and pull out.

I hope I'm not jamming them in too far. Probably not suppose to rest against your eardrums. :rolleyes:

I really, really need to start using spellcheck more often.

Feel free to delete this post mod.

[Jon28]

er6i's are great, I love mine. They work well as ear plugs and provide clear sound at high way speeds. Comfortable for 6 hours at a time too.

But be warned some members here have discovered that they are highly prized doggy snacks. If your pouch is use to gourmet fare, then these are the bomb....... :goofy:

:music: LOL........maybe the dog likes music too :thumbsup:

[VFR79]

After much research and cotemplating on what to do for my MP3 needs on the bike, I decided to try the Etymotic Er6i's.

99% of my riding involves using earplugs. Anyone who doesn't use them doesn't know what they're missing (hopefully it won't be their hearing...eventually). Two months ago I decided to get an MP3 player for some of the longer rides that I do, I figured that having some background music would be nice. Unfortunately, the typical earbuds that you get with an MP3 don't do anything to block wind noise, thus you can hardly hear your music, and you'll still have that ringing in your ears when you are done riding. Not good. Being that I tend to be "careful with my money" at times, I tried modifying some earplugs before I plunked down the dough for a set of the real deal. I cut the tips off of my triple flanged plugs so that I could put them in my ear with the earbuds, but it really wasn't satisfactory. The music quality just wasn't their. Ok, time to go shopping.

I've seen good reviews on both the Er6i's and the E3C's. But which ones do I get? The thing that sold me on the Er6i's is that they come with a foam tip and a triple flange tip. Both of which are my favorite types of earplugs. I've been scouring eBay and found that I could pick these up anywhere from $70-$80. Not bad, considering they retail for around $130. This past week I happened to find someone selling a used set for $42 (after shipping). Sweet! They came in the mail yesterday and I got to test them out today (after I cleaned them, of course). These things are awesome! They fit nicely in my ears, and my helmet goes on without any problems (also comes off without any problems). The sound quality is perfect and they do a great job at blocking all the wind noise; best of both worlds. I know there has been some debate over who has the best base quality and blah blah blah. But I've never been a connaissuer of fine stereo equipment, so for me they are perfect. I can hear the music clearly and that's all that matters.

Motorcycling just gets better and better every day!