Etymotic ER-6i Isolator review

Etymotic ER-6i Isolator Review

Reviewed by: Steve Guttenberg

Reviewed on: 2 October 2006

The name Etymotic means 'true to the ear' and is pronounced 'et-im-oh-tik'. We're huge fans of the company's ER-4P headphone set, but it retails for a whopping £170. The ER-6 Isolator is available for around £80 and is designed to offer most of the performance and features of its pricier sibling for much less moolah. The original Isolator model was only available in black, but iPod completists can now opt for its all-white doppelgänger, the ER-6i.

The ER-6i comes with both silicone rubber and foam eartips, which the user can swap. They're designed to fit into your ear canals, like earplugs, to block out ambient noise. We judged their effectiveness to be the equal of active or battery-powered noise-cancelling headphones. There's just one caveat: some buyers, particularly those with smaller ear canals, may find the eartip insertion rituals daunting or unpleasant (you really have to jam them in). Also, the rubber eartips in particular have a tendency to attract earwax and will have to be cleaned regularly. But we found the ER-6i to be highly comfortable -- arguably more so than other top in-ear headphones, including the Shure E3c or the Etymotic ER-4P. On the other hand, other people we spoke to preferred the fit of Shure's E3c and Sony's less expensive MDR-EX71SL.

As with those in-ear models, when we walked or moved, we heard the ER-6i's wires rubbing against our clothing. You get used to the sounds over time, but they're there, and the ER-6i's very thin and superflexible wires are prone to tangle -- ours did, even after we carefully stored the headphones in their carrying pouch. Also, many will find the 1.5m cord length to be too long -- especially if you use a player with an in-line remote.

Ah, but the ER-6's sound is extraordinarily fine. Because of its noise-isolation attributes, we were able to listen to our iPod at very moderate volume levels on a roaring train -- we didn't have to blast our ears to enjoy our music. Then again, if you want to play loud, the ER-6i can achieve fairly high levels with a portable MP3 player, though the ER-4P was able to play louder.

Listen, and you'll hear a purity to the sound that few 'phones can match. We were constantly surprised by the ER-6i's ability to resolve even the most subtle details of our music collection. Bass response is excellent -- deep and well defined -- for an earbud-type headphone. Bass buffs will be happier with a full-size Grado SR60 (around £70). However, the ER-6i's sonics are overall cleaner and far more resolved than the SR60's. As always, your buying decision is a matter of identifying your priorities.

Additional editing by Nick Hide