Etymotic ResearchER2-XR Extended Response - In Ear Noise Isolating IEM Earphones with Detachable Cable

Etymotic. ER2SE ReviewCost:£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 2Ifi Hip. DAC 2 (connected to both phone and M11 PlusIncluded 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!

I've been loving these ER2XR as they block out a lot of noise, even that of neighbours.Help me while I get tired for bed.They block out more sound than any other earphone I have ever had.They have decent sound, a nice carry case and a nice set of tips.The fit is pretty good, just find the best ones for your comfort.

Ah the Etymotics, infamously known for their sound and value. However, be warned that you must be happy to plant these deep in your earholes. Renowned for their uncomfortable and intrusive fit, some will survive, but personally I could not manage and had to return. I thought I would have loved these, at the time I was using triple flange silicon tips on other IEMs so thought I was already used to an Etymotic style fit, but boy howdy was I wrong. Maybe it's my small ear canals, but I don't think I ever managed to plant these deep enough.However I certainly got close as they sounded amazing, quite bassy for a neutral IEM, but in a good way. Amazing clarity and tuning, slightly bassier than my Moondrop Starfields, and just really smooth and clean. Probably the best IEM I've used so far, just amazing presentation. However I couldn't live with them in the end and have since settled on Moondrop Arias.Worth trying for sure, but be prepared to return if you can't suffer the fit.

The wire has stopped working on one side 10 months later, but is otherwise still good. I live by a busy road, and nothing really will completely remove the outside noise because of the damned loud motorcycles, but this does well enough. Better than cheap earmuffs, and better than a silicone earplug designed for sleeping. For best noise reduction, you want a good seal.However, it must be noted that although it is *technically* MMCX compatible, a standard MMCX cable is going to be useless because it lacks this etymotic-specific locking mechanism, which meant at least in my experience, the earbud would come right off with the slightest pressure, so a standard cable was hardly usable. Fortunately, replacement cables with this special locking mechanism can be purchased rather cheaply from Ali for a fraction of the price that Etymotic would sell them to you for.