crawdaddy79's Full Review: Etymotic Research MicroProâ„¢ ER-4P Consumer Headp...
I've had these for almost three years now, and am constantly going back to them. So far, I've yet to find a pair of headphones or other earbuds that produce the clarity of sound these do. The bass is light, but easily detectable. I've found that I prefer this as the bass doesn't drown out other sounds in complex music, and more importantly online gaming (First Person Shooters, mainly, where hearing barely audible footsteps is mandatory).
Turning the volume up only presents distortion of your playing device. The earbuds themselves can handle lots of wattage without sound degradation.
The noise cancelling is also extremely effective; these are basically earplugs with speakers in them. I've used them while flying in a C-141 cargo bay, and didn't have to turn my i-Pod above halfway to get 'loud enough' music. On a normal commercial airplane, the crying baby behind you is easily ignored.
On the downside, ear wax gets into the sound channel if you don't clean your ears that morning, or immediately prior to insertion. This can clog it, and seriously hinder the sound quality/volume. If it gets bad enough, you'll need to change the filter out - and those are fairly expensive. The filters are minisule, so you need plenty of light and a clean work area to replace them in the event you drop one.
It takes a bit of determination to get used to them, unfortunately. My ears were sore for at least the first week that I tried using them... Unable to keep them in for more than 30 minutes at a time with the rubber fin buds that they come with. It also comes with a cushioned (earplug) bud that is much more comfortable for long-term wear, but in my opinion doesn't sound nearly as good as the rubber fin when shoved as far as they can go... The instruction says the point is to form a tight seal. Basically it makes a vacuum, where the cushioned ones don't do as good of a job (not in my ears at least).
The ER4P MicroPro earphones are the next best thing to live music, with noise isolation far surpassing that of active noise-canceling earphones.More at PCNation
Noise isolation: 35-42 dB Maximum output: 122 dB SPL Weight: less than 1 oz. Response accuracy: 86% Frequency response: 50-10 kHz ± 2 dB; 20-16 kHz ?...More at Amazon
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