Drop + Etymotic - ER3SE / ER3XR

Campfire Solaris 2020 > Etymotic ER3XR > Aurvana Trio > Tin P1 > Soundmagic E10

Etymotic ER3XR. Every time I've gone away from Etymotic for IEMs I've been disappointed. Owned the ER6, ER6i, ER4PT, and now the ER3XR.

An IEM that leaves you fatigued means you’ve fly the wrong IEM, probably with high treble as a cause. As this will be blind buy (I’m assuming you don’t have a place to go go to listen before purchase) buy from Amazon. As long as it shops from Amazon (it should tell you under the price) you have 30 days to demo it and return it if you don’t like it, or it misbehaves, so you’re not dealing with a crazy warranty claim with China. You may pay $10-20 over Aliexpress, but for a $250 buy id rather have that protection. Noise isolation on IEMs is passive, and up to the ear tip and how well it seals. That will also determine thr quality of sound. The best passive noise isolation comes with the triple flange tip Etymotics offer. It’s almost as good as ANC. Something like an ER3 or 4 XR could be in your list. The single BA really performs well, but the cable is a nightmare with cable noise if it brushes against anything it’s been that way for 20 years. There are some trucks like running over and behind your ears like classic IEMs, or just buying a new, third party cable on Aliexpress. Another IEM to consider is the Performer 5. There is a new 5+2 version coming out, so you might want to wait a bit for that to be released. Given your need for travel, and improvements in sound quality and ANC for flight noise, is there a reason you don’t want wireless with ANC and other handy features for you. It’s something you should consider.

When I'm out & about on daily walks I wear my Etymotic ER3 SE IEM's, connected to a FiiO BTR5 DAC/Amp, and stream Amazon Music over bluetooth from my Pixel phone. To conserve battery, I use the APTX codec. I have typical ski slope loss from 2K on, and it's severe to profound. I can say the sound is comprable to when I use my Sennheiser HD 6XXs connected to my Aszus Xonar Essense STX sound card with my Oticon Intents on. I have a custom Music program which acheives a very HiFi soundstage. Bottom line, the wired cans with HAs are a step above, but the IEMs w/o HAs are very pleasing, and the passive noise reduction is great!

1. HEK Stealth: I expected them to be too bright for me but they appeared to be perfect. Bass is well detailed and in good amount for my liking -not a basshead- mids are not as forward as I would like, but still intimate enough, and highs are of course detailed but not to a fatigue threshold. Soundstage here is narrower than the HD800S but more "holographic", the imaging is perfect, you can pinpoint everything. 2. HD800S: I am probably biased but I really love the mids on these, trebbles can be a bit too hot for me though. Of course soundstage is very wide and the imaging is excellent only second to the HEK. Bass are the real weakpoint barring them to be an all rounder imo. 3. Arya Stealth: Very detailed but a bit sloppy in its execution. It can get a bit overwhelming on some kind of musics where your mind is just attracted to every bit of information. Feels like the headphone is trying to shove the details in your throat. Too bright to my likings but mids were nice and bass really good. Soundstage is on the narrow side but in a holographic sense "taller", imaging is very good but detrimental to the overall pleasure. 4. HD560S: was not expecting them to be that good honestly. Got them during christmas as a gift, and I must say that I am very pleased: very detailed, they are tuned in a way that makes me rediscover some aspects of my music which I find quite enjoyable. Trebbles are not harsh at all -we're talking about Sennheiser so that's normal- mids are really good, although not as good as the HD6XX series imo. The bass are in the average when compared to other HD5XX series, although they feel tighter: maybe because these are newer than my previous HD5XX headphones. Only exception would be the HD58X which have more bass in quantity. Soundstage here is not the focus of these headphones but wide enough, imaging on the other hands is excellent and on par with the above IMO. 4. ER4XR: these IEMs are really good, really good clarity, bass are tight and trebbles not aggressive at all, the mids feel a bit too recessed to my likings but still okay overally. Soundstage wise they are on the wider side, as for imaging they are excellent. 5. HD598: I may be biased as they are my third "audiophile pair of headphones" after I sold the HD599 and the HD598CS. I love them to bits, and I always get impressed by their sound signature everytime I put them on. Trebbles are not harsh at all, mids are forward and bass can be considered as a lackluster but when you become accustomed to its sound signature you can often find yourself wondering why there is too much bass on some tracks. The imaging in these in is not as precise as the above -of course we are hundreds of dollars below the previous sets- but still quite good if you want to really focus on details. Of course the soundstage is quite wide for its price tag. However these are very old and I suspect that most users here would consider these as a relic of the past: understandably so. 6. ER3XR: really similar to the ER4XR, I would say 90% similar, they just lack a bit of clarity: that bit makes the ER4XR shine in comparison. However the ER3XR still keep the same sound signature as their big brother. So overally really good pair of IEM. 7. HD6XX/HD58X: The two of them are quite similar in their presentation, rolled of trebbles, forward mids -even more as they age- a good amount of bass but a clear lack of sub bass. The difference I hear is that the bass region in the HD58X is more bloated than the HD6XX. Other than that on a quick blind test I would often fail to distinguish one and another. However if I had to keep only one I'd go with the HD6XX as I feel like the bass area in the HD58X can often be detrimental to some genres. These two are "fun" headphones and by no means neutral. On the soundstage side, they are on the narrow side, I have often seen people calling them claustrophobic, the imaging can be a mess sometimes but if you concentrate yourself you can still pick a good amount of the details, which are believe are more present in the HD6XX. However I must say that they are on the same league as the ESP95/X although very different in their presentation.

None of the cheap Chinese IEMs hold a candle to Etymotic. If you're not gonna get custom molds, get Etymotic ER3SE.

Etyomtic ER3SE. It's TRULY exceptional. Especially at the price that it's listed at on Amazon currently ($110 instead of the original $180). Insertion depth might take some getting used to but I think it's worth it, if not I guess you could return it.

ER3XR are midcentric and warm. Very gentle treble. Not increased, the opposite.

I own 2XR and 3XR too. ER3XR is my favourite iem. I find their sound signature quite different. 3XR is about mids with some bass and very gentle treble. 2XR are more neutral with no emphasis on mids, more bass and treble. Compared to 3XR they are V-shaped.