Drop + Etymotic - ER4SR

When traveling, Apple Airpods Max if I can spare the space, as they are very comfortable on a 12+ hour flight, otherwise Etymotic ER4-SR in-ear monitors. The Sony WH-1000XM series are pretty good, with the XM3 and XM4 folding down very compact, sadly the XM5 no longer does, but the imminent XM6 might go back on that regression. EDC, I can never get Airpods Pro to stick in my ears, so Noble Fokus Mystique true wireless in-ear monitors. Very good sound quality and sufficient isolation to not require active noise cancellation.

Apple Dongle $7 and Etymotic ER4SR $170 CAD. Ety is still the OG IEM experience and like Sennheiser is legend. I sold my ER4SR to a friend and now have the ER2XR and an old HF5 in its place. Both great in their own way but the ER4SR takes the prize for its detail and timbre. For dacs, the Apple Dongle does what it needs so no need to pay more.

I love the Etymotics! I use the ER4SR in the studio, but they are unsuitable for live use (to me). We do not need that much accuracy when playing live. They go so deep, the occlusion effect becomes unbearable for me (the boom boom noise when speaking / moving). It's also a pain to take them out when I need to communicate with others. But most importantly, they just don't output enough bass. Boosting it just results in a distorted fuzzy mess. Perhaps the ER2SE might do better on this front as it has a dynamic driver instead of a BA. The isolation is great though. We need every chance we get to save our ears.

I use my IEM (https://www.etymotic.com/product/er4sr-earphones/) for djing and plane trips, they allow replaceable internal filters for a differen freq response. Going on 10 years strong

I had both the ER4 SR and XR.... still have SR. For neutrality a natural sound of instruments, they are really unbeatable. But the longer I have them, the more I realize their limitations, too: 1) Necessary to insert really deep into your ear canal to get proper isolation and desired sound quality. Some people just find it unsurmountable problem, the others (incl. myself) can do it but it always gets uncomfortable/painful after some time... 2) SR sound more natural to me than XR... but the bass is simply never enough for me and I´m really not a bass head at all. Always use EQ with them, i.e. cca 31Hz/+8,5 64Hz/+3,2.... of course do not know the Q value but now the bass response is +/- OK for me. 3) Very narrow, flat soundstage, no imaging to talk about... they sound more like studio monitor. 4) With complex, loud passages (e.g., full orchestra), the sound kind of leaks together a bit, the instrument separation and transparency is limited Now why do I still have them? Because I want flat response and natural sound in a portable package.... And as there is practically no possibility to try earbuds without obligation, I have no option to try and find something better. Relying on reviews of the others is very, very tricky and believe me I know what I´m talking about, I have been in the review business for some time. So if you somebody find etymotic sound without the limitations mentioned above, please let me know :-)

As someone who mostly uses BA IEMs the multi-flange tips aren't even exactly a matter of isolation, they always provide the best possible bass response and it's very noticeable. I guess that's part of the reason why Etymotic keeps shipping them since the beginning (ER4). Not as noticeable with DDs though