Etymotic Research is a well-established company researching
and developing products and tools for safer hearing and their ER4 series of
in-ear canal phones have been around for a very long time with great popularity
and success.
A few years ago, they released the latest ER4 series, the
ER4SR (Studio Reference) and ER4XR (Extended Response), using their latest
balanced armature driver. This was soon followed by ER3 series, which reduced
the impedance and moved its production from the USA to China and reduced the
price by half while providing similar sound profiles in both the SR and XR
versions, named ER3SE (Studio Edition) and ER3XR (Extended Response).
Earlier this year, the ER2 series was released to market.
The unique different between the ER3 and ER4 with the ER2 is the balanced
armature style driver has been replaced with a more traditional dynamic driver,
in a tiny micronized fashion to fit in the same shell design as the ER3/ER4
series.
THE ER2 SERIES
The ER2 series comes with the same accessories as the ER3
series – a carrying pouch, a set of small and large tri-flange silicone tips, a
set of foam tips, and an extra pair of filters and a tool to remove them. Like
the ER3/ER4, the cable is detachable and features an mmcx connection just like
the formers. The housing and cable split are now in a royal blue color as
opposed to a more traditional black and gunmetal colorway.
ER2 DYNAMIC DRIVER
Users of the BA versions of the Etymotic will be right at
home with the Eytmotic house sound – a Diffuse Field signature that
essentially puts every frequency on a level playing field – some may call it
neutral. It’s a great reference sound signature that is easily appreciated and
maybe somewhat boring.
The dynamic driver versions are actually quite nice. They
add a more natural tonality to them, with ever so subtle changes in how the ear
phones sound in your ear, despite measurements of the ER2 and ER3 Studio
Editions being quite similar. The ER2SE does have a slightly warmer sound than
the respective ER3 and ER4 siblings, and this does help make the organic sound
of the dynamic driver shine a bit. The slight bass boost also gives a little
more energy all around, while still being a bit sterile in nature.
The XR version features a bigger bass boost than the XRs of
the BA variety and with the dynamic driver in tow, the warmer, richer sound is
very engaging and just the right amount of gain that is needed to turn the
sterile SE version into a musical gem. The ER2XR also has a slightly more
noticeable wider soundstage, which helps a little bit with congestion.
The XR and SE pack a lot of detail retrieval and resolution
into a small form factor, and outclass anything at $129 and easily above other
price points until you, of course, reach its older siblings. And while the BA
versions do have quite good technicalities and an airy sound to them, I still
prefer the dynamic ER2 over them for their more natural tonality and timbre and
their improved bass and low-end performance.
The XR in particular has a thicker sound than what I was
expecting, and even has some subbass rumble to it. The mids aren’t quite as
forward and clean as the SE model, but both still perform will with respect to
their traits. The dynamic driver is quick and fast, and cleaner than I would
ever expect one to be at the price point it’s selling for, especially for a
well-established respected company like Etymotic.
ISOLATION
For isolation, I put the ER2 to the test on the Fourth of
July. With fireworks booming and blasting everywhere around me outside, I stuck
the ER2, tri-flange tips, in and it muffled all but the most loudest and most
illegal of fireworks. And that was with no music playing! These are great for
noisy environments. They won’t cut out everything, but they’ll do a lot better
job than most passive and active noise cancellation systems. With a little
faint volume music playing, all the fireworks celebrations vanished. Magic.
OTHER COMPARISONS
I wanted to touch base with a few other IEMs in this price range
that I really like a lot. Namely, the Moondrop Kanas Pro and the BGVP DMS. They
are considerably different than the ER2 but worth looking at.
Moondrop Kanas Pro
First the Moondrop Kanas Pro is a more Harman Tuning than
the Diffuse Field tuned ER2SE, so right off the bat, you’re going to hear a lot
more bass quantity and more recessed mids in the Kanas Pro than the ER2SE. The
XR variant, however, does have a warmer bass boost, and actually results in a richer
mid section that’ll make male vocals more thick and natural. The Kanas Pro will
beat both variants in terms of soundstage and air, and gives it a much more
open space. That said, the ER2s meet or exceed the Kanas Pro in details and
just general tonality.
BGVP DMS
The BVGP DMS is almost the complete opposite, but I really
like it. It’s open-back and does not seal at all. So that’s a night and day
difference from the Etymotic. But the DMS has a lot more “fun” factor in that
it boosts both the bass and the treble response and provides a very open
soundstage that can make your feet move, much more easily than the more sterile
and toned down ER2 series. This is a complete 180 from the ER2 series and both
would compliment each other quite well for a fun and an analytical IEM duo.
OVERALL
At the end of the day, this review has kind of gone a little
bit all over the place, and maybe I can blame that for writing bits and pieces
of it over a week’s time instead of coherently writing it in a shorter period
of one or two sittings. Luckily, I don’t need to say a whole lot more other
than that everyone should try one of these models out. They may surprise you
with how much better they work than many active noise cancellation headphones
out there, and then shock you again with how good they actually sound for a
great price. They do go heel to heel and perhaps best the ER3, and could even
be preferred to the ER4, depending on sonic preferences.
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