Etymotic ER2XR Review: The Sub $200 King of IEMs

[@aceventuraaceventura2003]

If you already own a ER4XR (yes I understand that this is a review of ER2SR), don't even think about getting rid of it. To get the most out of them, there's couple of tricks you can do. 1. Do filter rolling (ear wax filter) to different colors to see which ones suit you. 2. Use a low powered IEM amp/dac. I use Audioquest Drangonfly Cobalt. 3. Side load FLAC files direct or indirect if you use iPhone. I used VLC for iPhone and use iTunes to side load the high res FLAC files. 4. I use Comply foam tips specifically made for the ER series. I squish them while rolling them to make it as thin as possible like rolling a cigarette. Then I gently insert them into my ear canal but I don't push it all the way in. As soon as I can feel like they can't go in any further, I leave a few mm gap and let them expand in my ear canal. This is very important if you want most comfort. As long as they are mostly perpendicular to the ear drum, you will get very good result of capturing all the sound from the drivers. Finally, if you have a DAP (I use Astell Kern AK120II) that has a 2.5mm balanced input, Etymotic has a balanced IEM cable. Use of this cable is game changer in my opinion. A whole another level of audio fidelity. I find that this IEM is even bests my Campfire Mammoth which is lacking on the mid and high end as I find them to be very subdued. However, I do give Campfire Mammoth the two thumbs up for comfort, although my Ety ER4XR is very close 2nd. I HIGHLY recommend the the ER-series if your budget is around $200-$500.

[@jaketapper1953]

Etymotic er4s were the first in ear Noise Canceling headphones I ever owned and the last pair wired I will ever need. Now these were NC before ANC existed for the consumer market. Etymotic is also great with their warrantee. Last year they replaced my original blue/red er4s' with their new er4s in the gray colorway. Customer service was top notch ... i thought i was going have to pay for a replacement but they ended up send me a new pair on the house. Can't say enough about how great they are.

[@kenja_taimu]

I'm from europe and couldn't get the clear triple flange large eartips anywhere for a reasonable price. Customer service told me to go fuck myself

[@milorogelio4556]

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[@holdenrey4506]

@Milo Rogelio Instablaster =)

[@milorogelio4556]

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[@milorogelio4556]

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[@DaveFarr]

Very informative review! I've just bought a refurb combo with Ety's bluetooth cable. This video is making me feel really good about that purchase.

[@DarthCiliatus]

You definitely can shoot with these. I A/B'd them with my actual shooting earplugs and ear muffs when shooting my ruger 10/22 in .22lr and my Wetherby Vanguard in .223 and the Ety's blocked out more noise than either of them.

[@bobc2960]

I can't help but wonder if those triple flanges won't get stuck in the ear canal. Because since they insert sooo deep into the ear canal I'd be afraid that they'd stay in occasionally. I'd freak out if they got stuck in my ears.

[@LuboAck]

Your reviews are excellent, keep them coming. Nice job! I have the er2xr and I think they are quite excellent

[@TimTheMain]

I'm really debating getting this or blessing 2, you said you prefer these, could you clarify a bit why you would choose these over blessing 2, not considering cost. Thank you for the solid review!

[@Precogvision]

The ER2XR is more coherent overall because it's only using a single DD. That's something that I prioritize heavily. But, and this is a big but, the Blessing 2 is more technical. You'll get better imaging and resolution on the B2. I think both have fairly good tonal balances.

[@Bzik71]

@@Precogvision Forgetting everything else, if talking about vocals/dialog, which ones would you prefer, for say listening to audiobooks?

[@daguaishouxd]

Great review! Just picked up er2xr and I have been comparing it with the starfield. I noticed that heavily distorted instruments/synth riffs sound a bit broken with er2xr. Cymbal crashes also feel less organic and a bit grainy. Wonder if you notice these too and if so, what would you say is the cause of these? Slower dynamics? In contrast, starfield holds its own much better in this regard. I'm fairly confused by this sound signature and would love to hear your opinion. Thanks in advance!

[@jcap8391]

Really? Damn I was about to buy these that sounds bad. Are you sure you didn't get a defective pair?

[@daguaishouxd]

​@@jcap8391 Honestly I'm not sure as I don't have a 2nd pair to compare to. It probably is still a very nice IEM for classical music etc, but for me the Starfield fits my taste a bit better. I'm planning to sell the ER2XR.

[@DanTraa]

What kind of music do you listen to? I'm planning to buy these, but I also have a lot of speed metal and power metal tracks in my library. Mainly DragonForce. Do you think these handle metal music well?

[@daguaishouxd]

@@DanTraa I listen to a range of stuff - rock, pop, indie, hip-hop, instrumentals etc. - among which hardcore/screamo (Blessthefall for example) is probably closest to what you mentioned. It happens that I haven't got time to sell my er2xr so I took it out for another evaluation listening to Dragonforce, here are the thoughts after my 2nd take - well pretty much the same as the 1st one...er2xr is really not built for heavy stuff, to my ears at least. There is almost no 'body' to the music, guitar distortion sounds like kitchen knives (I play electric guitar for reference), the sound stage is narrow too. Swapping back to the Starfield made an immediate difference - not saying that the Starfield is perfect in any sense - but now you at least get some bass going and distortion sounds are much more solid, the sound stage opened up too. So yea, er2xr is maybe good for some genres, but definitely not a keeper for me.

[@DanTraa]

@@daguaishouxd Thanks for taking your time listening to them! Seems like not a good choice for me. I'll probably look at stuff that has a little bit more midbass like the Starfield

[@chrisstroud60]

I got the se version. Yeah I'm definitely worried about fit. I used to have a pair of klipsch s4 that had a kinda deep fit but was still confertable to me but these look more intense.

[@ahmadhusaini8420]

does the mids resolution of B2 is better than er2se? I can just name a few that really shines on mids resolution. 1.KSE1200 (not really good tuning), 2. VX (fake ish BA sound), 3. Er2se (the fitting is sucks)

[@Precogvision]

Haven’t heard ER2SE, but if it’s similar to ER2XR then yea B2 has better resolution in the midrange.

[@lMyst1kal]

Do you think that with a fiio ka5 it moves them well?

[@vickichen648]

First! Thanks for the great review.

[@FrankVila]

Do you feel they are better than the Moondrop Kato by now?

[@ratedRblazin420]

Just grabbed these for $45 on adoroma

[@MakesSens]

Great Vid, is there an in ear unit that you would recommend for a fellow basshead? Willing to give up on some quality in other frequencies for lower pricepoint. Thanks!

[@Precogvision]

If you can find a legit one, Sony MH755 has one of the best bass shelves, and quantity, of any IEM under $100.

[@Moraud5386]

How does it compare with the Shure Se215, Fiio FA1 and FH1? If I mostly listen to acoustic music and isolation and sound are the most important to me. How would you rank those?

[@Precogvision]

Haven't heard the Fiio stuff, but it definitely isolates better than all of them. Honestly, I'd put the SE215 at a 2/10.

[@Moraud5386]

@@Precogvision thanks for your opinion. It was good 7 years ago but as of today, SE215 indeed is far compare to Etymotic and Fiio, yet more expensive. I’d HIGHLY suggest you to have a look at Fiio. They are solid with an amazing sound stage. The Fiio FH7 is one of the bests IEM and can compete with the Shure SE846. My choice is between the Etymotic and Fiio FH1 now. Will do a poll on an audiophile page and I’lL buy the one leading

[@slawin4251]

Now that FDX1 is on sale for $200, it's coming for that throne.

[@Precogvision]

Ye FDX1 is pretty solid. Not a fan of the timbre, as notes decay a bit too quickly, but it’s got a technical edge over the ER2XR for sure.

[@slawin4251]

Only thing is the fit was very horrible for me, otherwise a very solid one for it's price

[@slawin4251]

What score would you give it on ur ranking list?

[@Precogvision]

Like 5.5 or 6/10

[@TomTom-gx1sm]

But the ER2XR is on sale for $100 on Amazon right now ;)

[@krayozmines]

Great video

[@painpeace3619]

How deep should I put these iem in my ears?

[@Joey3105Tube]

These compared to Philips SHP9500?

[@gna3708]

Can you suggest and upgrade from Er2xr in the 500 dollar catagory with the same refinement?

[@lukabosnjak3829]

Er2se

[@paulosilva8200]

Guys. Hope you can help me. In this model it says there is no mic. But I can't see the mic but I can have chats and they can ear me. How's that possible

[@Precogvision]

Your device probably has a mic already which is what's picking up your voice in chats.

[@paulosilva8200]

@@Precogvision the point is where. Cant see it.

[@Precogvision]

But the point is that there’s no mic at all on the ER2XR itself. The microphone is on whatever device you’re using.

[@paulosilva8200]

@@Precogvision I tried the keep the phone fat from my mouth to see if it triggers the phone mic. Nope. It does not. It's strange

[@paulosilva8200]

Really. When comes to long tips. Cut the last bit and then its perfect. I work out with earphones from 100 dollars to 2000 and they all perfect fit when you in the pool. When in the gym. They all suck. I need to move the earphones every min and I bend all wires because the war piece is short and my pushing the wires they break. I like it simple and slim. I cut always the last tip from the triple sleeve and perfect. What I wonder if they have the volume. T5 klipsch took me 10 seconds to give to my door guy because they so low in volume they suck. Is this have volume?

[@amanieux]

so this is your your $200 max recommendation, starfield is your $100 max iem recommendation and blessing 2 is your $300 max recommendation ? have your tried tribrids ? what is your opinion on them ? (tri i3 or bqeyz spring2 for example) thanks for sharing your impressions.

[@Precogvision]

Yeah, that’s about right. Most of the tribrids I’ve tried have been more expensive, like the VE Elysium, EE Odin, and Jomo Trinity Brass. They definitely have potential; however, the main issue you need to consider is coherency because you’re mix-and-matching driver types. Some people are more sensitive to that type of issue than others (and of course it depends on the IEM).

[@amanieux]

​@@Precogvision about tribrid prices, senfer dt6 is only $19 :) but it may not be a price range you chose to look into as unfortunately we usually get what we pay for.

[@carlangasa4622]

did you get the double flange tips? also would you recommend these for casual listening or are they more for monitoring

[@Precogvision]

Carlangas A Can’t remember...I just listen for fun!

[@dagohoyting2417]

Is this even better compared to shure se846?

[@Precogvision]

Haven’t heard SE846, but I think the general consensus is that the KSE1200/1500 is the only Shure really worth buying.

[@2RosarioVampire]

SE846 wasn't made with accuracy in mind. It's geared towards audience that only want bass. And only bass. Everything else in the frequency range is second class. It has really good deep reaching bass but like I stated earlier, the rest of the spectrum feels 'unconsidered'. As a whole, I would say this is the much much better IEM. SE846 is really cool to demo out though. The deep bass is great. For everyday purposes though, I wouldn't really consider the IEM unless you really enjoy the unique sound signature itself. I would say in general, audio listening devices have 2 different approaches in their products: consumer preference sound and studio reference sound. SE846 is in the former and there are those in head-fi who love their 846 over the Andromedas. The Etymotic ER series are more in the latter in that the earphones are better overall in sound quality when staying true to the music itself. If I had to stick to only one listening device (ER2XR and SE846) and no other IEMs (and did not know the sticker prices), I would personally prefer the ER2XR sound for long term listening as SE846 is great to first listen to for the first half an hour but the sound gets old quick (you are basically listening only for the subwoofer experience, nothing more).

[@dagohoyting2417]

@@2RosarioVampire great reply IMHO. This message should be spread...

[@gullibleskeptic3237]

I have the er2se and to me this is the "correct" amount of bass. It just seems weak compared to speakers because there is no physical feedback.

[@vishaalgargi]

Hey how would you describe the treble on er2se? Is it shouty/harsh?

[@YUYU-qv5le]

The v shape sounding IEM always has larger sound stage compare to some flat/neutral IEM.

[@paulosilva8200]

Found a way to encrease the bass. Yeeeee

[@ahmadhusaini8420]

The se treble is better than the xr version from what ive read. I only heard the se and i like it. The treble is not recessed in se version.

[@sudir_ebi]

damn your voice.. that vouce is so useful ..is it actual voice or you are using some kind of modulation because your face doesnt your face..no hard feelings

[@paulosilva8200]

I will exchange for a sony 55ap that costs 30 bucks in dubai.

[@peteroh7451]

You should've showed how they fit instead of making a bad joke. These seriously can determine whether people buy them or not.

[@Precogvision]

I wish it were that easy. Fit and comfort are 100% subjective with this stuff because, you know, no two people have the exact same ear. The only way to know for sure is to actually try it.

[@prabinpaudel5572]

I was this close to buying this at 80 dollars, found tinhifi p1 for 120 and couldn't resist. 😅

[@jasonbhatnagar7134]

What are you driving them with? Idk what to use but I was considering the dragonfly red

[@prabinpaudel5572]

@@jasonbhatnagar7134 with ifi hip dac. And the pairining is really nice. I have no frame of reference with other gears. But I'm very happy with mine! 😁