Review on 🎧 Etymotic Research ER2SE Studio Edition High Performance In-Ear Earphones with Detachable Dynamic Drivers, Noise Isolation, High Accuracy, and Studio-grade Sound Quality by Barb Parker

I received my ER2SE about a month ago. Here I'm comparing them to my HD600 open-back over-ear headphones, as both are tuned to a diffuse field target. Also because the HD600 has a very large user base. Both sound very natural to me. ER2 is more realistic for some of the instruments I play. The HD600 is a bit bassier/darker and the vocals are only slightly recessed. So if you think HD600 is intimate, this IEM might surprise you. The ER2 sizzles a bit compared to the hd600, although it's definitely not that big on its own. I prefer male vocals on hd600 because they sound fuller and female vocals on ety because they sound nicer. That's how I would describe it. When the brightest earbud looks like noon and the darkest earbud looks like midnight. Then ER2 is like sunrise, a bit energetic, and HD600 is like sunset, very relaxing. Although the lighting is the same, the feeling is different. The HD600 has a large soundstage and is not distracting. There's a tendency to forget it's on my head after a while. Transient seems to be better on ER2. Everything feels faster. I seriously doubt I've heard much difference in detail. HD600 a little more? But the ER2 has at least 90% of the detail I heard on the hd600 at normal listening levels. However, the ER2 is only a third of that price (let's skip the amp and DAC here). Good job Etymotic. The soundstage isn't very wide, but there's no sense of jamming. The separation of the instruments on the HD600 is even better. The form factor is of course very different. When I switched over to my ER2 while the hd600 was playing, audio leaks from the hd600 and all other sounds from the outside world were suddenly blocked. And when I turned on my hd600 while playing ER2. I can even clearly hear the ER2 audio leaking out on my desk. The new packaging comes with four double flanged nozzles. These are my favourites, which are way ahead of the three-flanges in terms of comfort. It is easy to insert and appears to be more secure than a single flange. The insertion depth has very little effect on the sound due to the new dynamic driver. One note is that a good seal is essential for this IEM to shine. Otherwise, there may be strange spikes in FR that shouldn't be there, as well as loss of detail.