Review on 🎧 Enhance Your Listening Experience with Etymotic Research Isolator Noise Isolating Earphones by Katie Lynch

These are entry-level headphones from Etymotic Research, the company that put noise isolation on the map. (To be clear, this isn't noise-cancellation. It's an entirely different technology, and there seems to be a lot of understandable confusion over the difference.) People are willing to pay hundreds of dollars more for higher-end Etymotics. The sound quality is excellent, very transparent and natural, but without much bass content, so Kendrick Lamar fans should look elsewhere. For my taste, which is based on classical and jazz, they are almost perfect. But a few words about soundproofing are necessary. They come with three sets of inserts in three different sizes, and it takes a bit of experimentation to figure out which ones work for a particular user. If the insert is too small for the ear canal, there will be little to no noise isolation, and if it's too large, the headphones will become uncomfortable to wear over a long period of time. (I suspect some people will find them uncomfortable anyway because they have to go deep in the ear canal.) Also, the user must follow the letter-by-letter fitting instructions to get the right fit. But once that's done, the noise isolation is absolutely impressive. My rough guess is that they filter out about 90% of the surrounding noise. In fact, I'm not sure I'd want to wear them walking down a busy city street - not that that would be a problem during a pandemic - because I might not hear a truck about to run me over. I can't comment on their build quality or durability as I haven't had them that long, but I've heard good things about Etymotic in that regard, and the company's customer support is good. So I'll give them the highest possible recommendation, but with one important caveat: they take a little getting used to at first and are a bit fiddly every time they're inserted, and some people will likely find them uncomfortable for a long time. Expiration date - so I would suggest only buying them from a seller who is willing to accept returns. Hope this will be helpful.