My search continues for the perfect plane headphones (or earphones). I used to have a pair of Etymotics ER-6 earphones that I loved… but then I left them on a plane somewhere. I’ve now got a pair from m.audio that are just a rebranded version of the Ultimate Ears super fi.5 earphones. The sound quality on these things is unreal, but they’re not quite as comfy as the Etymotics were. I think it might be possible to get a pair of custom ear inserts made for these for a better fit, but the whole assembly is just a tad bigger than I’d like (this may be part of why the sound is so good).
I’ve tried the Bose noise-cancelling headphones a couple of times now - both the over the ear and the on-ear versions - and they’re cool and work well and all that but… they highlight the difference between noise canceling and noise isolation. With the Bose, the engine hum drops and music sounds good but the isolation factor is much lower than with the in-ear monitors from Etymotics or m.audio. I put the IEMs in and turn on music and I can’t hear ANYTHING else… not the announcements, not the crying baby, not the chatter behind me, nothing. It’s really nice.
I do suspect that the Etymotics 4-P IEMs are maybe the best… better fit (for my ears anyway) with serious sound, but that suspicion isn’t strong enough to drop the money on them (yet). I’ll keep the m.audio for a while - in-ear headphones are hard to return and they do sound pretty amazing - and just see what else is out there.
