Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator Earphones

Posted by Zoetrope

I've been looking a long time for good earphones to wear while riding the subway. Most of the noise canceling earphones I looked at were too expensive. Then I started looking at sound isolating earphones. The best for the money are the Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator Earphones at about $87.50. That's a lot for a pair of earphones, but how much is your hearing worth? Before I had these I either had to crank the volume all the way up to listen on the train, or just sit and listen to the train rattling along. Now I can have the volume very low and hear everything fine, with almost no background noise. I even keep them in when I'm not listening to music, just to block out the train sounds. The earphones come with several different tips so you can fit them snugly in your ear canal. This reduces environmental sound levels by 30 to 35 dB. The sound quality is quite good. While I wouldn't advise wearing them for biking or driving, since you really can't hear what's going on around you, they're great for trains and planes.