Home > Consumer Reviews > Etymotic Research HF2 Earphones / Headset (iPhone Compatible) - Black

I have had an MP3 for two years and in that time have had 5 different ear pieces. Some of them broke, others were useless and did not fit my ears. I received a Bose ear piece for MP3's for Christmas, and thought I was in heaven with the sound. However, nothing, absolutely nothing, compares with the Etymotic Research HF2 Hands Free Earphones. They completely block out all noise and the sound, well the sound is near perfect. I can imagine that I am in the same room as the orchestra. I have never had this type of sound experience. I am completely sold.

The packaging for the Etymotic HF2 is eye candy. An attractive blue and black packaging . Inside are doxens of ear tips. One of the most attractive black suede pouch to contain the ear tips and the earphones. Instructions are clear and concise. There are explicit instructions for setting up the ear phones, proper care and cleaning, and insertion and removal of the ear tips.

I plan to purchase an IPod and an Ipod phone, and this is completely compatible. I can take all calls, there is an in line microphone and end and send button on the earphones, I cannot hear anything but the music- all sound is completely blocked out. I am so enthusiastic about these ear phones. I love music and listening to audible books on my MP3.

I am so satisfied and so pleased with these earphones. I would recommend them to anyone for the best high fidelity audio experience.

Highly Recommended,. prisrob 0825-08

I was looking for headphones that were in the $180 to $250 range. The top offerings were Shure SE420 and SE530, q-jays, Ultimate Ear superfi 5 pro and Etymontic Research ER-4P. As you maybe aware, only Amazon sales the HF5. When they offered them at one third off and after reading a review at [...], I decided to give them a try . The sound is good for me and the isolation is amazing. With the triple flanges eartips, I did not hear the fire alarm that went off in my building. With earphones in and the music off, I cannot hear people talking to me that are within 4 feet of me. The foam eartips are rated at -45db and the triple flanges are -35db. I called Etymotic Research to inquire about their glide eartips and they are sending a free set for me to try. Now that is good customer service. My purchases from Amazon have always been as advertized and I can recommend them to you.

I received the glide eartips and recommend them. The glide eartip is foam eartip that is configure like a single flange eartip. The glide eartips are more comfortable then the triple flange and feel more secure then the foam eartips. The noise isolation, to my hears, is the same as the triple flange.

After compiling much research in the area of in ear headphones for the iphone 3g I decided to purchase these. They are kind of pricey for me so I wasted about a full day checking out everything and reading all the reviews. I am completely satisfied with this product. Everyone is right on the money with the bass comments. It is mediocre. It is important to note that mediocre is an order or two above stock so you should still be happy with the bass. The rest of the sound response is pretty awesome! Iphone already does not have much volume as far as I am concerned so I am happy to finally be able to hear the music/movie/phone call or whatever you listen to in almost all environments. I imagine that is thanks to the in ear design which effectively cancels almost all other noise out. Some people complain about the noise traveling up the wire from external sources like clothes or what have you. I don't really notice too much. Anyway, there are ways to contain the cord so it doesn't move much and rub on stuff. Just play around a little and you will almost eliminate any contact noise from the cord.
The in the ear fit is a little awkward. I had to get used to the stock fittings. I did not try the foam or smaller ones yet. I think the foam would be pretty comfortable since I owned some skull candies before and they had foam.
The packaging is nice enough. You get all kinds of extra stuff and a nice bag to carry them it which I never use but maybe on a long trip or flight.
I have read some bad reviews of the mic. I personally have not had anyone complain. I have however had to make sure it was positioned right. This is fairly easy to do and would not subtract any points for this. I have had people complain about my voice through a jawbone bluetooth headset so I am pretty sure they would complain about this mic if it was that bad. I used it for skype the other day and they thought I sounded very clear in australia(I am in america) so don't let any negative reviews on the mic detract you.
So in summary the only bad thing is the price and the bass. And the bass is not even that bad. I think they are the best phones I have owned to date so I can hardly knock the price. I just wish they were like $80.00 or something. This is a great upgrade for the iphone 3g. At the time of typing this I have been using almost everyday for an hour or two on practically max volume for 3 weeks. Still going strong. I like my music loud so if they last a year I would be happy. The stock earbuds lasted about a month and a half and then the right speaker blew. I will post an update in a couple of months.

The HF2's work very nicely with the iPhone 3G. The sound isolation is superb with very little cable noise. Working in a "cube farm", these little things allow me to turn off the world. When someone needs to talk to me, I must remove the headphones to hear their comments ... turning off the music is not enough, since the earplugs are so effective. The only trouble is, it takes a little effort to remove the deeply inserted phones. If you can comfortably wear triple flange earplugs, these are not much different.

The cost was higher than I would have liked, which seems even more exaggerated given the small, lightweight product. Somehow, the near weightless, tiny headphones do not seem worth as much as the bulky Bose over-the-ear phones. The sound, however, is very large! And the noise canceling feature is better across all ranges than any electronic noise canceling phones. (I tried the Bose QC2 and it did not block voices very well at all.) The price was high but worth it, assuming I can get 2-4 years of use out of them.

The quality of the sound is excellent to my ears. PLENTY of bass for me, but more importantly - a very balanced, full, and clear sound. These will not rattle the windows of passing cars, but the bass is more than adequate for the styles of music I like which involves more than just drums.

The package was elegant and attractive. I even like the little black bag for storage. The satin ruby finish of the phones is really attractive - so much so, that I am more careful not to leave them laying around.

Maybe it's just the shape of my ear canals, but I've noticed the best seal is produced when the wire is pointing forward at about 45 degrees, rather than straight down at 90 degrees. With the wire straight down, the bottom of my ear blocks the phones from being inserted deeply enough. A slight twist moving the wire forward helps.

Phone calls are very clear to hear. On the other end of the conversation, I am told it is clear but sounds like I am in a tunnel. No complaints from anyone ... just a different, slightly muffled sound.

One more thing ... the wire comes with a little clip, which I removed after a couple of days. It was a little tricky to remove, but it can be done without damaging the wire if you are careful. If you attempt this, just do it one side at a time.

If you want to block all external sounds and desire sound quality, these phones will not disappoint - assuming you can get a good fit inside your ears.

Hope this helps.

PS: I first become interested in Etymotic phones after reading this review - http://gizmodo.com/5033455/ultimate-cut+the+crap-in+ear-headphone-battlemodo

Google "battlemodo ultimate cut headphone" if the link above gets removed.

These earphones are my favorites. The sound quality is very good-not as good as Ultimate Ears sound quality (which is the best in my opinion) but with UE my ears were horribly sore after a very short time. UE earphones were just too large for my smaller ears no matter which eartips I used. The fit of the Etymotics earphones was an immediate delight and I find myself wearing these for hours with no ill effects. The number one requirement in earphones for me is sound quality which is excellent with the Etymotics, if not quite as good as the Ultimate Ears. The winning factor was the comfort of my ear canals-it's hard to listen to good music when your ears are screaming in pain, which is what happened to me with the UE earphones.

The sound from the Etymotics is crisp and clear if a little light on the bass. The fit is so good that I forget I'm wearing earphones. Complete comfort. I recommend these to anyone who has had trouble fitting the larger earphone brands with their ears. Give Etymotics a try-you won't be sorry!Etymotic Research HF5 Portable In-Ear Earphones (Cobalt)