Etymotic ER3-SE

I have had several Etymotic earphones in the last 14 years Started with ER6i EMRK 5 And now these ER 3 SE Started with the Adventures Broken land Then Carleen Anderson maybe I'm amazed Such a deep base tone the treble is sharp and toned down The guitar and Piano come through perfect Nice purchase and with the 2 year warranty should provide me with many years of listening enjoyment

Good sound quality- would prefer a better base response

I have the etymotic ermk-5's and love them... They are open, detailed, spacious and have great realism and air. The x3se... The detail is greater and you can hear a lot but at the cost of the openness and realism. Whilst listening to 24bit hans Zimmer I could tell the clarinet was a clarinet with the ermk-5s but with the x3se's the air was lost and it sounded synthetic. Also I find the x3se a little dark sounding with very rolled off treble. The bass is fine and I have no idea why anyone would buy the xr version as I find the se too bassy. It's bassier than my Bose and way bassier than my audeze sines and the x3se lacks high end sparkle. The mids are so forward I can only imagine them being suitable for audio book listening or on a positive note maybe an artist on stage to monitor his vocals. The soundstage is quite congested with the sound coming from my eyebrows. The £60 etys when compared sound very very open with the sound filling the room I'm in with ease and the bass being very controlled and less boomy than the x3's with a fuller feel and better sub bass. I was excited about these as the price difference should have made them quite special, but what I discovered is a very mediocre pair of headphones with a cheap plastic sound... Get the £60 pound etys as in my opinion they are the best earphones I have had with a real true to life and engaging sound. To clarify. I have no problem with seal as they both etys seal the same and I tested with several players. Cayin n3 with topping nx4 dsd dac/amp and my ibasso players, cowon players as well as a couple of other amps I have. I compared to the ermk-5's (as mentioned) Also the KZ zs10's which are more revealing than the x3's but with a bloated bass and a little sibilance at times... I then compared against full-size headphones namely my bose quiet comforts which are not great but brilliant for what they are designed for and my audeze sines which show how much all the earphones I mentioned miss in the highs. All in all the ermk-5s with topping nx4 dsd are the best with a very revealing, honest and open sound. I do crave a little more highs though.