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ETYMOTIC hf2

 

Hello all!

It's great to see all these wonderful travel posts on the forum, we get to see so many interesting and fantastic parts of the world from everyone.  From Asia ( timeout.watchprosite.com , timeout.watchprosite.com , timeout.watchprosite.com , timeout.watchprosite.com ) to Euroasia (  timeout.watchprosite.com ) to Europe ( timeout.watchprosite.com , timeout.watchprosite.com , timeout.watchprosite.com , timeout.watchprosite.com , timeout.watchprosite.com , timeout.watchprosite.com ) and of course the good 'ol USA ( timeout.watchprosite.com ), it seems PuristS love to travel.  I've been out and about exploring different places but sometimes flying is not the most pleasant experience so I do whatever I can to make it more enjoyable.  For those long trips something that really made a difference was a little present that I received last Christmas, a set of quality earphones.


The Etymotic Research hf2 headset and earphones:

As I use a Android cellphone and tablet, the Etymotic Research, Inc. hf2 headset was the perfect gift!  Let's open the box and see what we get inside:

Etymotic Research, Inc. means "True to the ear" and was founded in 1983 by Dr. Mead Killion, Ph.D and focused on hearing aid products.  In 1984, Etymotic invented insert earphones. utilizing balanced armature receivers for diagnostic testing and precision auditory research. In 1991, they produced the first noise-isolating high-fidelity in-ear earphone (the ER-4).

With the popularity of mp3 players, cellphones, and tablets, Etymotic offers 2 headsets, one for Android ( Etymotic hf2 ) and one for Apple devices ( Etymotic hf3).

Spec of the Etymotic hf2:

The hf2/3 has the microphone control switch attached to the 4 foot kevlar reinforced cable.

The set includes a handy pouch for storage of the headset and accessories:

The accessories include a set of interchangeable eartips:

Two sets of the '3 Flange' (standard and large size), a 'Glider' style, and a set of the Foam eartips are included to get a perfect fit.  A tool is provided when changing and cleaning the earbuds and replacing the disposable Accu-Filter wax filters

The Etyopmtic hf2 uses a standard 3.5 mm/ 4-conductor stereo phone plug.

The microphone control has a button to answer calls or play and pause music.

For me the standar 3 Flange eartips worked best.  The Etymotic hf2's are designed to be places inside the ear canal so initially some are not used to placing the earbuds so far into the ear.  As they go far into the ear canal, it creates a nice seal to provide quality sound and noise cancellation.  They do offer a list of audiology offices near you for a custom molded eartip.

The earbuds are marked for left and right:

A springloaded clip is provided to attach on a shirt.  The design of the Etymotic do pick up some noise from the cables so this reduces the cable movement and decreases the problem.

If you use a generic set of earbuds, the sound quality is immediately noticeable when you jump to a high fidelity set like the Etymotic.  For prolonged use (like being on a 14+ hour flight timeout.watchprosite.com ) it makes a huge difference in comfort.  Another thing to note is that sleeping on your side with the earbuds in place was extremely comfortable unlike some of the over the ear and standard buds that I have used in the past.

If you do a lot of traveling or just enjoy high quality sound, Etymotic is a great way to go!  Hope you enjoyed the post, happy travels everyone! 

-MW