When I was first presented with a pair of Etymotic earphone, I was dumbstruck. Being entirely new to Etymotic technology, I also knew that their signature eartips aren’t exactly… let’s just say they’re unconventional.
Still, here’s the review for the Etymotic mc5 earphones!
I always believe that the box of any product should give you an idea of what you’re about to get – and Etymotic did it quite simplistically with its white coloured overall look and the two earbuds to go along with some included technology written on the side.
[nextpage title=”Inside the box”]Here we can find a bunch of different things – ranging from weird and weirder eartips, a few warning messages (yes, warnings) and some proprietary accessories which are only available for Etymotic products.
Behold, the warning message, a user manual that I actually used just to get an idea of how to wear this pair of earphones properly, and also on how to use the other accessories included.
You get two differently sized triple-flanged eartips and another two weirdly shaped foam eartips – one is a cylindrical block and another one is their glider foam eartips. I personally find them expensive to be used, as foam eartips will have to be disposed for hygiene purposes after some time. Yet another thing to note – their eartips are proprietary, and this means you can’t use other eartips other than those sold or provided by Etymotic, no thanks to the size.
The last bit of weird accessory is the filter removal tool and also the filters itself. This is for you to remove the filters on the earbud, and for you to swap out a clogged one with a fresh, clean filter. Side note : it’s earwax that I’m speaking of.
One last nice thing to have is this small little rotatable clip. It’s a little stiff compared to the NAD Viso HP20, but I guess it’s nice to have.
One disadvantage if you get the Etymotic in Malaysia is that if you’re trying to get replacement parts (which are available here), you’ll have to pay for postage fees, and you can never get the custom molded eartips that are catered to your ears, because it’s only available in the United States. Don’t get too gloomy though, that costs a bomb, and I think most people will skip that anyway, at least in Malaysia.
[nextpage title=”Testing”]This is where my resistance to approach the Etymotic comes in. I never liked foam eartips, and I absolutely resist triple-flanged eartips. Then I thought of YOLO, and went ahead on using the Etymotic with its triple-flanged eartips. Oh – they even provided an educational video on how to put them on.
From the video above, yeah I know what you think – Hey I have to look like an idiot just to wear that on my ears! And to that, I have to agree. Luckily I tried a few times back at home and luckily I found another trick that works for me personally, but your mileage will mostly vary.
Personally, this is the most uncomfortable pair of earphones I ever used. The cable clip doesn’t help much at all, and if the earbud cable clung to something, well… prepare to weep due to the pain. I accidentally suffered that once… and sorry I’m never going to wear this at anywhere with lots of movement in front of me.
Onward to song testing, I can only give you a summary of how does it sound like. There isn’t much to say, and if I do back what I did for all other reviews then I’ll only be typing the exact same thing for all songs – it sounds absolutely bland; as there are no flavour to the sound produced. What I mean by flavour is that there are no emphasis on the bass or treble or even the mids. In short, the sound quality is a little lifeless. The sound stage however is just okay; nothing really explicitly special about the Etymotic mc5.
Noise isolation on other hand however is excellent, since you drive at least 2.5 centimeters into your ear canals, and with triple flanges, you can barely hear anything. Once you put them in, it feels like a completely different world, where it is nearly silent and you can’t even hear yourself yawning.
Another thing about its comfort is when it comes to wearing the mc5 for a longer period time. If you never move your mouth much, they mc5 can sit on the ear canals for as long as you want and still not feeling a thing. However, if you open your mouth or move your jaw, there’s a sensation of an entire rod in your ear canal that is moving, feels a little surreal as if there’s a grub moving inside. This does happen if you’re moving with the pair of earphones plugged in too.
Another side note, make sure your ear canals are free of earwax, if not you’re gonna have some earwax rain while removing them from your ears. And oh, try not to share the mc5 with anyone, it’s very unhygienic.
[nextpage title=”Wrap up”]Etymotic has its audio products’ signature circling around its idea of excellent noise isolation thanks to its focus on triple-flanged eartips. The problem starts where even Etymotic themselves have warned the user to moisten up the eartip or your ear canal just to insert them more easily into your ears.
Yet, this earphone costs RM239 and personally, I don’t prefer them. Sorry, but the triple-flanged eartips has got to go, they’re just uncomfortable for any use and can have some serious hygiene issues, which they also realized and gave you the filters. Go figure, Etymotic!
Rating : 6/10
Noise isolation is excellent, sound stage is decent, but comfort and emphasis on frequency is not there. For this price, I personally will go for others. Again, your mileage will vary, so go try them for yourselves first.
Thanks Jaben Malaysia for letting us review the Etymotic mc5!
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