Fantastic isolation and great sound quality in a tiny package

These tiny little earphones deliver great sound quality. I'm no audiophile, but I know bad headphones (i.e. the free headphones you get in airplanes, the included earbuds with potable players) and good headphones (i.e. Koss Sporta-Pros, a pair of $30 Sony earbuds). These are significantly better than the good headphones I own. When I use these, I notice elements of the music that I can't hear with any other stereo or headphone I own.

Obviously, another great advantage of the Ety-6i is their portability. They pack up tiny in their padded leather pouch and are easy to take on any trip. They are easy to drive and can be used with any portable player, even the cheapo stick mp3 player I got on eBay.

Probably the biggest selling point for these to me, though, was the isolation. They are basically like wearing high-quality earplugs. My wife and I will watch movies on her laptop when we fly together, and having a matching set of these (and a headphone jack splitter) turns the noisy plane into our personal home theater.

Getting used to putting these on is the biggest issue. You really have to jam them into your ear to get the proper effect. Fortunately, Etymotic includes several ear tips so that you can find the one that works for you. I went with the foam ear tips, while my wife uses one of the "Christmas tree" rubber ear tips. I'm quite comfortable wearing them now, although they will start to irritate my ear if I take them in and out multiple times in a short span, or if I wear them for extremely long periods (more than 5 hours).

If you are considering Bose noise-cancelling headphones or the like, and you can stand having something in your ears, you should seriously consider buying this relatively cheap, high-quality alternative. On the other side, if you are just looking for a great pair of highly portable headphones to use with a laptop or portable mp3 player, these are tough to beat.