oh my god do these sound good. they naturally cancel noise by acting as ear plugs and blocking out external sound (which i like much better than those big ole' bose jammies with the battery pack...) sound canceling aside, they sound like heaven. i've never heard headphones as clear as these in-ear or otherwise. they really do sound professional grade - and, like the box says, are the next best thing to live music. amazon has them on sale, which is the best part (although they're still quite expensive for earphones, but still - these could not be more worth the price...) (via Jeremiah Zinn)

These headphones seem to be universally loved by reviewers and purchasers alike.

The main reason why I did not buy these a while back was because I had heard that the cables amplified cord noise whenever you moved. Annoying.

Sometime during the past 2 years Etymotic made some key changes to the design of the ER-4P's, including switching to twisted cables that eliminate the microphonic effect.

Plus, although the retail price is $299, you can actually buy these for less than $200 online.

Sold!

I still love my Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 Pro earphones, but not as much as my new Etymotic ER-4Ps!

Etymotic is a company that specialized in hearing aids... Until they expanded to making earphones too. We've tested these against the Shure earphones and found these better. They fit in the ears nicely (Some Shure models have very odd ear placement requirements). They have thinner cables than the Shure's, making exercising with these much more comfortable because they do not tug on the ears as much. Lighter is better.