Ears-on with the Etymotic hf2 for iPhone: Sweet Sound, Little Noise
January 16th, 2008 by Mark Spoonauer 
I had a chance to quickly try out Etymotic’s new premium hf2 headset with my own iPhone. It promises not only exceptional sound quality but the best noise isolation of all competing headsets.
The hf2 did a nice job of blocking out the din of the Macworld show floor, and our The Hives tracks sounded loud and clear but a little harsh with our iPhone set on the Rock equalizer setting. One booth rep told me that most Etymotic employees prefer the Flat setting, so you can hear songs the way they were recorded. Things improved when I switched to this mode.
Is this thing worth $179? Stay tuned for a full review. We’ll put it head to head against the Editors’ Choice-winning Shure MPA with SE110 combo as soon as we get a set in.
2 Responses to “Ears-on with the Etymotic hf2 for iPhone: Sweet Sound, Little Noise”
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January 21st, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I did a lot of research prior to buying earbuds. I wanted to take advantage of separate drivers for bass, high end and treble. Everything I read compared the products reviewed against the Shure SE530. I bought a pair without the PTH (push-to-hear) option. I bought the Shure attachment that was required to make the phones work with my IPhone. This attachment allows you to pause the IPOD and answer the phone, having a mic built in to the cord. Needless to say, those Shure SE530 earbuds are fantastic. I hear things I never knew were there, and as the volume increases the music stays defined. They also give you a plethora of bud choices in three sizes. Like everything else, you can save buy buying on-line or on auction sites.
July 30th, 2008 at 8:20 am
I got a pair of these Hf2s after reading the reviews. Sound was indeed great for the first few hours… then they came apart. Well, I unfortunately snagged the cord on the desk. They did not pop out of the ear as one expects with other in ear designs, instead the cord tore out of the ear piece. For portable use one would hope they would be made a little more robust than for studio listening. I am waiting to hear from the company if they believe this would be covered or not under manufacturing warranty… in which case it was a one of fault and they would replace them for me. If not, then I guess they are porly designed/made.