Macworld - USA (2020-02)

112 MACWORLD FEBRUARY 2020

PLAY LIST REVIEW: ETYMOTIC ER4XR

in-ear headphone. But noise isolating
simply means blocking your ear canal so
you don’t hear outside sound. This is not
to be confused with active noise
cancellation, a process by which ambient
noise is recorded with an onboard
microphone and then played back exactly
out of phase with the original material to
(mostly) eliminate it.
Truth be told, anything you stick in
your ear will block some noise from
reaching your ear drum, and some
audio purists prefer that strategy over
active noise cancellation. Either way, the
more ambient noise you can block,
the less you’ll be tempted to turn up
the volume so you can hear your
music instead. And listening to music
at too high a volume can result in hearing
loss before you realize it.
Many earphone manufacturers rely on
memory foam for noise isolation, because it
forms a seal by expanding to fit the unique
shape of your ear canal. Each of Etymotic’s
ear tips consist of three increasingly large
soft plastic flanges, with the smallest
entering your ear first, to reflect the
decreasing diameter of your ear canal.
I very much liked this design, because
once they’re fully inserted, the ear tips stay
in place without blocking all ambient
noise. When you’re out at and about,
ambient noise helps you maintain
situational awareness so you can avoid

being hit a bus (or any number of other

potential disasters that could befall

someone who can’t hear what’s going on

outside their immediate field of view).

That said, the ER4, when fully inserted,

do block an awful lot of noise. Etymotic

claims a 35- to 42dB reduction, and while I

don’t the laboratory equipment to verify

that claim, I don’t doubt it, either. I also

found the three-flange design spreads the

pressure on my ear canal more

comfortably than a single piece of memory

foam, and I didn’t grow weary of them

nearly as quickly.

Two alternate-sized ear tips are

provided so you can choose which fits your

The ER4XR comes with a carrying case and alternate

ear tips, including tow sets of memory foam.