Etymotic Research mc2 review

Etymotic’s mc2 noise-isolating headset comes with a pouch, four different pairs of eartips, and a couple of replacement filters along with a filter removal tool. All this, along with the price, gives the impression that you’re dealing with a serious pair of headphones. However, despite trying all three types of eartip, we couldn’t find a comfortable combination of audio quality and in-ear position.

We encountered major problems with the long design of the mc2’s earpieces. We found that, no matter which eartip type we used, it still felt as though the earbuds are about to fall out under their own weight. The three-flanged eartip feels the longest, and with its pointed end, you have to be careful you don’t push it too far into your ear. However even the sound isolating foam eartip, which expands to fill your ear, felt loose.

Despite using dynamic drivers and even with the earbuds pushed firmly into our ears, we found the bass weak, which left most tracks feeling a bit shallow. The sound is significantly weighted towards treble and high mid-tones. The problems we had with fit further reduced the bass. The mc2s function well as a phone headset, with clear microphone and voice quality, but we’d expect better music reproduction at this price. The Sennheiser CX 880 earphones have a headset model – the CX 880i – that costs a bit more but sounds far better.