Etymotic Research HF5 Portable In-Ear Earphones (Cobalt)

by Etymotic Research

• Super-high accuracy provides a near-perfect listening experience
• 3-flanged earpiece provides up to 35dB of isolation
• Frequency response: 20Hz to 16kHz
• Impedance: 16 Ohms (nominal)
• 4-foot cable
• Frequency response: 20Hz to 16kHz and Impedance: 16 Ohms (nominal)

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.8 x 2 x 6.8 inches ; 4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000XP8DJC
• Item model number: HF5-Cobalt
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (158 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 22, 2007

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Etymotic Research HF5--High Clarity, Great Fit, and Maximum Noise Isolation

Made by Etymotic Research, the people who created in-ear earphones, the HF5 delivers Etymotic's world-renowned sound quality in a pair of comfortable, convenient earphones. The HF5 provides a near-perfect music experience.

The HF5 works with all MP3 players and iPod models, as well as the iPhone and any other device that operates with a 3.5 mm stereo plug. The HF5 can be worn with the cables in front or in back of the head, and the cable slider can be adjusted by moving it up or down for a snug fit.

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The HF5 comes in black, Ruby, and Cobalt to match your style

Amazing response accuracy means unmatched crystal-clear sound

Designing the HF5: Etymotic Research Focuses on Noise Isolation and Response Accuracy

Keeping Things Quiet with 35+ dB Noise Isolation

The special 3-flanged earpieces that come with the HF5 provide 35 dB noise isolation or more (depending on the eartip used), making it one of the highest-rated products on the market for both active and passive noise-canceling headphones. With 35 dB of isolation, you won't need to turn the music up as loud to hear every nuance of your favorite artists, saving your hearing and preventing "ear fatigue". Once you obtain a proper seal in the ear, watch the world disappear, leaving you with your favorite music reproduced with remarkable clarity.

How Etymotic Research Measures Response Accuracy

The accuracy score is perhaps the single most important tool for earphone design. A perfect recording of a live performance played through earphones with 100% accuracy would produce the same sound at the eardrum as the live performance. A complicating factor is that the acoustic resonance and horn effects of the ear change a flat signal entering the open ear to an eardrum signal with the approximate frequency characteristic of the target curve. A perfect earphone will create that same frequency characteristic at the eardrum.

Hitting the "Target Curve"

Target curves on Etymotic Research graphs indicate 100% accuracy: The open ear diffuse-field response of the KEMAR® mannequin modified to compensate for the high frequency boost added to high-quality recordings. This modification (approximately 5 dB at 10 kHz) is necessary to avoid earphones sounding too bright on commercial recordings. Commercial recordings have a high-frequency boost that compensates for the high frequency roll-off in studio monitor loudspeakers and high-quality stereo loudspeakers and earphones.

Earphone response is measured on a KEMAR® manikin that has the same acoustic properties as the average head and ear. 25-band accuracy scores are calculated by summing the difference between the earphone response and the target response in each 1.3 -octave band from 50 Hz to 12.5 kHz.

In the 1970s, Consumers Union used an "Accuracy Score" to rate loudspeakers. Consumer Reports reported that it was possible to predict listeners' loudspeaker ratings within 8% from a calculation based on one-third-octave frequency response measurements converted to loudness in sones. The average error in loudness from a perfect system, subtracted from 100%, gives the accuracy score. Etymotic Research extended this 21-band calculation to a 25-band calculation and routinely uses the 25-band accuracy score in all earphone designs.

Other in-the-ear earphone manufacturers do not report accuracy scores, but Etymotic Research has tested all competitive products. The accuracy scores of Etymotic Research earphones are higher than those of most loudspeakers, and well above all competitive earphones, except electrostatic headphones that cost thousands of dollars.

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What Critics Are Saying

"They're cool looking (with the right tips, they look like sci-fi laser pistols), have little to no cable movement noise and reproduce sound in a way that is both perfectly clear and highly enjoyable. Everything about these gives the impression of quality, from the brushed aluminum finish to the way that music suddenly sounds distinctly layered in a way that it didn't before, and that it doesn't on many similarly priced units. [...] The tighter seal that these offer to most people is conducive to better listening, and the isolation properties are superb. You can't hear anything else with these guys in. Every manufacturer should have something like this." --John Herman, Gizmodo.com

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Technical Specifications

• Frequency response: 20 Hz -16 kHz
• Noise isolation: 35- 42 dB (depending on eartip used)
• Acoustic polarity: + electrical = + acoustic
• Transducer type: Balanced armature
• Sensitivity (1 kHz): 105 dB SPL for a 0.1 VRMS input
• Impedance: 16 Ohms (nominal)
• Maximum output: 120 dB SPL
• Cable: 4 ft
• Weight: less than 1 oz

Product Description

Etymotic's 5th Generation of high-fidelity in-ear earphones has finally arrived. The hf5 delivers a near-perfect music experience, even in high surrounding noise conditions. Like Etymotic's earlier generations of in-ear earphones, the hf5 is built on superior noise isolation, so you experience total sound immersion when listening to your music. The hf5 is compatible with all iPod models and music players that accept a 3.5 mm plug. Included in the package: In-ear earphones; assorted eartips for your comfort; filter changing tool with filters; carrying pouch.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Flat out incredible sound August 27, 2008

By A. Simmons

I can unequivocally recommend these earphones. I have used a broad variety of earphones, including the Shure se530's Ultimate Ears triple-fi 10's and several Sennheisers. For this price, I've never heard sound so balanced, and with such clarity, coming out of an iPod. I feel like I'm in a sealed sound chamber when I listen with these, even when I'm on the bus. It's almost too isolating - sometimes I really lose touch with what's going on around me. I am a musician, and when I've done studio recordings, we listen for nuances in the instrumentation and music that you typically do not hear when playing back an MP3 file or CD. With the Etymotic hf5's, I'm getting the kind of clarity I get in the studio. And for just $150! There's no over-exaggerated bass, and I can hear every instrument and every voice. There's nothing like listening to an a capella group like Take 6 with the hf5. Or to an unplugged session where all kinds of things can happen in the tracks - if you can hear them. Oh, and the blue and red ones are cool-looking. Pretty much everyone replaces the earphones that come with your MP3 player, and you can spend a lot more on earphones than this, but I recommend $150 spent on these earphones as the biggest bang for your buck.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Etymotic Research HF5 May 1, 2009

By Richard R. Tognazzini

Amazon Verified Purchase

I was looking for headphones that were in the $180 to $250 range. The top offerings were Shure SE420 and SE530, q-jays, Ultimate Ear superfi 5 pro and Etymontic Research ER-4P. As you maybe aware, only Amazon sales the HF5. When they offered them at one third off and after reading a review at [...], I decided to give them a try . The sound is good for me and the isolation is amazing. With the triple flanges eartips, I did not hear the fire alarm that went off in my building. With earphones in and the music off, I cannot hear people talking to me that are within 4 feet of me. The foam eartips are rated at -45db and the triple flanges are -35db. I called Etymotic Research to inquire about their glide eartips and they are sending a free set for me to try. Now that is good customer service. My purchases from Amazon have always been as advertized and I can recommend them to you.

I received the glide eartips and recommend them. The glide eartip is foam eartip that is configure like a single flange eartip. The glide eartips are more comfortable then the triple flange and feel more secure then the foam eartips. The noise isolation, to my hears, is the same as the triple flange.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent earphones March 22, 2009

By Bill Wohler

I purchased these to replace the ER-4P earphones that I lost. Since I was quite happy with the ER-4Ps, I returned to Etymotic and tried the next generation.

I was not disappointed.

I've been using them on the train for half a year now and they are holding up well. They block out most of the noise of the vending machines and trains outside and the passenger noise inside. The music blocks out the rest <grin>.

The packaging is excellent. The carrying case is nicely done and small enough to fit comfortably in your pocket. I can't remember if spare tips are provided, but I never used the spares for the ER-4Ps, so a) I understand Etymotic's decision not to include so many, and b) it's not a problem for me anyway since I have all the spares from the ER-4Ps which appear to be interchangeable.

It seems that cheap and expensive earphones alike all suffer from the transfer of sound from their cords rubbing against your body while you walk. These are no exception. However, the rubber cords on these do a better job of insulating the noise then the ER-4Ps, but they aren't perfect. There is now a little cinch strap (located where the cords separate) that you can move up to pull the cord tight under your chin. This reduces the transferred noise to near zero when you walk.

These earphones also don't stick out as much as the ER-4Ps, and have a really cool color.

So, I'll bump my review to 5 stars for these earphones. But I'd like to see Etymotic keep working on reducing the noise transferred through the cord so that I don't have to choke myself with the cord to eliminate it :-).

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Delicate November 3, 2011

By Corbin M.

Amazon Verified Purchase

The way these IEMs are constructed is a disaster waiting to happen. The cord enters at a seam where the plastic housing is just glued together; and if you catch the wire on anything, this is the sole point of stress. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't take a whole lot of force to have the monitor literally come apart.

After supergluing mine back together, since Etymotic's warranty amounts to an offer to buy a new pair at a reduced price (unless you buy the ER4 expect no real customer service.), they came apart fully a second time tearing the wires out of the driver.

Sound and isolation are great, shame they just can't stand up to actually being used.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars HF5s changed my life June 24, 2010

By A. Agurok

Amazon Verified Purchase

I was a little skeptical when purchasing high-fidelity earphones because nothing could compare to my over ear headphones (Sony mdr-d333), or so I thought. After putting on the earphones (properly) for the first time I can only compare the sound to the first sip of your favorite beer. The notes (both high and low) are smooth. The sound is dynamic and rich like the perfect balance of malt and hops. There is no artificial bass added to these phones so the sound you hear is what the artist intended. If this is your first pair of expensive earphones I would suggest paying attention to the bite rate (60, 90,120,168,190 ext.) of your songs you will hear a difference with the songs playing back at a higher rate. The sound isolation is INCREDIABLE, like that first sip, when the flavor of the beer makes you forget that you are destined for another night of drinking alone at the bar, the sound isolation will make you forget that you are using no.2 pencils as drum sticks on your office desk. The best part of the hf5 ear phone is the available custom sleeves for only $100(USD). Custom Sleeves means that a mold will be taken of your ear and a custom earpiece will be made that will connect to your hf5s. Custom sleeves provide the most comfortable experience when wearing the earphones for an extended period of time. Here are some of the pros and cons I have found while using these earphones:

Pros:
1. Incredible sound
2. Sound isolation
3. Custom molds are available
4. Size: extremely small and light.
5. 2 year warranty

Cons:
1. Cord is just long enough
2. Time spent getting a proper seal between the ear canal and earphones
3. Not all users may find the earphones comfortable for extended periods of time....
(Both 2 and 3 are fixable by custom molds)
4.

A reviewer rated this item poorly due to claim that noise is transferred from movement through the wire to the headphone. This is true only if the clip and the cord adjuster are not used properly. Read more ›