Etymotic pulled off a great product with the relaunch of the ER4-series in-ears. The new ER3 bring the great performance of the ER4 to a new price range. You get the ER4 design, a great tuning and most of the sound quality from the ER4. Priced at $179, the new ER3XR is a bargain for anyone who prefer neutrally tuned in-ears. The XR provides a gentle shelf-type bass boost that does not compromise the midrange. The ER3XR works for most types of music, and despite the XR suffix, it is in no way boomy or bloated in the way they sound.

The ER3XR provides great value at $179 if you can live with the slightly amputated bundle and slightly worse cable. The changes in sound quality coming down from the ER4 are so subtle that I had a hard time noticing them reliably. What is noticeable is the slightly stiffer cable which now has a semi-hard cable jacket all the way from the mini-jack to the earphones. Luckily, Etymotic used the same connector for the ER3 as they did on the new ER4, so you could just replace it.