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those seem a little pricey - $149, come on? shure E2 model should be around $99 and i can tell you those are pretty good earphones.

(nothing beats my shure E5 earphones, though...)
 
i know there are some reviews floating around the net for these. i read some when i was considering buying a pair of noise-canceling headphones like the Bose or Sony models. the etymotics aren't noise-canceling, just noise blocking. if i remember correctly, audiophile reviews indicated that the etymotics sound considerably better than the noise-canceling models, and are quieter as well. the downside is that you really gotta jam them in your ears and they may feel uncomfortable. if you google you should turn up some reviews.
 
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