Is this in-ear phone issue typical?

[pedx1ng]

I recently got some Etymotic ER-6i in-ear phones and for the most part I like them a lot. Except for one issue: When I have them in, and nothing is playing, I can sort of 'hear' my heartbeat, and slight breathing. This is fine when music is playing because it gets masked. But during quiet passages or during silence, it is really annoying to hear my heartbeat.

I am pretty sure I am inserting the phones properly; they say to insert deeply to get bass response and I am.

Any ideas? Anyone else experience this as well?

Thanks.

[Joshdude]

Yeah, this happens with canalphones, especially ones with good isolation. The vibrations of your heartbeat, etc., get transferred to the phones, and into your ears.

[Doug Gilmour]

This is known as microphonics. They are especially common in Ety's, and not as common in others such as Shure's.

-Dan

[ham_man]

Yes, this is very common. With no other masking noise, you hear things (heartbeat, breathing) that you would never hear otherwise.

-Andrew

[pedx1ng]

Thanks for the replies guys. I guess I'll just have to learn to live with it, because I like the isolation and sound quality.

I did try the Shure E3C's, but I just couldn't get comfortable with them for some reason. I can put in the Ety's without much problem, but the Shure's were just a pain.

[AndyRx7]

It's actually termed occlusion - microphonics are only the vibrations transmitted through the cord of the IEMs (ie. anything connected to the driver housing that sits in your ears). It's perfectly normal, as already posted above.