It appears that the great Philly DIY punk trio Control Top isn’t around anymore, which sucks. But Control Top hadn’t released anything in a long time anyway, and I’d rather have a new band putting out records than a silent Control Top. Earlier this year, Alan Creedon and Alex Lichtenauer, two thirds of Control Top, announced that they’d formed a new bicoastal duo called Index, and they shared their debut single “Cellophane.” Today, Index announce plans for Vis Interiae, their first full-length.
The website whativeheard.com lets you track every song you've heard live in concert by your favorite bands and print a digital ticket. Continue reading…
Before we even talk about what the ER3SE sounds like, you need to know who Etymotic Research is, because that context changes everything. Founded in 1983 by Dr. Mead Killion, the name "Etymotic" literally translates to "true to the ear."
Etymotic's roots are deep in hearing science. Their engineers and audiologists have filed over 100 patents, and they're widely credited with inventing the insert earphone back in 1984. The same balanced armature driver technology they helped develop has since become the gold standard for high-fidelity IEMs worldwide. Their flagship ER4 series, now in its modern SR and XR iterations, has been a benchmark for audio engineers and audiophiles for decades.
The ER3SE sits in the middle of their current lineup, below the ER4 series, above the dynamic-driver ER2 models, and carries the "Studio Edition" designation, meaning it targets a flat, diffuse-field neutral frequency response. This is not an IEM designed to make your music sound exciting. It's designed to make your music sound accurate.
Unboxing
Build Quality and Design
Right out of the box, you get a clear sense that Etymotic isn't in the business of impressing you with packaging. The box is straightforward, functional, and gets out of the way. Inside, you'll find the earphones themselves, an assortment of silicone double-flange and triple-flange tips, foam tips, a carrying pouch, a shirt clip, a filter removal tool, and replacement filters.
What actually impressed me is the earphone hardware itself. The shells are CNC-machined anodized aluminum—which, at this price point, stands out immediately. Most competitors in this range are still rocking plastic housings, so the metal construction here feels noticeably more premium when you hold it. The bodies are slim, cylindrical, and almost pipe-like in design. There's nothing flashy about them —no chrome accents, no aggressive angles. Just clean, minimalist engineering.
The detachable cable uses MMCX connectors, though Etymotic uses a slightly modified version with a small raised bump that ensures a proper fit and prevents rotation. It's a smart design choice for preventing loose connections, but it does mean some third-party MMCX cables won't seat correctly. The stock 4-foot cable is lightweight and flexible, though it's a step down from the ER4's longer 5-foot twisted cable.
One omission at this price: no 1/4" adapter. For an IEM positioned as a studio tool, that feels like a slight oversight.
Sound Quality
Overall Sound Signature
The ER3SE sounds like a faithful scientific instrument. If you want the raw truth of what's actually in a recording—no warm coloring, no exciting bass shelf, no treble shimmer added to make cymbals sparkle—this is your IEM. The overall character is flat, linear, and analytical. What goes in is what comes out, with impressive speed and clarity across the full range. For listeners who live on Harman-tuned sets or modern V-shaped IEMs, the first listen will feel almost stark. Give it time. The neutrality reveals details you didn't know were missing. With that being said, for strict music listening, this will not be a "fun" as other sets and is much more geared towards studio use and live performance uses.
Bass
There's no getting around it: if you're looking for bass impact, the ER3SE isn't your IEM. The low end here is tight, fast, and accurate. Sub-bass only shows up when the track actually contains sub-bass. If there's nothing there in the recording, you'll hear nothing—which is exactly the point. The attack from the single BA driver is sharp and clean. The weakness is that the decay is a bit quick, meaning bass harmonics and natural rumble don't linger the way they would on a dynamic driver. You get precision, but you lose texture. Rock, jazz, and acoustic music shine here. EDM and hip-hop can feel more metallic or too gentle.
Mids
This is where the ER3SE earns its reputation. The midrange is flat, uncolored, and tonally accurate in a way that makes vocals and acoustic instruments sound completely believable. Male and female vocals sit naturally in the mix without being pushed forward aggressively. Instruments sound lifelike and correct in tone. The clarity and articulation here are excellent for the price, and this is the range where the Etymotic house sound is at its most compelling. There's no masking, no smearing, and no artificial warmth being added. Everything sounds exactly as it was recorded.
Treble
The treble on the ER3SE is linear and extended. It doesn't add sparkle or sizzle— again, by design. What it does do is resolve fine detail accurately without crossing into sibilance or harshness on well-recorded material. There is a notable compensation hump in the 2-5 kHz region, which accounts for ear canal resonance and ensures the perceived response at the eardrum is flat.
Timbre, Soundstage, and Imaging
Timbre is one of the ER3SE's strongest areas. Instruments sound natural and correctly weighted across the frequency spectrum. The BA driver's speed lends excellent transient accuracy—things start and stop cleanly, which is what gives live instruments their realistic quality. On the soundstage, the ER3SE is honest about its limitations: deep-insertion IEMs by nature create an intimate, in-head presentation rather than a wide, airy stage. The width and depth are reasonable for the format, and layering is impressive. Where it genuinely excels is in imaging precision. Instruments are placed with surgical accuracy within that stage, and separating individual elements from a complex mix is unusually easy. It's a small but detailed stage, and everything in it is exactly where it should be.
Comfort and Isolation
Here's where the ER3SE gets complicated, and it's something you need to understand before purchasing. Etymotic's deep-insertion design is not like wearing standard IEMs. The triple-flange silicone tips go significantly deeper into your ear canal than you might be used to, and for some people, this takes days to adjust to. For others, it never clicks. The first session may feel unusual or mildly uncomfortable.
Once you find the right tips (and take the time to seat them properly), the comfort is actually quite good for extended listening sessions. The shells are tiny and light, so there's no driver housing pressing against the outer ear. The seal is airtight when done correctly, and that's what unlocks the ER3SE's killer feature: passive noise isolation rated at 35 dB with silicone tips and up to 42 dB with foam tips. That number is remarkable. Most custom IEMs only reach 25-28 dB. Foam earplugs typically cap out at around 32 dB. When the ER3SE is seated properly, the outside world essentially disappears. For commuting, office use, or any high-noise environment, nothing in this price range comes close.
The foam tips tend to be the comfort sweet spot for many people (including myself). They seal well, feel softer during deep insertion, and deliver maximum isolation. Tip selection really matters here: the sound and isolation performance vary significantly depending on which tips you use and how deep you go.
Comparisons
Etymotic ER3SE vs. Etymotic ER4XR ($299)
This is the comparison most ER3SE buyers will eventually ask about. The ER4XR is Etymotic's flagship XR-series model—and our full review is live on The Metalverse—so the contrast is worth examining closely.
The ER4XR adds a tasteful bass boost compared to the ER4SR, making it the more listener-friendly flagship. Against the ER3SE, the ER4XR delivers noticeably better transient dynamics. Kick drums and bass guitars have more separation and finesse. The midrange is similarly analytical, though the ER4XR's slightly richer character gives vocals a bit more body. Treble extension on the ER4 is superior, with better high-frequency detail and a more dynamic response.
Critically, the ER4's drivers are manufactured in the U.S. with tighter channel-matching tolerances (within 1 dB from 100 Hz to 10 kHz), and each unit ships with a signed performance certificate. The ER3 is made in Asia with slightly looser tolerance specs—though Etymotic themselves acknowledge that most ER3 units would pass ER4 standards in testing. The ER4XR is roughly $100 more and delivers a meaningfully better technical performance for it. If you're serious about reference-quality listening and plan to keep these for years, the jump to the ER4XR is worth it. If budget is the constraint, the ER3SE is the closest you'll get to that house sound for less money.
Final Verdict
The Etymotic ER3SE is an excellent IEM, but an excellent IEM for a specific kind of listener. If you want accurate, uncolored sound reproduction, world-class passive isolation, and a compact BA-based design that will hold up for years, it delivers on all fronts. The midrange is stellar, the imaging is precise, and the build quality is solid.
The honest caveat is the value equation. At around $200, it sits in an awkward spot between the more affordable ER2SE (which offers a very similar experience) and the superior ER4XR (which isn't that much more expensive for what you get). Bassheads and casual listeners should look elsewhere. The deep-insertion fit will not work for everyone. And the BA timbre, while generally natural, can occasionally drift toward metallic territory.
But if you're a musician, audio engineer, critical listener, or just someone who wants to hear music exactly as it was recorded without the genre-specific coloring that almost every other IEM in this range applies—the ER3SE is one of the most accurate and honest tools you can put in your ears at this price point.
System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian used his band’s stadium platform at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this week to settle an old score, leading the crowd in a pointed anti-Oasis chant before launching into “Needles.” The moment revives a beef that traces back more than two decades, to a scathing insult Noel Gallagher lobbed at System of a Down during a U.S. radio interview in the early 2000s.
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What Actually Happened On Stage
Playing the first of two nights at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday, July 13, Malakian stepped up to the mic mid-set and started working the crowd, asking them a crude call-and-response question before getting them chanting along. He then introduced “Needles” — a song famously built around a tapeworm — with a twist: “Just for fun today I’m going to name the tapeworm. Today I’m going to name the tapeworm ‘Oasis,’” he told the crowd, leading them in a chant directed squarely at the reunited Britpop band before the song’s opening notes kicked in. He later posted a clip of the moment to his own Instagram, making sure it reached beyond the stadium.
This wasn’t a one-off. Malakian took a similar shot at Oasis back in 2025, sharing a photo of himself in front of a Chicago billboard carrying a blunt anti-Oasis message, captioning it as a happy coincidence of timing and location.
Where This Actually Started
The root of it goes back to an early-2000s interview Noel Gallagher gave to Los Angeles radio station KROQ, where he was asked about System of a Down and didn’t hold back, calling them the worst band he’d ever had the misfortune of hearing. It’s the kind of line Gallagher has made something of a career habit of — he’s also taken shots at Sum 41, described Jack White in distinctly unflattering terms, and mocked Kaiser Chiefs fans in one of his more memorable put-downs.
None of that seems to have cost him much: Oasis themselves are part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2026 induction class, alongside Phil Collins — another longtime target of Gallagher’s barbs, who once called Oasis “rude, horrible” right back at him. Collins recently joked he’s already bracing for an awkward pre-ceremony lunch with the Gallaghers this year.
Daron Malakian led a London crowd in an anti-Oasis chant during System of a Down’s July 13 Tottenham Hotspur Stadium show
The beef traces back to an early-2000s Noel Gallagher interview calling System of a Down the worst band he’d ever heard
Malakian posted video of the moment to his own Instagram, following a similar 2025 jab at the band
Oasis and Phil Collins are both part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2026 induction class, despite their own long-running feud
System of a Down play a second London show July 15, then Warsaw July 18-19, before co-headlining Sick New World Texas in October
FAQ
What did Daron Malakian say about Oasis in London?
Malakian led the crowd at System of a Down’s July 13 Tottenham Hotspur Stadium show in an anti-Oasis chant, tying it into the band’s song “Needles” before posting video of the moment to Instagram.
Why does Daron Malakian have a problem with Oasis?
The feud traces back to an early-2000s interview in which Noel Gallagher called System of a Down the worst band he’d ever heard on Los Angeles radio station KROQ.
Is this the first time Daron Malakian has gone after Oasis?
No. He also posted a jab at the band in 2025, sharing a photo taken in front of a Chicago billboard carrying an anti-Oasis message.
Are Oasis going into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Yes. Oasis are part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2026 induction class, alongside Phil Collins, another frequent target of Noel Gallagher’s public insults over the years.
When does System of a Down play next?
The band plays a second London show on July 15, followed by two nights in Warsaw, Poland on July 18 and 19, before co-headlining Sick New World Texas on October 24.
Was Daron Malakian right to hold onto this one for 20-plus years, or is it time to let it go? Let us know in the comments. Follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.
Flotsam And Jetsam have released the official music video for “Harvesting The Hate”, the second single from their upcoming album Rats In The Temple, scheduled for release on August 28, 2026, through Napalm Records.
Opening the record, “Harvesting The Hate” wastes no time delivering relentless thrash, driven by pounding double kicks and the twin-guitar attack of Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley.
Frontman Eric “A.K.” Knutson explained the song’s message: “Another heavy, dramatic beast of a song from our arsenal of madness. This one asks you to look in the mirror, to find the true problem in your life. And stop harvesting the hate!”
For nearly four decades, Flotsam And Jetsam have remained one of thrash metal’s most consistent acts. Recent releases such as The End Of Chaos and I Am The Weapon have reinforced the band’s reputation while staying connected to the legacy established by Doomsday For The Deceiver and No Place For Disgrace, two records that helped define the group’s early years.
According to the band, Rats In The Temple features 13 tracks built around themes including death, betrayal, abuse and war, presenting a darker reflection of the world around us.
Speaking about the new album, Knutson said: “This record is a BEAST, truly our best effort to date!! Do yourself a favor. Dim the lights, grab a drink, put the headphones on, and crank this up. You will not be sorry you did!!!”
The current Flotsam And Jetsam lineup features Knutson alongside founding guitarist MichaelGilbert, guitarist Steve Conley, drummer Ken Mary (Alice Cooper, Accept) and bassist BillBodily. The band considers this lineup one of its strongest, combining veteran experience with technical precision across every position.
Rats In The Temple also marks the 40th anniversary of the band’s debut album, Doomsday For The Deceiver, the landmark release that famously earned a rare 6K rating from Kerrang!. Although bassist Jason Newsted left shortly after to join Metallica, Flotsam and Jetsam continued building their catalog with No Place For Disgrace before expanding it with later releases including Flotsam And Jetsam, The End Of Chaos, Blood In The Water and I Am The Weapon.
The new album kicks off with “Harvesting The Hate” and “Damnation”, two tracks that combine memorable hooks with razor-sharp musicianship. From there, “Absolution” leans into technical thrash, while “Blame The Knife” and the title track showcase the chemistry between Gilbert and Conley. “The Ghost Behind My Door” and “First On The Spike” continue the record’s aggressive pace, blending classic thrash influences with a modern edge.
Later in the album, “The Edge Of Nowhere” builds tension before giving way to “Last Rites”. KenMary and Bill Bodily take the spotlight on the anti-war track “A Taste For War”, while “Her Blood Your Pain” introduces melodic guitar harmonies ahead of the full-speed attack of “Anthem For The Broken”. The closing stretch continues with “Going Down That Way”, wrapping up an album that explores multiple sides of Flotsam And Jetsam‘s sound while staying rooted in the band’s thrash foundation.
(written by Islander) Let’s cut to the chase and then come back and fill in the details. What you’re about to hear is a song called “Street General“. Its lyrical protagonist is an evil force, a leader of killers who stalk the streets at night in search of innocent souls to destroy. The song as […]
The Australian-born, Berlin-based DJ and producer Samantha Poulter has been making music under the name Logic1000 for years. She has remixed people like Dua Lipa and Caribou, and she released her debut album Mother in 2024 and a celebrated installment in the DJ-Kicks mix series last year. Today, Logic1000 announces a new album called Confirmation!, which will feature contributions from collaborators like Christine And The Queens, yunè pinku, Jam City, FAUZIA, and Tiffi M.
Frontiers [Release date 22.05.26] Revival Black were a promising band who released their last album in 2022. Frontman Dan Byrne broke away soon after and released an excellent EP ‘Beginnings’ in 2023. As our melodic rock supremo Andy Nathan commented … Continue reading →
It’s been three years since koleżanka graced us with Alone With The Sound The Mind Makes. This fall, the NYC-based artist born Kristina Moore will follow up that album with Zone 2, her latest collection of songs. A note on Bandcamp explains the album title:
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