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I bought Etymotic Research ER4P-T MicroPro In-Ear Monitors years ago (for considerably less than the current £300 I might add).

The cable mine came with is annoyingly microphonic; they may have changed it, but I don't know.

Isolation is really superb and they are truly a reference in-ear monitor.

I find them comfortable, but everyone's ears are different.

Edit: looks like they have a new "reference" ER4SR.

I re-tested the Sonys as I didn't get round to sending them back yet - particularly since I had a quick trim around my ears as my hair was very long and wild after lockdown, to the extent that I wondered whether it was interfering with the seal of the earpads and compromising ANC and sound (thank goodness hairdressers open tomorrow!) as the Sony headphones, under the control of the app, calibrate themselves to your ears/glasses/hairstyle for maximum SQ/ANC.

So, in the interests of my concerns, and particularly in terms of fairness to the Sonys, particularly since I didn't want to put anyone else off at least trying them, I thought updated impressions were in order -

- ANC is slightly improved after the hair-trim/recalibration. In the bass, it is quite remarkable, I must say. No construction noise today, so I tested with 'chatter' from a TV turned up to around normal office chatter volume, but this also included incidental music and FX, of course. Well, with ANC on and nothing playing through the headphones, you could still hear the voices, but it was like they were distant and without much bass/body. With a little background music playing through the 'phones, they could be pretty much eliminated, although this did depend on what was being listened to - anything with more continuous loudness, like most rock/pop, etc., especially with a strong lead-vocal, and it was essentially suppressed completely at moderate volume - very impressive. If classical music with quieter/less dense moments were playing, though, you would hear the TV voices again in the quieter moments. With the type of sound I'd probably work to a lot (less distracting) various white/brown noises/solfeggio stuff, it really depended on which particular noise you loaded up, and which frequencies you were trying to drown out - but I managed to mostly find something that would work, until the offending noise changed, whence I would have to search anew for another masking noise. What I found they wouldn't drown out very well was the kind of noise Jeremy reported that his Airpod Pros did well with - I don't have a baby milk machine, but tested with a Nespresso machine - that was not masked particularly well, and interestingly isn't that far off the kind of offensive construction noise I'm trying to mask. Equally finger taps, although muted, were not eliminated. So perhaps I should try some Airpod Pros if the return policy is good (particularly since nearly all our devices are Apple anyway). However, I could probably, as long as I keep my hair short in future, and calibrate the headset each time, live with the ANC on these with a bit of faffing finding a masking noise for each situation.

- SOUND QUALITY. This was a big finding for me with these phones. I found a setting which is a little buried/non-intuitive to find in the iPhone app called Clear Bass and turned it down until the bass became acceptable (around -6 in my case). What a difference. I had previously attempted EQing the bass with Roon's parametric EQ and approximating from measured frequency response on the Rtings review - results were better but no cigar. However, I can only guess that Sony really know their own headphones and something they've done with Clear Bass really does work if you use that to dial down the bass response. Suddenly, I had deep, impactful bass with a reasonable amount of texture. This was OK! The other surprise was that I was testing them mainly with a hard-wired connection the other day and perhaps they prefer a blutooth connection? Not sure on that one yet, but I can say that SQ, while not in HD650 territory, is better than I first thought once that unruly, muddy bass is tamed. I mean, they are what they are - they'll never approach a hardwired set of open-ears with a decent amp, but hey, that's not their purpose, really. What I think does help is that (now the hair is trimmed, probably) the bass consistency is good as the 'phones calibrate and check the seal when ANC is on. The best I can say of them once Clear Bass is dialled in, is that they do nothing offensive - they're not brash or bright, and not boomy. Yes, not too detailed compared to reference phones, but I could enjoy music on them for long periods of time, and I would actually enjoy it, they're engaging phones, notwithstanding their faults. However -

- COMFORT. Here's the rub. I'm a bit torn now, as SQ I could more than live with for this type of application (if not reference listening) and I reckon I could mostly dial ANC in with some masking noise/music. But I still, personally, find the things uncomfortable. Specifically it's the headband where it meets the top of the head, and now I've looked I can see user reviews with the same issue. Looking at my HD650s, I can see the foam insert at the top is deliberately cut-out exactly where the Sony's are thickest. Both are deliberate design choices, I'm sure, and equally both will suit different head-shapes, I would imagine. This is a difficult one, as I don't want the distraction of getting a gradual headache while working for long periods - this defeats the object of zoning out into creative work (I'm a screenwriter by trade). So I think I'll wear them for an extended session and see how I go today, then make a final decision. I have heard that the Bose QC series best the Sonys in terms of comfort at least, but maybe not in SQ.

Jeremy - yes you may be right - I've heard that the Shures do isolate remarkably well with the right tips, or even a custom mould - but maybe I'm just not going to ever achieve quite what I want. I actually wondered whether a pair of good sounding in-ears with actual construction/DIY earmuffs over the top of them when things get particularly noisy might actually be a best solution!

Alastair - of course, you're right, it would be ideal to try some in-store. However, the island on which I live doesn't have anwhere with headphones to test, so this would still entail a sea/rail journey which I'd rather not undertake under the current conditions. I assume one would never be able to test in-ear options in any case?

Thanks VK, I'll add those Etymotic to the list of in-ears to look at if I do send the Sonys back.

Another thumbs up on the Etymotics from me. I use(d) them on the tube every day and had no breakthrough whatsoever. I found the way to minimise microphony is to use the clip and keep the leads well away from clothes.

These were very interesting in-ear units. M HQ were very interested in them a few years ago (nudge wink).

I had a good listen to the various 1-way, 2-way and 4-way units at the Chiswick Studio headphone jamboree a few years ago. They were really quite excellent.

If I ever start commuting again I will probably get some. The custom in-ear moulding really makes for a very personal product with very high SQ performance.

Something that wouldn't have been obvious (at least to anyone that doesn't own one of these particular milk machines) is that the noisiest bit is actually the irritating ear-splitting beep-beep-beep that it uses to let you know it's finished (I'm so tempted to cut the wires to the buzzer as it does a better job of waking the household than the fire alarms do!).

In the room next door, the Airpod Pro's did effectively cut out the noise. I'm not sure how well they work at cutting out Nespresso noises, but I may give this a go tomorrow and let you know.

Thanks, I’ll put those on the list for if the Sony’s go back!

Ha, sounds like the kind of beep beep diggers make when reversing.

Suddenly had some very loud construction banging from next door this morning, but didn’t get the Sonys on in time before it stopped - irritatingly they don’t seem to have done very much work since I got these (after nearly 3 years of non-stop noise) - Sod’s law, eh?

Having tried them again extensively yesterday I am now pretty certain I could make the ANC and SQ work for me. Comfort is an issue though, and I’m not sure how much the over padded bit at the top of the headband will ‘bed-in’ over time...

Your AirPods comment has me looking at those and the Sony WF-1000XM3 as alternatives to these, though - if I could get ANC/SQ almost as good with better comfort I might be onto a winner. I was considering passive isolation this morning until that big loud low frequency banging started up - I can’t see any passive NC dealing with that amount of bass frequency, tbh.