Etymotic headphone surprise

As a music nut who still craves high-quality sound at work, I brought along a Grado RS-1/RA-1 setup to the office. But thanks to some plug funkiness with the Grados, I was forced to plug in my Etymotic ER-4s, which are customarily only used with my portable(s) (phone, gym music player).

I confess to being rather stunned, when I plugged them into the RA-1 amp, at the sonic quality of the Etymotics. I had always considered them a great-sounding earphone, but preferred the Grado for all of those Grado reasons. But the bass, soundstaging and imaging on these things, not to mention speed and dynamic range, are pretty remarkable.

Yes, I think that the Grados are ultimately a little bit better, but the difference strikes me as more recording studio (Etymotics) vs concert hall (Grados).

Just wanted to share something of a very pleasant surprise.