Shure E2c Sound Isolating Earphones
by Shure
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Our Price: $199.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $79.80 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Shure E2c Sound Isolating Earphones
Customer Review: You get what you pay for, it's drawbacks are well compesated
Summary: 5 Stars
These are the best earphones I had the pleasure to own. I came to purchase them out of need to replace a SECOND set of earphones from Apple. Although the sound coming from Apple earphones is good and the set fits fairly comfortable in your ears, they are too delicate and break very easily.
Looking for better quality, I came across these earphones. I notice the quality of the sound right away. It was obvious. The fitting did take some getting used to, but once I did, nothing else will do.
The main complains I hear about and experience myself involves price and conform.
Well, yes they are expensive, but you get what you pay for. Consider how many earphones you had owned. You are getting a quality product that is well back up by a 2 year warranty. After six months from purchase, I found myself returning them due to breakage of the wire covering. Seven days later, I received a brand new package in my door with a renewed 2 year warranty. The breakage had nothing to do the quality of the product. The wire cover is made of the same rubber of all earphones. In New York City, it gets cold and the covering made of some sort of rubber tends to get toasted and break, particularly on areas were you bend or twist the wires. I'm friends with an electrician and he advised me to rub a little Vaseline on my fingers and rub them around against the wires that land behind the ears were the first shure earphones originally broke for me exposing the wires (this area tends to bent and therefore sensitive to breakage). He was right, just like it can protect chopped lips, Vaseline can protect the covering so they may not break.
In terms of comfort, you may in fact have to allow some time to get used to them, its true. They are built very differently than anything you have ever put in your ears before. It comes with different adapter parts that go in your ears. The disposable foam ones are the most comfortable for me. I do resent a little bit that they do wear out and you have to keep buying them if you choose them to be your best fit. Your personal hygiene and hormonal valance (sweat, ear wax buildup, etc.) may determine how often you may need to change them. But, I think the foams are only second to an adaptor custom made for your ear. I could wear the others that are not disposable, but nothing feels more comfortable and fits quite like the foams. They just take whatever shape your ears have and they are soft. You may keep buying a supply of foams, or get one of those custom made adaptors, or get acquainted with the plastic hard and soft ones. Having several options is a good thing.
Sound quality, is undeniable, and you can read about it even on most individuals that give it a bad rating. Consider that it is a line of products that extend from a price range of $100 to $500. Shure has a reputation for producing high quality professional audio equipment. I listen to classical music as well as hip-pop. When they are well fitted in you ears, you do hear bass. With classical music, it like this was it's target. Its like a set of BOSE in your ears.
They also cancel background noise really well. I found myself wearing them when the room was too noisy even when I wasn't listening to music. They won't cancel noise 100%. It's more like 85-90%, enough for your music to take center stage. Because they are so good canceling noise, you can set your ipod/radio etc. to a volume level that won't harm you.
All in all, Shure compensates well with it's few drawbacks. I do recommend them after spending several hundred dollars on cheap $10 $50 $60 set of earphones that eventually break within a year or so. I owned these for the last 2 years and I don't and won't use anything else.
Customer Review: Excellent headphones... with lots of options
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the Shure E2C headphones for my iPod, which came with a pair of awful ones driven by paper drivers that went bust in a couple of months (they caused a rustling sound if the volume was turned up more than 50%).
Honestly, this was one of the best $65 I ever spent. First off, the sound on these things is excellent, especially given that they are an in-ear design. Some people on here have complained about the poor bass, but I find that the bass is great if you set the EQ on your iPod or MP3 player to Bass Booster (or equivalent). Also, the bass is largely a function of how snug the headphones fit into your ear. I believe that they work by using your ear drum as a sort of subwoofer, so the tighter the seal the better bass response.
When I took them out of the box, they came with the clear plastic sleeves on, which are sort of tough. I didn't like them at all, as they kept falling out of my ear (they were too rigid). I then tried the foam sleeves. If you roll them between your fingers and then twist them all the way into your ear, they expand inside, creating a tight seal. You really can't hear a thing of external noise when they're on. The sound that came out was unbelievable. I was in heaven, especially when riding the subway in New York City (which is so incredibly loud, it used to drown out my iPod headphones with the volume turned all the way up when I was on the train). The downside though, is that you need to be extra-alert when wearing them since you really can't hear a thing of outside noise.
I then decided to experiment because I was a little put off by not being able to hear ANYTHING outside and the fact that it is a weird sensation to have your ear canal entirely blocked off. So, I tried the really flexible plastic sleeves (the black ones). With these, I still got a great seal, but was able to hear some ambient noise from the outside. This was good since I could only hear the quiet hum of the train (not the loud rattle like before), but could also hear honking or a siren when I am walking outside.
I am not sure how these things will sound if you listen to lots of rap and dance music which are heavy on synthetic bass. I don't listen to those very much, and mainly stick to rock, indie, jazz, and classical. Natural bass comes through beautifully on these headphones and you can really hear the sound quite clearly. You might want to try these out by listening to some Leonard Cohen, Radiohead, and Wagner to really feel the range of sounds they are capable of producing.
The product description says that they come with a cleaning kit. They don't. Only the E3's and higher models come with those. These come with a wax-guard, which are little peel-off stickers you place onto the nozzle to prevent it from getting clogged up. They can be a pain to get on, but well worth the patience.
Also, people's ears are not identical. I found that my left ear has a slightly larger opening into the ear-canal than the right one. So, I use two different sized flex sleeves for the left and the right. However, since the foam sleeves expand to conform to the size of the ear-canal, I use the same size on both (using these phones, I discovered that I must have really small ear canal openings).
I am in love with these headphones and I love the options that the different sleeves give me. If I want complete isolation, I just stick on the foam sleeves. If I still want to hear some ambient noise, I put on the soft flex sleeves. The sound is great and the price is $35 less than list. Definitely get these if you want great sound and good fit.
Customer Review: Warning: May cut your music player's song capacity by 50%!
Summary: 5 Stars
Shure E2c's are amazing at "opening up" your music, expanding the stereo field and exposing details & nuances you never knew your music had. Problem is, you may soon find yourself unsatisfied with the low-bitrate encodings you were using. So you'll spend hours re-ripping your whole CD collection... and then you won't be able to fit as much music on your player anymore... what a pain! (grin)
Low-bitrate encoding is only good enough if your headphones are too crappy to reveal that most of your music has been thrown away to make that songfile so tiny.
I'm used to Philips' & Sony's in-ear offerings, like the MDR-EX51 and MDR-EX71. While their in-ear pieces nudge up bass levels and cut down a bit on ambient noise, the tiny speakers in them aren't very good, so they tend to "blur" or "smear" your music enough that it's hard to notice the compression through all the muddiness.
Here's an experiment for you: find a song with alot of subtle stuff going on at once... shakers, light cymbal taps that fade slowly, soft latin percussion, something like that. Rip it twice, once at 256kbps and once at 96kbps, and use your best headphones to compare. Start with the 256kbps file: close your eyes and find a specific shaker that repeats throughout the song. Pay close attention to that shaker for several seconds, then switch to the 96kbps file and try to find it again.
You'll probably find that it has been thrown away... replaced with a muddy, vaguely shaker-like sound that's not really in the same spot.
Now here's the kicker... with the Shure E2c's you don't need to have your eyes closed to catch details like that shaker... you don't even need to be paying attention! If your music's at a decent bitrate you'll be listening to an old favorite when you'll suddenly notice some cool flare or riff or subtle effect that you "somehow" missed the first hundred times you heard that song. The E2c's will give you hundreds of those "oh that's cool... I never heart that before" moments.
The E2c's handle high volume without breaking a sweat, but what's particularly breathtaking to me is their performance at very low volume. Right now I'm enjoying some music (@256kbs), and my Hi-MD player is at volume level 2 of 30. Even in my quiet office my last pair of earbuds had to be at 10 before what came out of them actually sounded like music, but with the E2c's I get balanced sound at 2... I still hear every detail of the music! Even the bass is still there... quiet, but defined and audible.
I get the feeling the E2c's are going to save my hearing... I had to really crank previous earbuds to hear my music on the train every day, and to overcome traffic & wind noise on the city-streets biking part of my commute (for safety I use the only the right earbud while biking).
Once you get the fit right (and get them in DEEP) the noise seal is nearly as effective as a good set of earplugs. At work I leave them a bit loose in my ears and run them at low volume so I can enjoy my music but still hear the phone ring. And so I can notice if my boss is in my doorway talking to me (at which point I remove one earbud so I can hear better and talk without shouting).
The bottom line? Rediscover your music collection with a pair of E2c's. They may cut your music player's song capacity in half, but they'll more than double your enjoyment of it... which is worth it, in my book!
Customer Review: Surprising clarity, excellent fit
Summary: 5 Stars
After many years of faithful use from my set of Sony earbuds, I had gotten to the point where I was ready to try a slightly more sophisticated set of in-ear headphones (read: the rubber on the right cord was worn to the point where there was over an inch of copper wiring exposed).
I restricted myself to a firm top price of $100, and then began an exhaustive search which ended tentatively with the Shure E2c Consumer Headphones. I had heard much about the Shure company, and a friend of mine who works in a recording studio assured me that anything they make must be quality.
COMFORT
The first thing that was markedly different with the Shure E2c from my Sony earbuds was the fit. Most earbuds slip into the ear canal and then hang straight down, while others (like my Sony pair) have one ear cord that is longer so that you can loop that part around the back of your head, thus keeping the cord out of your way.
The Shure E2c go one better. Each earphone has a separate, angled channel from the base of the unit that sits comfortably inside the ear canal, while the unit itself rests flat along the outside, at the top of your ear. It is tricky the first few times to get the settled, but you get use to it fairly quickly. Once positioned, the cords actually wrap over the top of your ear, meeting in the back with a plastic sleeve that can be tightened or loosened behind you back. This has proven to be great when running, as the cords can be secured tightly to the back of your head, and with the cord running behind my neck, my arms don't get tangled in it.
Also, there are nearly a dozen different types and sizes of earphone sleeves, ranging from very thin, soft rubber to collapsible foam made from the same material that earplugs are, so once inserted properly they expand for a nice, snug fit.
CONSTRUCTION
The design of the headphones, as mentioned above, is a definite improvement and can be worn for many hours without discomfort. Also, the cording is noticeably thicker then my old Sony earbuds and feels like it could stand up to a good deal of abuse.
CLARITY AND SOUND
Initially I was a bit put off by the sound range when I first began using the Shure E2c. The clarity was astounding from the very first chord, but the sound was slightly tinny and the baseline seemed rather flat. The same friend who initially pointed me in Shure's direction assured me that this was normal and that I should give them a few weeks to break in.
He was right, of course, and I am now enjoying a rich array of sounds and instruments that went unheard with my Sony earbuds. I am simply amazed that such tiny speakers can produce such a rich field of sound.
NOISE-CANCELING
The Shure E2c are not true noise-canceling like the Bose QuietComfort ones are, but when fitted correctly, then do create a sort of "noise vacuum," similar to the effect you get when plugging your ears with your fingertips. This means that while much of the outside noises are greatly reduced, any internal noises from your body are amplified. This is most noticeable while eating, or from the jarring of your footsteps if you are running on a hard surface.
Customer Review: Great Product Great warranty
Summary: 5 Stars
These headphones are great if you consult the owners manual. The isolation is superb as long as you get a proper fit. Drowns out even the most annoying people or noises (I use mine prodominantly at work or at a college library.)
FIT
You have to experiment a little in order to find the best fit for your ears. I first used the medium clear plastic pieces. These hurt at first but my ear eventually got used to them (they have the best noise isolation) However, After they got stuck in my ears and I had to use tweezers (it was a little scary)to remove them I switched to the foam. These are easily the most confortable and if inserted correctly have in my opinion only slightly lesser noise isolation. WASH THEM WITH SOAP AND WATER (mild laundry detergent or dial antibacterial works) Otherwise they will start to look gross. You can buy replacements from Shure for dirt cheap as well.
SOUND QUALITY
These were used to replace an aging set of Sony EX-71s. While the Sony's offer booming bass over clear mids, with proper fit and equalizer settings you can get BETTER bass response. How you ask? First with my Ipod I usually use the 1. electronic music or 2. hip-hop setting (i listen to everything but not usually techno) and this will help. Secondly, run the headphones through an amp or volume booster. I run my e2cs through the little equalizer on my creative speakers for my laptop or i use a volume booster called a boostaroo. Both really drive the power out of these low impedence headphones and make it have booming bass. As far as mids and highs go They are far superior to the Sony's. These headphones do take some time however for them to break-in and reach their full audio pontential.
RELIABILITY
The Sony's 4-5ft cord (I wish I was kidding) disintigrates over time causing a hodgepodge of scotch tape to keep them running. These E2cs have a much more durable wire. However, Through my work as a headhunter I listened to them out of only the left ear. (headset in the other ear) Overtime the wire started to seperate. Well the headphones have a 2 YEAR WARRANTY!!!! I had been using my headphones for about 7 months daily. As a college student/ headhunter they had extremely heavy usage. I just spoke with a Shure rep. and they are replacing (not repairing) them for me free of charge.
OVERALL
For an audiophile on a budget ( I got mine for 64-65ish) I would highly recommend them. If you have more money E3cs, or etymotics is the way to go. The E2cs take some time as they are similar to professional musician's gear. If they are used properly they are amazing. If not used properly then Ipod headphones will be more comfortable. After a month to break them in and get used to them, you will be kicking yourself that you ever bought a cheaper pair of headphones.