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: Great mids and highs. Thin bass.
Summary: 5 Stars
After using these for a while and comparing to other in ear canal and earbuds I have, and to a set of over the ear headphones, I have come to the conclusion that this isn't the frequency response I like. These do a terrific job with mids and highs, and the bass is very clear and defined, but lacks punch. I mean, you can hear individual bass guitar notes very distinctly, as opposed to somewhat of a mash of bass sound. But the compromise for this clarity is that it sounds a bit thin.
This review is an edit (my first, written soon after purchase wasn't very helpful), so I'm not able to change the stars. I'm really not sure how to rate them now, though. If you like feeling the bass a little, then I think you would be disapointed with these. If you prefer clarity, and are willing to sacrifice a little bass, these might be perfect. So, one person might say 1 star, the other 5 stars. Subjective. I guess I'd say 3 stars at this point. I have to give them credit for making a mediocre source (iphone with 128 bit rate) sound pretty good.
I'm not affiliated with these people, and I'm not sure Amazon will let me post this, but this site has frequency response graphs for most headphones. They even have a thing where you can choose different headphones and overlay the graphs to compare. The E2c graph clearly shows less bass response. Based on the graphs, I ordered some Sennheiser px-100s. (Which aren't in canal or isolating). Unfortunately, I purchased the E2cs from Ace Photo Digital, and their return policy is very restrictive (if you open the package, you can't return). Wish I had read the fine print, because now I'm out a small pile of cash.
http://www.headphone.com/
They aren't especially comfortable, but because the cords go over my ears and the plugs fit my ear well, they stay on when I'm running.
Added a week later:
I received the PX-100 headphones I ordered, and I have to say that I don't think there is any comparison. For my subjective preference, the PX-100s deliver a much more enjoyable experience. Of course, I'm sort of comparing apples and oranges, because the PX-100s are over the ear headphones, and they don't isolate sound either, and, being open, they leak sound. If I needed any of those things, I would go with the Shure, but all I wanted was good sound in something I can jog with.
Customer Review: my favorite commuter headphones ever
Summary: 5 Stars
These are without a doubt my favorite commuter headphones ever. And when I say commuter, I mean sitting on the train, definitely NOT driving. These headphones are exactly as advertised, sound-isolating. I've actually driven a few times with them on but it seems pretty dangerous. I couldn't hear my car stereo, my cell phone, other cars, etc, etc. Not good. I take a noisy 50 min train ride into town every morning and there isn't a "quiet car." Cells phones everywhere, people having to talk over the noise of the train, blah blah blah. Anyhow to make a long story short, the E2c's cut it all out and don't require the user put the volume at a higher level than normal. Sound-isolating is the key here.
Here's my punch list:
1. the little rubber tips that come with the Shure's are worthless. Painful in the ears. I think they are now selling an "ultra-soft" rubber tip that is supposed to be somewhat better. These may even come with the new E2c's. Check before purchase.
2. the foam tips are wonderful, but take a few days to master. These headphones come with a bit of a learning curve. Slight curve. Takes about a week to become a real master. Twist the foam, take the wire over the back of your ear and twist put in. Sounds painful, but it's really not.
3. Wax guards on the E2c's don't get waxy unless you are a dirty dirty person who doesn't use q-tips. :)
4. E2c's are pretty personal. One doesn't really let someone "try on" your ear phones. Mostly because they do stick into the outer ear canal.
5. I put them on at the beginning of my train ride and I look up once in a while to see people's mouths moving without any sound. I can only hear my music.
6. Don't listen to your music at a high volume, these phones sit pretty close to your ear drum.
7. I can't tell if these phones actually produce a better sound than higher-end phones. My ears are not trained to tell the difference. I'd say they do but don't take my word on that.
8. Buy.com has them for $65. Worth every penny for the long commute into the city or I guess a noisy plane ride, or waiting room, elevator, cab ride, bus ride, restaurant, ahh, I guess really anywhere there's noisy stuff going on and you want to enjoy your music. man, does that sound like a sales pitch? sorry.
Customer Review: Impressive - Clean, Clear Crisp Sound
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted to upgrade the earbuds on my iPod. I did a lot of research and was drawn to a pair of Grado SR80s - at about a hundred bucks they were an awesome investment and worth every penny - a REAL value, the one drawback: they are over-the-ear cans that are large and have a funky retro styling. They are my favorite to wear at home - but look pretty ridiculous out in public. I needed an equally amazing sounding, low-profile pair of earbuds.
After more research, I thought sound-isolating earphones would be the way to go... and the one brand that kept popping up was Shure. I really wanted to E5s but was not prepared to shell out $500 for earbuds. I decided on the entry level E2s. After reading so many rave reviews I was excited to rip into the packaging and pop these babies in and experience pure audio nirvana. Whoa - was I ever let down. These things sounded worse than my cell phone speaker. They were so "TINNY" sounding with no bass, they wouldn't stay in my ear... I was EXTREMELY depressed! I had read a few Amazon reviews with similar complaints, I read about the importance of a "good fit" - I knew with so many RAVES, the problem had to be me. I took the time to read more about the fit and properly wearing them. I decided the clear silicone sleeves just weren't working for me and tried the foam pieces. I pinched them inserted them, let them expand, and suddenly I felt "THE SEAL". I turned on the music (Eddie Harris' Cold Duck Time) and I heard the audio nirvana I was looking for. I experimented with different sizes of the soft black sleeves and found these worked just as well as the foam (and looked a lot less dorky) and they even felt more comfortable (the foam can feel a little rough after a while).
The sound is so crisp and clean. Once you have a proper fit / seal, there is plenty of bass. I was so used to the artificial deep bass I had grown accustom to over the years - I didn't realize what all that thump was hiding. I heard things in songs I had never heard before and I listen to EVERYTHING: Miles Davis, Beatles, Buddy Guy, Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, The Stones, The Dead, U2, Counting Crows, Coldplay, Pink Floyd, Green Day, Eminem, Everclear, Jazz, Motown, Country, R&B - its all good on these little gems.
I'm so impressed I'm upgrading to the E3s.
Customer Review: it totally worths every penny you paid
Summary: 5 Stars
Frankly, i had no idea the difference between noice-cancelling earphones and sound isolating ones. Also, this one was my first Shure - i did know it's a outsanding brand. moreover, i didn't expect too much for a earphone costs less than a hundred bucks.
BUT, this one really stands out. First, the package was wrapped tight, don't get me wrong, that's just a way to evaulate the product based on my experience, which is the product inside wouldn't be good if the wrap were frigle.
Second, there are 5,6 options of the earphone caps (sorry, i don't know how to say it right, but check the picture, you know what they are) offering different fits for ur ear.
And then, i plugged it in my computer and watched the Transformers: The movie once again - i guess it was my 23rd time. and you know what, believe me, I DROPPED my coffee when the Optimus Primes's voice and the theme music kicked in. WOW~ Not bad for the earphone less than 100 bucks. well, to be honest, i should say i must put the earphone in a pretty good position otherwise it wouldn't be that shocking. IT IS NOT EASY to put them into ears correctly, get used to it. you'll be fine after 30 or 50 times practices. ^^
Finally, i tried it on iPod (60G Black Video), and i got disappointed for the proformance. Well, i started to blame the iPod thinking about throw it away. But, then i tried play mp3 files on computer, and it sucked too. at last, i realize it is the format issue that mp3 couldn't hold so many datas encoded the wide range of sound, even the config is up to 320kbps... so, i set the itunes importing to Apple Lossless Encode and then ripped my CD collections again. The performance got WAY BETTER. but still, it can't be compared with the ones on CD player, even not comparable with the CD played on computer. I guess i'll have to buy a cd player then~
Sum up, it was a wonderful choice. and I bought this one just before the price went down, paid 79.99 for this, but now it's just 50 something. so what'r u waiting for? i'm thinking about the best Shure, SE 530, right now. ^^ (please don't muck me about my itunes usage, rookie mistake, and i just thought my experience might help some other guys out there. Thanx.)
Customer Review: Great Headphones, But Only For The Patient
Summary: 5 Stars
The Shure E2C headphones are a great compromise between quality and cost; so much so, you hardly realize that you are compromising on quality. I had tried other in-the-ear headphones before and was very unimpressed. I never could get them to fit right so that I could get the bass to sound good. The only way I could hear bass was to hold the phones in my ears and press. Needless to say, this really started to hurt and wasn't too practical.
I was very reluctant to go with the E2C, what with my previous experience with other in-the-ear phones and their cost, but I didn't want bulky over-the-ear phones as I travel a bit. After reading such good things about the Shure line of headphones, I decided to give the E2Cs a shot right before a 5+ hour flight out west. Well, due to child-related issues, I didn't get to use them much on the flight, but when I did, I was very disappointed as I had the same fit problems as with my other headphones except for the fact that it wasn't painful to hold the phones in my ears far enough to get the low end.
Once we got back from out west, I thought I'd give the Shure's one more shot paying extra attention to fitting them correctly. I had a few days of subway commuting ahead of me, so having these work would really rock. After about ten minutes and some trial and error, I found out that I've got really large ear canals. :)
The large, non-foam covers blocked sound the best, but weren't _quite_ large enough to hold them in for any decent period of time. While they were in, though, it was audio magic. The sound was so clean and warm, all the way through the spectrum. (Well, the spectrum that I can hear...) The large foam covers hold the buds in nicely, for long periods of time and the sound is still very nice, but they don't block outside noise as completely as the non-foam ones. (This could be seen as a good thing if you want to be some fraction of aware of what's going on around you.)
So, in summary:
1. The E2Cs rock.
2. Be patient and try all the flex-sleeves and foams to see what fits you best.
3. There is no three.
4. Once again, be patient and experiment.