Shure - Best Earphone Company Ever?

[Babyboy212]

When I bought my iPhone I also bought a bunch of accessories which were available to me on launch day. One of these products were a set of earphones from Shure that also has a mic (to carry on a conversation over the phone). Prior to that day, I have never heard of Shure... the person at ATT assured me that it would be a smart/good buy even though it was priced at $120. It was launch day, I just purchased my iPhone, I was giddy... I bought it, along with like 5 other accessories.
After figuring out how to actually wear the things, I quickly realized these earphones are amazing. They very effectively cancel out (isolate is their term) outside noise and the sound quality is superb. Using these 'phones since launch day, I have no complaints. I've now become interested in purchasing another product from Shure.. the SE530.
I know, I know... $500 for earphones sounds insane.. but I'm an audiophile. I was wondering if there are any other people out there that obsess about music and sound quality like I do and have purchased these 'phones. If so, let me know what you think of them with your iPhone. The reviews I've read so far are overwhelmingly positive but none of these include usage with an iPhone.

 

[jbaraga]

I have a set of Shure E2c that I bought to use with my iPod, and now use with my iPhone. The sound quality is fantastic, and they do an amazing job of cancelling out all other sound around me.

I can see spending $150 or so on a good set of headphones, but I don't know that the iPhone (or iPod) itself is capable of pumping out the quality of signal that would justify spending $500 on headphones.

It's kind of like putting Z-rated performance tires on a 4 cylinder, 65 HP car. The limitations of the vehicle will prevent you from ever using those tires to their true capabilities.

You're probably better off sticking with the Shures you have and finding another way to spend that $500.

 

[genexrocket]

not earphones, but grados are freakin good headphones, especially the sr-60's for its price, they're pretty much known only to audiophiles,, the only bad thing is, they don't fit into the iPhone jack...

 

[SDMahan]

Shure SE530's and MPA (Music Phone Adapter) Rock

I've owned the Shure SE530's since they came out and I've loved them. The only problem I had with the iPhone was that they didn't fit the recessed headphone port. I did some surgery on the 3ft cord to make them fit, but I missed having a microphone.

The Shure MPA alleviated that problem. It is the same length as the standard cord that ships with the SE530's, but it includes a noise canceling microphone AND the play/pause/answer button. This is the perfect combination. Everyone that I talk to on it says that it sounds crystal clear. And that means a lot when I'm in a convertible at 70 MPH with the top down .

If you want great sound, incredible sound isolation, and full functionality, you can't do better than the Shure SE530 and MPA combination.

 

[Max66]

I got a pair for $550 a year and a half ago and they are amazing. Block out all sounds, I can't even hear the lawnmower when I use it. Shure ftw!

 

[Beau]

You sir need to head over to www.head-fi.org pronto.

There's plenty of options on the market.

FWIW I have the Shure E500PTH, got 'em used for $250. Basically the same as the 530s with revised foamies. If I were in the market now I would wait about for the Q-jays to come out... while I love my Shures overall they are a bit recessed in the treble.

 

[adriankeith]

Shure has been making some really fine equipment for a very long time. I don't know if i'd say they were the BEST but they certainly rank up there. You should know that in the world of "Audiophiles" anything that has a high price seems to make it audiophile-worthy. You've got guys talking about measuring pink noise in EARPHONES. Come on now, really? Some of those guys take it to the extreme. Some other really worthy competitors are d-Jays and Etymotics Research.

Good reviews at www.headphone.com

 

[x999x]

Shure are among the top, so you've not to worry about the quality.

I've lost a pair of mine, and since decided to "lower my standards" a bit in an attempt to save myself some money the next time I lose my earphones.

If you're not a stickler for a "seal" being made in your ear canal, I'd recommend the Bose earphones as a more affordable solution to better-than-stock earphones. They take about 40 hours to temper, but the robust full-sound that I get is comparable to the higher end Shure models. The bass is honestly incredible, it's not punchy like the stock iPhone earphones, it's full bodied and crisp.

I got mine for 70 bux on sale, not bad, and they fit in the iPhone just fine with a little whiddling of a blade.

 

[Waveguy]

Shure's been around since before I became interested in audio in the 60's. I had a series of their phono cartridges (remember the V15 type III and IV?) and bought a set of E2c's for my iPod a couple of years ago.

I do agree that $500 for a portable audio device is overkill, but I did once spend about $1500 on a set of Stax electrostatic headphones, so who am I to criticize?

 

[Beau]

Guys,

If you have no problem with purchasing from eBay, get some E500PTHs from there. There was a guy selling them for ~$280 new. Same as the 530s, the 530s just have better foamies, that's it, as comfirmed by a Shure engineer on head-fi.

Unlike other electronics Shure warranties the product regardless of where purchased from, 2nd hand, etc. They can go by the date code on the product, no receipt necessary.

RE: the $1500 Stax setup... I had about $5k sunk into this hobby as of last year, sold off much of my setup to buy a motorcycle. There are guys on head-fi that have several $10k into it - drink the kool-aid, I know you all want to.

Once again.

www.head-fi.org

Oh yeah, and don't mention any love for Bose on that site, you will get ripped a new one.

 

[Waveguy]

RE: the $1500 Stax setup... I had about $5k sunk into this hobby as of last year, sold off much of my setup to buy a motorcycle. There are guys on head-fi that have several $10k into it - drink the kool-aid, I know you all want to.

Once again.

www.head-fi.org

Oh yeah, and don't mention any love for Bose on that site, you will get ripped a new one.

I just took a look at the site and I see what you mean! It does bring back memories of discussions about the benefits of direct drive vs. belt drive turntables, tube amps vs solid-state amps, and so on, though.

 

[col3man]

I'm an audio freak as well, I write music and kinda live it.. ( I have some SHURE mic's and I'm happy with them) I bought a set of E3c Sound Isolating Earphones and.. well, not too impressed.. I returned them after a few days.. the sound was great, no doubt.. the space and staging of the drivers was good, the bass was there; acoustically, I had no issues.. here is what I had problems with.. First, the cable to the drivers was so thick and industrial, every time it moved, while walking or moving, it transferred the sound to the ears, it was like a giant stethoscope! It absolutely sucked. Then the fact that it was like 5 feet long.. thanks for the thought, but I don't need my iPod across the room.. So i had to kinda wrap it around my iPod or something.. The second issue was the quality of the headphone, it was really, really bad.. it looked like a model carved out of a chunk of plastic by a 5th grader.. It was like low-density PE, or a low pressure mold, there was flash all over the place and the parts barely fit together.. (maybe we're spoiled by nice Sony molding or Apple fit and finish, but this would not have passed for a rough prototype.. (yeah, I'm an Industrial Designer who works with plastic, but anybody could see this.) I returned them and just use Sony MDR-EX85's the sound is just about the same.. good bass, decent sound space, etc..

C/

 

[James Cant]

Shure-ly you can't be serious?

Yes 128 kbps compressed music will not provide quality hearing from Shures's SE530's (bless them they do try).

Do not despair iPhone fans. Converting your cd collection to i-tunes via Apples Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) is the answer. The memory difference is obviously huge (approx 500mb per album). The trade off is a huge difference in quality. I defy any audiophile to note any audible difference between the lossless codec and listening direct from CD.

I hope a lot of people read this as if you're an i-pod/i phone lover and you like i-tunes pap you're in for an amazing shock. A shock that I'm sure will create a huge demand for higher quality music.

Enjoy music lovers

I have a set of Shure E2c that I bought to use with my iPod, and now use with my iPhone. The sound quality is fantastic, and they do an amazing job of cancelling out all other sound around me.

I can see spending $150 or so on a good set of headphones, but I don't know that the iPhone (or iPod) itself is capable of pumping out the quality of signal that would justify spending $500 on headphones.

It's kind of like putting Z-rated performance tires on a 4 cylinder, 65 HP car. The limitations of the vehicle will prevent you from ever using those tires to their true capabilities.

You're probably better off sticking with the Shures you have and finding another way to spend that $500.

 

[Napoleon PhoneApart]

You do realize you're replying to a two year old thread, right?