About 6 years ago I bought my first pair of Sony MDR 'in ear' earphones, and was an instant convert. At the time they were pretty revolutionary and until then I'd used a lot of different types of earphones but failed to find anything I found truly comfortable. That first pair was solid and has lasted me well, in fact they're still operational and intact today, however the sound quality was becoming a bit dated so I decided to upgrade to a new pair.
Unfortunately, the latest version of Sony's MDR earphones turned out to have an incredibly shoddy build quality and they disintegrated in a matter of months. I might have considered this to be a bad unit in a batch if it wasn't for the fact that a friend also purchased a pair on my recommendation, and had them disintegrate in exactly the same manner and same timeframe as my pair did. Basically the rubber which surrounds the wires falls away, leaving the copper exposed. You can cover this up with electrical tape, however it doesn't take long before you're wearing an entire roll of electrical tape around your neck. Not overly comfortable, and at times slightly sticky!
The net result of all of this was that I've recently been in the market for a new pair of earphones. I was tempted to try another pair of Sonys, but decided I was just going to get too angry when they fell apart, so I started researching alternatives. The name which kept popping up in my searches for high quality earphones was Shure. Their headphones range in price, from the entry level E2c Sound Isolating Headphones (which come in at around NZ$200), through to the SE530TH model (which are around NZ$1000). After reading a lot of reviews, I decided to grab the E2cs - they were getting pretty good reviews, and a few people had commented that they had a bit more bass than the next model up. Anything above the next model up was looking to be a bit too prohibitive pricewise, so the decision was made and the order placed.
Incidentally, I should mention that I placed the order through the New Zealand Apple store, as they're one of the distributors (Harvey Norman is another if you're in New Zealand) for Shure. They were pretty quick to deliver, and I was pretty pleased with the constant automated email updates and the speed at which they got the product out to me. I may be a PC person at heart, but I'm happy to acknowledge that there are plenty of things that Apple do well - online stores is one of those things!
So how did the earphones do? Well thats kind of why I'm writing this, I'm honestly a bit undecided on my overall opinion. When you first open them up you notice that they're very well packaged - I guess that's the difference between these and a pair of NZ$80 earphones. When you first put them on they feel a bit weird, partly as you're recommended to loop the cable up and behind your ear, compared to letting it hang straight down. It also feels like it makes a difference whether you have these in the correct ear - with previous earphones, despite the fact that they were labelled LEFT and RIGHT, it never really mattered which way they went in. It's not quite the same with these due to their shape. You also might need to change the earplug adapter piece to something which fits your ear, as there are a total of 9 to choose from. Finding the right one makes a big difference to how they feel in your ear, so you're definately recommended to take a bit of time testing them all out. The earplug adapters are easy to switch out, but at the same time they feel well secured once they've been attached. They come inside a case, which I assume is meant to be for the earphones, however it looks finicky to use and I'm not actually sure whether they fit inside it or not. I had a quick play around with it, but decided that it was too annoying for my regular use (and my laptop bag has a pocket which I store my earphones in anyway).
Pros
- The build quality is incredibly solid. These things aren't going to fall apart in a hurry, if at all.
- The sound quality is impressive. In fact so impressive that they expose the bad quality of some of the music I'm listening to.
- 3 types of earpiece adapter, and 3 sizes for each of those, chances are you going to find one of those which you find comfortable
- They do a wonderful job of blocking out the outside world, leaving you to listen to nothing but your music. Not to be used while driving, or cycling, or anything which requires spatial awareness!
Cons
- One of the recurring comments about this model is the lack of bass. The bass is definately a bit lacking in my opinion. This can be mitigated somewhat depending on your source device - I can get them sounding pretty nice on my iPod Nano as it has an EQ, but on my iPod Shuffle the sound isn't nearly as pleasing. The same can be said about my laptop, although I haven't yet taken the time to play about with the EQ settings yet.
- They're heavy! All that build quality comes at a price, and that price is weight. I use my earphones a lot for gym type activities, and so a lot of weight isn't ideal. For sitting at my desk listening to music this wouldn't be a problem at all, but if you want to use these on the run you should definately consider their bulk, both in terms of the cable weight and the earpiece.
- They come with a long cable only. I realise that the option of having a short cable with an extender degrades sound quality somewhat, but it is incredibly handy if you want to use your earphones with a device on a lanyard, such as a Shuffle. I did know this before I ordered, and it probably wouldnt have been an issue if it wasn't for the weight of the cable.
- I've had a couple of moments where bumping the earphones has made the fit go from feeling 'nice and comfortable' to 'probing slightly too deep into my earlobe'. Again, this could be just due to using them more at the gym vs while sitting at a desk typing.
- The case they come with is pretty useless.
Overall, I'd say that the E2cs are a great quality product. Don't be fooled by the fact that my 'Cons' list looks longer than the 'Pros'. They sound good, and feel like they're built to last. However, you really need to think about where you're going to be using these things before you make a purchase. If you want to use them with something that has a lanyard, then the excess cable and the weight of that cable might be an issue for you. Some Shure retailers offer earphone demos, and I highly recommend that you take one of these and check them out before purchase. I'd tried to get one at Harvey Norman, however grabbing the attention of a sales clerk proved to be a bit difficult on the three occasions I went there. You could always pretend that you're stealing something to get attention - that one always works a charm. Whatever you do, giving them a test drive is a good idea - even more so if you're looking at the top end models (which I hear come with a better flasher case!).