First off let me say that I love shure headphones. That said, let me explain why I will never buy another pair ever again. I've owned Shure E3c's for several years now. The price point was right for me and they gave me exactly what I needed for the highs and lows of in your ear headphones. They are great at isolating noises and you will not hear a thing, more or less, when you have these in. Now, my major problem with Shure E3's is this. My first pair started breaking up on me after about a year of owning them. They were warranteed and I contacted Shure. They replaced them for me and informed me that if I had the same problem again it would cost me $$'s since this was a replacement. I was ok with that. Fast forward exactly one year later and the same issue has cropped up again. The wiring in these headphones leaves a bit to be desired. Basically, the wire near the headphone jack goes through a bit of abuse regularly. Remember, you're basically throwing your mp3 player in your pants pocket, shirt pocket, coat pocket, etc. After awhile, about a year, the wiring close to the plug will become a frustation point for you as the sound starts to break up. Hopefully people will find this review and realize that it's not your player. It's the E3c's. I'm not sure what they could do to improve on this product. Perhaps better shielding of the wires would prevent this problem from happening. Still, i can't advocate spending money for these or the E3c-n's since the n's are the next generation. There's nothing about them that tells me shure has corrected this problem. The sound is awesome on shure E3c's until this issue rears it's ugly head. I want to throw this latest batch in the trash can but don't have the hear. Instead, I'll probably pay the $$'s that they ask to replace them but, after that, I will inform them that this is my last pair until they fix this wiring issue.
"Great sound, excellent isolation, just broke my 2nd pair"
2009-01-03
- Reviewed By User: A3ANUPALDQHCXP
I really like these earphones. The dynamic range is excellent, and sound isolation is almost complete in noisy environments (cutting the grass, sitting in an airplane). The problem is they're somewhat fragile. It's broken the same place twice on the part of the housing that holds the foam/rubber earpieces. I've gotten about 1 1/2 years of use out of both pairs before they broke. Shure customer service was excellent on the first pair, and they replaced them at no charge. Let's see how they are on the 2nd pair...
"Light, good fit, very good sound"
2008-09-06
- Reviewed By User: A3KHQRBCY77P6P
I am buying my second pair of these. These headphones isolate sound, but do not completely block out the sound, with very good sound quality. I use these phones while I walk or jog the early morning streets. It is important that I am able to hear cars as they approach intersections. I listen to music or podcasts - these are not my high end set of phones - I have a traditional set of open ear phones (Grado SR125) that sound much better than the $500 level mini bud shures, at a cost of $150 retail.
But these are for outside. I did break my first set, the earpiece tube is the weak link here. I did not put them into the carrying case the right way, and the zipper pressure must have snapped the earpiece tube. I usually keep these in a small drawstring pouch in my computer bag - I wish I did the day they broke.
E3c's, Grados, Eto...all of them are great and the E3c's which I own, are tremendeous...just one caveat.
All of these cans (the common term for canalphones) really need a headphone amp and a burn-in period (yes, just like shoes). My Xenos headphone amp, and a 40 hour burn-in of the driver, makes up for the perceived flaws in the product. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/do-canalphones-need-burn-87795/index4.html#post1015521 The impedance of the headphones requires a bit more oomph than most PMP's can provide. Instead of driving my cans with a higher volume which approaches distortion levels, I can drive them at a moderate level into the amp and then control volume bass and trebel on the amp. If you are looking for a headphone amp, look for one that is based on the Burr-Brown amp chip...nice and clean. I'm using a Best Buy/Insignia Pilpt PMP with WMA Lossless. I ripped the Yo Yo Ma Bach Cello Concerto disks and to hear the clarity of the sound is amazing...you can hear him breathing as he plays...almost impossible in other configurations.
When the E3c's are all gone, the 210's are the equivalent cans with only an external design change; the drivers are still the same. Don't forget their great warranty and when the warranty expires, a new pair is only $79 away (plus shipping).
I hope that my comments will help anyone thinking of buying these earphones for their sound isolating ability. My Sennheiser earphones I have had for three years and love them. Recently, I sent them back for repair and decided to buy the Shure E3c as a substitute pair. They seem to have no sound isolating ability. I tried to create the best seal possible by trying various buds and the foams that came with them but without any increase in performance. Sound quality was OK but my $50 Bose are about the same. The cord is much longer than I need. My husband has a cheaper pair of Shure's that have a cord extender for when you need it. The tiny case that comes with the earphones barely fit the earphones. I have concerns of bending the wire to make them fit in the case. My husband' came with a larger case. I read all the reviews before buying and thought overall most were satisfied. I am so dissatisfied. I can't believe that others really like them.
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Expedited Available
"Will not buy again"
"On my second pair"
"NOT Sound Isolating"