SHURE E2c

GJC

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I took delivery of a set of Shure's E2C canal earphones last week and thought I would share my initial impressions with everyone:

Style
Modern, sturdy in-ear phone with clear plastic, casing the driver.
The general feal is quality.

Sound
After owning both Sony In-ear canal types the MDR 70 & 71 I have to say I am initially dissapointed with the bass output. I'm not sure if this is down to lack of 'run-in' or whether I have the fitted them in my ear enough. I have tried the clear plastic buds which are quite uncomfortable, so I am using the foam attachments instead. Bass seems like its missing an octave or 2, I can hear lower bass on my Sony's. The bass I get on my E2c's is good at its level and there is plenty of midrange punch. I listened to Alicia Keyes - Piano and I; this has more range on the Sony's but mid/treble sounds clearer and more defined on the E2c's. I'm beginning to think if I should have spent another £50 for the next model up. The most noticable difference between the Sony's and the E2c is the treble. E2C have lovely clear highs without any shrill, unless pushed really hard 26/30 on my MZ-R909. I can forgive the lack of bass for now as what I get is adequate, but I do pang for my Sony MDR-70's on occasion.

<update> Since changing to an iRiver Ihp-120 that sound from these phones is quite amazing, bass is louder, deeper and clearer, treble is sharp, everything about them is better than either of the Sony's I have owned. The Amp on my minidisc player wasn't doing the E2c's any justice.

Another major difference between the Sony's and these is the sound isolation. I can hear very little with the Shure's plugged in. The Sony's I thought were good BUT then I used these, amazing noise reduction and not much leakage externally either.

The minijack plastic casing is quite thick (which is a good thing ) and only just fits into the remote on my minisdisk player, something prospective MD fans might want to consider before buying. All my previous minijacks have broken here.

Overall: A great pair of phones for £60 inc Vat & Del. :thumbsup:
 
Nice review. Give them a chance to burn in. Have you tried them on anything other than a portable? Lack of bass could by down to lack of current output by the portable.
 
Pbirkett,

I havent tried them on anything other than my Sony MZ-R909, I have used the graphic equaliser :rolleyes: to increase the bass, and I've reduced the treble a notch which has improved the sound slightly. I will listen to them in greater detail this weekend on a few other sources.

I have ordered some Koss Plugs for the wife, they may well get borrowed at some point :rolleyes:

I recall reading a thread on HeadFi.org a while back that mentions a tweak/custom mod which involves using the plastic removable ear buds on the Sony 70&71's on the E2c's...... That will be tried and tested this weekend.

Thanks for the :thumbsup: Pbirkett.
 
Nothing wrong with using an equalizer if you enjoy it more. I actually use one on my home headfi rig to give me a boost of bass - its surprising how many good quality headphones cannot provide a good bass response IMO.

Theres only one headphone I've heard to date that gives what I would describe as a really good bass response, and thats the Beyer DT531. But its not exactly portable. Even my £250 Sony MDR-CD3000 cannot provide all the bass I want without an EQ.

Perhaps its the fact that I'm a bass head and have spent years listening to Mission M51's which are pretty damn bassy!!
 
The KOSS PLUGS arrived last week and WOW for £16.99 they are excellent, as good as my old SOny 70's. If anyone wants club music levels and quality buy these, they go loud and the bass is massive. A couple of cons: There an awkward fit and take some getting used to. The build quality isnt great either, (the speaker cable is very thin). OVerall they are excellent value for money.

Update my sure SHure E2c's : I must say I am dissapointed with them, they dont produce enough low/loud bass for me, in fact they just dont do loud bass. I am very pleased with the midrange and treble, which is so much clearer and less fatiguing than the other earphones I have tried. I still dont like the plastic buds that Shure provide they are very uncomfortable and difficult to position in-ear. IMO the foams are more comfortable, and slightly easier to place in-ear.

Overall: Wish I had brought the E3's.
 
Do you think the E3's would of been better for bass though?

The reason I ask, is because I have had many headphones from the "higher" end, Sennheiser HD580, HD650, Beyer DT880, DT931, Sony MDR-CD3000, and I've been fairly disappointed with the majority of them for their bass performance, even when properly driven.

I am currently using a pair of DT531's which are not as good as those phones in some respects, but certainly aint shabby when properly driven, and despite not being bass monsters, they leave all of the above behind fairly easily for fun, loud bass.
 
Only a demo will truly tell, failing that the specs seem to suggest that the SPL is higher 105db/115db, and should be easier to drive :rolleyes: Whether this will increase the bass or not I dont know?

I've yet to drive these phones from a different source, but the whole idea of buying these was for use whilst commuting.

Nice review pbirkett

here
 
pbirkett said:
I have had many headphones from the "higher" end, Sennheiser HD580, HD650, Beyer DT880, DT931, Sony MDR-CD3000, and I've been fairly disappointed with the majority of them for their bass performance, even when properly driven.
Define "properly". :)

I certainly wouldn't have said my HD600s have problems with bass. They go deeper than my Servo 15 subwoofer does and loud enough (if pushed) to make my teeth rattle.

I suspect that bass response may be more susceptible to a poor quality power supply on one's headphone amp than is the case for treble....
 
Hmm, I've owned (including my current amp) 2 very highly regarded headphone amps, as well as the X-Can. I dont think all of them could have had been bad.

Besides which, you will note I said "the majority of headphones". The Sennheisers certainly dont have that problem on any of my amps, where they do, admittedly, sound very bassy. However, the same could not be said for the others, and nevertheless, the HD6x0 series is too laid back to these ears. Having said that I aint tried the 580 on the Perreaux, might be interesting, but I've had enough of buying headphones, lol.
 
I have the Shure E3s - I got them cheap in the US. I only give them occasional use to be honest (with my iPod, I have a pair of Stax phones at gome). The bass output from these is also extremely weak, so I don't think spending more to move up the range is the answer to your problem.
 
Keiron,

Thanks, I may look into other Canal Brand phones then.

Regards,

GJC
 
I am kind of put off the Shure re bust ear drums and blood pouring out of ear review they had :(
 
The Beekeeper said:
I am kind of put off the Shure re bust ear drums and blood pouring out of ear review they had :(

yeah stories like that don't tempt me either :rolleyes:

i guess it's a risk with any canal phone though if you really push them in hard, though, i've read many reviews about different canal phones and have never heard of anyone else damaging their ear!

They do say (well at least certainly in the etymotic manual) that rather than just pull them out you are meant to twist to break the seal which perhaps might explain what happened?)
 
Was just wondering...

Shure in-ear phones are designed, primarily, for musicians - right? I'd guess that, like the audience, anyone on stage would be able to 'feel' bass frequencies - hence this may account for a lesser frequency response at the lower end? Just a thought.
 
The BeeKeeper,

Can you provide a link to that review please?

Regards,

GJC
 
You get used to the initial discomfort. Try out the foams (if you havent already) I find them slightly more comfortable.
 
A Second Review

Hi there, I just bought some E2c's also! To add to GJC's review I have to say that I am very impressed. The sound quality is very good for the price, you can hear every detail of the music (i was listening to an mp3 which 'popped' - i jumped out of my skin!). The isolation is awesome also, I look forward to testing them on a plane when I go travelling in a couple of weeks. My sister was trying to talk to me when I first put them in and could not hear a sound, even though she was right next to me (hmm...this gives me an idea :laugh: ) The case is excellent, and makes the shures very portable, and the overall build quality feels excellent.

My only concern perhaps is the comfort of the plugs after long listening, which i haven't had the chance to do yet. I also feel a little bit congested with them in - maybe i wouldn't recommend these when you have a cold.

After testing them over the last few days, i would say that these horror stories about blood pouring out of ears seems very unlikely. Even though these go deep in the ear canal, and there is a seal, i cannot imagine, even if you carelessly ripped them out, there being any damage done to the ear.

Overall I would give the E2c's a very strong recommendation if you are looking for affordable, quality in-ear phones. In fact, I expect it would be hard to find any earphones that would match the aural quality of these for £60 (the best price i found)

:thumbsup:
 
The Beekeeper said:
I am kind of put off the Shure re bust ear drums and blood pouring out of ear review they had :(


Im about to buy an ipod and am very much looking forward to buying
in-ear-phones, can you post me a link to this review re:blood pouring out of ears etc.
I was seriously considering these earphones.

anyway..if anyone wants another review to the e2c check this out :

http://www.ipodlounge.com/reviews_more.php?id=1060_0_6_0_M

, this site also has review to other ear\head phones.
 
lordpercy said:
Hope to have a set of these to test from Shure in the next 2 weeks, can;t wait i hope they out perform my sennheisers then i can ditch the Bo Selecta look in the office!

LP


lol, creeeeiiggg deehvid ! ;)

Look forward reading your opinion on these earphones.
 
I have recently bought these ear canal phones, I think they're fantastic for the price. They're very strong and durable. And don't seem like they'll break
to soon.
They're very comfortable to wear if you follow the instructions on how to plug them in, you dont just stick 'em in your ear like your usual earphones.
You will need to figure out which size ear piece is suitable from S/M/L. Then its a choice of foam or silicon peice to use. Silicon is easier to plug in
but doesn't provide a good seal with the ear canal and so you loose out on the deep bass. Foam earpeices provide a much better seal, you need to pinch then so they squash down in size and then they expand in your ear provide a very good seal resulting in music which sounds like you have Proac S125 speakers in your head... ok maybe not as good, but good enough!

I found that I was listening to music at low safe levels unike the usual
earbuds that come with ipods.

All these stories about earcanal phones being dangerous and uncomfortable and earbleeding etc sounds like a big drama!

Enjoy your music ..you only live once!
 
After a few months of listening to these phones I wouldnt go back for anything - they are amazing, the sound quality has got better, Iriver!

I am temtped by the new etymotics er6i.......watch this space :)
 
GJC said:
After a few months of listening to these phones I wouldnt go back for anything - they are amazing, the sound quality has got better, Iriver!

I am temtped by the new etymotics er6i.......watch this space :)


Same here, the e2c's do take a bit of time to take in and out of the ear.
do you let the cable run down your back or down the front?

I was thinking of getting the er6i's for my ipod, they've been fine tuned
especially for it. do you know if they sound as bassy as e2c with good clarity
too? Shame there's no way of demo'ing the earphones before buying.

Where did you intend to buy them from?
do you know any good online stores for this?
 
Hmmmm...

All this stuff about the E2c not being bassy enough...

Are you ALL BASS freaks or something?

I have tried my gf's 71XE or something like that Sony ones and they sounded good. MUCH better then the standard iPod ones but that isn't hard to beat :p. More clear and bassy then the standard iPod ones.

Koing
 
Do any of you guys/gals(?) use this with an inline remote? What do you do with the excess wire?
 

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