Shure E4c Sound Isolating Earphones
by Shure Incorporated
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Our Price: $599.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Shure E4c Sound Isolating Earphones
Customer Review: Take the time to learn how to use the Shures, and you're in for a treat!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was hestitant to buy the Shure earphones because of the price. It better be darn good for the price tag. When I first got the Shures and tried them on, I was really disappointed. The bass was lacking and it didn't sound very loud. I have moderate hearing loss, so every bit of sound helps.
I tried different things to see if I wasn't wearing them correctly. I would push the earphones deeper into my ear canal, that didn't work. But I noticed that, at times, there would be a spot where the sound fidelity was amazing and the bass was present. So I knew that the Shure e4c was capable of delivering the bass and sound I wanted. So I decided to visit the Shure website to see if I could find better instructions or advice on how to wear these. There was a flash tutorial on the help page.
http://www.shurestore.com/earphones/howto.html#
Click on the Click here link to watch the tutorial. I found the expanding foams were the best choice. It's simple to use, and it makes sense. Compress the foam, insert the earphone into your ear and hold it until the foam expands to form a tight seal. It's painless unlike the other sleeves. Make sure that you pull your ear upward and outward to straighten the ear canal before inserting the earphones. There is a picture on the site I linked above for visual cues.
After I followed the tutorial, I tested the earphones on my iPod. I was greeted by warm wholesome sound with tight base. The sound was pure and beautiful. Really. If you diss the Shures for lack of bass or for lack of sound fidelity, I think you're not giving these earphones a fair chance to impress you. Worse, you're missing out on the potential of these earphones and depriving yourself of hearing great music unlike before.
I have the Bose Quietcomfort 2 which I still use, and it's great. But to compare the Quietcomfort 2 with the Shure e4c is like comparing apples to oranges. They're both different. I prefer to compare the Shure to the Sony Sports Headphone that I used on a regular basis. The problem with the Bose is that I can't use it for extended period of times. The weight finally gets to me when I'm wearing it in front of the computer for a while.
I can't use the Sony Sports Headphones after I found out the right way to use these Shures. The sound difference is phenomenal. With the foam sleeves, they feel like nothing. I'm immersed in wondering sounds and enjoying my MP3's like never before. Make sure that your MP3 bit rate is high for the best sound experience possible. For those who like to scroll to the end of a review and skip all the text, here is a summary:
1). Go to http://www.shurestore.com/earphones/howto.html#
2). Click on the Click here link to watch the flash tutorial.
3). Make sure you pull your ear upwards and outwards before inserting the earphones.
4). I recommend the foam inserts. Compress them with your fingers, insert the earphone into your ear canal and hold it for 10 seconds until the foam expands for a tight fit.
5). Make sure your MP3 bitrate is high to complement these Shures.
6). Don't be lazy and give these Shures a fair chance to impress you. Do this not because I told you so, but to give yourself a chance to hear beautiful music.
I hope this helps!
Customer Review: They make me not want to listen to music.
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought these headphones to use with my ipod after reading all the positive reviews for them and after I broke the stock headphones that come with the ipod. I've really tried to give them a chance but I just can't recommend them. I'm no musician or headphone enthusiast but I have been using the E4c's for about six months but I've had about all I've can stand. It's true that they have their strengths. They definitely are sound isolating. You can use them on a plane perfectly fine and any other time you would want to block out noise. They also have there moments where ur listening to a song and the sound quality just jumps out at you, but I never really experienced that moment where the supposed "smooth, brilliant highs and extended bass" that the headphones are suppose to produce made me go "wow, this is better then anything I've ever heard", and honestly the small improvement in sound quality and the noise cancelling feature can't make up for the earphones flaws.
First off, I can almost guarantee, as many other reviewers have noted, that you are going to have trouble getting these earphones in at first. Just that tells you that there will probably be problems. The problem is the only reason these earphones are noise cancelling is because they're jammed up ur ear halfway to ur brain. Because off this I found myself having to adjust them in my ear a lot because no matter what u do eventually they're going to shift on u and get uncomfortable. I just sit and read with them in and still find myself having to adjust them way to much. Reviewers have said that u will "eventually get used" these earphones, but six months and a couple hundred dollars later my ears are still more used to listening devices that stay out of my ear canal.
The other knock that I have on these is the same thing many other reviewers have brought up, the bass on these is almost nonexistent. You make ur excuses because u paid so much for them but there is no denying the fact. The stock headphones that come with the ipod will let u rock out way harder then these things.
Finally, and this my be a isolated incident but just a month or two after I purchased them the gray rubber piece below my right earphone just ripped away. It pissed me off pretty bad and shure never responded to any off my emails when I asked them if repairing that piece would be covered by there warrenty.
So to sum it all up, I wouldn't recommend these earphones and if I could go back I never would have bought them. I've given them a fair chance and I almost can't even make myself use them any more. Every time I think about using them I think about how long it is going to take to make them feel comfortable and I don't even want to deal with it. If u want noise cancelling earphones, I guess these and the rest of Shure's line are about ur only choice, but there are plenty of other noise cancelling HEADphones out there and I would really recommend u consider those first. As for me, I'm off to ebay to by myself some new ipod stock earphones, and I'll probably get them for under ten bucks.
Customer Review: Brilliant!
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, i see looking at some of the negative reviews, citing a lack of bass. Oh how foolish they are.
I'd like to say before i write my review, and that is you need a proper seal. Now with these, the soft flex sleeves or foamies (foam sleeves) will do good, and will provide more bass (unforunately the tri-flanges do not fit my ears, although i am going to try to cut one of the flanges off to make them fit better) and the second is that these require "burn-in". Burn-in is basically just using them for a certain ammount of time for the drivers to get adjusted because they need to vibrate to make sound, and it gets better with time.
The Highs (Treble) are amazing. Shure is known for the midbass and highs (although they are known to be recessed, or not going up all the way frequency wise) and they sound great. The notes are clear and not harsh, most of all the clarity will blow you away.
The Mids are excellent too. They sound warm, and up front, and provide a 'warm' sound (lack of a better word, but it is the best) and because of it, it allows you to wear them for long periods of time, without getting fatigued.
The Bass on these is excellent. Although it does take some time to burn-in (i think about 50 hours or so, just leave them playing overnight and you can tell a difference) It really is worth it. The bass goes down really low, and is very accurate and powerful at the same time. DO UNDERSTAND that these WILL NOT give you the "boomy" bass, because that is not good. The bass these produce is very accurate, and if you listen to music that has boomy bass, you will not like it because you will not get any boom, because the beats will be seperated due to the E4's high ammount of bass accuracy. They are punchy though, and do get me wrong, i think their can never be too much bass (i am a bass-head) and i like them.
The sound isolation is amazing too. I have owned The Street style (behind your head) and the noise cancelling headphones, and these are much better then both. The noise cancelling phones add a hiss , and its sounds bad, but these do not, seeing as the block out the noise naturally by sealing your ear canal. DO NOT USE THESE WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING/BIKING. very bad idea.
The pricetag is a little high, But they are worth it. They are much better then anything in the price range (Bose, how overated and overpriced they are. Just to let you know, they cost about 1/2 of what the MSRP is; the triports aren't worth 150, barely even 100). They are worth it. I just suggest you also get something besides the iPod (as they have horrible sound quality compared to some others. Let your ears guide you, not your eyes, because you can't hear with your eyes).
Awesome Phones!
Customer Review: Good but not the best.
Summary: 3 Stars
I'll be straight to the point. These earphones sound good but if you already own something better than the earphones they came with your iPod, you may be disappointed. I have three Sony headphones which are MDR V4, MDR V6 and MDR V600. For those who are not familiar with these headphones, they are over the ear, studio type headphones. They all offer a degree of external noise isolation through their foam cups. V4 has the smallest size and sits on ones ears and V6 and the V600 completely encircle ones ears. They all sound noticeably better than the Shure E4c but in my opinion V6 is the best sounding headphone among these. So, compared to MDR V6, Shure E4c is rather disappointing. The open, detailed sound and the deep clean bass of the V6 is missing on the E4c. Also, if you happen to own an iPod, get ready for more disappointment because E4c requires more power than what the iPod can deliver for strong, deep bass and produces a distorted sound under these conditions. My Arhos Jukebox has a stronger output stage so the E4c sounds very good with the Archos but the iPod is miserable. I tried various other iPods including the new 5th generation iPod Video, and the results were the same. iPods simply don't have strong enough output circuits to drive the E4c for deep bass. So far I haven't even discussed the price. Unfortunately, the sound quality of the E4c does not justify its price either. While the V6 is based on a 14 year old technology it is still my choice to listen to music at home. E4c is a good compromise for travel because it saves space, easy to carry and offers better sound isolation than the over the ear type headphones while delivering acceptable sound quality. Theoretically E5c would sound better with the iPods because according to their specs they are more sensitive. (E4c: Sensitivity at 1Khz = 109 dB SPL/mw with an impedance of 29 Ohm and E5c = 122 dB SPL/mW with an impedance of 110 Ohm). These specs are from Shure's website and tell me that E5c produces a lot more sound for the same amount of energy and also E5c has a lot higher impedance meaning that it puts fewer loads on your music player's driving circuit. Unfortunately I don't have an E5c to substantiate my theory. In summary, don't expect too much from these earphones and do experiment with the variety of the ear sleeves it comes with. I found out to my surprise that the best sound came from the foam sleeves. Also the sound quality is extremely dependent on a proper fit. Read the booklet and take time to experiment. I think the picture on the box shows the best way to wear them.Customer Review: With proper insertion, these are tremendous!
Summary: 5 Stars
When my original earbuds died with my iPod, I was at first hesitant to span the price jump to these units, but after researching my options, I decided to give them a trial and I have absolutely no regrets. I wanted great sound, either noise cancelling or sound isolating, and a package which would be ultra-portable. Because of my last requirement, sound isolation was my best alternative. I had no idea how good these would be. The E4c's do take a bit of time to tailor to one's ears, but once achieved, the sound reproduction is excellent. The first step in using these is to trial the various provided rubber and foam pieces, to find one that provides optimal fit for comfort and sound isolation.
Key Tip - in order to get best sound isolation, it is best to stretch your ear slightly, either by pulling down gently on your lobe, or pulling back and out slightly on your ear while gently pushing the E4c a bit deeper into your ear canal. With a bit of experimentation one can achieve isolation that virtually blocks out all extraneous noise. These fit so well that I actually have managed to use these unplugged to block out aircraft cabin noise when I want to sleep.
Once inserted properly, you are in for a treat as your music will absolutely come alive! I continue to be stunned by the intricacies I am discovering in many of my favorite recordings. I am hearing subtle things in the music that I have never heard, especially in live performance recordings. The E4c's present a soundstage for listening unlike anything I have ever experienced, and with beautiful range; the bass is solid (especially when inserted properly), the midrange is spot-on, and the highs are crisp, yet not sharp. The build quality is also exceptional, and they even come with a great little zippered cordura carrying case. I have never enjoyed listening so much and have absolutely no regrets about investing in these!
A few cautions are warranted - one can easily power these to a point that would induce harm to one's hearing, so please be careful! Also, I would advise against using these while cycling or doing any other activity that requires one to be 'sound alert', as these virtually block out all sound.
With that said, if you are considering investing in a pair of E4c's, I absolutely recommend them! Be sure to shop around and watch for sales, as I was able to find these at a sharp discount off the list price and actually at almost the same price as the E3c's list price... Good luck!