» Shure E5c Sound Isolating Earphones

Shure E5c Sound Isolating Earphones Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Customer Service from Shure
Comment: I bought the E5C earphones during summer 2005. Left ear stopped playing abruptly in early October 2007, no external, visual damage. I'm a neat freak, so take good care of my toys. Sent the broken earphones to Shure with an explanation I understood they were a few months out of the 2 year warranty, but would appreciate a warranty replacment because I had in no way abused the earphones and had been very happy with them. Got a brand new replacement pair about 1.5 weeks later, no questions asked. Shure is a providing an excellent quality/fidelity product and commensurate service to back it up. Happy in Pittsburgh, S. Monroe

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Customer Rating:
Summary: good, but far from great
Comment: I've been using these earphones for over a year now, and though they have good points they also have a lot of annoyances. I'm surprised when I see such glowing reviews for these, which is why I want to share some of my thoughts.

First the good :
I fly a lot, and I do believe these are the best earphones I've ever had for the plane. In the past I owned a good pair of Sony noise canceling, then I went on to Bose noise canceling, then last year I purchased these Shures. The noise canceling phones go over the ear, which means they are larger and are taking up a lot of your valuable carry-on space. The Shure's can be coiled up into their little container and take up very little space. I can easily put them in my pants pocket. The noise canceling phones help to reduce the drone of the plane, but filter out little else. You'll still hear conversations and announcements. The Shures are plugged right into your ear canals, and you hear almost nothing outside. They are just like earplugs, with music inside.
I'll also note that they are very well built. For as many times as I've snagged the cord on something, they have held up beautifully.

Now the bad:
Aside from using them on the plane or in public transportation like the subway, I find these to be my least favorite earphones for listening to music. Because they are plugging up your ear canals, you hear things like your own breathing, your feet stepping on the ground, the cord brushing against things. Try walking around with earplugs and you'll understand what I'm describing. At the gym, these earphones are terrible. Running on the treadmill with them you'll hear every thud of your foot, your heavy breathing, and the bouncing of the cord. Walk around outside with them and it's the same to a lesser degree. Try to use them lying back in a chair or in bed and you find yourself trying to control your breathing so it doesn't interfere with the music.

As for sound quality, they are the best in-ear phones I've had. However, they cannot hold a candle to on-ear or over-ear phones I own. I have on-ear phones that cost less than 1/8 the cost of these, and are far superior in sound quality.

My advice is to go with the in-ear phones only if you are purchasing them for very noisy environments such as airplanes where you do not want to hear anything going on around you. If you expect to use them in quiet surroundings, I think you'll be very disappointed. Personally I would not pay so much money in the future for in-ear phones, since I cannot use them anywhere other than a very noisy environment.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: For The Serious Audiophile
Comment: E5C vs. E3C

For a year and a half, I listened to the E5s. The sound quality - especially the bass, is noticeably better than the e3s. Does the quality difference justify the extra money? I think so. But I also think that this depends on your financial situation. If you insist on squeezing every last ounce of high-fidelity out of your portable rig, than these headphones are for you. As I wrote in my e3 review, (having owned a pair at one point), you are doing yourself a great disservice by not listening to your music with as little or (preferably) no compression. My current codec (format) of choice for "ripping" CDs is Sony's ATRAC Advanced Lossless which plays the music back with all the bits of the original CD. You can really hear the difference in bitrates when listening through the E5 headphones.

The E5s are comfortable and do a very good job of isolating outside noise. Although they are larger than other models, it only took me a couple days to get used to wearing them. I used them on the subway everyday. The cord is a bit more rigid and less flexible than the other models from Shure.

Worthy of note: I am currently on my third pair of e5s; well sort of, I am now using the newer SCL5. The first E5 developed a wire fray, and the second, some uneven sound levels after about 1 year of use. Shure exchanges faulty products with a great 2-year warranty. Recommended.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Get the fit for the base shure e5c
Comment: The best earphones I own and I own plenty. These must fit into the ear canal to get a snug fit and whoa the bass comes alive. I Don't like the stiff cord that is supposed to wrap around the outside of your ear. They are overpriced and at this time you should consider the shure e500 pth( smaller and more flexible)

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Very Pleased With These
Comment: Well, I gulped and paid the price for these after my Shure E2s died. I was very happy with the E2s and they are a great value. The first thing you will notice with th E5s is extended bass and treble response. They are physically larger that the E2s and E3s in my ear, so if you have smaller ears look at the E3s or E2s. I work with the E5s and watch them take a great deal of musician abuse for years without breaking. After owning them for a few months, I think I can justify the price by avoiding purchase of other high end audio gear. These earphones combined with lossless encoding on an iPod is probably all I will ever need.

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