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Shure E3c Audiophile Sound Isolating Stereo Earphone

Shure E3c Audiophile Sound Isolating Stereo Earphone

List Price: $214.99
Your Price: $170.05
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply amazing
Review: I bought the E3Cs for portable use as my portable players kept getting smaller lugging around my much-loved full-sized Grado SR 60 headphones seemed more and more ridiculous. I honestly think these headphones are going to save my ears, I love my tunes loud but with the detail, range and isolation of the Shure E3cs I can turn the music down and not lose any of the visceral emotion that I experience with music at realistic levels of volume. What can I say, the sound is superb and involving, I can only suggest that anyone who complains about the excellent bass of the E3c is not getting a good fit. There are 3 different types of sleeves included and it is important to experiment to find the ones that give you the best seal and level of comfort, you really need to fit them correctly, not difficult at all but a learning experience. The in-ear type phone is very different, a difference I much appreciate but a word of warning, not for use where you need to be aware of outside sounds and don't bother trying to use these phones while dining, your chewing will be very loud to you.

5 out of 5 stars.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: amazing for portable audio
Review: I bought these because I was not satisfied with the earbuds that came with my iPod. The Shure E3 earbuds fit snugly and very incomfortably in your ear canals. If you've ever worn those foam earplugs for machine shop work, you should know that these are almost as good at blocking noise and much, much more comfortable. They have good sound quality, especially with bass. They are expensive, but if you want to have sound isolation and good sound quality, they definitely do the job well.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Would Be Great if They Cost $40
Review: I bought these headphones after reading all the reviews here on this site. I had high expectations, especially since they cost $180. However, I am somewhat disappointed with their performance.

First, they are not comfortable, if this is the fist time using earphones that you jam into you ear canals, they will hurt for the first few days of using them. Jogging or doing any movements will case the earphones to shift in your ear. When that happens the air pressure is constantly changing and it feels like you're in an airplane. While your ears are readjusting to the pressure the sound gets muddled.

Do not try to eat while listening to these headphones either, the sound of yourself just biting on a french fry will seem very loud and drown out the music.

Second, the base is not only poor, it down right sucks. If you enjoy music with base, like most people, do not buy these headphones they will be a huge disappointment. After listening to these earphones for a day, the base on my crappy desktop speakers sounded great.

On the positive side however, the detail of the sound is impressive. You can hear almost every detail. For example in live recordings you can hear the breathing and the shuffling of papers in the background.

The sound isolation is nice. With the headphones on you can't hear anything. However, you can get the same experience from a $2 pair of earplugs.

In conclusion, if you are the type of person who usually uses the headphones that come with your audio devices then you'll probably like these. However if you use decent headphones with nice base, these headphones are just not impressive at all and definitely not worth $180. I would say they would be nice if they where $40.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent musical experience
Review: I was looking for a set of quality earphones to use in the gym that would keep out the noise and be convenient to use. The set that came with my IHP-140 were adequate, but I wanted something equivalent to my Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headphones, which were simply too big and bulky for the gym. The Shure E3c turned out to be perfect.

Think of the E3c as musical earplugs. They do not have a noise cancelling feature, but instead keep out noise the same way that regular earplugs do, i.e., by being inserted in your ear canal and creating a seal. As a practical matter the Shure E3c was as effective as my Bose in letting me listen to music without hearing the ambient noise around me, and I was even able to use a lower volume on my IHP-140 player since the Shure E3c sits in the ear canal rather than over the ears.

The sound on these earphones is bright and crisp, and is far superior to any headphones that come with your cd player or mp3 player. There is one caveat, however. Everyone has different size ear canals, and the Shure E3c comes with a variety of different size sleeves to accomodate different people. I spent a couple of days trying out the different sizes to decide what fit me best. Also, the wire that comes out of the earphones must be worn over your ear, and once again it took a little practice to make sure it stayed in place.

The E3c is white, while the newer E3 is gray, but they are both the exact same product except for the color.

These are high quality earphones that will provide you with an excellent musical experience provided that you take the time to make sure that you find the best sleeve to maximize your comfort and the tightness of the seal in your ear canal.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great product
Review: Low mass, good sound isolation, excellent bass, draws less battery power for same volume than any other headphone I've ever heard, so your battery lasts longer. Best earphone for work-outs and traveling I've ever had.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sound Directly to your Brain.
Review: Shure products are well-known in the music industry, and their decision to make these headphones for consumers has opened an avenue to the world of pristine sound for the everyday iPod user. My decison to buy these expensive earphones came when I nearly pulled my hair out listening to my iPod through those given Apple earphones. Because I was used to great sound though my Harmon/Kardon receiver, I felt robbed when I took the iPod on the road.
Enter the E3c. Though a chunk out of your wallet, the sound is amazing. Moreover, the buds come with customizable ear plugs that contour to basically anyone's ears. The fit is the most important aspect of these phones. This is what cancels a large portion of ambient noise.
It takes a while to get used to the fit, because they're a bit invasive in the ear canal, but once you're used to them, it's ridiculous. Perfect for the airplane, the coffeeshop, and a smooth bike ride or ski run. (Not so good for a jog/run, because the bouncing causes the buds to fall out.)
If you like music and have an iPod... buy these; they're the best thing out right now.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The main photo is wrong: the earbuds are WHITE, not gray.
Review: The Shure e3c consumer model earbuds are white, as are shown on the "see more pictures" page. The default photo displayed in the ad does not match the model being sold. The gray earbuds are the Shure e3 earbuds (older model). I hope that the Amazon web team will correct this photo error so that its customers will not be led astray by this mistake (and then have to return the product later on).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The main photo is wrong: the earbuds are WHITE, not gray.
Review: The Shure e3c consumer model earbuds are white, as are shown on the "see more pictures" page. The default photo displayed in the ad does not match the model being sold. The gray earbuds are the Shure e3 earbuds (older model). I hope that the Amazon web team will correct this photo error so that its customers will not be led astray by this mistake (and then have to return the product later on).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome earphones
Review: These are great earphones...especially considering their size. Exceptional reproduction of music with great imaging. They work to block outside noises while filling your head with whatever tunes you put to them. I'm using them with my iRiver 350 and am impressed every time I turn the set on.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good for their purpose
Review: These are pretty good earphones for people looking for external noise reduction coupled with good sound quality. Offers significantly better sound and noise isolation than Koss Plugs, at a much higher price. There are some disappointments though - the sound quality is good, but lacks the naturalness and dynamics of a really fine headphone like my Sennheiser 600. But the Senns would sound bad on the subway and would be tough to lug around too. A clip for the cord would have been nice, as the heavier than average cord makes its pull a factor, working against fit and comfort. If your portable depends on headphones as an antenna, I'll note the Shures seem to be below average on this front. The sound is good enough, fairly neutral, no audible distortion at reasonable listening levels. If you're in a quiet enough environment to focus on the minute details of sound, and aren't worried about sound leakage, then I'd recommend good open headphones like the Sennheiser 600. These are good for their purpose of providing highly portable and pretty good sound in a noisy environment.


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