SHURE BROTHERS E3c Sound Isolating Earphone Stereo Headphone

Rating:
Summary: Excellent sound quality and worth every penny!
Review: I've gone through several dozen pairs of headphones over the years and these are the only ones I consistenly use at home or when traveling. I've had mine for over a year now and they are well worth the price.

The sound quality is the best I've ever heard - I hear things in sound tracks I've never heard before. I can't say enough about the quality of sound these headphones deliver!

If your not used to this type of 'in the ear' headphone, it will take some getting used to. When I say 'in he ear' I mean 'IN the ear!' The E3c headphones actually sit in the ear canal not outside it like most headphones - you push them in like a pair of earplugs. (You'll also have to clean them on a regular basis.) Shure provides a variety of sleeves to customize the fit and it will take some experimenting to get the proper fit, but it's well worth it. The benefit of this 'in the ear canal' style is the sound isolation - like good pair of ear plugs. I use my E3c's when I fly and it's nice not to have the constant drone of engines in your ears.

My only problem at the moment it trying to justify the purchase of the top of the line model E5c's ($500!) - I'm told the sound quality is even better than the E3c's!

Rating:
Summary: placebo effect
Review: These earbuds come with a pair of what appear to be hand-cut foam earbuds (they don't tend to show these in the photographs), several pairs of rubber earbuds, and several pairs of 'silicon' earbuds. I mention the foam buds because using them was the only way I was able to hear, to the smallest degree, what I had expected based on price and the reviews I read, (the literature you recieve with the headphones will tell you the exact same thing) The kicker is that these don't last very long (if you don't re-use your q-tips you probably wouldn't want to re-use these too many times). That's ok, of course, because you can buy a bag of 500 (cosco style) for only $398.00 from shure.com.

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check it out for yourself.

I think I have a pretty discerning ear, my work allows me to listen to my ipod about 6 hours a day (I'm almost through my 3rd player), and I've listened to dozens of headphones, from the stock apple phones to my grado's, which are great when you don't have anyone around you and don't mind sucking the battery dry in an hour. To date, I haven't found a better pair than sony's fontopia MDRED21LP earbuds. This isn't a plug, they only last a couple months (working 50 hour weeks), and I've gone through about 6 pairs, but they're extremely comfortable, very dynamic if not a little warm, and really cheap. I just found them for $15 each and bought 3 pairs. Buy one pair of these before you do anything, you won't regret it. If you still insist on getting a pair of the e3c's, you can buy mine - $15.





Rating:
Summary: Warning: dont sweat
Review: Yes, the sound is great, but only if you sit still on a winter day. I am now on my 3rd (and last) pair in a few weeks of these---as soon as you start to sweat, the moisture in your ear enters the earphone and it shuts off. SOME of the sound returns after a day or two, but not all of it The user guide states simply: "Normal operation often returns after the earphone dries out." Often? Try never. For $180, these should function for more than a week....