REVIEW : Shure E2C

[yongchris 0]

I've had the E2s for the last 8 days. I've left them running in non-stop connected to my little sony radio receiver since purchase.

 

My system :

Home : Marantz CD17 MK II KI, NAD C370, DynaudioAcoustics BM6P, REL QUAKE, Nordost Blue heaven cabling, Belden 83802 TNT-TTS DIY power cords.

Portable : Sony D-EJ915 discman, Sony SRF-S53 receiver.

Headphones owned : Grado SR-60(home), AKG K55(PC), Sennheiser MX500(portable)

 

My Musc :

900+ CDs and counting, encompassing all english language genres EXCEPT country and trance/dance.

 

As you can see from my profile, I'm more of a speaker guy than a headphone guy, my history of headphone ownage being low budget models that suit my basic needs. My Priority is my speaker system rather than my headphone system.

 

Background : I've been living with my mx500s for the last 3 years plugged directly into my discman or my receiver. I've had 3 pairs of them, and I recently lost the third pair. I contemplated buying a forth pair, but after going through hell (taking a bus to and from work everyday), I decided that I should get my hands on these new-fangled in-ear buds that I've been reading on this forum, that would block out the noise on the bus.

I decided on the $250 budget, and spent several weeks reading up on the E1C and the ER6. Finally, I came to the conculsion that I would get the E1C instead of the ER6, as I would prefer a slightly more pronouced bass for portable use since I would be listening to the radio and mostly rock/hiphop on my travels.

Well, as you all know by now, neither was on sale when I finally went to purchase them and have bought the E2C instea.

 

First impressions : On the first day listening to the E2s, they were a decidedly marked improvement over anything I owned (though I think the SR60s still take the win overall) for portable usage. Excellant noise insulation, clarity and focus that I've never heard from the mx500s. Taking that first bus ride home from SLS with them plugged into my ear was a heavenly experience. Practically everything was blocked out, and I felt a surreal experience. Almost like I was walking in my own movie soundtrack, with my discman playing my very own theme song. Like the scene from "Ghost in the Shell" when major kusanagi was walking along the streets, and all you could hear is the soundtrack from Kenji Kawaii. Awesome.

 

Current impressions : Having lived with the E2s for the last week. I have garnered the following impression of the earphones. Please note that these are MY impressions, and I am not comparing them to my other headphones.

 

Plus :

Good isolation. I get a very good seal with the foamies, and nothing bothers me on the bus rides anymore.

Excellant Bass. Very deep, crisp bass. Suprisingly not boomy. The lower registers of this earphone is fantastic. I can hear the individual plucks, the resonance of a double bass as compared to an electric bass. Lovely Stuff.

Comfort. The foamies are very comfortable, and I barely feel them anyone.

Over the ear wiring. I liked this alot. wiring it over the ears... but... I did not like the cable behind the head, see below.

 

Minus :

Horrible cable. The cable is very nice and thick, it would be a great cable for the ER6s where you don't have to put it behind your ear and head. It is a HORRIBLE cable for the E2 design. It is too thick and unwieldy and very uncomfortable. It gets in the way of everything, and you can feel the cable straining against your head when you move. I've got so frustrated with the cable that I almost actually wanted to pull it out of the socket.

Behind the ear. What were they thinking? Yes, it's great for monitoring earphones when you have a wireless receiver hooked behind your back onstage. But what about every-man? The 1.2m cable is too short to write through the clothes, but too long to leave hanging exposed.

Mids and Treble. While definitely sounding better than my mx500s, there is a veil to it when compared to my speakers. The sound is accurate, but the muffled. The analogy that I can make is that you're in a studio, the bassist is in the engineering room with you, but the rest of the band is in the sound room, behind the glass. It's not so obvious when I play rock or hiphop on the bus, but when I'm in the office or at home with Jazz or classical tracks, it's painfully obvious. Not really a minus, but not a plus.

Accuracy. Listening to Bobby Mc and Yoyoma's Hush, it was really hard to tell that it was actually a person making those noises. The cello that yoyoma was playing was very believeable, but the sounds from Bobby M were not. The mx500s were more accurate.

 

Summary :

It's a great portable earbud. top marks for isolation. negative marks for price vs sound. exteme negative marks for the cable. I paid $170 for them from Hung Bros, and I feel severly ripped off. I think the highest I would actually pay for them would be $100, and even that would be a difficult decision. On one hand, I like the sound (FOR TRAVELLING) and isolation, on the other hand, listening critically to them suck. These are playphones, they remind me alot of those mini-compos I used to buy before discovering hi-fi. If you are seriously considering these, I'd say STOP, think first. What are you going to use them for. If you have $200 to spare, and are exclusively using them for travelling, AND you have a home system, go ahead. If you are thinking of getting these as your ALL-time headphones, for home, work and play, I'd say DON'T. Consider something else. For the same money, you could get SR80s, or ATH40s for home, with money left over for mx500s for portablility.

I definitely regret shelling out the money for these. I should have made the impulse buy of the E1cs instead (I saw them, but HAD to do research before purchase... silly me). Am I going to sell them away? No, not really, I'll use them on the bus ride to and from work. I'll use them in the office. I'll stick to my speaker system at home.

The cable and the price were the biggest turnoffs for me.

 

My friend once said "Why do people settle for the someone they can learn to live with, rather than look for someone they can't live without". In this case, I'm going to settle for the E2Cs and learn to live with it. This will exclusively be my travel earphones, and I'll prepare the music accordingly.

 

Chris

Edited September 29, 2004 by yongchris

[audionoob 0]

Great review dude. The thing I am really interested in knowing is how does the e2c compared to your Grado SR60 in terms of sound quality?

[bpribadi 0]

Thanks for the review! Very informative!

 

I'm a bit confuse that sometime it sounds good, and sometime it sucks. Is the difference so huge? I mean different music can make it sounds from good to bad?

[yongchris 0]

audionoob, The SR60s sound better, no comparison. But no isolation. the SR60s are "home" headphones, not for on the go. Actually, I would say the SR60s are like the E2s with better mids and treble.

 

bpribadi, The E2s sound good for certain kinds of music. If you like jazz and acoustic sets, it sounds muddy and veiled. If you like rock it's not that bad. If you like hiphop, it's perfect.

The bass is always there, but for cleaner recordings (like jazz) the mids and treble sound "far away", read my recording studio analogy. For music with heavier mixes and more instruments its not that obvious. It's not that different music makes it sound good or bad, just that different genres of music bring out different qualities in the buds. Certain music definitely show the weaknesses of these buds, and certain music shows the strengths.

Also, the environment makes a difference too. Sitting in a bus with lots of distractions, the veiled treble doesn't seem so obvious, but when you sit down and listen in a quiet setting, all it's weaknesses pop up.

 

Chris

 

 

[bpribadi 0]

Thanks Yongchris! I got it

[Absolute0 0]

I didn't expect the E2c's to be such a disappointment. Perhaps I made the right choice when I decided on the ER-6's over the E2c's much earlier on in my head-fi endeavours?... Thanks for the great review (maybe I feel a sense of vindication after reading it... lol).

[lekguan 0]

Of the 3 canalphones I've tried, E3c, E1c and ER-4, only the ER-4 has a pleasant signature. The e1c and e3c are both weird-sounding in their own ways. The E3c being muddy and lacking in bass depth and the E1c being somewhat awkward (metallic) in the upper mids. Not that other cans do not have these problems but the way canalphones present it is very prominent, more so when compared to cans around similar price ranges. In some ways, (eg resolution) they are very good while in other aspects can be very cheap-earbud-like, unlike most cans which usually have a pleasant signature even at low price range and often with increasing price ranges, present more refinement. In a way, it can be seen that it is indeed not easy to design a canalphone providing excellent isolation and good sonic signature at a low budget. In fact from what I've tried, none has been able to. (that said, the ER-6 might be worth a try).

 

The workaround for me would be using a source which has equalizer function and attempt to mask the flaws of the phones and at the same time adjust the signature to one which I find most pleasing to listen to, given the limitations of the setup. Coincidentally, I got a pocket-sized source (so I am able to go around the school not having to worry if someone might take my discman from my bag) quite a while ago, and it happens to have this equalizer function (albeit limited), which came in handy when I got my E1c.

 

Eventually one has to face a decision. To EQ or to stick with the good old discman. Tough decision? You bet.

 

BTW yongchris: I find the over-the-ear design very very useful due to the much-reduced microphonics, and it spreads the weight of the cable over the top of my ears instead of on the bud itself which might in fact affect the seal. I find looping the cable over the ear and in front of my neck quite comfortable.

Edited September 4, 2004 by lekguan

[audionoob 0]

Hmmmmmm Shure is getting a mixed reviews here. I just ordered a pair of Etymotic ER6i earbuds for my Ipod, hopefully it lives up to all the hype.

[yongchris 0]

 

BTW youngchris: I find the over-the-ear design very very useful due to the much-reduced microphonics, and it spreads the weight of the cable over the top of my ears instead of on the bud itself which might in fact affect the seal. I find looping the cable over the ear and in front of my neck quite comfortable.

yup, I love the over the ear design for the cable.

except the cable is too heavy, so when I shift my head, it tends to pull the buds out of my ear. I've tried tightening and loosening the clear plastic straw thingy to no avail.

I tried over the ear, infront as well, but it's really uncomfortable with the E2 cable. Maybe if the cable were longer to the joint, or less unflexible.

So now, I'm resigned to setting the buds in place, and keeping my head still. And I've also picked up the habit of reaching behind and pulling up the cable to loosen it, alot like how girls do with their pony tails. VERY IRRITATING(the cable, not the girls)

I'm almost on the verge on giving up listening to the earbuds now. it is too frustrating, and the tradeoff for the sound and isolation is getting less and less worth it. I probably wouldn't mind so much if the E2s sounded ALOT better.

REALLY wish I had gotten the E1s when I had the chance. The E1s have a much better cable.

 

Chris

 

 

[av98m 0]

Hmm...sorry to hear you don't like your shures. I've had my ER4Ps for nearly a year now and I shudder at the thought of taking public transport without them now. Very expensive, but I feel they've more than paid for themselves by now for providing me sonic bliss in crowded and noisy environments.

[yongchris 0]

guess what.

my friend (who I introduced the ER6s) just called and he told me that he lost his ER6s and bought the ER6Is, LAST WEEK, which means a couple of days AFTER I bought the E2s. AND the dope faced liar in hungbros actually stood there and told me, "ER6i won't be coming in till NEXT MONTH". JUST f*ckING GREAT! I bet he jsut wanted to clear his stock of the E2. GREAT! JUST GREAT!!!

And my non-audiophile friend who has tin ears... he loved the ER6s btw, tells me that the ER6Is are soooo much better. better sound, better bass. heaps better bass. and only cos $255.

"Hundred dollars more than the old model" That's what the hung brother told me. MY ASS!

I am soooo pissed off. See if I ever go to that shop again.

b*stard just wanted to clear stock, and I was suckered in, cos I was so desperate for phones. Should've known better when the fella was trying to hardsell the E2.

aaarrrrrgggggghhhhhhh.

Why didn't I buy from Todd and have a 30day return.

now I'm stuck.

 

Pissed!

 

 

 

[Q00 0]

Sigh, thats life.. take it easy. There is always the classifieds section.

[av98m 0]

Mr Moustachy Strikes Again?

 

If you really want good canalphones I strongly suggest you bite the bullet and get the ER4P from todd or headroom. You'll only be out the price of shipping if you decide you don't like them. The ER4P's low impedance(27ohms) makes it very suitable for driving out of portables, and should sound significantly better than even the ER6(more bass, faster). They're very good out of my home rig too.

 

If you want to try mine , you can drop me a pm as well(but I'm not selling them hor).

Edited September 3, 2004 by av98m

[yongchris 0]

Mr Moustachy Strikes Again?

 

If you really want good canalphones I strongly suggest you bite the bullet and get the ER4P from todd or headroom. You'll only be out the price of shipping if you decide you don't like them. The ER4P's low impedance(27ohms) makes it very suitable for driving out of portables, and should sound significantly better than even the ER6(more bass, faster). They're very good out of my home rig too.

 

If you want to try mine , you can drop me a pm as well(but I'm not selling them hor).

hey! how did you know?

oh well, actually, I had set aside enough money for the ER4s, but then, I really couldn't see myself paying $500 for buds. Cos most of my time is spent primarily on my speaker system at home.

REGRET? hell yeah! big time.

oh well... *shrug*

guess I'll live with the E2s till I "lose" them.

 

I wonder if etymotics will come out with the ER4i model? I mean the ER4s are way old.

 

[av98m 0]

Way old, but way goood.

My 4Ps are used only on the move btw. I still consider it money well spent because I use them 3 hours at least on a daily basis. The home rig gets maybe 3 hours per WEEK. I'm usually too tired to listen to music by the time I get home from work, I'd rather watch TV.