Shure E3C Earphones
March 6th, 2004 | by Brandon King
 |
Average user rating from 27 users |
Great Sound, Great Size
by Thomas on Sep 19th, 2006 at 8:58 PM:
I read all of the reviews that were negative about these headphones before I purchased a pair of my own. The claims of no bass are completely unfounded. Granted they do not provide head pounding bass, but they provide the most crisp response from high to low frequencies of any headphones I have ever owned. Coming from a radio background where quality of monitoring is critical, these sound amazing. I also fly 4 times a week, and while they are not noise cancelling, they block out most of the outside noise such as jet noise, and the music covers what's left. It also takes less volume to drive the units, which saves batterylife on my mp3 player. I have owned this pair for two months now, and would reccomend them to anyone, especially if they needed an easy to transport good quality set of headphones.
Not Impressed
by Joseph on Jun 18th, 2006 at 8:16 AM:
I bought the e3c pair of headphones.Frankly I could not stand them.I packaged them back up, then changed my mind and decided to "give them time" as some reviews had stated. The problem I have with them is, Yes the yellow foam sleeves are probably the best, but you are never through buying things for the headphones. You have to keep on replacing them on average of (depending on use) about every two weeks, and they get expensive after a while.The other things I did not like were, You can't walk without hearing your feet ampfilied through your ears.This is Particularly annoying if you Jog or walk. You can also hear your Heart pounding in your ears, while a song is ending or between songs, or just soft music, the cords are sensitive to making sound in your ears if touched as well. I tried to like these, but could not get used to them. Maybe they work Great for others, but I will stick to Ipod buds for now.
Outstanding sound
by Luis on Apr 14th, 2006 at 9:14 AM:
Yes, the yellow foam looks silly or goofy, but noone knows that when they are in your ears. And this is when you get to hear how incredible music can sound when you are walking down the street. The goofiness of the foam sleeves "style factor" is small in comparison to all the positives.
Mediocre.
by Potless. on Nov 11th, 2005 at 3:02 PM:
Here goes then...
Aesthetics.
Visually, these phones are well designed and considered but unfortunately compromised once you add the yellow foam sleeves. These sleeves provide the best sound isolation but look cheap, why couldn't they have been black or grey foam? The soft flex, dark grey rubber sleeves look much better but don't provide as good a seal and sound insulation as the foam ones. This is also true of the clear sleeves, which increase the style of the headphones the most but are the most uncomfortable of the three as they're the hardest material.
I find all three sleeves slightly harsh and uncomfortable to some extent. Having something lodged in my ear is hard to ignore. I also find that breathing and jaw movements etc are translated to the phones.
I did initially think that the grey cord would sit uncomfortably with my white iPod, but it kind of suits it. Design continuity still exists with the white headphone housing.
The actual physical construction and strength was also a let down. Whilst swapping a sleeve, one of the nozzles actually came apart from the headphone body.
Anyway, since I didn't buy these things to hang on the wall and look at, what about the sound quality?
Sound signature.
I've read a few reviews now about how 'detailed' the sound from these headphones is. I have to disagree. I want my money back. The sound in comparison to my cheap Sennheiser £12 phones is best described as flat and mediocre. There's no special discernible depth to the sound with all elements and details seeming to exist on a similar plane. Things don't stand out from each other. All details seem to be ironed flat. These phones don't really show me anything new about the music i listen to.
Putting my cheap Sennheisers back in and rewinding the track, I immediately noticed an increased depth, dimension and individuality to various sounds, so much so that I put the E3c's back in in disbelief of their mediocrity......over £100 for some in-ear phones and a pair of £12 cheapo phones sound better! where's my money gone?
Bass.
The whole bass issue with these headphones has to do with the input source just as much as getting a good seal with the sleeves. Don't just judge the bass response by listening to a pop/rock Mp3 encoded at 192, or any other Mp3, AAC etc for that matter, hook up to a selection of CD quality music too for a truly informed judgement. On some AAC 320 VBR tracks on the iPod the bass in relation to the rest of the sound spectrum was well proportioned (though overall, still mediocre). On others it was lacking. On others, the higher end was lacking, which all goes to underline the above point.
Summary.
Wish I'd kept my money or had a chance to try before i brought. These phones don't impress me. They're just 'basically okay'. 'Basically okay' does not cost upwards of £100. I'll review again after using them for a month.
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Not worth the money
by Ken on Oct 10th, 2006 at 9:08 AM:
Overall just not worth the money!