Review: Shure E2c Sound Isolating Earphones

Shure has a wide range of earphone products at a variety of price points, from its E2c Sound Isolating Earphones here up to the tried and true dual microspeaker E5c Sound Isolating Earphones and the recently announced and shipping triple microspeaker E500PTH Sound Isolating Earphones. I personally own a pair of the high-middle-end E4c Sound Isolating Earphones and, as of today, they are still my favorite in-ear phones for overall performance. I like them a lot.

The Shure E2cs are, as you’d expect, considering the awesome quality of their higher-end siblings, a very very solid offering in the entry-level, pro-sumer price bracket and have been around long enough that they’ve become something of a standard against which all other in-ear phones in this price range are to be compared.

The sound off from these neat little ear buds is very good and their reputation is well deserved. Expect to be surprised at the rich detail you’ll find in your music, detail you’ve no hope of getting with the shipping Apple ear-buds, and the clean intimacy of their in-ear experience really is quite incredible. Other manufacturers are trying to come up with similar in-ear products in the consumer price bracket, cranking out $20-$50 phones that frankly don’t cut it.

Shure uses the technology that goes into its higher-end models in the E2cs and even ‘slumming it’ from my E4cs wasn’t that much of a hardship, except for the fact that my preferred ear sleeves, the triple-flanged, soft-rubber ones, don’t ship with the E2cs, and they’re not downward compatible. Darn!

You see, the greatest challenge of these, as with any in-ear phones, is finding your best fit. With the E2cs, you’re faced with the usual issue of having to find the right pair of ear sleeves to match your ear canals.

There are a good assortment of sleeves shipping with the E2cs, so make sure you try them all, and don’t give up until you’ve every last set.

As a recommendation, the foam inserts seem to give most people their best overall fit and sound exclusion. The disposability of the foam sleeves, however, opens the problem of having to buy a bag of them if you use them with any regularity. Some people do and they’re a good investment if you get a deal on a bunch of them (can you say ‘eBay’?). If you don’t want to go that route, however, the foam pair included is a good starting point to get an idea of how your best sound and noise reduction should be. Try the others then in comparison, and find the set that gives you the closest approximation of the foam ones for your best fit.

My favorite test of noise blocking is the dental hygiene test. If you can brush your teeth with an electric toothbrush while wearing a set of sleeves, and only feel the noise rather than hear it, you’ve found your match!

Overall then, these are a good thing. The Shure E2cs are a great offering in this price range from a company with a solid reputation of producing truly excellent in-ear phones. For people wanting just a good kick up from the shipping Apple iPod buds, don’t waste your time, or money, looking at frankly cheap in-ear buds. The Shure E2cs are seriously worth the extra money, at only $109.00 MSRP, and will give you a great audio experience for years to come.

Oh, and if you bought one of the U2 iPods, or one of the later-model black iPods, Shure has models in both black and white. A nice touch.