Mark Williams's Profile

Well, I own these headphones, and I have to say that I somewhat disagree with the reviewer. First of all, full disclosure: I am a professional audio engineer and producer. I think the E2cs sound pretty good, not great. The mids (300Hz - 1k) sound a bit pinched to me, and the lows (below 150Hz) really depend heavily on how the driver is sealed or coupled to your ear/head. This is an endemic problem with all sealed headphones, of course. Having said this, they are very good sounding for consumer headphones. Shure has been making IEMs (In Ear Monitors) as long as anyone, and their experience in the professional market is paying off here. In terms of usability and comfort, pretty much any IEM that is going to have decent bass response will require the over-the-ear cabling that the E2c does. It does take a little getting used to, but once you get used to the feel, they're fine. In terms of the inserts, it REALLY matters which size insert you put on your headphone. I don't want to be presumptuous here, b/c I'm sure the reviewer tried the different sizes, but for me, I started with the large size insert, and when it was painful, I switched down to the medium sized insert. That one works beautifully. Also, each of the three different types of inserts feels very different. The black soft rubber inserts seem to be the most comfortable to me. Also, in terms of sizing, don't assume you need the large ones just because you are a 6'3" male. Your ear size may be smaller. Everyone is different. And the biggest reason for sealed 'phones has been FANTASTIC for me: listening volume. I wear mine pretty much exclusively at the gym, with lots of loud treadmills around me, and these really do a good job of sealing off that external ambient noise. I can listen to my iPod at half the volume I had to before. That saves my hearing, and I like that. Anyways, I didn't mean any of this to be disagreeable or anything, so I hope no one took it that way. Just wanted to share my opinions and thoughts, being an E2c owner and user myself.