Customer Reviews

Shure E500PTH Sound Isolating Earphones

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased the E500PTH headphones almost on a whim at an airport store in New York's JFK called Altitunes on July 23, 2006. I got them for [$499.00] (even though I thought I could get them cheaper at Amazon.com, I still bought them).

The packaging is impressive -- an aluminum box with all the sleeves, adapters, PTH device, and headphones + cool elliptical shaped case that can fit in your hand. It was very hard to see how these could cost [$499.00] when I opened the box up...until I used them with my iPod Video (5G). I was able to hear a broader range of sound on the same old songs that I listen to all the time. My music was brand new again! I could hear all the different instruments nearly isolated and clear as a bell, guitar rythms I've never really picked out before, guitar pick movements, and yes, recording and artist imperfections. WOW, it was amazing!

How they fit: The fit of these earphones are excellent. The buds are designed to fit snugly in your ears, and is NOT uncomfortable even over long periods of time (I could barely tell they were in my ears once they were fit). The wire wraps over the top front of your ear and then hides behind your ear, and they fit and LOOK flush with your head and ears. Truthfully, I've never had headphones that fit and looked this great that I could wear for hours at a time. (P.S. I was a big Bose Quiet Comfort 2 [$299.00] fan for a long time for the noise cancelling effect mostly, but the sound range does not even compare to the E500PTH).

The PTH mechanism: It stands for Push To Hear, and is basically a AAA-battery powered microphone that turns on when you slide the dial forward. It can be removed from your headphone configuration completely, but if you want to talk to somebody, you'll have to keep taking the earbud(s) out, and that is not fun, because once you've found the perfect fit, you really don't want to mess with them.

Buy these, if you have the $. You really do get what you pay for... Great product by Shure.

These 'phones ROCK!!!!!!

I previously owned a pair of the Shure E4c's --- before that, I went in between Bose QC2's, Bang & Olafson A8's, and Sony MDRNC50's

First off, I prefer my ShureBuds over the Sony MDR, Bang & Olafson A8, and DEFINITELY over the Bose QC2 & QC3 ---- so if you're looking for confirmation that ShureBuds are better than the others mentioned, then you can confirm it with me now - they are

With that said, I'm going to focus this review on a comparison between the E500's vs the E4c's ---- I'll address the other headphones a little more towards the end

I don't use headphones while exercising --- I do a lot of writing, and most of my writing happens on a laptop in coffeeshops and cafes --- thus, I usually wear my headphones while writing, so that I can listen to my tunes and drown out the outside noises ---- I also do a TON of travelling, as I'm taking airplane rides every 2 to 3 weeks, so 'phones are real important here ---- with that said, I need my headphones to be portable, of excellent sound quality, able to block out outside noises, and also flexible enough to allow me to hear the 'outside' world when needed

Okay, my reasons for preferring the E500's over the E4c's

1. SOUND ---- of course, sound should be the TOP factor of any, and it is in this case --- the sound quality of the E500's is definitely superior and that is mostly because the fidelty is of a higher quality than the E4c's and the bass is more prevalent (but not overly prevalent) --- many headphones (particularly Bose ones) put the bass way too loud in order to compensate for lousy fidelty --- this is where SHURE buds shine, because they don't max out the bass, and instead, give the fidely enough richness to get the song by at its truest quality ---- however, the E4c's in some ways seem to have too little bass, which causes many of the songs to come out too scratchy, with crisp treble but not enough bass ---- with that said, the E500's strike an excellent balance of appropriate bass, with excellent fidelty and treble ---- aside from the increase in bass though, the regular fidelty is of a much higher quality within the E500's --- don't get me wrong ---- the E4c's are great, but there is a big difference in sound quality with the E500's

2. COMFORT ---- I am huge on comfort --- while I don't mind the E4c's fit, I could always tell that there was a bud in my ears, no matter what tip-ending I would place upon the buds ---- in addition, I found that the E4c's commonly slipped out of my ears, again, no matter the tip-ending ---- the E500's, on the other hand, are shaped much differently than the E4c's and it is a wonderful change!!! The E500's are a much more comfortable fit, often making me feel that there really isn't anything in my ear --- in addition, they never slip out of my ear (depending on the bud tip that you use) --- so the fit and the comfort here is much better

3. SEAL ---- the seal is the buds ability to stay in one's ear, creating a noise seal, not allowing outside sounds to come in, for the purpose of keeping the music good ---- the seal of the E500 is much better than the E4c's, again, because of the comfort ---- the E500's fit much better upon a person's ear and stay there, without one having to stick the buds deep inside one's ear ---- in addition, creating a seal with the E500 is very easy --- I've been taking them on and off with ease, without worrying about getting another good seal, unlike the E4c's, which I dreaded having to take off and often spent too much time finding a good seal with

4. PUSH TO HEAR FEATURE ---- I LOVE THIS FEATURE --- a lot of people are complaining about it, but I think its great! ----- the 'phones come with a plastic 'thingy' that, when turned on, reduce the sound of the headphones and instead microphone the sounds taking place outside of your headphones --- so for example, a person coming to talk to you will now be heard, as if, they are talking into a microphone near your headphones, allowing you to respond from there --- overall, this feature allows one to keep the buds in your ears, and turn the music off with ease, in order to hear what's going around you --- I think its a terrific feature overall

5. ACCESSORIES ---- I love the accessories and the flexibilities of these headphones --- you can detach the 'buds from the PTH microphone, and hook them up directly to one's iPod ---- or you can add a cord lengthener, etc ---- my fav accessory is a cord base that allows for one to increase the volume of the buds, without having to touch the iPod controls ---- in addition, all cord accessories are gold plated, keeping the sound solid all around --- lastly, the 'phones come with a great carry case, that keeps everything together in a small package

OTHER HEADPHONES -----

As mentioned above, I prefer the Shure E500PTH over the Bose QC2, Bose QC3, Sony MDRNC50, and the Bang & Olafson A8

I find that the Bose QC2 and Bose QC3 pump up the bass WAY TOO MUCH, not allowing for the song's true fidelty to come through

I actually like the SONYMDRNC50's a lot, especially the 'monitor' button that acts a lot like the Shure's PTH features ---- however, I find the Shure buds to have a superior sound quality over the Sony MDR's and I also prefer the smaller size

Lastly, the Bang & Olafson A8's are a GREAT pair of headphones, but they do not provide any kind of seal within one's ear --- it comprimeses the sound for me too much, in this case, however they are a great set of 'phones

PRICE -----

Price is a BIG factor --- yeah, it seems ridiculous to purchase headphones that cost more than an iPod, but if sound is important and you can afford the costs, then I DEFINITELY recommend splurging on the good sound

If you have the budget to purchase the E4c's, then I say pony up the extra money to go with the E500's ---- the phones are of excellent build, can take a lot of abuse and will last forever --- splurge now and be happy for years! Unlike computers, headphone technology is not updated constantly --- thus, these headphones can be used for a loooooooong time!!!

CONCLUSION ----

I think the E500's are an excellent purchase ---- I'm big on sound and I'll be attaching these suckers to my hip, ready to listen to my iPod at any time --- if you got the budget and tunes are important, then these are YOUR 'phones!!!

HAPPY BUYING ---- may peace and love be upon you all!!!!!

Well people, you're looking at $500.00 in ear monitors ("IEM"). Either you are rich, or you really, REALLY appreciate high quality audio.
First things first, DO NOT BUY THESE IF YOU LISTEN TO 128 ENCODED MUSIC!!!! I cannot stress enough how "not worth it" these will be if you're going to listen to audio that has been compressed to 1/8 its original size. If you want to listen to 128k stuff (the bitrate music sold on itunes is encoded at) then save yourself $400 and get a pair of $99 IEMs, like the Etymotic ER6, or the Sure E3g. With the entry level IEMs you will notice a HUGE difference over the ear buds that came with your ipod AND, more importantly, you can spend the extra cash on something you will appreciate.
I would not call myself an audiophile, but I spend a disgusting amount of money on audio equipment. I feel I am able to discriminate between what is good and what is crap. These IEMs are top of the line. I've owned the Etymotic ER-4p; I've owned the Sure E5c; I've owned the Sennheiser HD 650. I feel that these IEMs are best described as a "blend" of best features of each of the above-listed headphones. The E500s can compete with (or beat) all of the phones I've owned in the past in almost every category (sound, ergonomics, portability, comfort). They have accuracy and detail that is right on par the Ety's. This is saying a lot given the fact that the Ety's are "Reference" phones. The Ety's are used by sound engineers and professional musicians BECAUSE THEY ARE SO ACCURATE. So, in my opinion the E500s are VERY ACCURATE. The E500s are more balanced and natural sounding than the E5c, which, in my opinion, are a little muddy in the low end. The E500s are as comfortable and, for what it's worth, look better than the E5c. Finally, the E500s can also compete with the 650's in sound reproduction, and given the 500's considerable size advantage, I'll grab the Shures over the Senn's if I'm going anywhere outside my home.
Ok, so right now I'm listening to Norah Jone's new album "Not Too Late." I imported the album in "Apple Lossless," which brought most of the songs in at 690-750kps, and each track weighed in at about 25mb. Given the high resolution audio, I also send the bits through a SoundBlaster ZS Notebook card, which really makes a difference through the E500s. All I can say about this setup is "WOW." I'm truly amazed at the detail, ambience, and presence of the recording. I've listed to the album about 10 times in the week and a half that I've had the E500s (I'm a law student, so I have a ton of time to sit and listen to music while I read) each time I've noticed something new, some little detail that I didn't hear before. This is because the E500s bring out EVERYTHING in the recording. I've also listened to some of the stuff my girlfriend bought off of itunes at 128k, and I must say the difference in sound is like going from tape to CD I think (I've never compared the two b/c I don't own tapes, but I know the resolution difference is similar). The details at 128 aren't there, and, frankly, neither is the depth or ambiance. Which brings me to the point of this review, these IEM's should come with a disclaimer discouraging purchase by anyone who plans to use them to listen to music encoded at less than 256k. You WILL notice a difference, whether you're a casual listener (with a lot of money) or a discriminating audiophile. Of course, if you're in the latter group, you already know this and you wouldn't buy $500 IEMs in order to listen to crap-quality audio. So, if you REALLY love music, and you want to hear ALL THE MUSIC that your favorite artist put onto your favorite CD, buy these and listen to the music at a high (preferably lossless) bitrate. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Few words about the product: Greatest phones one can ever own. Nothing comes even close to sound quality and comfort ability of these phones. Pricey but so worth it.

Now, one problem... ELECTRONICA DIRECT IS NOT AN AUTHORISED DEALER! Meaning that if you buy these phones from ELECTRONICA DIRECT and in the future have any problems with phones, the 2-year warranty that comes with them is worthless. It is better to buy these phones from Shure directly or make sure that the online store you buying from is an authorized dealer recognized by Shure. I had to learn this firsthand. I sent in my phones for warranty repair (I ripped the cable out of ear bud by mistake) and got a phone call from Shure saying that since I bought these from not an authorized dealer my phones are not covered by warranty originally provided by Shure. To replace them I had to pay $345... sucks I know, but I love these so much that I did not care about the money... The only good thing is that I have a new warranty now.... Guaranteed!
I was just little upset that there is no info about this anywhere which is unfair. So... be careful when you buy this product... do not get F... over like me... other than that this is an amazing product...

I purchased these from Amazon, and used them every day since. Great sound, but the wires won't stand long. I got mine taped cause the wires inside began to show after the outer rubber began to crack. And you can't change the wires because they're not replaceable. The only thing you can do is to fix them the hard way or ship them back to shure so be replaced.

I'd have to say these are the best earphones I've ever owned. The clarity of the music is remarkable. I switch between my old Sony earphones and the E500 earphones when I made the comparison. The bass response was tighter than I expected since my older Sony earphones were a little more boomy.

I can't believe the amount of accessories you can get with one pair of earphones. So many choices that I was having a hard time deciding which was best for me. They had sleeves for all types of ears, big, medium, small, flanges, foams, etc. Not only that, they have long extension cords, short extension cords, volume control cord, etc.. I'm still trying to figure out what fits me best (I just received it today :) With the stock set of ear piece (which doesn't fit me best) it felt comfortable putting it on for extended periods of time. External sounds were reduced, but I can't confirm if it can reduce sound up to 90% as advertised since I'm still trying on earpieces. I could still hear conversations when the music was turned off, but when the music was on, all other sounds were gone.

The earphones came with Shure's PTH (Push To Hear) device. It have a built in mic which would be used to hear outside noise. To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed. Shure was bigger than my Sony's controller (note that the PTH of the Sony was also for noise cancellation). I probably will only use them if I'm flying.. and that's a maybe. The mic did pick up a lot of rubbing when I was fiddling with it in my hands. The mic worked as expected, it drastically lowered the music, and turned on the microphone. The unit also wasn't really a push to hear, really it was more like a click to hear which I prefer since I've had experience with my Sony's where it went to mic mode because something in my pocket pressed the button.

The case for the earpiece is very rugged. It's a rigid nylon material case with a zipper. It will protect the earpiece without any problems. Only thing I wish was that it had a center spool to help quickly roll up the earpiece without risk of it tangling.

Over all, I am happy with it. It was very expensive, but if it can last me over a few years, then it would be worth it.

Addon: I just finally tried them in the airplane. If you're the type that wants to get rid of all noise, then you should go with a good pair of noise cancellation, otherwise these headphones reduce noise 80-90% depending on how good the earpiece seals on your ear. I could slightly hear the engine roar and a baby cry (in the same aisle), but with my music on, it was not noticable unless I paid attention to them. Still over all the sound quality is better than all headphones I tried out so far.

ADDED 02/13/2008
Well the headphones still sound great, but I just found my cable going to my left earpiece has started to crack. This means I will have to send in the headphones for warranty repairs. Based on the Shure website, it probably will take 15 days (not including shipping time). This really sucks since this will mean I won't have my headphones. Since I take care of my headphones, this shouldn't have happened.. which means I would rate this 4 stars. 5 stars for sound performance, but 3 for durability. I haven't even had it for a year.

I've owned the E3C's for about the last two years and let me say that they were the best sounding earphones (or headphones) that I'd heard up until that point. Anyhow, they went defective on me a few months ago and rather than fork out $70 to get them repaired since they were now out of the 2yr warranty period (Shure will replace them free during warranty with no hassle whatsoever, by the way) I decided to plunk down the cash for the E500's. I got them on the cheap, because that is how I roll, but they're worth retail for how good they are.

You may already know by now that the E3C's are single-driver phones and that they blow away any of the standard fare at your neighborhood electronics store. Also, you might be wondering, like I did, just how much better triple-driver phones are than single-driver ones... and whether they're worth the hundreds of dollars more that they cost. Assuming that one appreciates music and sound quality enough to spend decent money on phones in the first place, let me say that I have taken the risk for you, done the homework for you and done put the word out on the streets, er, well, an online review, anyway, for you: The E500's are killer. You'd better ask somebody. Drop your concerns. These are worth hundreds of dollars more than single-driver phones, if you care enough to notice the difference.

I listen to a lot of jazz fusion that has fast, popping baselines, drumming at the smallest fractions of beats you can imagine and synth work to match. With the E500's, I'm actually able to hear detail that did not come through the E3C's. And when I say detail, I'm talking synth chords and drums on those fractional beats that I literally did not even realize were present on albums that I've owned for 10+ years.

As for the bass, it is somewhat deficient in the E3C's compared to these. I dealt with that for two years because they sounded better than anything I could buy in the store despite that. With only a single driver for both treble and bass, the E3C's do the best they can and they are fantastic, given what they are. The E500's, however, with their two bass drivers and single treble driver in each phone, pose no compromise to the listener. Read that again; it's a strong statement. Believe that you're getting something real for what these cost. The bass is strong and deep, the drums, tight and airy, the mid-ranges for the `meat and potatoes' of your soundscape, fat and loud, and the accuracy is devastating. We're talking sound that literally gives me the chills at times.

The E500's comfort was an issue for me at first; having small ears, I initially found them less comfortable than the E3C's since the housing on these is considerably larger in order to accommodate the three drivers. Now, after about three months of using these, they are almost as comfortable to me as the E3C's. I would say that I need to take them out after 30-40 minutes for the sake of earlobe comfort, but, in all fairness, I usually need to take them out for other reasons way more often that that.

The PTH (push-to-hear) module is a joke. I guess it works, sort of. You will try it out for thirty seconds, curse the fact that some portion of the dough you spent on these phones went towards this nonsense, put it back in the box, and never use it again. Thankfully, you do not have to use it since it separates from the phones nicely. Shame on Shure for forcing people to buy this stupid, worthless accessory, insulting the intelligence of people who appreciate good sound and not realizing how unprofessional it is to package this crut with expensive, high-end earphones. I won't even get into the fact that `PTH' is part of the earphone model name. Someone should get fired for this debacle, seriously. Lexus probably wouldn't force you to buy fuzzy dice and hydraulics with an LS460, and those things are cool to boot. The earphones themselves are still the bomb.

This year, for the first time in my professional career (close to 20 years), I am "living" in a cubicle and not an office with real walls or a real door. As a result, I have been looking for a decent pair of earbuds that sounded great but didn't look dorky. I have a great set of wireless headphones but they have an attachment on top that makes it look like you are communicating with the mothership. I wanted something inconspicuous.

Combine that with the fact that I'm pretty picky about my "sound experience"... MP3s just don't cut it. I love classical music which has a wide range of dyanamic sounds and frequencies. I carry a laptop with a 200 GB hard drive so that I don't have to compromise (too much) on sound quality by trying to cram the files into a 2GB iPod.

I've tried several pairs of earbuds over the last few months and they were all lacking in one way or the other... I had a set of Creatives which were decent but too big for my ear -- therefore, incredibly uncomfortable. I had a set of 50.00 Sony's which were ok but muddy and they lasted about 2 months. Having done some research, I became aware that Shures were supposed to be "the best" and found some Shure e2c's at the local office Depot... I was quite underwhelmed since they weren't even as good as my cheaper sets. I figured if this "the best" and typical of what Shure was capable of, then I must be searching for the impossible and almost went back to my Ginormous Spacepod Cans. Then this week, I stumbled across a review for the Shure 5cs where they talked about he fact that about the only resemblance between the e2Cs and the e5Cs were the shape and the "Shure" name.

Then I found the E500PTH on Amazon and decided to give them a shot. (I have NO idea what the difference between the e5Cs and the E500PTH's are other than about 100 bucks at this point but figured that if I was spendign this much on ear buds, the additional 100 bucks was worth a shot) I ordered from Amazon on Saturday night ... they arrived today (Monday) and have finally found what I have been looking for.

These buds rival anything a big can can do without the dork-factor (not to mention the bad "can-hair" that comes of wearing larger headphones). They are extremely comfortable -- much more so than their cheaper counterparts. They have gold-tip connectors and volume control on the thick solid cable. These buds are built to last (at least from appearances -- we'll see how well they do hang in there but at least they give you plenty of cable so you aren't constantly catching on arms of chairs etc to stress the connections). And the sound "isolation" (as opposed to sound "cancelling" is excellent -- giving me the sense of being in my own little "alone cone" to quote "Dragontales" for you parents of small children)

There is an excellent balance between base and treble and no annoying "buzz" that I would get from the e2Cs when I would try to play clasical music in "classical" mode.

They are EXPENSIVE -- 600 bucks from Amazon. But if your music and being able to have your own "virtual" wall from the world is important to you, then it is worth the splurge -- after all, I spend the most time awake here at work so might as well have my "creature comforts".

Also, I suspect that if you are simply playing MP3s or most of your music is ripped at a lower bit rate, these are, quite probably, overkill. I'm sure the E2Cs are fine for MP3s and other low-bit-samples music. However, if you want to be able to listen to the music the way it was intended, these are the ticket.

I've had a set of E3c's for a couple of years. With nothing to compare them to other than really cheap earbuds that come with the ipod, I thought they sounded pretty good. The E500's blow away the E3c's. I literally hear things I never heard before with lesser earphones.

The E3c's do have two minor features that I prefer: a right angle plug on the cable rather than the straight plug on the E500 that is ridiculously long, and a more flexible cable on the cheaper model that does not kink like the stiffer cable on the E500's. Not a big deal, but just the opposite of what I expected. Since the cable is detachable, maybe Shure will come out with a more flexible one with the right angle connector. For this kind of money, I can be picky.

Placement in the ear for all of these models is critical to sealing out exterior noise and to hearing the full frequency response of which they are capable. While the E500's shape makes for a more comfortable fit over the E3c's and they include half a dozen different plastic and foam tips, it still requires considerable experimentation to find the sweet spot where the buds give the best sound in the ear. Keeping them in place when moving is tricky. No problem if you are sedentary. These are probably not the best choice if you plan to use them when running, but on an airplane they are great.

Great service from Electronica Direct through Amazon. Two day air shipping on this product for $1.99.

My wife indulges all my extravagant purchases, but I don't think she would ever believe a set of earbuds could be worth almost $500. She might be right, but they do sound great. Maybe I just won't tell her how much they cost.

I'm no audio expert, but do love my music. I like to dedicate at least three hours of my day just simply listening to music. So, I thought a hefty investment in high-end earphones would make for a great listening experience. Last year, I bought a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort Noise-Cancelling headphones. Again, I'm no audio expert, but I thought the sound was awesome. I especially loved the bass...deep, rich, and I personally like the fact that you were able to "feel" the bass' physical presence. I thought no other headphones/earphones would surpass these headphones' magical sound. WAS I EVER WRONG. I got tired of looking like some weirdo with those HUGE Bose headphones snuggled on my ears constantly. They're just too big! I needed something that was more portable, more aesthetically pleasing to the average on-looker, and that produced excellent sound. I heard of Shure from an old friend of mine. He swore by his pair. He's a DJ, so I took his opinion on Shure with great value. Needless to say, I decided to invest. I was marvelled by the sparkling reviews of the Shure E500PTH. 5 stars is absolutely amazing I thought. This has to be the holy grail of all earphones. I forked out $350 and bought it. Two days later, I received it in the mail. Plugged it into my Creative Zen Vision M...and I was in MUSIC HEAVEN. The sound is...PERFECT. Literally perfect. It isn't tinny, not muddy, not distorted...or anything that compromises one's music listening experience. It's a very balanced sound with ringing highs, rich lows, and CLEAR vocals. It picks up on a lot of pleasant details. I used to hate in-ear phones, but these are amazingly comfortable. You hardly know that they're even there. Again, I'm a bass junkie. While the physical presence (which I know a lot of people dislike) isn't as prominent (in comparison with the Bose), it's still deep, real, and rich. The clear, detailed sound these earphones deliver more than makes up for that physical bass I barely even miss now. I say invest in a pair. You'll LOVE them.