Customer Reviews

Shure SE210 Sound Isolating Earphones (White)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There's really not much that's changed in the new SE line from Shure. So, I'll be brief.

1) (+) Amazing sound! The same drivers as the SE3xx series but no bass chamber...so you wont get a lot of thump. But crystal clear sound. I believe the drivers are the same as the previous E3c/g.
2) (+) Great isolation - save your hearing. :)
3) (-) The cord is like 1.5 ft. Which would be great if I wore a clipon/iPod Shuffle, but I put an ipod in my backpack...so i have to use the extension (included). The extension creates extra weight in the cord (where it connects)...means the cord feels heavy. Me no likey.
4) (+) Sweet ballistic nylon carrying case.

Overall: great sound at a great value if you can get past the little cord & extension.

I bought these primarily for listening to non-music on my iPod in noisy places (like the gym, restaurants, main street). I could previously hear well in these places only with the volume high, so thought I might better preserve my hearing by using isolation.

For comfort & general isolation: these are surprisingly good. After trying many of the included earbuds, I liked the default ones best. The isolation is nearly complete - it's now much easier to ignore nearby conversations, oncoming traffic, and street thugs. The earbuds can be inserted loosely, iPod style if you don't want the isolation, but if you want isolation while you're walking, you'll probably have to wear them with each cord up-and-over the ear to prevent your listening experience being overwhelmed by the sounds of the cord stresses with each step (imagine tapping on a stethoscope). note to audiophagophiles: these will let you fully appreciate the sounds of chewing your food and gum.

Hearing Protection: Audio is usually loud and clear around 20-30% of max volume setting on the iPod - by my amateur calculations, assuming this scale is logarithmic (which it seems to be), compared to listening at about 70% of max, listening at 25% is 120K times less intense in watts/meter (I'm not sure if there is much loss as sound hits the walls of the aural canal, but assuming so as a worst case, if the shure earbuds are 20mm from tympanum vs 28mm for the iPod buds, shure at 25% would still be 60K times lower than iPod at 70%).

For sound quality: I eventually listened to music on these, and found the quality surprisingly impressive - clean and crisp, the sound is more like what you would expect from monitors than entertainment speakers.

For travel: after logging a couple hundred thousand miles with the bose qc2, I never thought I'd find anything better, and maybe these aren't. It is very difficult to tell which is better at reducing perceived background noise, and for short trips I now leave bose at home. note: if you plan to listen to in-flight movies, you'd need to find some way to manually reduce the volume leading to the earphones - I find the plane's audio output unsettable to an acceptably low level.

Durability: I hated the thought of having to carry around the ballistic nylon case in my pocket, and opted for a lower standard of care - usually just wrapping the earphones around my iPod and putting it my pocket. After a couple of months of getting tangled in keys, change, etc(?), I'm pleased to see them still unharmed. These are tough!

Since purchasing my 80g video iPod 7 months ago I have gone through 5 sets of headphones in my search for the perfect sound quality. I have at last found it in the SE210 earbuds from Shure. In a side to side comparison between the BOSE ear buds and the 210s I was at first blown away by the bass excellence of the BOSE but soon I came to realize that the overall effect, in spite of the excellent bass, was a slightly muddled performance. The 210s seem to isolate each vocal and instrumental performance. The total effect is one of clarity and distinctness. No muddled or fuzzy sounds here. Actually, having a more subtle bass enhances the rest of the levels. The sleeves are simply the best out there period. In the kit they provide, you can find a perfect fit for your ears. I am partial to the soft foam sleeves as they resemble ear plugs and are quite maleable. I agree with other reviewers on the shortness of the cord but the extension is so easy to use that it becomes a non-issue for me. I consider myself something of an audiophile and can tell you that the 210s really deliver the goods.

I cannot recommend all of the Shure products enough. I used to own the Shure E2Cs which were excellent sound quality wise but a little uncomfortable in my ears and somewhat difficult to put in. After accidentally destroying my E2Cs, I was forced to use the original ipod headphones. The sound was horrible from every single aspect, and they seriously hurt my ears to wear. I decided to upgrade to the SE210s. I have but nothing less than thrilled with them so far. The sound quality is even better than the E2Cs and they are by far the most comfortable headphones I own. There is none of the muddy sound that one gets from other headphones and even full blown sound systems. The only caveat to my endorsement is that if you listen to a lot of bass heavy music you will be disappointed. This is not to say that the headphones do not accurately and correctly recreate the bass, but that it is not "thumping" bass. I listen to a wide variety of music including hip hop and have never been disappointed with bass on these headphones, it is clear and accurate the way I like it.

I don't have much to add that hasn't been said by previous reviewers- I agree with everything they've written about the earphones pertaining to sound quality, noise cancellation, and durability.

My only issue with the earphones (which is the reason I rated them at 4 stars rather than 5) is that they are very bulky and heavy. Yes, they are extremely durable like one reviewer suggested, but I found them to be not practical for jogging. The heft of the cord bounced as I ran and eventually pulled the earbud from my ear. I had to revert back to the original and more lite ipod earbuds. I've never had a problem with earphones falling out of my ear when I run so I am suprised and disappointed that the shure's did not work out. I suspect that some users may not have this issue as their ears are shaped differently.

Highly recommend UNLESS you use your ipod to exercise. I ignored the comment about the short cord in the previous review but this turned out to be a much bigger pain then I realized. If you use an armband, you HAVE to use the extension and the cord is heavy & bulky. I switched to my husbands V-Moda's & was in heaven. Perfect cord length, lightweight, great sound (although not as crisp) but at half the price a bargain. Something to consider if the length/bulkiness of the cord might be a problem for you.

I was recently traveling and my earphones crapped to bed, so I was stuck in a hard place for a flight with no entertainment. I had a set of noise cancellation headphones at home and misplaced them so I did not have them for the several hour flight I was about to take so I picked a pair of the SE210. The only thing that would make me happier with them is if the cord was longer, you get used to using it with the extension, no idea why the cord is so short.
Sound is awesome, no batteries and yes $150 is tough to part with but if you travel on a plane and/or are considering Noise cancellation or Sound Isolation just buy these, they are better than the Noise cancellation that I have by far and no batteries! Plus they give you a 2 year warranty, and after that it is a slight replacement cost. cannot go wrong.

These are great headphones. They are well constructed, produce clear sound, effectively filter line noise when connected to a PC and block most of the environmental noise. I wish that they had a little better bass response, but I can live with what they have. Some people have had problems getting them to fit correctly in their ears, but I haven't.

These earphones give great sound clarity, which is especially nice when listening to vocal only (e.g. podcasts) or sonically complicated (e.g. classical) tracks, but is great for any and all listening you may happen to do. The included fit kit will allow you to find tips which will both fit your ear canal comfortably and provide maximum sound isolation. The reason the cord is so short is so you have the option of placing an in-line volume control (or other modular options) without extending the cord length too much (more accessories found here: [...]
buy these if you can afford them

These earphones are for me quite simply the best. I had a pair of noise cancelling headphones, but did not like how bulky they were. The Shure earphones fit very comfortably, have plenty of ear pieces to make sure of that, and sound great. Others have complained about a lack of bass. I had NO problem hearing the bass, and I am a bass player so I probably know what to listen for. They also deaden outside noise to the point that I couldn't hear flight attendant announcements while wearing them.