Shure SE215 Black

I bought these in February 2012 for £75 at amazon.co.uk and have used them every day except for about one week when I was awaiting delivery of a replacement cable. Typical use is with a variety of personal players (iRiver H140 and H340, Sansa Clip+, Archos A43IT) as well as with PC audio and occasionally with home audio. I listen to many kinds of (usually lossless) music but most often orchestral, choral, vocal, instrumental, rock, pop.

Price and value:

These are very decent value and the price in the UK is close to the US price. This is quite unusual as UK consumers are typically ripped off to the tune of 1.5 to >2 times the US price for the same Asia manufactured products. Shure UK get some goodwill for not playing that game with the price of the SE215. They lose a sliver of that goodwill because in the UK they maintain super high prices for aftermarket products such as tips, cables, and replacement left/right phones. After 14 months I needed a new cable. UK price is £45! That is US $69. I bought the same genuine cable from a Canadian retailer for about half that price including international delivery. And when I need new tips I can save about 35% by buying from North America, or by buying a 3rd party replacement.

Durability:

These things are built to last. I haven't been particularly careful with them. They have been sat on, snagged, dropped, trodden on and once even immersed in salt water (I fell in the sea with them in...whoops) and I often sleep with them in. I needed to replace the cable after 14 months as the thicker "memory" section cracked, leading to sound dropping out and wires actually being exposed. In the last few years I've had two pairs of Sennheiser IEMs fail (cable), some Klipsch IEMs fail (?), and a pair of Sony headphones fail (cable). Being able to replace the cable on the Shures is a massive plus point.

My SE215s have kept working and been maintainable while several other IEMs and headphones have died on me. That makes them better value than every other 'phone I've ever bought except a pair of Sennheiser HD 500 which worked for over 10 years before blowing a driver.

Comfort:

Very comfortable. They sit flush in the shell of the ear and cause no irritation or pressure and can be worn all day or night without discomfort. Having the cable route behind the head is ideal for me. In daily use these are as comfortable as smaller, lighter IEMs such as Sennheiser CX series, and if you need something suitable for sleeping in or wearing under a hat/helmet then the Shures are surely as good as it gets without paying for a custom fit.

Isolation:

Very good but depends on good fit and on choice of tips to a small degree. With the supplied tips the isolation should be good enough for most people most of the time. You don't get quite the isolation as with long, thin IEM that sit relatively deep in the ear canal but it is far superior to Senn CX type tips which sit at the entrance. Triple flange tips aren't part of the retail package but are available. They do offer more isolation but many will find them irritating to the ear canal. Tips that fully seal the ear probably aren't ideal because these Shures aren't designed with any tiny breather hole to relieve the pressure, which can be obvious if using triple flange tips. The regular silicone and foam tips are very nearly as good.

Sound:

Slightly emphasised bass, good midrange, slightly rolled off highs. To me this is a fine combination. I don't want bass heavy IEMs but I do want slight emphasis to make up for the lack of bone conduction or air being moved or whatever it is that goes missing with neutral IEMs/headphones compared with speakers. The highs might be slightly rolled off, probably to avoid harshness. With really powerful high tones (soprano voices or similar) you might occasionally be reminded that these cost £75 and not £175 as some harshness can become evident, but overall it's very hard indeed to fault these IEMs. I've used them for many hours almost every day for 14 months and they aren't tiring or irritating. That in itself is probably better compliment than any description of their sound quality or technical analysis (which I can't offer anyway).

If worn as recommended by Shure, with the cable held snug to the back of the neck/head by the keeper, then there is no annoying noise from the cable. Because the IEMs sit flush in the ear there is no wind noise or whistling effect when used outdoors.

Other:

The supplied soft case was a little disappointing. I used to have a pair of Shure E2C IEMs and they came with a really tough little case. The new soft case is made of heavy cordura but isn't of the hard clamshell type and I think it doesn't offer enough protection.

Overall it's hard to find fault with these IEMs at £75. Criticisms are few, small and qualified while positive attributes are plain and abundant. You get the same mature design, easy comfort and good build as with the most expensive Shures, and sound quality that doesn't feel in any way modest. I would unreservedly recommend these to anyone who wants to spend a moderate amount to get a huge sound upgrade over the buds supplied with their player/tablet.

I cannot recall when I purchased the Shure SE215's, but I know that I immediately enjoyed them. This was of course before I moved on to more expensive models, and then shifted to on ear and over ear headphones, which offer better sound overall. The only reason I went with IEM's is because they were often easier to drive and ended up being louder. As a bagpiper, it is clear I like music loud, and before I knew about amps, headphones weren't good enough. The SE215's aren't the easiest in-ears to drive, and near full volume is needed to listen to them for me.

The SE215's have excellent bass, especially for the price of $100. The bass doesn't sound false, although clearly enhanced. The bass does fairly well in not hurting the mids, although the headphones have little soundstage, so seperation is not perfect, and the bass does bleed into the mids at times, along with the mids bleeding in the highs. What hurts this bleed more is that the mids and highs are very recessed and are merely there, never standing out or sparkling. I prefer a v curve in headphones, although over time the v curve has become closer to a level line for me. At the time, I enjoyed a strong v curve. The SE215's have a V curve, but only slightly at the highs, and with the bass being so strong, nothing else is ever focused on. The odd thing is, while recessed, the mids and highs became shrill at times, almost like the sound from mids and highs are blocked off somewhere, and when volume is high enough, only the shrillness comes through. I really enjoyed the headphones, and eventually shifted into foam tips, to deal with the shrillness. This helped, but seemed to dull the music even more. It was a worthy sacrifice at the time. Listening to the SE215's recent, a while after I last really used them, I can say I really don't like the sound, due to a lack of clarity, and too heavy of a bass, which I actually find to be unclear as well. With an amp, a FIIO E11 a the time the clarity improved, but the E11 boosted bass further. I have yet to try them on the E07k, but I suspect they will still not suit me well. My tastes have changed clearly, focusing more on musicality and clarity, rather than enhanced bass and highs, although I still do like small v-curve in the sound. As was stated before, the SE215's also lack any form of soundstage, and especially with foam tips, sound very closed in. With the amount of bass and lack of soundstage, these headphones will suit music such as rap and hip hop. These headphones will work with any current (mainstream) music really, which, for the most part, has abandoned musicality and any art form which music once had, for heavy, synthetic bass, and autotune. Sorry for the attack on anyone who likes current music, but I feel music of today, at least the stuff by artists like Bieber and Rihana, does not require audiophile level headphones, as there is no soundstage and naturalness that is needed to be displayed. Essentially, I believe a $40 pair of bass heavy phones will sound better that a less bass-emphasized high end headphone, for bass is the only thing that matters in the music. The SE2015's are bass heavy, and will suit current stuff just fine.


While the sound no longer impresses me, the quality of the SE215's continues to impress. The driver housings of the SE215's look somewhat week, but are made from a decently strong plastic. Better yet is the cable, it being 3-4 times thicker than the cables of many other in-ears, such as the Klipsch S4's. The drives can also be removed from the cable, which is nice if the cable were to fall apart, but I don't see the point if they provide such a great cable (not saying it is a bad thing though).


Price-wise, the SE215's were a good price I felt. $100 isn't cheap, but these headphones provide better sound and are of better quality than many other headphones in a similar price range.

First, we must remember the price point. In Denmark, they compete with the likes of Beyer Dynamic MMX-101ie, Sony XBA-2, Creative Aurvana 3, AKG K-350 etc...

 

Accessories supplied in the box:

The earbuds are all of a pretty good quality, and they make a really good sealing, which can be hard to come by. The transporting case is nice too.

 

Sound signature:

Clearly V-shaped, but it's not like the mids are without detail. Indeed, resolution is very good even for the mids, but the signature is very minded to the broader population, which means that unplugged, choir-works, jazz and classical, will sound too fullfilling. Fx. Palestrina's Pope Marcellus Mass sounds like there's some instruments playing, instead of just voices. 

 

Sound stage:

I'm listing the SE215's sound stage as a negative, but truth to be told, you'll have a hard time finding anything significant better in this price range - especially if they have to be mainstream and generally easily available. One of the benefits of the Shure SE215, is that you may find a local shop from where you can buy them. Many of the top performers in this price range, can only be ordered from Asian countries, and troubles with customs may arise. Back to the sound stage; it's kind of "in your head", but it could be worse. It's not in any way can-like, but it's hard to place instruments and singers in unplugged music.

 

Bass:

Bass is very solid with a solid thumb. It's not fast and it could be tighter, but the resolution is pretty ok, especially given the price. They're bass-happy though, so for those of you that wants pump, but are unsatisfied with Beats/Dr. Dre, these SE215 will be a perfect alternative - as they're delivering the powerful bass you want, but with more clarity and way better overall tonal response.

 

Midtones:

This is where I find SE215 lacking. Midtones are too far gone; they're there of course, but I prefer a more midtone-forward approach. The resolution is pretty good though; the midtones are just not loud enough. Transition from bass to midtones is pretty fluent, which is good. To put it another way; most songs with prominent singers, will sound like the lead singer is standing in between the band, rather than a step in front of them. 

 

Trebles:

The trebles have a peak in the lower treble end, and they sound detailed with a little sparkle. Not much, just a little. More sparkle could've been nice - I'd have preferred that, and more airy feel created by the trebles would definitely also have been preferred.

 

Vertict:

So, the SE215's are of course not perfect. That'd be too much to demand, given it's price tag. Are they best in class? No, that'd be to stretch it a bit, but they're certainly among the top tiers in this class, and way above average. If you're unlucky to get a pair with faulty cables, the cables can be changed quite easily - but I didn't have any issues.

 

The sound quality is sure to delight people who're used to Beats Audio, Sennheiser at USD 100 or lower, and the like. If you come from midend over-the-ear headphones, you'll be happy to know that bass and lower midtones can pump well without sacrificing too much resolution, but if you're used to highend products, you'll probably feel that the SE215s are too much "in your head", with a general lack of mids and a lack of airy feel.

 

If you're willing to pay a bit more, I heavily recommend Sony MDR-EX600 as a mainstream and easy-to-get in-ear alternative; it has all the benefits from these SE215's, but they give you that nice LARGE sound stage, and more mids - for only few dollars more.

 

But if these matches the upper limits of your budget, I can easily recommend them. Even more so if you usually use your mobile phone or another kind of portable player, and you primarily listen to techno, dance, rock/heavy and less dynamic and song-centered styles.