Shure E500/E530 Cable Poll - Page 6

Originally Posted by lac29

Has anyone ever tried to recable their E500's?

Originally Posted by perfectfifth

man, this too sketch for me. maybe they fix em no question asked, but i dont wanna send em in over and over. i guess i pass on e500. is there a better option at this price you guys recomend? maybe um2?

Originally Posted by lostbobby

I read this, i just did this, damp towel, my cable housing split. No kidding.

Originally Posted by Dexter Morgan

Thanks for your post, Matt. It's a priveledge having direct communication with Shure in this way. I have a couple of thoughts. First, let me say I was surprised at the 68% number also. I suspected the failure rate would be perhaps 10%. I have also thought a lot about our sample of respondents. As you said, the world is a large place and this is just a survey of head-fi people. So I was trying to figure out if there would be differences between the population on Head-Fi and the greater population, and if so, what would they be?

Originally Posted by Dexter Morgan

Well, on the one hand, I think Head-Fi users are probably take better care of their products, so damage should be less with us. On the other hand, we might use our equipment more than other people because we're absolutely crazy. Lastly, maybe people are more likely to click on the link to vote if their cable has broken, whereas happy owners with unbroken cords have little interest on the topic. Still, I would think happy owners would be just as vehement about defending their favorite product, and be concerned about the issue. In any case, it's hard for me to imagine that these numbers are that far off...

Originally Posted by Dexter Morgan

I guess my main question is why doesn't Shure just redesign the wire or change the type of rubber? Is Shure worried that everybody and their grandmother will send their E500s in to get them recabled? I realize this is a business, so I'm assuming the reason has to do with money.

Originally Posted by moseboy

...For two years. Understand that while the warranty is great and I'm glad Shure is honoring it, after two years, E500/SE530 owners are out of luck if something happens after that. Keep in mind, I didn't buy these earphones to last me 2.5, 3, or even 4 years: For as much as I invested in them, I want these to last for a long time. You can say that after a year, you should be able to tell whether or not they're going to die on you. Well what if you can't? What if it just so happens that you wear them little enough that after 3 years they finally start to get hard and eventually break? Again, that would be a case in which, according to what I'm understanding, you're out of luck.

Don't get me wrong, I'm full aware that other companies in this business have cable durability issues as well. With a product like earphones, it's hard to eliminate these problems. However, when it comes down to it, Shure just seems to have more problems than other companies. Especially with a flagship product costing as much as the E500 did, it should not have had reoccurring issues with such a fundamental part of the product as the cable. And when this was found to be the case, when the E500 was re-released as the SE530, wouldn't it have been more wise to fix this issue instead of simply adding eartips to the package? That way, if customers would have issues with one of them, upon replacement, the other could be returned to them. Maybe not even this extensive of a solution, but something beyond just saying "We'll replace it for two years."

I understand that Shure is going to make decisions based on what will appeal to the majority of its customers, and at this point, I'm aware that E500/SE530 owners with cable issues aren't the majority. But I, along with many others, think something should have been, and can still be done about this. The people at Shure may still decide not to do anything about it because they really aren't obligated to. But I can tell you for certain that come Shure's next line of earphones, many previous customers will not be buying.

Originally Posted by Arjisme

I apologize for spreading misinformation here. I did think they were the same cable.

However, can you please clarify a point on this: is the outer cable (the rubber protective part) different between the E2 and E500? Or are they made of the same material (albeit on different machines)?

Originally Posted by Dexter Morgan

Not at all? Really? Don't you think Shure should be concerned that 1 in every 3 customers return their product for repair, and most within the first six months, regardless of the "mileage"? I mean, c'mon, people are going to use their gear how much they want to use it. It's Shure's job to make sure it holds up. I don't know of any other IEMs from competitors whose cables require daily cloth maintenance. Shure admits that the primary cause is body chemistry... mileage would merely accelerate the hardening and eventual snap.

Originally Posted by Dexter Morgan

In my mind, this poll highly suggests that the cable cracking is not a rogue issue that affects a few people with some exotic body chemistry. This is a fundamental product defect that affects 1 in 3 owners. Until Shure corrects this, all potential new buyers on these forums should be informed. Granted there is the 2 year warranty, and thank God for that, but paying for shipping costs to Shure every 2 months is going to add up.

Originally Posted by Dexter Morgan

I absolutely love the sound of the 530s. I will not hesitate to recommend it to people whom I think might like it based on their tastes. But I will also need to include that little asterisk at the end....

*1 in 3 subject to breakdown

Originally Posted by spinali

I've laid off Shures entirely for the main reason that I have no faith in their cables. I wonder why they can't spend just a little more to get braided cables.

Originally Posted by tk3

Wow, that's a disturbingly high failure rate.

Originally Posted by Dexter Morgan

No kidding!


No kidding!


Your plan sounds like a good one to me. If you're not using them, you might as well sit on them long as possible on the chance that they redesign the cable. On the other hand, I've heard that they restart your 2-year warranty when they reissue them back to you (heads up perfectfifth). Thus, if the issue really is body chemistry, they'll probably break on you again and you could get the redesigned cables the second time around...

Sugarfried, is there any chance Shure will fix this problem in the near future?

Originally Posted by Rise To The Top

I've had mine for 4 months and have gone running with them at least 15 times for over 30 mins. Cable still looks good, not a sign of a break. I do not use foams, only on the plane.