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Difference in the Shure SE earphones?

post #1 of 16
7/3/08 at 2:44am
Thread Starter 
I'm just curious as to what the big difference is between say the Shure SE110 earphones to the SE210s or even the 310s? outside of a $50 - $150 difference in the price tag? Would there be noticeable difference hooked up to an ipod? Thanks for any info and input!
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post #2 of 16
7/3/08 at 9:40am
I think you are following a dangerous path my friend :d.

Most people are unable to go back after having tried the better headphones, even when they are not THAT much better sometimes. Most times the upgrade is going to be quite noticeable even when you wont be able to tell the difference is as big as the difference in price tag.

I havent tried any of the new SE shure models but what most people say her eon the forums is that they scalate quitye well, with the jump from se420 to se530 being very important. That is the same with Ultimate ears too. Going freom the SF5 to TFP is, apparently, huge.

That is not the case with sennheiser and say the models HD600 and HD650, where the differences according to MOST (and there are no definitives in this, so I think going with what the majority is saying is the right thing to do, given that you dont have access to try equipment) are there but not necessarily favoring any of the two as being better.

If you are having those kind f questions my recommendation is that you avoid the ling path and get the se530 because eventually there is where you will end up. Or you can be lucky and try the se210 and be extremely happy. That is unlikely though.

Good luck...and eventually enjoy the se530 .
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post #3 of 16
7/3/08 at 10:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by alitomr View Post
I think you are following a dangerous path my friend :d.

Most people are unable to go back after having tried the better headphones, even when they are not THAT much better sometimes. Most times the upgrade is going to be quite noticeable even when you wont be able to tell the difference is as big as the difference in price tag.

I havent tried any of the new SE shure models but what most people say her eon the forums is that they scalate quitye well, with the jump from se420 to se530 being very important. That is the same with Ultimate ears too. Going freom the SF5 to TFP is, apparently, huge.

That is not the case with sennheiser and say the models HD600 and HD650, where the differences according to MOST (and there are no definitives in this, so I think going with what the majority is saying is the right thing to do, given that you dont have access to try equipment) are there but not necessarily favoring any of the two as being better.

If you are having those kind f questions my recommendation is that you avoid the ling path and get the se530 because eventually there is where you will end up. Or you can be lucky and try the se210 and be extremely happy. That is unlikely though.

Good luck...and eventually enjoy the se530 .
I recently jumped on a pair of SE530's being sold on the for sale/trade forums, at least partially influenced by that mentality. If I was goin to try out shure's IEM's I was gona try the crem de la crem they had to offer! No messin about with lower/lesser offerings!
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post #4 of 16
7/3/08 at 11:04am
If you follow this path up, sooner or later you will still reach 530.
It's either you go for the kill and save some money on upgrading, or you can try the lower end one and slowly upgrade when the budget allows
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post #5 of 16
7/3/08 at 11:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ralfale View Post
If you follow this path up, sooner or later you will still reach 530.
It's either you go for the kill and save some money on upgrading, or you can try the lower end one and slowly upgrade when the budget allows
Of course, budget does come into it! I've drained my account a bit too much recently!
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post #6 of 16
7/3/08 at 12:08pm
But so doing you miss the experience of hearing different phones, and finding maybe better or different alternatives, & of course the sheer, er, joy that it is upgradeitis!

I'd vote go the slow route. It's more fun...
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post #7 of 16
7/3/08 at 12:20pm
I have shure 530's and I have to say they are great but I would try to save some money and go direct to the top like me
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post #8 of 16
7/3/08 at 12:34pm
It just depends on what's important to you. If you're focused on getting some decent iems but not break the bank, your slow but sure upgrade will give you the opportunity to hear the different levels of quality, ultimately getting you to the upper tiers.

OTOH, if you don't want to settle for anything less than the best, you may have to wait a bit to save, but you'll get to the same place. This also will be less expensive, but you won't have the experience of the other iems.....

decisions, decisions......
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post #9 of 16
7/3/08 at 12:35pm
The fast route is a valid one, no doubt, but how would we know what other phones sound like, & which we prefer, if we never tried them? I kinda liked going from E2c to X3 to CK7 to ER-6 & on, say, as it gave me a good base on which to buy better. Had I stayed with Shure, I still think I'd like the journey even if I never left the brand...

It's a perennial argument I guess. Save a little bit of money (tho you can largely recoup through FS going the scenic route), and have all yr presents to open at once vs explore, evaluate, & get more pressies coming every month or so

Christmas all the time, lol...
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post #10 of 16
7/3/08 at 12:38pm
Agree on missing out the fun part of upgrading.
Doing the slow path will also mean you get to test out different IEMs, the good and the bad. Ultimately when you make your future upgrading decision, you will be more informed to understand and appreciate the beauty of higher end IEM and what you are paying for
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post #11 of 16
7/3/08 at 12:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by steviebee View Post
But so doing you miss the experience of hearing different phones, and finding maybe better or different alternatives, & of course the sheer, er, joy that it is upgradeitis!

I'd vote go the slow route. It's more fun...
Thats a very good point, but there are so many brands and options out there now, and my nature of liking to be all encompassing, I'd, certainly at this stage, rather try the best offering from a manufacturer, and then the next model I buy and/or try would be the flagship from another company, and therefore, relevant to me, not waste time and money on lower offerings from a company. To put it into context, I'm new to audiophile listening, gear etc. So far, since april this year, I've bought and own a set of SA6 IEMs and shure SE530's. I'm interested in the klipsch images, custom 3's, UE triple fi pros, q-jays and westone UM2's. I'd therefore bypass things like the klipsch custom 1 or 2's, all the 'inferior' shure models, the super fi's and the UM1's. Then again, i suppose thats just me and what I wana do/achieve!
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post #12 of 16
7/3/08 at 1:34pm
I'm of the school of thought that you have to EARN the good phones. It's kind of like learning how to play the guitar on a Gibson Les Paul or learning how to drive on a Porsche. You won't appreciate the better things in life if you haven't gone through the lesser quality products. It not only teaches you to appreciate the good things in life but it also molds your taste. By trying things out you can decide what you like about each one. Do you like neutral phones? Do you like them a bit warmer? Whose sound signature appeals to your ears the most? All of these things are important because even if you DO buy the big money item you may not like it as much as some OTHER big money item.

In my opinion, this hobby is one that solely depends on your own ears- no matter what anyone on this forum says. I think the biggest lesson to be learned in all of this is to learn what your like and then trust them.

Or just go for the big bopper and spend a grand if you wish ; )
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post #13 of 16
7/3/08 at 1:47pm
I agree, BloodSugar -having now reached Triple Fi/ER-4 quality I'm not too interested in getting a pr of SE210s or X3i etc...but I'm really glad I went throught the lower stuff first. It taught me what signature/presentation I prefer, & gave me some experience of what I don't like. Without going the scenic route, how would I know? Same with amps -I started off with a Little Dot Micro+ & Airhead, now have a Hornet & Xin & want an iQube! Want as opposed to need, lol!

And tonyfiore has a point, I think -you do have to earn it, if only by educating your own ears...
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post #14 of 16
7/3/08 at 2:21pm
You have made some excellent points there, I have to admit, and have made me re-evaluate my thinking! I dived into this not thinking of it as a long term hobby- I didn't even know such a thing as an 'audiophile' world and serious hobby existed before I found this site!- and I think I may have been subconsciously playing the game, in my head more than practical at this stage (after all, I only have two sets of high quality IEM's, a DAP, a resistor adaptor, no big cans, amps, elaborate sources etc), too fast and trying to achieve too much too soon. You've jolted my system there to be just be more relaxed about it all and let it grow and develop over time. Thanks for that!
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post #15 of 16
7/3/08 at 3:43pm
And don't forget- trying tjhings out does not mean you're going to lose a substantial amount of money over time. Everything that I've bought I've eventually sold on the For Sale forums here on the site. I also have not felt the need to buy everything new. So in the end you're not losing quite asmuch $$ as you think you are. Well, unless you just can afford to keep it all, which I can not.

So testing stuff out doesn't have to break the bank.
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