Now I normally use my Hifiman HM-801 as source. Before that I've used iPod Classic 120gb (Gen 6.5) plus iQube I and some other portable amps. Since I got my HM-801 I've got rid of all my amps.
 
I've used the HM-801 with ER4S and that combo produced some truly remarkable results. However, I keep my iPod Classic mainly for its capacity and its excellent gapless play (That's pretty crucial for some classical music, especially those with attaca movements e.g. Beethoven 6th final movement, Mahler 8 which is chopped into bits and pieces by recording companies etc). The SE535 does OK with the iPod Classic - but its soundstaging and instrument placements just isn't quite right. Incoherence is the word. It pairs well with the HM-801 but less so than ER4S so what the heck.
 
So it is under such circumstances that I decide to try on the SE115, with my purpose of getting something whose potential can be fully realised by the iPod. At the same time I have also tried the new Ety MC5. I find the MC5 a value hard to beat - and I do expect it to be so. However, the SE115 gave me more surprises - contrary to what seems to be the general consensus here, the bass is actually pretty well controlled and not overwhelming (and BEAR IN MIND I'm a long time devotee of the Ety sound signature) and the visceral impact of the percussion in classical tracks is awesome, amount of the bass is just right, much less bloated than the s4i I use with my iPhone and the ie8 which I threw away in horror. the mids are really quite detailed, not Ety detailed, but detailed, more so than UM1 or SE210 (which i think sucks bigtime) or even the SE310. highs, like other Shures other than SE535, is rolled-off, but not as blatantly so than SE210, SE310 or SE530 (I've owned every earphones in that series for a certain period of time and I think for that generation SE420 does the best in highs, I dunno why). At least cymbals do sound like cymbals, unlike the SE210, where cymbals sound like a clash of procelain plate into a wooden plank. And.......COHERENCE! yes I found coherence here in the SE115 actually better than the SE535!!!! By coherence I'm referring to 2 things: tonal coherence (the fluency of transition between different frequency ranges) and soundstage coherence (the perceived plane appearing in front of / around me with the instruments positioned correctly).
 
SE535 lovers I'm not saying the SE115 is better than the SE535 in general - if it is so I'd have sold my SE535 in no time. The SE535 clearly does better in definition and instrument timbre sounds more right in the SE535 than in the SE115. The SE115 is more speaker like - lush and not as analytical, but enjoyable. The SE535 gets the more serious sound one should expect from a top-tier earphone. Both loses in tonal balance to ER4s or mc5 but that's pretty much expected - the SE535 is more peaky in the upper-mids while the SE115 is more peaky in the lower-mids to higher-lows range.
 
I should have stated this earlier, but my main love is in complex, large-scale classical pieces, with pop music closely behind. I do NOT listen to dance or trance, though rock does occupy a fraction of my routine playlist as well. This review (kind of) should be read in light of these genres.
 
All in all, both the MC5 and the SE115 are great values in my opinion. None of the popular Chinese iems in their price-range (or lower) handles these genres, especially complex and many-layered music so well for me - they may do well for simple pop or light instrumental pieces, but not complex stuff. AND - the SE115 is a totally different beast to SE110, which sounds terribly muddy in the mids, no highs and no lows (Bose OEM? =P)
 
Verdict: I like the SE115, and personally I find what I heard in them is quite the polar opposite of what I saw in bashing threads of these poor guys. FYI I got the newest clear version which is quite nice to the eyes as well as to the ears. And I gather this clear version would, like the E2s in the past, become the standard bundles monitors for Shure's monitor systems.

I was gonna say I thought the 110s were absolute crap for the price.  So I see the 115 is a different beast.  As far as coherency I can actually support your observations.  If you notice I no longer possess any multiple driver IEMs.  I seem really sensitive to what you and I have called coherency.  So that makes two of us.  I was reading the Headfonia article on twin armatures doing much better than the triples in coherency so I am checking that out to see.  So to you my friend I say cheers.
 

I own both the SE115 and SE535 and while I really like my SE115s (much better than both the SE110 and SE210) and really under appreciated here, they are a huge step down from the SE535s in tmbre, sound stage, bass, bass control, mids, treble, instrument separation, sound stage, etc...
 
But for the $ I would absolutely recommend them for someone looking for IEMs under $100.
 
Great write up too!

Yes!  I have been arguing in favor of the SE-115 ever since I got mine about 4 months ago.  Glad to see a few other people hear the same things I do.  Coherence I would define as all the frequencies lining up properly in time, generating a natural and realistic sound.  The highs are slightly rolled off but not to an objectionable amount.  With classical music you hear the weight in the low frequencies that you hear in a live performance.  Really a good job by Shure on these for the price I think.

Good stuff. And I see the 115s are on sale at Amazon (black ones) for $67.10. Very good price, considering the other colors are $99. Might be good iBud replacements for me.

I needed a pair of cheap iem's and i was going to get the Hf5 as like the op i love the ety sound and my er4p/s are like sex for the ears but i saw the pink 115's for less than £50 which here in the uk is cheap and i just loved the colour and so i thought well i know they are goona sound poor but i just gotta have a pink pair.
To my complete and utter surprise they sound fantastic, i wont go into too much detail as the op pretty much sums them up well but considering they get pretty much slated here i personally dont understand it at all.
To me they sound like a refined Atrio m5 (Which is no bad thing) and for the price i paid i'm absolutely chuffed with them, To me i wouldn't say they were THAT big a drop in quality compared to the more expensive offerings from shure more a different take on the presentation and when you look at the price difference the jump in quality does not justify the money you spend at least in my view anyway.
I think the 115's fall into that 'Well they are cheap so they are rubbish' category and thats a shame bercause they are far better than that.
Anyway consider me chuffed with mine, one very happy camper here!

That makes them even more attractive at the $67 price here. I may have to buy them today. Thanks for the added info.