[REVIEW] Shure SE215 - Page 3

I was undecided between the SE215 and the GR07. But this review and following comments have helped me make my decision. Also, the GR07 not been currently available with any U.S. seller made it easier for me. Placed an order for the SE215 today. This will be my first IEM. Hopefully the IEM journey will be a pleasant one with many more IEMs joining me on the way. Thanks guys.

I just got mine in the mail. Haven't burned them in any and they are just running straight from my Sansa Clip+, and all I can say is WOW! These seriously sound like more than $99. I love them.

******* right, SE215 are awesome for trip-hop.

I've had mine for about a week now, the highs do sound slightly artificial in some places, a little bit removed from the rest of the sound. I'm not getting much sibilance on those bells in Unfinished Sympathy, though; they seem to articulate and separate the sound very well to me. They are actually superior to my MS400 in this regard. Could it be your track? My source is a 320 kpbs MP3 over a solid sound card.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by epidoc 

 

Received my SE215 today and I am really enjoying it. Love the bass and the spaciousness. One thing that I did not expect though was the sibilance with songs like Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy. Haven't burned them in, so lets see if the sound signature changes any with the burn in.

^ I have been listening to 320 kbps Ogg Vorbis tracks, so I am not sure if it was the track. I have been using the SE215 quite a bit and the sibilance has definitely reduced some but its still there (not a huge deal... as I love the sound signature). 

got these today. love them! moving from a Cx300II, and pleased about the upgrade.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnewylliw 

got these today. love them! moving from a Cx300II, and pleased about the upgrade.

Bass (quantity) doesn't suddenly sound lacking to you?

Not sure about the CX300, but I came to the SE215 from CX400-II and was not disappointed. Less bloat, not as dark, but tbh with some EQ the SE215 can give as much rumble with better clarity than the CX400-II.

Honestly I've been able to get more sub-bass out of my SE215 than my Eterna v2 when EQing both.

do you guy have any tips on how to get the wires to play nice? they kind of just suspend slightly above my ears instead of resting on them.. so I try not to use them as much as possible.

as for the bass, not at ALL- these have just as much as bass as the cx300IIs (if you look at the headphone.com graph, the bass response is very very similar). seal is important too. Once you get these in, the bass is excellent and isolation.. I can't hear cars beside me when I'm biking. A little thing i noticed- I found goes it better if you have the 'butt' end (where the S in shure is) inside the ridge of your ear. It helps to pull your ear back and slightly away from you (as the manual says.). Then your ear 'locks' the earphones in. at home I don't even use the memory wire, I just let it dangle and use it as a straight cable.

I found- the cx300IIs had sparkly highs. but it was kinda uneven- some regions would would come out better than others. The mid was kind of  faded. In these it's the opposite- excellent mids, but very little high. However, classical still sounds ok- violins just don't have that edge.

note that I came from the Cx300 II, not the cx300.

anyone know an on ear headphone or full-size headphones with the same sound as the se215, like signature wise, I'm looking at the hd25 adidas now. 

if you go to the headphone.com Learning Centre you can build a frequency graph response for the se215, and compare it to other headphones in their list, as a starting point.

It has been well over a year since I last posted on Headfi, but I had to chime in that I love these IEM's. I didn't want to spend a lot on IEM's since they get beaten up a lot.  I also didn't need a hi-end set since I way prefer full-sized headphones for critical listening.  These are fantastic.  Only have some old E2C's and Klipsch X4's to compare to, but these kill either of those.  Bass like I wish I had on the old E2C's with a nice midrange, solid detail retrieval and soundstage, and acceptable treble.  I agree that the treble is the weakest part of the sonic range for these, but I am quite sensitive to treble so these really are ideal. So many other IEM's come off too hot for me in the upper range.  A smidge more sparkle would be good, but overall, I love these.  Fit my ears fine with the olives, and the isolation is superb.  I don't miss my fullsized headphones very often when I use these, especially with my uDac during long library sessions.

At work, I have been using the Vsonic RE0 and the Klipsch S4i. Both different, but good IEM's. Through the use of various IEMs and headphones throughout the years, I have learned what I like and dislike. Sibilance is something I dislike, and I do like punchy bass with a more mid-centric sound. The RE0, although a nice IEM, was a little too cold for my tastes. And the S4i was just too fatiguing sometimes.

Based on this review, and the review on Innerfidelity, I decided to give the SE215 a try, and I'm really glad I did. The sound is very good, with good details and separation. The bass is very good, much better then I expected. The treble is still a little too much for my tastes, but I can EQ that down a bit on the iPhone. And the fit of these on my ears are perfect, very comfortable. The best fit IEM I've had (I've had various sub $100 Sony, Sennheiser, Vsonic, Klipsch). Isolation is also excellent. However, sometimes I do prefer the more laid back nature of the B&W P5 I have. But wearing the P5, I feel kinda silly, and IEMs are far less conspicuous. 

Thanks for the review ClieOS. Keep up the good work. Now I'm wondering if I should upgrade to the SE535 and if it is a big difference in sound quality.