Thoughts on Limited Edition Shure SE215? - Page 2

If it's has a flatter bass response, a little brighter and cleaner than the original SE215, i'm sold

Well, here are my impressions:

First of all, build quality is still excellent. Other than the cable joints, I don't see anything that could go wrong with these headphones. Having owned both the black and clear SE215, I would say this gray cable is more similar to the black cable and not as thick or stiff as the clear one. The best part is that this cable on the LE is 45" instead of 64" long. The extra long stock cable always bothered me, so it's great to see Shure has changed this with the LE.

Now, on to the sound. Keep in mind I had the original SE215's over a year ago so I will be basing this off of a very distant memory.

The low end is advertised to be slightly stronger than the original. I don't know how much stronger the bass is, but it does seem stronger than I remembered with the standard SE215. They are not bass cannons and bass heads might be disappointed, but there is quite a bit of bass. Those looking for a flatter bass response will probably not want these. It does make for some fun listening, though.

The mids are very prominent. This is probably because I'm coming from some V shaped headphones with either recessed or more neutral mids (TF10 and MDRV6). While the mids are strong, they are not like typical Shure headphones (I've tried the SE310 and SE315) and these definitely still possess a stronger low end than mid range. I find this makes the music somewhat more engaging since you feel closer to the music.

The high end is what I remember (and loved) about the SE215. Namely, they are not very sparkly at all. This is probably a deal breaker for some, but for me, I have a very small tolerance for sparkliness. I sold my Sennheiser HD25-1 ii due to their harshness and sibilance. These I find are not very bright at all, which makes it easier for me to listen to music for longer periods of time. On the downside, music doesn't seem as lively on the top end. Cymbals and other percussion instruments don't seem that lively and kind of take a backseat to the low and mid range.

Soundstage seems pretty small and instrument separation isn't great. Everything seems to be cluttered in my head instead of coming from outside. It's similar to what I seem to remember from the originals.

In the end, I really like these headphones. They look amazing and the cable length is finally manageable. I prefer the new sound sig (warmer) to the standard 215. The extra bass is always welcome to me and the sound signature is something different from the other headphones I own right now so it makes music interesting. I paid $107 shipped from earphone solutions. Is it worth the extra $7 if you're looking at the standard SE215? Definitely. I'd pay more than $7 extra for the amazing color and the cable, without even considering the sound changes. However, if you already have the normal SE215 and are happy with it, I don't think it's worth buying these, unless you really, really love the color. If you're on the fence between the LE and the standard, definitely go for the LE, but if you own the standard one, don't bother with this one.

Hope that helped.

Here are a few pics:

Attempting to show the color difference between the Shure cable (left) and standard black L9 cable (right):

Nice impression, oh man i love that color

Anyone has any ideas if the left side cut off problem common with the Shure SE215s has been fixed? Any problems on this latest limited edition?

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkeydax 

Anyone has any ideas if the left side cut off problem common with the Shure SE215s has been fixed? Any problems on this latest limited edition?

I haven't had any so far but then again I haven't used them that much yet.

I can't find these or the 535 Red in the UK at all. Very disappointed since they look amazing.

Earphonesolutions.com DO ship to uk you know?