Great Shure Service

If I sold $80+ earphones with a lifespan of a couple months, I'd probably be pretty polite to people who bought them too. Oh well, I guess it is nice to know they balance shoddy workmanship with great customer service. But Shure has had plenty of practice responding to that problem, so maybe that is why you got such a good reply.

I'm not aware of any nagging Shure quality issues. These boards have reported only a small percentage of duds. The one issue I'm aware of was brief (I think it was the plug problem) and Shure was pretty prompt with warranty service and the resolution of the defective part.

Oh, really? Tell that to these people. From what I've seen, it is not just a small percentage of E2 owners that have had problems. And I've heard several times that the problem has been fixed, but that doesn't seem to be true. Taking extra special care of the plug is not much of a fix, IMO. Earphones should be portable, and that includes being reasonably rugged and resistant to wear. How many other ‘phones do you know of where someone is posting that they are on their third pair in six months?

When I had my shure, I didn't have that problem. I thought they were pretty sturdy - considering the activities I subject them to.

I agree, these sorts of problems shouldn't occur. However, there are hundreds of Shure headphone owners on these boards (many/most have e2's). The fact that a handful of individuals had a problem doesn't infer that the products are garbage. You know as well as I that any product illicits lots of negative posts on forums because disgruntled people are more outspoken than happy ones. If we only considered the negative reviews found after a cursory look on the web for a given product, we would never be able to buy anything.

I guess I was responding to your angry seeming post which intimated that shure products (particularly the e2) are garbage. You are entitled to your opinion, and shure products definitely have pluses and minuses, but most folks on these boards would disagree with such a broad generalization. As far as my personal experience, I've found the e2's and e3's to be solid and reliable.

I'm on my second pair in...(counts fingers) seven months? Yeah, Shure has serious problems, but the problem is the spool case. I find that if I leave the phones in bagpack and let them be battered by my textbook, they're fine, but if I use that darn case, the wire shorts. It's not really taking special care....it's more like avoidance of something that will cause a problem. The stress that I was putting on the plug was probably enough to cause damage on any pair of headphones. I'm a happy Shure customer. They replaced my phones without a charge and the spool case is now sitting unused in my drawer.

I am using my E2 and no problems. I did buy one in which the cable had a letter/number identification code at the armpit of the stereo plug. I had it replaced for a new E2 with indentification codes with numbers only even though that particular one did not fail, but I just wanted to get it replaced with a solid unit. According to SugarFried, these should work just fine. Is this true, I do not know...can anyone here verify these claims? I agree, it would be tiring to just get them replaced every 3 months or so. For me it is easy because I just drive up to Shure and get it exchanged if/whenever it goes bad and that's because I am local. For some of you, it must be a real pain.

I didn't call Shure products garbage, but I do think they seem to have an issue with the E2. It's just an observation based on what I've heard from others. "Plenty" (by my definition, I guess) of people are all having the exact same problem with those 'phones, so...what am I supposed to think? Frankly, I don't think it makes Shure look any better if it is just a problem with the case. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Shure is still using that case, no? And how many E2's do you think they have replaced under warranty? That obviously cost Shure money, and that is going to be passed on to consumers in the price of the E2. If the case is causing the problem, then they should have stopped using it by now. I don't even know exactly what the Shure spool case is like—but I do know that a company manufacturing earphones should be aware that putting stress on the plug/cable area can damage 'phones. I mean, that is the primary reason (right?) that companies started using angle plugs on portable 'phones a loooong time ago. Whatever the problem is, I just feel that it should have already been corrected (and probably shouldn't have existed in the first place).

I know it is apparently sacrilege to say the slightest negative thing about Shure, Etymotic, etc on this board. But I considered buying a pair of E2’s recently, and the reports of people cashing in on the warranty multiple times is one of several reasons that I decided to try something else. I’ve never owned or used them, so I wouldn’t ever say they are garbage—but there does seem to be a problem, and I can’t tell that Shure is really doing anything about it. So…out of curiosity, what exactly is Shure saying to people about this? Because if their response is, “Yeah, our case damages our headphones. Stop using it,” I have to say that is pretty lame. It isn’t in the best interest of their customers or their company to keep giving people the case if they already know that is the problem.

Most people don't spend time going on a board and telling everyone how well their phones work over just listening to them...

But if someone's product fails, and they need help... they gotta turn to someplace.

Those with problems are known. Those who don't have problems don't have any obligation to post at all.

Ugh. I think this is such a weak argument. It doesn't look to me like Oddball, terrymx, etc are people who post only when they have a negative experience with a product. I mean...since when do people only post on head-fi to report a problem or to complain? If anything, most Shure threads here are a total lovefest (about as ugly as it usually gets is, “well, I like ER4's a lot better”). And, yeah, there are a lot of people here who own E2's, so maybe you would expect some people to have problems. But in case you haven't noticed, there are also a lot of people here who own ER4's, ER6’s, E3's, etc, etc. I obviously registered here very recently, but I can assure you that I have read a whole crapload of threads about canal and "semi-canal" 'phones. And personally, I've seen mentions of this E2 problem, but pretty much nothing in the way of longevity problems with competing 'phones, including the E3's. Now maybe I just haven't looked around enough yet, but...if there have been significant build quality or longevity issues with those other 'phones, then please just point me to the threads so I can see that I've come to an unfair conclusion about the E2's. But until I see otherwise, I’m going to continue to assume that the number of problems people have had with the E2 is disproportionate to the number they/we have had with other products.

are there any other cases that would be good for the e2c's? i take mine to the gym and use that case... it does seem a little tight.

I'm on my second pair of Shure E2's, and like the previous pair, there is also beginning to be a plug problem. I'm going to give up and get Etys soon though.

You won't regret it.

ER4 is still the king.