3rd Annual "Send in my Shure E4's because they crack around the ears"

[theBishop]

Is anyone else having this problem?

I LOVE my Shure E4's. I love the way they look. I love the way they sound. I love the flexible silicon sleeves. I love the little pouch that comes with them.

And for reasons that will become clear I LOVELOVELOVE their 2 year no-questions-asked warranty:

Because every year sometime between January and March, the brittle dry cold of winter causes the deceptively thick shielding to crack around the ears. Shure used to include a wire guide that looked ugly, felt uncomfortable, but did help mitigate this issue a little.

Anyway, is this a common problem? Like I said in the topic, this is the 3rd year running that I've had to send in my E4's for a replacement. While I'm incredibly thankful that Shure honors their warranty, I have to wonder if this is the best situation for both of us. For me it means losing my phones for 4-6 weeks every year (assuming no other problems), and for Shure, this has to be cutting into their profits. For $200+ phones, there's something wrong when they're breaking every single year.

I get a lot of use of my headphones, but I don't think of myself as especially destructive. Should I inquire about getting a different model as a replacement? Is this a problem across the Shure line?

 

[h20buzz]

I've never had a problem with my E4,and i live where winter is very cold and dry too. I only ever use them cable down. But then again, i don't much care for the fit or sound and they get only rare and occasional use anymore.

 

[earthpeople]

This has been a problem across the whole (or a lot of the popular options at least) Shure IEM line. If you really like them, then I would say just keep up with replacing them. Otherwise, you may want to ask if you can upgrade to their updated IEMs with replaceable cables when they come out, since you've had so many cable issues with these.

 

[stonyboys]

They're replacing them for absolutely no cost, right? What's the problem, you can't live without them for a month?

Some people...

 

[RedSky0]

You're kidding right? You believe that paying to ship them, and not having them for a month every year is reasonable?

 

[stonyboys]

Unless he uses them to save lives or to make money, then not having them for a month really isn't that bad. I didn't know that he had to pay shipping though, that kinda sucks.

All I'm saying is that you should be grateful that they even have this kind of warranty on their headphones. My Xbox half-crapped out on me and since it's not an RROD related problem, they said I had to pay $100 AND I had to ship it to them. Imagine if this is what Shure had.

 

[theBishop]

Dont get me wrong guys. I think Shure's service is unbelievable. And yeah missing my phones for a month isn't the end of the world. It just seems like a pair of $200 headphones should last longer than a year. And it can't be good for Shure to have to replace these things every year in perpetuity.

 

[theBishop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by h20buzz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've never had a problem with my E4,and i live where winter is very cold and dry too. I only ever use them cable down. But then again, i don't much care for the fit or sound and they get only rare and occasional use anymore.

Well there's the difference. But that's not really how they're designed, and it's not as comfortable for me.