[Sugarfried]

We don't necessarily target a specific sensitivity or impedance. We tune the drivers to sound like we want them to sound, then we measure the specifications to make sure they're within acceptable limits. When we start messing with sensitivity for sensitivity's sake we compromise the frequency response. That applies to both stage and consumer users.

 

[BRBJackson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood I'm sitting at ORD terminal typing this post waiting for my flight to LAX. -Ed

Hey, I was just there last night... close one, Ed. Would've been trippy to see a Head-Fi buddy at the airport

 

[garyd9]

Sugarfried, etc -

Thanks for replying to my messages. Not very often is a person involved in designing a product is willing to talk about it - especially to clueless people like myself. (unless you get commissions...)

I somehow also doubt that Sugarfried gets paid extra for PR/CS. Thanks

(and my home AV receiver's center speaker just made a loud POP! and went dead. Uh oh... smell of burning plastic too... I told my wife that nothing good would result from her letting my 2 year old watch "boobah" all the time. sigh..)

 

[iamdone]

There were a couple of threads about the e500 a while back. I had a chance to test it out of my 5th gen ipod w/apple lossless thru the headphone out at the MacWorld Expo. They sounded great. I didn't hear any hiss either. The volume was somewhere around a 1/3 to 1/2 volume to sound very loud.

I find the 5th gen headphone out to good enough not to bother with the hassle of amps anymore. I currently use my ue10 directly out of headphone out.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Also, I read in that 15-or-so page topic about the E500 that the cord is now removable, w/ some technology or something so that if you snag it, it will disengage from the earbuds so your ears won't be ripped inside out.

True?

Edit: A few more questions-

1.) How will the earphones be worn? The way I'm looking at the pictures, they will be upside-down relative to the Shure name on the side, and the cord will be looped over the top of the ears and down.
2.) What is yet not finished about the E500? I read from another topic that everything inside its shell is finshed, Shure just needs to tweak the sound.
3.) Is Shure expecting an iPod-like demand for these? I'm considering to place my dad's credit card on earphonesolutions.com for the preorder.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sugarfried Ed: You're about 12 miles away from me. Too bad your layover isn't longer.

It almost was. They overbooked the flight and asked for volunteers to take the next flight 3 hrs later in exchange for a voucher for a free flight later. Didn't make it to the counter in time.

-Ed

 

[Jasper994]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtheisticFreedom Also, I read in that 15-or-so page topic about the E500 that the cord is now removable, w/ some technology or something so that if you snag it, it will disengage from the earbuds so your ears won't be ripped inside out. True? Edit: A few more questions- 1.) How will the earphones be worn? The way I'm looking at the pictures, they will be upside-down relative to the Shure name on the side, and the cord will be looped over the top of the ears and down. 2.) What is yet not finished about the E500? I read from another topic that everything inside its shell is finshed, Shure just needs to tweak the sound. 3.) Is Shure expecting an iPod-like demand for these? I'm considering to place my dad's credit card on earphonesolutions.com for the preorder.

1)Yeah that's pretty much the way it sits, though I can't recall if the name was right-side-up or upside-down.

2)From what I understand, the sound has been nailed down since Sugarfried took them to CES/MacWorld/NAMM. The part that was not finished was a production version of the shell.

3)If you can convince your dad to let you, I'd whole-heartedly recommend them based upon what I heard when Sugarfried was out here for NAMM.

 

[Sugarfried]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtheisticFreedom Also, I read in that 15-or-so page topic about the E500 that the cord is now removable, w/ some technology or something so that if you snag it, it will disengage from the earbuds so your ears won't be ripped inside out. True? Edit: A few more questions- 1.) How will the earphones be worn? The way I'm looking at the pictures, they will be upside-down relative to the Shure name on the side, and the cord will be looped over the top of the ears and down. 2.) What is yet not finished about the E500? I read from another topic that everything inside its shell is finshed, Shure just needs to tweak the sound. 3.) Is Shure expecting an iPod-like demand for these? I'm considering to place my dad's credit card on earphonesolutions.com for the preorder.

There is a breakpoint in the cable where the left and right cords come together. This is to allow for the PTH to be plugged in or to allow a regular extension cable to be used. It will also help in the event of snags, as you mentioned. But there is a decent amount of friction, so it'll take quite a snag to unplug it.

To your numbered questions:
1. Jasper nailed the wearing question. The logo will be right side up when worn properly.

2. Nothing is not yet finished. We are reviewing our production procedures and ramping up. The audio has been complete since October and the mechanics have been complete since January. It's all about manufacturing now.

3. Who knows. Rather than release it now and be on backorder for two months we're holding off the introduction so that all initial dealer orders can be filled from the beginning.

I hope this helps.

 

[oldspice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sugarfried You're about 12 miles away from me. Too bad your layover isn't longer.

I travel extensively through ORD. I think you should meet me there on my next trip to give me a test set of the E500's so I can do an in-depth analysis of them. I'll even do it for FREE! Just think of the great, FREE, plublicity Shure would get! I'll even buy you a coffee for your efforts! How can you and Shure possibly pass up an opportunity like this?

BTW, my tounge's firmly in my cheek, if you didn't get that already.

Seriously though, thanks for the info on the upcoming phones!

 

[Sugarfried]

Old Spice: LOL! But in all seriousness, if you have an extended layover and you can make it to the Niles area I would gladly meet up and give a demo of anything you want to try. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Edwood]

LOL, my wife might be wondering why our next flight that lays over in ORD has a five hour layover.

And bravo for waiting to do a proper product launch, rather than rushing and having shortages from the start.

-Ed

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Yes, we don't want to have another XBox 360 situation on the market, now do we?

 

[garyd9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtheisticFreedom Yes, we don't want to have another XBox 360 situation on the market, now do we?

Huge difference... I expect the E500's I have on pre-order to actually work properly when I get them.

 

[oldspice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sugarfried Old Spice: LOL! But in all seriousness, if you have an extended layover and you can make it to the Niles area I would gladly meet up and give a demo of anything you want to try. It wouldn't be the first time.

I just might have to take you up on that! Thanks!

 

[catscratch]

** casts lvl 3 Raise Dead Thread... then runs back into geekdom **

Damn, 119 dB/mW? Is it then reasonable to assume that the E500 is approximately as sensitive to background hiss as other canalphones with similar sensitivities i.e. UM2?

I also have to wonder at these extremely high sensitivities for very high-end IEMs. Based on my experiences with the UM2 and ES2, I have to say that overly high sensitivities are detrimental to the headphone's versatility, since they make amp and mp3 player matching more problematic. A lot of excellent-sounding amps and mp3 players have either too much gain or too much background hiss to be usable with these IEMs.