I received my pair of E500's not too long ago, and tonight I decided to repeat my A/B between my Shure's & Er-6i's.
Sorry if this seems too short, but I'll try to contribute further after I get some sleep. Just a few thoughts in comparison that hopefully cover a variety of sound. Included: E500 v. ER-6i, no exper. w/ E3c.
With a group like Nickel Creek, the Ety's crisp, lighter timbre I thought was spot on & I got easily wrapped up in it's allure. With the Shure's it was warmer, just as sharp but lacked the polished high (as we all know the Shure's are rolled-off). The pay-off? No more sibilance! This was such a horrible factor that I had to fight through to enjoy aspects of the ER-6I's advantanges. The Shure's still sound fantastic, and wonderful to listen to.
The E500's neutral presentation gives it the flexibility to play well with all ranges of music I've thrown at it.
Rock, like Led Zeppelin's mix of acoustic & a group like Metallica? I miss the Ety's tighter & higher tonality of the drums, but, again, the Shure presents a more realistic and well-rounded sound, especially in the Zeppelin's range. Now everything doesn't sound so tightly-wound and the Shure's punchy bass rounds out the bass drums & guitar (finally). I will say, a group like Rage Against the Machine splits the line for me. They have a sound that lends itself to both phones.
On classical, this was proably the furthest stretch I took. As you can probably guess, the cripser Ety sound already lends itself to the strings section. With the rolled Shure, you still get all the highs+mid, bass & now the seperation but at the cost of some aspects of the tight string control. That said, full orchestral & opera sounds better on the Shure's. For me, they simply cover such a presentation with careful ease & class. From Gevorg Dabagian's "Music of Armenia" to Handel's "Messiah," it was dramatically more satisfying on the Shure's. Oh, and on treble, you might want to experiment with the tri-flange, I think-I dunno, check the "Early review of the E500" thread going on.
As the Shure's do well seperating instrumentation, it facilitates s a wonderful experience & more dynamic presentation. Example: listening to Beatles' songs, such as "I'm Only Sleeping," "Slow Down," "I Feel Fine," & "Lovely Rita" or Stevie Wonder, Maurizio Pollini or Anne Queffélec's piano, Fugees, Kings of Convenience, Los Lobos, etc. The pleasure I got hearing bits of background pollution (door's closing, piano instrumentation, monitor bleeding, people's voices) which added intimacy & were a good lil' payoff with the Er-6i's.
With the E500's, you still receive those insights, but with more realistic layering. So when Geogre Martin tells Paul to yawn in "I'm Only Sleeping," it doesn't sound as if he's doing so from three feet away. With the Shure's it sounds more like he's actually doing so from across the studio room at Apple--wonderful!
Instead of sealing together one layer of music with the Er-6i's (seperated only for stereo), with the E500's you recive depth and instrument complexity. Ex: the vibration of a strumming guitar or the boldness of a pipe organ . . . again, these roads lead to the Shure's.
Okay, sorry if I've confused, bored, or even mislead here. These are just the streaming thoughts of someone still up at 3:00am . . .
