purplestallion
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 20, 2007
- Posts
- 7
- Likes
- 0
I've owned a pair of Shure E3c earphones for about 3 years now and the plastic of the cables that loops around the ears has started cracking on both sides. Sadly, I've found that this is a more common problem with Shure earphones than I'm sure they would like to admit. Anyway, I really like the E3c on several levels, but as I don't know if I want to give Shure more of my hard earned $$$, I'm looking for something else. As it's hard to find a physical place that stocks a lot of varieties of earphones let alone somewhere that would let you try them all on, I'm in need of some help.
I've searched around the forums but haven't seen anyone that seems to have the same priorities or at least I haven't seen them mentioned in a way that answers my questions.
My priorities are different than many (at least the order) and are as follows:
1. Comfort--I really lucked into the E3c model as I find them extremely comfortable with the medium sized, soft plastic tips. I like that they sink a little deep into my ears and seal very well against outside noise. I'm worried about anything larger (or possibly a different shape) being uncomfortable and as I use them for extended times, comfort is king in my book. I also like looping them over my ears and don't want any that are made to just hang. I really want something close to the same size, shape and fit as the E3c, just not made by Shure.
2. Price--I'd like to spend as little as necessary (I think most would); I'm willing to spend up to $150 but I'd like to keep it between $50 and $100 if possible (and I think it is) since sound is lowest priority.
3. Sound--I know it's blasphemy when around these parts but sound is probably the least important thing to me (at least for this purchase). Most of my mobile listening is to audiobooks and podcasts, not music. As most of these are already encoded at lower quality, I don't need something that sounds amazing. As long as the earphone has good isolation, the actual sound doesn't need to be anything special. This is why I'm hoping to spend less since I'm not actually concerned with sound quality. I'm not shunning it here, and I would rather get something that sounds good, it's just a lower priority than it seems most people around these forums have.
I may still end up getting a new pair of E3c's as they can be had for around $120 and I know I like them, but if someone has a suggestion that could save me a decent amount of money, I'm all ears. I tried on a pair of UE's super.fi 5 pro earphones and couldn't get them to be comfortable as they wouldn't go deep enough in my ears to get a good seal and seemed awkward and uncomfortable though they sounded good, so I'm thinking they may be too big. If the super.fi 3 studio were smaller, I might be interested in those but I haven't really seen a good/bad review on them. I tried some Sony's (can't remember the model but they were white and around $50) and they sounded good but I hated the way they ran up one side, then one earphone ran behind the neck to the other side. They were awkward and kept falling out on me (didn't run around the ear but just hung). Really, I'm open to any other suggestions.
Thanks in advance.
I've searched around the forums but haven't seen anyone that seems to have the same priorities or at least I haven't seen them mentioned in a way that answers my questions.
My priorities are different than many (at least the order) and are as follows:
1. Comfort--I really lucked into the E3c model as I find them extremely comfortable with the medium sized, soft plastic tips. I like that they sink a little deep into my ears and seal very well against outside noise. I'm worried about anything larger (or possibly a different shape) being uncomfortable and as I use them for extended times, comfort is king in my book. I also like looping them over my ears and don't want any that are made to just hang. I really want something close to the same size, shape and fit as the E3c, just not made by Shure.
2. Price--I'd like to spend as little as necessary (I think most would); I'm willing to spend up to $150 but I'd like to keep it between $50 and $100 if possible (and I think it is) since sound is lowest priority.
3. Sound--I know it's blasphemy when around these parts but sound is probably the least important thing to me (at least for this purchase). Most of my mobile listening is to audiobooks and podcasts, not music. As most of these are already encoded at lower quality, I don't need something that sounds amazing. As long as the earphone has good isolation, the actual sound doesn't need to be anything special. This is why I'm hoping to spend less since I'm not actually concerned with sound quality. I'm not shunning it here, and I would rather get something that sounds good, it's just a lower priority than it seems most people around these forums have.
I may still end up getting a new pair of E3c's as they can be had for around $120 and I know I like them, but if someone has a suggestion that could save me a decent amount of money, I'm all ears. I tried on a pair of UE's super.fi 5 pro earphones and couldn't get them to be comfortable as they wouldn't go deep enough in my ears to get a good seal and seemed awkward and uncomfortable though they sounded good, so I'm thinking they may be too big. If the super.fi 3 studio were smaller, I might be interested in those but I haven't really seen a good/bad review on them. I tried some Sony's (can't remember the model but they were white and around $50) and they sounded good but I hated the way they ran up one side, then one earphone ran behind the neck to the other side. They were awkward and kept falling out on me (didn't run around the ear but just hung). Really, I'm open to any other suggestions.
Thanks in advance.
