[SparkOnShore]

Yup!  Although they do have some fairly elevated bass, it seems to be well-separated from the mids.  I don't know how they engineered a single dynamic microdriver to have such heavy bass and yet have it so clearly delineated with only minimal bleed into the mids.  The engineers at Shure are cleary brilliant.

That being said, the treble isn't TOO rolled-off.  I find it still has an enjoyable amount of sparkle/air.

One more post by goodyfresh on 8-27. Today he writes the complete opposite. Which one is correct??

 

[cuiter23]

I disagree. Not only the build quality, but also the fit, comfort and isolation are at the top of what $100 would get you.

I agree that there are beter options out there for sheer audio quality, but very few have that same mid-forward signature. Most are either relatively neutral or v-shaped.

I'm in the process of trying to find an improvement over my 3 year old SE215, but it's pretty difficult to find something that will improve upon that sound signature for the same cost or less (at least in the Netherlands).

 
I agree with you about the fit comfort, isolation, etc etc. Sound is decent, not bad. I've made custom shells for my 215s but I use them on stage so I can throw around.
 
If you like the lush mids, check out the 535s, those offer a direct improvement over the SE215s but are not worth the MSRP. You can find one used. Although the 535 is better than the 215 in all aspects, it still lacks speed, transparency, and imaging for the price. Unfortunately the 535s are still way too mid-centered but does bass and treble better than the 215s.

 

[cuiter23]

One more post by goodyfresh on 8-27. Today he writes the complete opposite. Which one is correct??

 
LOL. I would understand if it was posted maybe a year apart. When I first bought my 215s (3 years ago) I loved them. It wasn't until a year or so that I've found better options. All comes with experience
 
However, its weird that his posts are only 4 months apart and now he seems to contradict his own statement. But hey, he might have came to a revelation much quicker than I have.

 

[Belabor]

If you like the lush mids, check out the 535s, those offer a direct improvement over the SE215s but are not worth the MSRP.

I'm not even interested in the slightest to spend that amount of money on an IEM, though. I use IEM's for sports and commuting and would never want to spend more than $100-150 on them for those applications.

I just got a Sony SBH80 bluetooth set, but I think those will be going back. They simply don't have the same energy the Shure's have and the treble and bass is way too forward for my tastes.

 

[SparkOnShore]

LOL. I would understand if it was posted maybe a year apart. When I first bought my 215s (3 years ago) I loved them. It wasn't until a year or so that I've found better options. All comes with experience

However, its weird that his posts are only 4 months apart and now he seems to contradict his own statement. But hey, he might have came to a revelation much quicker than I have.

Exactly! Either he doesn't know what he writes about and he just adds posts without any reason, or he is here to advertise iems that are not known or trusted by anyone. If you check his posts he always mentions 2-3 iems, most probably to promote them, but I wonder even if sound is good how to compare them to a well known and trusted brand like Shure? Big brand name offers a full package not just a good product, which to me is preferable. Personally I like the bass and mids centric sound of the se215 which I believe is unique in the market. It's a decent iem offering an enjoyable sound. Also its FR is really good and accurate...

 

[smy1]

are the westone series say better then the shures series like price wise?

 

[cuiter23]

I'm not even interested in the slightest to spend that amount of money on an IEM, though. I use IEM's for sports and commuting and would never want to spend more than $100-150 on them for those applications.

I just got a Sony SBH80 bluetooth set, but I think those will be going back. They simply don't have the same energy the Shure's have and the treble and bass is way too forward for my tastes.

you are a rare breed of head-fi'ers

are the westone series say better then the shures series like price wise?

Not really. The um10 is tremendously dissapointing even more so than the se215s. However, I prefer the W4R > SE535

 

[goodyfresh]

The same poster "goodyfresh" who now diminishes the value and insults the very good SE215, wrote the above text here in head-fi on 08-28. When was he writing correctly? In August or now? Unfortunately some people participate in forums not in order to be helpful and informative but for other reasons, it seems...

Well excuse me for having been a newbie to the hobby at one point in time. So I'm not allowed to have been wrong at some point in the past?

Back then, the SE215 seemed very fantastic to me.  Since then, I have had experience with a greater variety of IEM's and headphones and come to realize that while the SE215 IS a good value for its price, one can still do much better.
 
I see everyone has been flaming me here while I've been away, thanks a lot, guys, I really appreciate that.
 

   
LOL. I would understand if it was posted maybe a year apart. When I first bought my 215s (3 years ago) I loved them. It wasn't until a year or so that I've found better options. All comes with experience
 
However, its weird that his posts are only 4 months apart and now he seems to contradict his own statement. But hey, he might have came to a revelation much quicker than I have.
 

Exactly, in only four months I have gotten a great deal more experience and come to a number of revelations.
 
You'll notice that in the posts of mine that @SparkOnShore keeps quoting, I continually mention these having only a single dynamic microdriver.  That is part of the issue here.  Four months ago, I did not realize it was possible to get good dual-driver IEM's in this very same price-range.  Most dual-driver IEM's are much more expensive, approaching the $200 mark, you see.  It's true that the SE215 are very good for a single-driver IEM, and so because of that I used to think that they were a very very very good IEM for this price.  However, I now own two different under-$100 dual-driver IEM's, both of which best the SE215 significantly in all aspects, IMO.
 
Quote:

Exactly! Either he doesn't know what he writes about and he just adds posts without any reason, or he is here to advertise iems that are not known or trusted by anyone. If you check his posts he always mentions 2-3 iems, most probably to promote them, but I wonder even if sound is good how to compare them to a well known and trusted brand like Shure? Big brand name offers a full package not just a good product, which to me is preferable. Personally I like the bass and mids centric sound of the se215 which I believe is unique in the market. It's a decent iem offering an enjoyable sound. Also its FR is really good and accurate...

 
Yes, I DID NOT KNOW WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT four months ago, I was a newbie to these forums and to this hobby.
 
However, you don't seem to know what you're talking about, either.  Case in point:  "its FR is really good and accurate."  You kidding me?  The FR of the SE215 is very much bass-boosted and has rolled-off treble compared to the lows.  Even four months ago, I knew that much.  http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/ShureSE215.pdf  http://en.goldenears.net/5982   See?  Two different, completey independent sources of measurements show heavily boosted bass (not quite to basshead levels, but certainly not "accurate" or "neutral" by any means) as well as treble rolled-off above 5Khz,w ith very little upper treble air.
 
I can easily HEAR how bass-boosted they are if I listen to an equal volume sweeping-tone played from 20Hz up through 10Khz, and then compare that to the same thing played back by something much more neutral like the Puro Sound Labs IEM500 or the Mr. Speakers Alpha Dog.
 
Now, what I will say is that these do a very good job for a fairly bass-boosted, single-dynamic driver IEM, and you won't find much better on the market in that regard.  However, it is possible to get significantly better clarity, detail, and dynamics from other IEM's in the under $100 price-range.  I did not know that when I was posting four months ago, as I was a relative newbie to the hobby and such multi-driver IEM's for under $100 are more obscure and hard to find out about.
 
So please stop flaming me and saying what a jerk I apparently am for having deliberately misled everyone or whatever it is you think I did.  You don't even know me, guys.
 
I mean damn, how dare I have the audacity to learn more about audio and thus change my mind about this product during the past third of a year!  Right? 

 
Also, I'm not trying to promote the Trinity Delta or the Puro Sound Labs IEM500 out of some kind of interest in gain either for me or those companies.  And if you really think that a "big brand name" like Shure is just automatically better than  little, more obscure companies like Trinity or Puro, then you are being extremely closed-minded, man, and essentially succumbing to the same kind of reasoning that causes everyday, non-audiophile folks to purchase Beats or Bose headphones because they're such big brand-names they have heard of.
 
Let's look objectively for a minute.  Both the Puro IEM500 and the Trinity Delta can be easily found for a price of under $100, essentially the same as or cheaper than the SE215.  However, unlike the 215, both of those products have dual drivers, which produce better detail and clarity across the frequency range by being more versatile. . .you see, it's quite hard for a tiny little few-millimeter-sized dynamic driver to reproduce all the frequencies from 20Hz to 20khz.  One can easily engineer a much better response from a PAIR of dynamic drivers, or a dynamic driver paired with a balanced-armature (as in the case of the Deltas), with a crossover.

Finally, I very much take issue with your statement "iems that are not known or trusted by anyone."  That's absolute BS dude.  Okay, the Puro IEM500's are very, very little-known, I'll give you that.  But the Trinity Delta are LOVED on these forums.  Did you even BOTHER going and searching the rest of the forums before making such a statement about the IEM's I have been "promoting?"  The Trinity Delta IEM's are some of the best-reviewed low-cost IEM's on all of Head Fi.  Don't wanna take my word for it?  Just ask @Brooko, he's one of the most respected reviewers on this site (often gets his reviews posted on the front page) with tons of experience with IEM's (he's tried out at least DOZENS of high-end IEM's, if not hundreds), and the Trinity Deltas are, according to him, his #1 pick by-far in their price-range, from what he's heard so far (he hasn't heard the Puro IEM500's though, haha).
 
And don't go telling me about hte "full package" that big brand names give compared to "little" companies like Trinity.  You don't even know.  The SE215 came with a few pairws of foam and silicone tips and a little fabric carrying pouch with cleaning tool.  The Trinity Delta. . .wanna know what THEY came with?  They came with:  A HARD carrying-case, a right-angle connector adapter, three sizes/pairs of silicone tips, a pair of dual-flange silicone tips, two sizes of foam tips, and, here's the kicker:  Custom tuning filters.  The Trinity Delta comes with three different custom filters that allow you to tweak the frequency-response to your liking.

 

[SparkOnShore]

Well excuse me for having been a newbie to the hobby at one point in time. So I'm not allowed to have been wrong at some point in the past?


Back then, the SE215 seemed very fantastic to me.  Since then, I have had experience with a greater variety of IEM's and headphones and come to realize that while the SE215 IS a good value for its price, one can still do much better.

I see everyone has been flaming me here while I've been away, thanks a lot, guys, I really appreciate that.

Exactly, in only four months I have gotten a great deal more experience and come to a number of revelations.

You'll notice that in the posts of mine that @SparkOnShore
 keeps quoting, I continually mention these having only a single dynamic microdriver.  That is part of the issue here.  Four months ago, I did not realize it was possible to get good dual-driver IEM's in this very same price-range.  Most dual-driver IEM's are much more expensive, approaching the $200 mark, you see.  It's true that the SE215 are very good for a single-driver IEM, and so because of that I used to think that they were a very very very good IEM for this price.  However, I now own two different under-$100 dual-driver IEM's, both of which best the SE215 significantly in all aspects, IMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SparkOnShore /img/forum/go_quote.gif



Exactly! Either he doesn't know what he writes about and he just adds posts without any reason, or he is here to advertise iems that are not known or trusted by anyone. If you check his posts he always mentions 2-3 iems, most probably to promote them, but I wonder even if sound is good how to compare them to a well known and trusted brand like Shure? Big brand name offers a full package not just a good product, which to me is preferable. Personally I like the bass and mids centric sound of the se215 which I believe is unique in the market. It's a decent iem offering an enjoyable sound. Also its FR is really good and accurate...

Yes, I DID NOT KNOW WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT four months ago, I was a newbie to these forums and to this hobby.

However, you don't seem to know what you're talking about, either.  Case in point:  "its FR is really good and accurate."  You kidding me?  The FR of the SE215 is very much bass-boosted and has rolled-off treble compared to the lows.  Even four months ago, I knew that much.  http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/ShureSE215.pdf  http://en.goldenears.net/5982   See?  Two different, completey independent sources of measurements show heavily boosted bass (not quite to basshead levels, but certainly not "accurate" or "neutral" by any means) as well as treble rolled-off above 5Khz,w ith very little upper treble air.

I can easily HEAR how bass-boosted they are if I listen to an equal volume sweeping-tone played from 20Hz up through 10Khz, and then compare that to the same thing played back by something much more neutral like the Puro Sound Labs IEM500 or the Mr. Speakers Alpha Dog.

Now, what I will say is that these do a very good job for a fairly bass-boosted, single-dynamic driver IEM, and you won't find much better on the market in that regard.  However, it is possible to get significantly better clarity, detail, and dynamics from other IEM's in the under $100 price-range.  I did not know that when I was posting four months ago, as I was a relative newbie to the hobby and such multi-driver IEM's for under $100 are more obscure and hard to find out about.

So please stop flaming me and saying what a jerk I apparently am for having deliberately misled everyone or whatever it is you think I did.  You don't even know me, guys.

I mean damn, how dare I have the audacity to learn more about audio and thus change my mind about this product during the past third of a year!  Right? :rolleyes:

Also, I'm not trying to promote the Trinity Delta or the Puro Sound Labs IEM500 out of some kind of interest in gain either for me or those companies.  And if you really think that a "big brand name" like Shure is just automatically better than  little, more obscure companies like Trinity or Puro, then you are being extremely closed-minded, man, and essentially succumbing to the same kind of reasoning that causes everyday, non-audiophile folks to purchase Beats or Bose headphones because they're such big brand-names they have heard of.

Let's look objectively for a minute.  Both the Puro IEM500 and the Trinity Delta can be easily found for a price of under $100, essentially the same as or cheaper than the SE215.  However, unlike the 215, both of those products have dual drivers, which produce better detail and clarity across the frequency range by being more versatile. . .you see, it's quite hard for a tiny little few-millimeter-sized dynamic driver to reproduce all the frequencies from 20Hz to 20khz.  One can easily engineer a much better response from a PAIR of dynamic drivers, or a dynamic driver paired with a balanced-armature (as in the case of the Deltas), with a crossover.


Finally, I very much take issue with your statement "iems that are not known or trusted by anyone."  That's absolute BS dude.  Okay, the Puro IEM500's are very, very little-known, I'll give you that.  But the Trinity Delta are LOVED on these forums.  Did you even BOTHER going and searching the rest of the forums before making such a statement about the IEM's I have been "promoting?"  The Trinity Delta IEM's are some of the best-reviewed low-cost IEM's on all of Head Fi.  Don't wanna take my word for it?  Just ask @Brooko
, he's one of the most respected reviewers on this site (often gets his reviews posted on the front page) with tons of experience with IEM's (he's tried out at least DOZENS of high-end IEM's, if not hundreds), and the Trinity Deltas are, according to him, his #1 pick by-far in their price-range, from what he's heard so far (he hasn't heard the Puro IEM500's though, haha).

And don't go telling me about hte "full package" that big brand names give compared to "little" companies like Trinity.  You don't even know.  The SE215 came with a few pairws of foam and silicone tips and a little fabric carrying pouch with cleaning tool.  The Trinity Delta. . .wanna know what THEY came with?  They came with:  A HARD carrying-case, a right-angle connector adapter, three sizes/pairs of silicone tips, a pair of dual-flange silicone tips, two sizes of foam tips, and, here's the kicker:  Custom tuning filters.  The Trinity Delta comes with three different custom filters that allow you to tweak the frequency-response to your liking.

First of all I would like to apologize if at any point you felt insulted by my writings. I didn't mean anything bad...

Now back to the point; What I really meant with my post is that even though audio is subjective and even though just 4-5 months ago you started this hobby, you present like you got the absolute truth of audio, which is not the case as you can understand.

I am trying to prove what I say; You say that you discovered that there are dual drivers iems at the same price point which are more accurate so you believe they are also better. It's a wrong concept because the multi driver armature vs DD iems subject has been thoroughly analyzed in head fi and NONE gathered that one is better than the other. They are just different dude, different approach to audio for different tastes but none is better or worse. DD has more bass which for some music is very very important. It's not if you listen to Mozart only, but many don't care for Mozart but they do care for Future's album DS2 which is awesome with bass elevation. Also DD is more natural and dual drivers in a way more artificial because of the crosstalk. Read the relevant head fi threads to learn for yourself.

On the other hand dual driver armature it's true that presents more details, more air, being more accurate. But to some they also sound clinical and fatiguing. So each person has different tastes in audio. Don't present yourself as the ultimate knowledge which is also 5 months old!...

Now, you should also search in head fi the reviews and opinions about ADDIEM. They have one of the 10 best FR, they are light and very comfy, dual driver armatures and cost 90 eur more or less. What do you say? Why shall I choose Trinity over Apple?? If a Trinity driver goes off who will compensate me? How is their service? Are they serious to customer's approach? Will they be here for long or if their sales get reduced they will send us all to hell?? How easily I can find their products everywhere? Are there physical stores or just an Internet site??

All these questions I don't have for Apple, neither for Shure. I just trust them. So if I want balanced armature, I buy ADDIEM: awesome reviews, very good warranty program, you can take them back and buy new ANYWHERE around the globe, perfect and accurate FR for dual driver, comfy, light etc etc etc...And cost 90 eur only, less than your Trinity...

 

[Brooko]

On this thread because Goody mentioned my name.
 
@goodyfresh - while the SE215 may not be as suited to your tastes any more because you've found IEMs which suit your personal preferences a little better, saying other IEMs definitively "beat the SE215 in every way" is neither true nor constructive.  For someone looking for a combination of isolation, full bass, and foward mids (as well as an ergononmic over-ear fit), the SE215 may well fit their particular bill.  Also - expect to get bounced if you come onto an SE215 thread and constantly push another brand of earphones.  It is OK to make suggestions - but to SE215 owners, it does get annoying when you are constantly pushing another product.  They are on this SE215 thread for a reason.
 
@SparkOnShore - Your last comments show you have done zero research into the Trinity brand.  They may have only been on Head-Fi for less than a year, but in that time they have released a range of extremely well regarded earphones (both sonically and build quality), shown exemplary service (especially if there have been issues), and have been very interactive with this community in particular (something neither Apple or Shure really do). The Delta in particular is an incredible deal, and for my personal tastes I would take it any day over the SE215 - but it is a very different earphone. Also - your comments regarding DD vs dual drivers is incorrect.  The Delta has a full range dynamic and a BA - IE a hybrid.  The ADDIEM is is dual BA.  And in this case very different type signatures.  I have also tried multi BA drivers which have full quick bass, well articulated mid-ranges, and extended but smooth treble. Just because an earphone has a particular driver type, it is impossible to classify it without listening to it.  Saying dual BAs tend toward harshness doesn't make sense - neither does your comment on crosstalk - or are you talking about the use of crossovers - two very different things!  But I do agree with you about the ADDIEM - pretty nice signature if that is what you like.
 
For anyone else reading - I really like and rate Shure products, having personally owned the SE315, 425, 535, SRH840, 940, 1840, and demoed the SE215.  My pick of their IEM range would be the SE425, and if they had better extension both ends, they would be incredibly close to my ideal signature I think.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

Joined the club today! I really like these inexpensive in-ears with their warm signature.
 
Now I have a question... Can someone recommends a really good cable for the SE215? I can buy from ebay and taobao/alibaba... I found a lot of links on ebay but not sure which one would improve the sound on the 215. Or, if none of them can, please recommend a good cable with mic for the phones. My sincere thanks

 

[desik]

Hi to all,
I'm trying hard to like the lightly used pair of SE215 that I got from ebay. They have nowhere the "ton of bass" this thread say. Today I took my time and experimented with all flanges and compared them with the old but good $10 HPM-70 IEM and HD650 (just to see the bass/brightness balance).
 
I like the large rubber flanges the most. They definitely provide a better seal than HPM-70. Yet there's much less bass. And I still find HPM-70 more enjoyable. Even compared to HD650 which are a tad warm but nowhere bass-heavy cans, HD650 has a little more bass overall. Sub-bass in SE215 is the most lacking.
 
Burned them a few days, nothing changed.
 
Did I get a fake pair? SE215 are sold on aliexpress.com, so I don't know what to think. The box looks like US version, no Chinese characters. Anyone else had this experience? Fortunately I can still return them.

 

[bellahsu]

The SE215s that are sold on aliexpress are very tempting. I contacted Shure to inquire about SE215s sold well below MSRP on aliexpress.com. Here is the response that I received from Shure -
 
"... While we cannot tell from the picture whether they are real or not, I am confident in saying that they are counterfeit based solely on the price. This is significantly less than what our dealers buy our earphones for, which leads me to believe that these are indeed fake. "

 

[cuiter23]

Hi to all,
I'm trying hard to like the lightly used pair of SE215 that I got from ebay. They have nowhere the "ton of bass" this thread say. Today I took my time and experimented with all flanges and compared them with the old but good $10 HPM-70 IEM and HD650 (just to see the bass/brightness balance).

I like the large rubber flanges the most. They definitely provide a better seal than HPM-70. Yet there's much less bass. And I still find HPM-70 more enjoyable. Even compared to HD650 which are a tad warm but nowhere bass-heavy cans, HD650 has a little more bass overall. Sub-bass in SE215 is the most lacking.

Burned them a few days, nothing changed.

Did I get a fake pair? SE215 are sold on aliexpress.com, so I don't know what to think. The box looks like US version, no Chinese characters. Anyone else had this experience? Fortunately I can still return them.

There are known to be fake SE models. If its too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[desik]

There are known to be fake SE models. If its too good to be true, it probably is.

I actually went on and bought a new pair from Amazon, just to check whether what I got are fakes or not. They sound exactly the same. SE215 have an ok mid-bass, but sub-bass is nowhere to be found. Details are also not impressive. IMHO, SE215 are totally overpriced.