Sakal
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 15, 2011
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[size=16.0pt]Review of the Shure SE215[/size]
Hello Head-Fi.
To start off, I’d like to mention that this review is mainly for those who are interested in upgrading or changing to the SE215’s. I’m not an expert with audio products or their terminology, so I’ll do the best I can to describe the sound quality of these IEM’s.
Some important things to note about myself and this review:
[size=14.0pt]The Review:[/size]
I picked these IEM’s up online for $129AUD from Headphonic (www.headphones.com.au). At first I was deciding between the SE215 and the Monster Jamz but I decided to go with these instead. The reason I bought these were so they could replace my Sennheiser CX-300 for casual listening. Casual listening because my Triple.Fi 10’s do not really have a relaxed sound which I sometimes need for listening at night time.
What they come with:
These Shure’s come with two pairs of sizes, small, medium and large ear buds; one pair silicone and the other being foam. A cleaner stick (I think that’s what you’d call it) and a bag for storage/travel are also included.
Sound Quality:
Lows:
Straight away, after listening to these earphones, I noticed that the lows were inferior to the Sennheiser’s, however this was expected from a Shure product. Low bass was almost non-existent while the mid bass was average and the high bass punchy.
To describe what I mean when I say that the low bass was almost non-existent you should search the song, “Bassotronics – Bass, I love you”. The low bass in the background throughout the song can barely be heard while using these Shure’s. This should not be perceived as a bad thing though, since only a few songs contain low bass such as this and the only reason I chose this song as an example, was to show you what type of low bass I was talking about.
Mid bass and high bass are both average, again not expected to be spectacular but turned out to be better than I expected. I will admit, I did not really like the bass coming out of the SE215 at first but after a while, I really started to like how they sounded.
Mids:
Yep, the best part of the earphones, are the mids. I was quite impressed by the clarity of the mids and they seemed to stand out more so than other frequencies, in most if not all types of songs. To best describe the mids, I would say that they sound ‘in-your-face’ but they do so naturally. To compare the mids with my other earphones, I would say that the clarity of the mids surpasses those in the Sennheiser’s and come quite close to the Triple.Fi 10. This should give a perspective on how the mids are on the SE215’s.
Highs:
Highs in the Shure’s are average and sound realistic. To be honest, it sounded a bit rolled off but this does not bother me since, in a relaxed sounding earphone, I wanted limited highs. Meaning the highs in the Shure’s do not extend very high compared to the Triple.Fi 10 however are still relatively better than the CX-300’s. I know, you’re probably thinking that I should stop comparing $100AUD earphones with $400AUD earphones but I mostly do so to provide perspective on the extension in the bass/highs.
Product Quality/Comfort/Isolation:
First off, I would like to say that these earphones are aesthetically pleasing in-ear, and off. I use the foam earbuds since they are more comfortable than the silicone earbuds. They also look better on the earphones, compared to the silicone earbuds because the silicone ones are grey in colour, while the black foam tips match the colour of the earphones.
The isolation is very good with both the silicone and foam earbuds; however the foam earbuds are slightly better with isolation. Something I would like to also share is that, I’ve always hated foam earbuds, mainly because of the hassle required to put the earphones in. After trying foam tips on these earphones I think I will be using foam earbuds more often. I have yet to try the foam tips on the Triple.Fi 10’s.
There are two annoying features that I do not like with these earphones and they both have to do with the wire. The wire that comes attached feels very durable and I do like that they are detachable, however the part where the wire connects to the driver housing is designed to spin freely, and this is an annoyance for me. It makes it hard to put the earphones on because I have to hold the part of the wire that goes over my ear upright, and at the same time hold the earphone itself when putting them on. The other annoyance with the wire is the wireform fit technology because they do not conform very well. They tend to unravel a bit from where you want them. Don’t get me wrong, they do an impressive job for not having any memory wire in them, but I would very much prefer memory wire for the job.
Finishing Up:
Overall, I think that these earphones are a very nice purchase. They provide great value for money especially for those who are considering upgrading to them. I hope this review has answered at least some of your questions and I would recommend these earphones to anyone. Summing up, these IEM’s have average lows, very good and natural mids, decent natural highs and very good isolation with great comfort and looks. The sound signature of these Shure’s may not suit you at first (as this was the case for me) but I think you will start to enjoy them after a few hours of listening. I apologise if this review was too brief as I did not intend for it to be a full in-depth review and just wanted to share my experience with Head-Fi.
This has been a Sakal earphone review.
Have a great day.
Hello Head-Fi.
To start off, I’d like to mention that this review is mainly for those who are interested in upgrading or changing to the SE215’s. I’m not an expert with audio products or their terminology, so I’ll do the best I can to describe the sound quality of these IEM’s.
Some important things to note about myself and this review:
- Other earphones I currently own: Sennheiser CX-300, Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10.
- Devices used for music playback: Sony Walkman NWZ-A826 and iPhone 3G. Both un-amped.
- Music I listen to: Pop, Rap, Hip-Hop, RnB, Dance.
[size=14.0pt]The Review:[/size]
I picked these IEM’s up online for $129AUD from Headphonic (www.headphones.com.au). At first I was deciding between the SE215 and the Monster Jamz but I decided to go with these instead. The reason I bought these were so they could replace my Sennheiser CX-300 for casual listening. Casual listening because my Triple.Fi 10’s do not really have a relaxed sound which I sometimes need for listening at night time.
What they come with:
These Shure’s come with two pairs of sizes, small, medium and large ear buds; one pair silicone and the other being foam. A cleaner stick (I think that’s what you’d call it) and a bag for storage/travel are also included.
Sound Quality:
Lows:
Straight away, after listening to these earphones, I noticed that the lows were inferior to the Sennheiser’s, however this was expected from a Shure product. Low bass was almost non-existent while the mid bass was average and the high bass punchy.
To describe what I mean when I say that the low bass was almost non-existent you should search the song, “Bassotronics – Bass, I love you”. The low bass in the background throughout the song can barely be heard while using these Shure’s. This should not be perceived as a bad thing though, since only a few songs contain low bass such as this and the only reason I chose this song as an example, was to show you what type of low bass I was talking about.
Mid bass and high bass are both average, again not expected to be spectacular but turned out to be better than I expected. I will admit, I did not really like the bass coming out of the SE215 at first but after a while, I really started to like how they sounded.
Mids:
Yep, the best part of the earphones, are the mids. I was quite impressed by the clarity of the mids and they seemed to stand out more so than other frequencies, in most if not all types of songs. To best describe the mids, I would say that they sound ‘in-your-face’ but they do so naturally. To compare the mids with my other earphones, I would say that the clarity of the mids surpasses those in the Sennheiser’s and come quite close to the Triple.Fi 10. This should give a perspective on how the mids are on the SE215’s.
Highs:
Highs in the Shure’s are average and sound realistic. To be honest, it sounded a bit rolled off but this does not bother me since, in a relaxed sounding earphone, I wanted limited highs. Meaning the highs in the Shure’s do not extend very high compared to the Triple.Fi 10 however are still relatively better than the CX-300’s. I know, you’re probably thinking that I should stop comparing $100AUD earphones with $400AUD earphones but I mostly do so to provide perspective on the extension in the bass/highs.
Product Quality/Comfort/Isolation:
First off, I would like to say that these earphones are aesthetically pleasing in-ear, and off. I use the foam earbuds since they are more comfortable than the silicone earbuds. They also look better on the earphones, compared to the silicone earbuds because the silicone ones are grey in colour, while the black foam tips match the colour of the earphones.
The isolation is very good with both the silicone and foam earbuds; however the foam earbuds are slightly better with isolation. Something I would like to also share is that, I’ve always hated foam earbuds, mainly because of the hassle required to put the earphones in. After trying foam tips on these earphones I think I will be using foam earbuds more often. I have yet to try the foam tips on the Triple.Fi 10’s.
There are two annoying features that I do not like with these earphones and they both have to do with the wire. The wire that comes attached feels very durable and I do like that they are detachable, however the part where the wire connects to the driver housing is designed to spin freely, and this is an annoyance for me. It makes it hard to put the earphones on because I have to hold the part of the wire that goes over my ear upright, and at the same time hold the earphone itself when putting them on. The other annoyance with the wire is the wireform fit technology because they do not conform very well. They tend to unravel a bit from where you want them. Don’t get me wrong, they do an impressive job for not having any memory wire in them, but I would very much prefer memory wire for the job.
Finishing Up:
Overall, I think that these earphones are a very nice purchase. They provide great value for money especially for those who are considering upgrading to them. I hope this review has answered at least some of your questions and I would recommend these earphones to anyone. Summing up, these IEM’s have average lows, very good and natural mids, decent natural highs and very good isolation with great comfort and looks. The sound signature of these Shure’s may not suit you at first (as this was the case for me) but I think you will start to enjoy them after a few hours of listening. I apologise if this review was too brief as I did not intend for it to be a full in-depth review and just wanted to share my experience with Head-Fi.
This has been a Sakal earphone review.
Have a great day.
i found shorter replacements on ebay but i wouldnt like anything to damage my brand new earphones, nor to pay an extra 30$ as of now...
