[Pianist]

SE530 and 535 are amazing sounding headphones. They are not lacking anything at all to my ears. Make sure you get a good fit... if you can. For some ear shapes and sizes, it's just not possible unfortunately without getting some custom tips and doing multiple refits on them.

 

[Rmccullo]

SE530 and 535 are amazing sounding headphones. They are not lacking anything at all to my ears. Make sure you get a good fit... if you can. For some ear shapes and sizes, it's just not possible unfortunately without getting some custom tips and doing multiple refits on them.

Good point. I never tried the 530 or 535, but I felt that the se210 was almost useless without the olives. I couldn't believe how bad they were with all the other tips, but concluded that they were okay with the olives

 

[music_4321]

 
Quote:

SE530 and 535 are amazing sounding headphones. They are not lacking anything at all to my ears. Make sure you get a good fit... if you can. For some ear shapes and sizes, it's just not possible unfortunately without getting some custom tips and doing multiple refits on them.

 
Hey, I wish you'd said exactly the same thing when you've bashed the ES3X over and over again in so many threads: that perhaps you never got a good fit in the first place and might have needed one or more refits. You are, as far as I know, the only person to have found the $850 ES3X customs "mediocre". I needed 3 re-fits, BTW - that's 4 different sets!
 
EDIT: BTW, I got a perfect fit with both SE530 & SE535 and I didn't find either of them nearly as good sounding as the W4, UM3X, TF10, CK100, IE8, UM2 or W3

 

[Pianist]

Quote:

 
Hey, I wish you'd said exactly the same thing when you've bashed the ES3X over and over again in so many threads: that perhaps you never got a good fit in the first place and might have needed one or more refits. You are, as far as I know, the only person to have found the $850 ES3X customs "mediocre". I needed 3 re-fits, BTW - that's 4 different sets!

Maybe you are right. I thought ES3X was really bad, but SE530 was even worse with a bad fit so yeah. Well, but now the question is: do multi drivers really improve sound over good single drivers? My Etymotic ER4 properly fitted is every bit as good as properly fitted SE530 in my opinion, or even better. Both are awesome, but SE530 has 3 drivers while ER4 only has one. I do not find the bass at all lacking on the ER4. Nor the soundstage, nor the dynamics.So if they sound the same in quality then why add the extra drivers? I just don't see any benefit in multiple drivers other than extending the frequency response a little. This concern is for a different thread though.

 

[music_4321]

^^  You replied as I was editing my previous post. 

Basically, I got a perfect fit with both SE530 & SE535 and I didn't find either of them nearly as good sounding as the W4, UM3X, TF10, CK100, IE8, UM2 or W3.

I haven't tried the Etys, so I cannot comment on them - they remain an IEM I've yet to try, but after so many reviews I've not yet been convinced to pull the trigger on them.

I also don't believe that more drivers is necessarily better, and the perfect example, for me at least, are the SE530, SE535 & SM3. I'd take the UM2 (dual-driver) & Super.fi 5 v2 (single-driver) over all 3 of them.

However, as good as the UM2 was - an IEM that's been highly praised, BTW - I've found the W4, UM3X, TF10 & CK100 better sounding. Yet, I prefer the dual-driver UM2 over the triple-driver W3.

 

[Pianist]

^ To each their own. Sound is so subjective. I preferred ER6i out of my MiniBox E+ to UM2 and Super.fi 5 Pro. I preferred Super.fi 5 Pro and UM2 to Phonak PFE. I also prefer my Super.fi 3 Studio to Phonak PFE and Super.fi 5 Pro. I thought Westone 3 was terrible, while UM3X was much better, but lacked treble energy. I preferred RE0 to the W3 and UM3X. But I would take the UM3X over the UM2 and Super.fi 5 Pro, but not over the ER6i. ER6i and RE0 amped are neck to neck for me. I prefer both to the ES3X. But then, I prefer SE530/535 to RE0 and ER6i and I prefer the ER4 to all of them. LOL

 

[maverickronin]

All this really comes down to is people complaining about how a particular 'phone's sound sig is different from their own personal preferences.  Just because it doesn't perfectly line up with your own preferences doesn't mean its objectively bad.

 

[TYATYA]

Quote:

I own a good number of high end universals and customs and when I bought the Shure SE535s a few months back, I expected them to be outstanding from the reviews. However, since then I have realised that they have:
 
1) Absolutely no sub-bass to speak of
2) Rolled off and recessed highs
3) Sibilance not present in the SE530s
 
I wish someone had put this more explicitly in reviews when I purchased them. However, the mids are very smooth.

1) No sub-bass ?
I don't agree with this thing. 
 
I think you use it without burn-in process. After burn 200h and choose silicon bud (not foam bud as intial) for better bass explsion,
let's down this album http://www.mediafire.com/?cckjlwod22dct (DTS 6 chanel, Chinesse melody) and seek to 0:38:29 of the track .
 
You will hear low freq play wonderfull 
 
If you use black foam bud, bass is not powerfull, also with yellow bud. No bass at all with white sleeve
 
 
2) Yes. We can see max 19kHz on the box ! 
 
3) Dissagree. Nothing s,sh,th......at all track

 

[TYATYA]

For people who wants MORE bass power of SE535.
 
When you pur. a branch new shure se535 then it include a package of accessory. 
 
Let's take white flang sleeve inside and cut it's pipe at ending - you get two rings with length should be 2-3mm length cut of from the white flang sleeve.
 
Now, put those rings into Black sleeve (at size best fit to your ears) , each ring goes for each ear bud.
 
 

 
 
Now I am sure you will MORE MORE satisfy much more than before ! 
 
* Bass more powerfull
* Detail of bass is maintance
* Mid is maintance
* Feeling is good : very soft compare to silicon ear bud
*Treble is more high and clear ! GOOOOOOODDDDD

 

[jleewach]

Not having heard the SE535, I must say I thought the SE530 was very good... until I started comparing them to other offerings in their price range. While I won't agree that there's zero sub-bass (I found sub-bass to be one of the strengths,) the utter lack of quality treble from an iem of that price class was simply a joke. Comparing the 530s to other offerings such as the TF10s, ER4s, IE8s, it felt as though there was an entire layer of music missing from the Shures. The mids are good, but honestly, I don't think the quality of mids is much better than that of say, the ER4s; it's just that, with the Shures, the mids are shoved so far down your throat, it's really all you notice.
 
I think many people just like to be seen with the 530s/535s because they're Shure products. In my book, Shure is very quickly becoming a very overrated brand.

 

[grocerybag]

IEM's are good for utility listening like performing or a noisy train/office. You might get better sound from an equally priced over ear headphone but there are many situations where IEM's are simple more practical. What you paid for was the small size and superior noise canceling. At least that was what I paid for....

 

[imackler]

FWIW, I really appreciate the W4. It is an amazing earphone, perhaps the most balanced earphone I've heard. Technically very impressive. But that being said, I just got another pair of SE535 to do some AB listening. And I really, really like the SE535. I think the W4's bass is more controlled and treble a bit more extended, but I really prefer the SE535's mids and warm, fun presentation. The SE535 are also really easy to drive and comparing the two, I begin to wonder if the W4 doesn't need an amp to push things a bit further. The SE535 has a clean and even bright sound. It is a lot of fun and just an excellent earphone. It still has enough control to handle complicated passages and has a descent sound stage. The W4 beats it in some ways, but I think I prefer the SE535's sound signature. Now, take this with a grain of salt, because I've never had full size headphones or an at home system. I'm an audiophile by heart and have come to this headfi thing solely through the iem portal. But I think the SE535 are simply an incredible pair of earphones.
 
I think if more people were doing direct AB comparisons of W4 and SE535, and not relying on memory (which is what I was doing before they arrived), more would find that the SE535 is a worthy rival to the W4.
 
I know I haven't addressed all the OP's posts concerns. I just wanted to say that the SE535 should be heard.

 

[EraserXIV]

I agree, I've been formulating my thoughts on this and you pretty much took the words out of my mouth. The SE535 is no slouch and holds its own very well against the W4. I find myself bobbing my head and tapping my feet more than with the W4. The W4 is incredibly balanced and technically competent, but that may not necessarily be what some people are looking for. IEMs like the SM3 and SE535 are more of my type of signature, but on the SE535 I think the bass is a bit too recessed and the highs are not as smooth. The SE535 gave a sense of the frequencies being an upside-down V, which made me feel just a tad claustrophobic. That being said, the clarity in the SE535 is refreshing when I was comparing them A/B against the W4.
 
If only the W4 had the SE535 mids... that would be the perfect middle ground between the SM3 and the SE535, two of the more musical IEMs I've heard. The RE262 came close to being exactly what I've been looking for, but the fact that it needed an amp to sound the best defeated my purpose of having a portable setup. Hopefully the RE272 fixes this...
 
Also, I agree with the thought about the W4 amping, I found myself pumping the volume up a bit higher to hear the mids a little more present. Sometimes I just felt that they weren't being driven to their full potential. However, I love my mids upfront and forward so others may think differently.

 

[TheGomdoRi]

That mod is pretty crazy lol I must try sometime for fun

 

[scrane]

Let me first say that I do not have the se535. I have had the se530 for a couple of years and think its a pretty good earphone. What gets me is that Shure charges so much for the se535 when 90% of its development costs were paid off years ago with the se530. Shure had an opportunity to pass these savings on to its customers, but instead decided to screw them.