The Shure E500 First Impressions Thread!
Apr 23, 2006 at 6:39 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 89
cheechoz

cheechoz

Headphoneus Supremus
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Walking into the doors of the National meet on Saturday brought a big smile to my face, like a kid walking into a toy store!
tongue.gif
The one thing on my mind was those new triple driver E500's coming out. Right across from the main rooms entrance, was a big Shure banner hanging on the wall!

There they were, about 4 pairs of them laid out on the table, and cases full of any tip you could imagine.

So much for the dramatics! When I finally said I'll take the yellow foamies, the Shure girl was having a hard time getting them on!
eek.gif
Oh well, I was a bit hesitant when I would put them on myself, with other Shure IEM's that is. She said to me, "Oh, I see you know what your doing".
tongue.gif
By the end of the event, she was a Pro to!!
biggrin.gif


It was a wonderfull clear and detailed sound, not at all bass heavy, or predominant like I thought. The seperation between instruments had improved over the E5c's, and everything else just sounded better than the E5c's. I didn't get to spend to much time with them, but from the little bit that I did, I can say that these triple driver beauties are going to make the other manufacturers start drawing up some new plans!
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Lets hear what everyone thought about the E500's from this weekends national meet!
 
Apr 23, 2006 at 8:49 PM Post #3 of 89
cheechoz what do you think about moving from E5c's to the E500? much of a difference? Worth the 300 dollar step-up?
 
Apr 23, 2006 at 8:58 PM Post #4 of 89
Quote:

Originally Posted by fureshi
did they say anything about when the e500 would be available?


Yes, they said it would be in June!

Quote:

Originally Posted by juzmister
cheechoz what do you think about moving from E5c's to the E500? much of a difference? Worth the 300 dollar step-up?


It's definitely a step up, but I'm sure the retail price of 499 is going to come down some. The E5c's can usually be had for around 350-370, so the difference is like $150 or so, not $300!
 
Apr 23, 2006 at 9:08 PM Post #6 of 89
Quote:

Originally Posted by cheechoz
Yes, they said it would be in June!



I am sure you are correct since you actually spoke with a rep, but according to their website it says shipping begins in May. Personally I'm hoping you are wrong
580smile.gif
I WANT ONE NOW!!!


http://www.shure.com/news/pressrelea...006_01_05.html



EDIT: Oh on another search here:

Question
When will the E500s become available? Can they be pre-ordered?
Answer
End of May or early June 2006. There will be no early shipping for them. Please check back then. If you want more info on the E500 please click the links below. As reviews come out we will be updating this answer. Thanks!

http://www.shure.com/news/pressrelea...006_01_05.html
(Also includes pricing)

http://www.mobilewhack.com/reviews/s...r_control.html
 
Apr 23, 2006 at 10:35 PM Post #7 of 89
Did the E500's that you tried have the "open" feature that allowed you to hear outside noise? I read something where the IEM would open up near the wire connection to let in outside noise.

Personally I thought this feature could be usefull, but it also one more thing to break.
 
Apr 23, 2006 at 10:41 PM Post #8 of 89
Quote:

Originally Posted by wnewport
Did the E500's that you tried have the "open" feature that allowed you to hear outside noise? I read something where the IEM would open up near the wire connection to let in outside noise.

Personally I thought this feature could be usefull, but it also one more thing to break.


I played with this a bit. Here's the deal... it's a little unit that you plug the 1/8th inch jack of the headphone into, looks kinda like a noise canceller. There's a little microphone a bit higher up on its wire (before the 1/8th connector to the headphone).

You hit the button, the mic turns on and the music mutes (i think it was fully muted at least). Unfortunately, the mic is of very low quality... and the effect was WEIRD. I was standing next to Jude, and watching the Shure guy talk to him... but it was... like... I was watching this vivid plasma display (real life) with nothing but an iPod headphone! Still, a useful feature when you want to hear an announcement on a train or something.

At first, they'll only be selling them with this unit, and I guess a little later without it.

The E500 otherwise sounded great! The bass actually had a neat soundstage... you could TELL that they had worked on that. If you like that sound signature, you'll love this.
 
Apr 23, 2006 at 10:42 PM Post #9 of 89
Quote:

Originally Posted by cheechoz
It's definitely a step up, but I'm sure the retail price of 499 is going to come down some.


HeadRoom is going to be selling it for less. Add the E500 to your cart and add the promotional code to see how much gets taken off the price (the promotional code should be obvious).
 
Apr 23, 2006 at 11:04 PM Post #11 of 89
Quote:

Originally Posted by cheechoz
It was a wonderfull clear and detailed sound, not at all bass heavy, or predominant like I thought. The seperation between instruments had improved over the E5c's, and everything else just sounded better than the E5c's.


I'm not looking for a bass-heavy IEM (that's what the UE 5s are for), but I want more than the E4Cs are capable of. How do the E500s compare to the E4Cs?
 
Apr 24, 2006 at 1:50 AM Post #12 of 89
Quote:

Originally Posted by spyrius
I'm not looking for a bass-heavy IEM (that's what the UE 5s are for), but I want more than the E4Cs are capable of. How do the E500s compare to the E4Cs?



The E500's are much richer and dynamic than the E4's...IMO better in every way (and I like the E4's).
 
Apr 24, 2006 at 1:56 AM Post #13 of 89
Quote:

Originally Posted by spyrius
I'm not looking for a bass-heavy IEM (that's what the UE 5s are for), but I want more than the E4Cs are capable of. How do the E500s compare to the E4Cs?


The E4c's are very nice, and have a nice musical presentation, and you should be very happy with them. The E500 is a step into sounding more like a full sized set of cans. The use of triple drivers give it a more accurate reproduction of the frequency range, and adds more depth to your music. From what I heard, they sound more like full sized cans than any other IEM I've heard!
icon10.gif
 
Apr 24, 2006 at 3:22 AM Post #14 of 89
Quote:

Originally Posted by cheechoz

So much for the dramatics! When I finally said I'll take the yellow foamies, the Shure girl was having a hard time getting them on!
eek.gif
Oh well, I was a bit hesitant when I would put them on myself, with other Shure IEM's that is. She said to me, "Oh, I see you know what your doing".
tongue.gif
By the end of the event, she was a Pro to!!
biggrin.gif



Yes, the tips are a bit difficult to fit on the tips, intentionally, as it was explained to me. I guess they have zero tolerance for tips stuck in ears.
tongue.gif


Good news are the new black foamies to be made available later on this year. They look to be much more durable and comfortable, and should be very popular.
 
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