i have the shures se530 and dont find the highs missing at all i think the etys mite have ruined you a bit and in fact what you may have been hearing is an overdose of bass compared with the etys,i find the shures musically better and as far as whole frequency range goes flatter and more accurate sod the stats about accuracy,whats music without bass and warmth thats what i say,the ue 11 will not blow the e500 away because they simply both have more bass than the etys which will give the effect of recessed highs after extensive ety use i suppose what im saying is id take mids and lows over highs anyday as the mids is mainly what humans can here anyway,the shures have slightly rolled of highs yes no doubt but not no highs at all,far from,i know its not to the point and far from the point of the post but it seems as if all head fi users think about is harsh highs and no lows,even good classical music has its share of lows so without that its harsh and bland i also own the grado gs1000 and rs1's so i do hear the differences when i head up to them,but as far as isolating earphones go i do think the e500 kick up great fuss over the frequency range.the ue11 should smash them tho