this is what i wrote on other posts concerning shure e5:
must say that having both of these phones is a joy, and my previous posts about the ety, in that they are amazing, just excellent are still ringing true, but if there was one thing wrong with the ety's, it is the microphonic noise. Hence why i shelled out a lot of money for the Shure E5, i know that a lot of people don't like these/company, but that said, each to their own. I must say that i am highly impressed by these phones. I am not a expert in sound nor expert in headphones, but to me the sound in the Shure E5 is spot on, the bass travels all around your head, you can hear with precision and the sound is less clinical than that of the ety's. As with the ety's i used the triple-flanged tips and they go deep, maybe not ear-drum deep as the ety, but its way sufficient for the sound reproduction. Plus the dual drivers in the phones pick up the instruments with clarity in the phones. But at the end of the day its up to the listener to choose, and i came to this place to find out about the ety's and bought a pair from all you views, and with a hate against Shure, i was curious as to why people didn't like them, maybe its the price, and true they are wallet busting, but my curiosity told me otherwise
yeah the E5 do isolate the sound just as good as the ety's. The reason why i think there is microphonic noise is how the phones were constructed and the fact that they go deep inside the ear-canal. Although when you use the triple flanged-tips with the E5, they don't go deep as the ety, but they go far enough, and with the dual drivers in the E5, i think that compansates against going in further than the ety's (if you know what i mean). I personally couldn't notice difference in sound, i used my md sony md portable mze 900, also used them with my sound blaster audigy 2 platinum sound card, and did'nt actually notice any difference in sound from both phones
Although having both phones, ety and shure, i prefer the shure E5 due to the fact that there is no microphonic noise and also the over the ear design of the phones