[Malevolent]

I don't have the LTD edition though I cannot picture dramatic differences (I could be wrong). SE535 is ok but nothing to write home about compared to what's on the market today in 2015. They have a Shure house sound to them and they're detailed enough for something made in 2010, I can understand your friend becoming attached to them with some form of bragging rights (as they tend to do that to you) but some music just doesn't flow naturally with that IEM. Like its straining or profoundly confused during busy passages.  Don't get me wrong though, they're decent. (there's that strong Shure bond coming out in me again)

 
Yeah, I agree. The SE535 is a good IEM in its own right, just not something that is near-flagship worthy in this present age. It is grossly overpriced as well, but of course, Shure would be silly to lower its MSRP. The last time I auditioned the SE535 was in January, and I found that the midrange was a bit too prominent for my liking. Everything sounded a little congested at times, and micro detail was lacking.
 
Still, if anyone's on the market for a smooth, warm IEM that reproduces good vocals with a lush tone, the SE535 is certainly one of the better buys, just not at its current price tag.

 

[EISENbricher]

I don't have the LTD edition though I cannot picture dramatic differences (I could be wrong). SE535 is ok but nothing to write home about compared to what's on the market today in 2015. They have a Shure house sound to them and they're detailed enough for something made in 2010, I can understand your friend becoming attached to them with some form of bragging rights (as they tend to do that to you) but some music just doesn't flow naturally with that IEM. Like its straining or profoundly confused during busy passages.  Don't get me wrong though, they're decent. (there's that strong Shure bond coming out in me again)

So basically it's a good IEM that's just outdated now. This is like buying an old gen high-end graphics card which was legendary in its age but now just won't justify the price.

 

[Inks]

Ltd version of SE535 isn't that much better... It's just a filter difference

 

[Whaleshark12]

  Yay! There's this guy here who's my work colleague and has SE535LTD. Here in India it's ultra rare to find anyone who is willing to spend anything more than $10 for an IEM and $30 for a headphone, he feels quite special about it and has always trashed what I've bought, claiming that it's 'Chinese Stuff'. Ignorance everywhere... price is not always proportional to the SQ
Cheers.

^ Same as in my country. Hard to find people with good IEM here. Commonly I have seen Shure 215 and Sony Xba series. One of my friend is looking to replace his dying samsung earbud. When I suggest him the Tenore or the Monoprice 8230 (if i remember correctly) ,he then said his budget is below 14USD. He said it is too expensive and went to buy an earbud that cost 2USD. Which makes me just surprised that how did he even manage to find an earbud that cost 2USD XD.

 

[EISENbricher]

^ Same as in my country. Hard to find people with good IEM here. Commonly I have seen Shure 215 and Sony Xba series. One of my friend is looking to replace his dying samsung earbud. When I suggest him the Tenore or the Monoprice 8230 (if i remember correctly) ,he then said his budget is below 14USD. He said it is too expensive and went to buy an earbud that cost 2USD. Which makes me just surprised that how did he even manage to find an earbud that cost 2USD XD.

Haha 2usd..
They think that it just serves a purpose of 'producing sound' xD

 

[Malevolent]

  ^ Same as in my country. Hard to find people with good IEM here. Commonly I have seen Shure 215 and Sony Xba series. One of my friend is looking to replace his dying samsung earbud. When I suggest him the Tenore or the Monoprice 8230 (if i remember correctly) ,he then said his budget is below 14USD. He said it is too expensive and went to buy an earbud that cost 2USD. Which makes me just surprised that how did he even manage to find an earbud that cost 2USD XD.

 
It's probably an issue of exposure, or the lack of. Once your friend has tried better earphones, and is used to that sound, it'll be difficult to revert to cheap, ultra-budget IEMs. I still find it amazing that some of my friends think $50 earphones are expensive. These are the same people who spend hundreds or thousands of dollars purchasing the latest mobile phones and/or tablets. And they're gimping their audio experience by using terrible earbuds/IEMs. Go figure.

 

[Whaleshark12]

   
It's probably an issue of exposure, or the lack of. Once your friend has tried better earphones, and is used to that sound, it'll be difficult to revert to cheap, ultra-budget IEMs. I still find it amazing that some of my friends think $50 earphones are expensive. These are the same people who spend hundreds or thousands of dollars purchasing the latest mobile phones and/or tablets. And they're gimping their audio experience by using terrible earbuds/IEMs. Go figure.

Agreed. I find myself can't revert to samsung earbud after I got the Tenore and some higher end IEM. So now I'm just using Tenore as my On the go IEM. Once in a while the Fx850 due to isolation and corrosion (not sure how to describe about the wood housing) of the housing from having sweat. 

 

[EISENbricher]

   
It's probably an issue of exposure, or the lack of. Once your friend has tried better earphones, and is used to that sound, it'll be difficult to revert to cheap, ultra-budget IEMs. I still find it amazing that some of my friends think $50 earphones are expensive. These are the same people who spend hundreds or thousands of dollars purchasing the latest mobile phones and/or tablets. And they're gimping their audio experience by using terrible earbuds/IEMs. Go figure.

I used to assume that, but it's not that simple. Many people I've seen just don't like listening to music enough. Listening experience comes later, first the person should be a listener!
 
It's like recommending a DSLR to someone who isn't a bit interested in photography. Even if you hand him over a Epic RED he'll not use it.

 

[AudioAw2015]

I used to assume that, but it's not that simple. Many people I've seen just don't like listening to music enough. Listening experience comes later, first the person should be a listener!

It's like recommending a DSLR to someone who isn't a bit interested in photography. Even if you hand him over a Epic RED he'll not use it.

This pretty much sums it up. Its hard to appreciate something when you don't have a understanding of how it works or if you don't have a passion for it.

I gave my friend a listen to my Tenore once, and I asked him how it sounds. All he said was it sounded crisp. I told him to focus on how the drums sounded compared to his cheap earbuds. He immediately picked up on it after I told him that. Turns out, he never really paid attention to the instruments or the singers voice because he simply didn't care about how it sounded, as long as the sound coming out was loud or clear enough.

What Malevolent said was true too. If I had never exposed him to a quality pair of earbuds, he would've never been able to make a comparison.

 

[ozkan]

Can someone please compare Tenore to IM50? I sold my IM70 and one driver of IM50 gave up working a while back. Now I need a new IEM but don't want to miss what I like about IM50/70s. I'm looking for a similar sound signature with a better comfort and seal but don't wanna loose that beautiful vocals and mids of IM50/70s. Thank you.

 

[quartertone]

Mids less forward, less midbass. Generally cleaner, smoother and more detailed - but doesn't hit as hard.

 

[peter123]

Can someone please compare Tenore to IM50? I sold my IM70 and one driver of IM50 gave up working a while back. Now I need a new IEM but don't want to miss what I like about IM50/70s. I'm looking for a similar sound signature with a better comfort and seal but don't wanna loose that beautiful vocals and mids of IM50/70s. Thank you.

Compared to the IM70's the Tenores mids is less full and organic. My biggest grip with the Tenores is that the treble is too smooth and rolled of for my preference, I much prefer the treble on the IM70. For me the IM70 is all over a solid step up from the Tenores but it'll come down to your preferences.

 

[koez]

What about build quality of Basso?

 

[ozkan]

Compared to the IM70's the Tenores mids is less full and organic. My biggest grip with the Tenores is that the treble is too smooth and rolled of for my preference, I much prefer the treble on the IM70. For me the IM70 is all over a solid step up from the Tenores but it'll come down to your preferences.

 
So IM70 sounds more organic compared to Tenore? 

 

[peter123]

So IM70 sounds more organic and natural compared to Tenore? 

Definitely more organic and to my ears also more natural yes.