By: Jonathan Kwan
December 27, 2005
If you've listened to any portable audio device before, you have faced it. You walk around in a subway station, you ride the bus, you get on the plane. You can hear everything around you but your music. You run up the volume on your player, but you know your ears will hurt after a while.
Well, to tell the truth, many stories have been floating around the internet, TV, radio, newspaper and so on, informing the audience that running up your headphone's volume up to compete with the surrounding noise may cause permanent hearing damage.
Today we'll be looking at the Shure E2c sound-isolating earbuds. The Shure E2c is targeted towards on-the-go consumers and retails for around $99 USD. Shure has been working in the sound industry for a long time, their products are mainly used by audio professionals and musicians. Shure has recently entered the consumer/earbud market due to the demand and popularity of their earbuds used in personal monitoring kits.
Our review unit came quickly in a surprisingly large box.
Anyway, inside the box is the press kit and a retail package of Shure E2c sound isolating earbuds. (You won't get the press kit if you buy one of these though :P )
The packaging isn't bad it terms of looks -- but this is the kind of plastic packaging I dislike the most, where you have to use a box cutter and cut up plastic packaging to get anything out (with a lot of effort and suffering a few cuts on the way). I wish it was in a box, which is much more convenient for a lot of people.
Before we move on, it's important to give you a bit of background information on the sound isolation method. Unlike active noise cancelling, sound isolation (Also known as passive noise cancelling) blocks out background noise like earplugs by tightly fitting the earbuds into your ear canals with minimal space that allows unwanted sound to enter your ear. This method does not require batteries, whereas active noise cancelling targets a certain frequency and attempts to cancel out the noise by producing another sound frequency. Active noise cancelling requires additional batteries and may also produce sound artifacts when it is turned on.
Now that you understand a little bit of information on passive noise cancelling, here's what you get out of the b... err, package.
As you can see in the photo above, included are the Shure E2c's itself, a zipper case for the earbuds, and a personal fit kit. In the Shure E2c retail package, the personal fit kit is packaged inside the zipper case.
The personal fit kit includes "foam sleeves" and "flex sleeves" (As Shure calls them) to accommodate different sizes of ears (You can change the "sleeves" on the E2c any time). Theoretically, the "foam sleeves" (Orange foamy stuff in the fit kit, as you can see in the photo) offers better sound isolation, due to the fact that it provides a more custom fit when you squeeze them and put them in your ear and wait about 10 seconds for them to expand and fill your ears. The foam sleeves loses its 'expandability' after a while. You may purchase replacement foam sleeves from Shure later on.
The "flex sleeves" are my favorite so far. They provide (almost) the same amount of noise cancelling to me, and they generally don't get worn out as fast as the foam sleeves, if they worn out at all. It's your choice, but both options provide excellent noise cancelling.
Let's check out its specifications of the earbuds before we check out the performance of the Shure E2c's.
Shure E2c Specifications
Speaker Type: Dynamic MicroDriver
Sensitivity (at 1kHz): 105dB SPL/mW
Impedance (at 1kHz): 16 Ohm
Cable Length: E2c: 1.57m (62 inches)
E2c (in black): 1.45m (56 inches)
Net Weight: 30g (1 oz)
Input Connector: 3.5 mm (1/8") gold-plated stereo plug
I don't want to get too technical about the above information. We got the black version of the E2c, which means the cable is 1.45 metres long. I ended up shoving a long segment of the cable into my pocket when listening to the E2c's.
Here at the APH Labs, audiophiles, reviewers, and some curious people alike gathered around the testing station. We tested these earbuds with different sound sources, including a Creative Audigy 2, Creative Zen Micro 5GB, Creative Zen MicroPhoto 8GB with Bass Boost on, and a Sony Network Walkman NW-HD1. These earbuds were compared to Sony MDR-E818LP (MSRP $8.99 USD), Sony MDR-EX71SL (MSRP $49.99 USD), and stock Creative earbuds that comes with the Zen Nano, Zen Micro, Zen MicroPhoto and other relatively new Creative products. The earbuds have their foam over the drivers intact, if applicable. All files are WMA files encoded at 128kb/s with the exception of the audio files played on the NW-HD1, which is encoded in the ATRAC3 format. The equalizer on these players used were the "upside-down triangle", with the exception of the Creative Zen MicroPhoto, which cannot handle the upside-down triangle with Bass Boost on. (The bass on the equalizer were turned down until we heard no more artifacting)
Testing on the Creative Audigy 2
We were going to test the sound on a M-Audio Revolution sound card, but we don't have one at the moment. Instead, we just grabbed an existing Audigy 2 and began the test on the computer (Which doesn't sound as good as the M-Audio Revolution).
The sound is very clean on the Shure E2c. The treble is excellent with excellent midrange sound. What's lacking compared to the Sony MDR-EX71SL is the bass. Once we turned it all the way up on the Audigy 2, the bass on the E2c's were very solid and rounded, which put a huge smile on my face.
Testing on the Creative Zen Micro 5GB
With these earbuds, the bass that we heard is just average. Even the $8.99 Sony MDR-E818LP performed better in terms of bass, but the treble and midrange of these earbuds are unbeatable. Once we did a little modification to our upside-down triangle, we played the song "That's How You Like It" at 128kb/s bit rate, WMA file. The bass is solid and rounded on the Shure E2c -- but still not as good as the bass on the Audigy 2 (Which the card itself did provide much stronger bass).
Testing on the Creative Zen MicroPhoto 8GB
Consider the Zen MicroPhoto an improvement to the Zen Micro, with the new Bass Boost feature. With Bass Boost on, the upside-down triangle doesn't work, so we turned the bass up as high as possible without artifacting. The sound is incredible on the Shure E2c with the Zen MicroPhoto 8GB, whether it's the treble, midrange sound or bass. Sound is also very clean like always, the songs played just sound (very) incredible.
Testing on the Sony NW-HD1
Since this player doesn't support WMA formats, ATRAC3 is used. This time, rock music isn't used to test these earbuds, instead, classic instrumental music was used. With the upside-down triangle EQ setting in place, every instrument just sounds... again, I have to use the word 'incredible'. I can clearly hear every instrument as if they were performing in the same room as me. The treble and midrange sounds awesome, and even the bass wasn't left out. The Sony earbuds and the stock Creative earbuds used didn't even come close to these, as the sounds were a lot more realistic and were definitely, totally, cleaner than the others.
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After the series of testing, we concluded that the Shure E2c is no doubt excellent. The sound is clean, treble is clear and midrange is amazing. The bass needs a bit of work though. I just can't imagine how the E2c's older brothers sound, if I ever get hands on one, I can bet that they would definitely blow me away. Hint: If you don't hear any bass at all, you probably didn't fit these earbuds on right. Check your user's manual or Shure's website for the fitting demo.
As the Shure E2c's are sound isolating earbuds, (which means it passively cancels out the surrounding noise as explaned earlier) how can we not talk about how good the sound isolation is on these earbuds?
Some of the scenarios we used:
- Vacuuming the APH Labs using a central vacuum cleaner
- Water tap turned on
- In a high school hallway between classes
- In a Honda Odyssey on a highway, travelling at 100km/h
- Hair dryer on
- In an Airbus A320, cruising
- Walking and/or running around, eating
- Someone talking and/or radio turned on in a car
The test has been done on the Zen Micro 5GB with 128kb/s WMA songs at volume set to 7 (Maximum 25) unless otherwise noted. Flex sleeves are used on the E2c's during the test. The Sony MDR-EX71SL were unavailable during this test, which also offers passive noise cancelling. Both the Sony MDR-E818LP and stock Creative earbuds have the foam intact.
The first thing we tried was vacuuming APH Labs with a central vacuum cleaner. Basically, the only thing you hear is the powerhead on, since the "actual" vacuum is a floor away. With the music on, we can still hear the powerhead, but it's not very loud at all. The music can be heard very clearly. In fact, we tried to turn the music down to volume 4, and the music is almost as clear as it is on volume 7. With stock Creative earbuds and Sony MDR-E818LPs (Both earbuds stay outside your ear) you cannot hear the music unless it's ran up to at least 12, where at 12 you still can't hear it clearly.
The next thing was having the water tap turned on. We can still hear the water running, and water doesn't usually interfere with earbuds. The Sony MDR-E818LPs performed reasonably under this scenario as well.
If you've ever been in a hallway between classes in a high school, you'll know how much noise is made. The Shure E2c's were tried in this scenario. The Creative stock earbuds fit in my ears poorly, which meant I couldn't hear the music at all. I can still hear the Sony MDR-E818LPs, but the surroundings can be clearly heard with the music barely audible. The E2c's performed well under this scenario, sound is very clear under this condition and again, at a volume of 4, the music can still be heard clearly.
When you drive fast on a highway, the vehicle generates a lot of noise. The vehicle we tested on was a 2003 Honda Odyssey, which runs reasonably quietly. Travelling at 100km/h on a highway, the Sony MDR-E818LPs can be heard but not clearly at all, while with the stock Creative earbuds it is just impossible to get out what song is actually playing. The Shure E2c's performed very well in this scenario and again, even at a volume of 4, the music can be heard clearly with minimal background noise.
Although this scenario is very unlikely, we still thought this should be tested. I turned the hair dryer on and started drying my hair (It was wet for real). The Sony MDR-E818LPs performed much better than the stock Creative earbuds, but the Shure E2c's worked very well in blocking out the noise generated by the hair dryer while getting the music to my ears. Yes, the sound of the hair dryer can still be heard, but the emitted sound has been cut down by a lot with the E2c's.
Using these earbuds on the plane is a very likely scenario, so we got to test this. We tested these earbuds on an Airbus A320, a very popular plane for short to midrange flights. Using the Creative stock earbuds, the music cannot be heard during cruise. With the Sony MDR-E818LP's, the music can be heard, but not very clearly. The Shure E2c's performed very well at volume 4 on the Zen Micro, but we'd prefer it at volume 5 or 6 any day.
When walking around, you will hear a bit of "thump thump" kind of thing added to your music. This is especially noticeable when you are eating with the E2c's on. To get this effect, try plugging both your ears with your fingers and start chewing gum. This kind of effect does not apply to earbuds that sits over your ear, so the Creative stock earbuds and Sony MDR-E818LPs win in this section.
So how well will you hear when people talk to you? Or, let's put it this way. How well will you hear the people when they talk to you? When my friends tried to talk to me with the Shure E2c's on, it looks like they are just mouthing the words. Even at a volume of 1 on the Zen Micro, I can barely hear them, unless they are a centimetre away from my ears, or screaming in my face. In the car, when the radio is on, I cannot hear the radio at 'typical volume'. You can hear people talking and/or the radio with the Creative and Sony earbuds. I advise you not to use these at home or when hearing is important -- say, you are happily sitting in a room listening to music with the E2c's, and your mom/girlfriend/wife etc calls you and you don't answer them (Because you can't hear them); you'll be in trouble. First hand experience here :D Also, I highly advise against using these while you are driving; it can be very dangerous.
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Under all these scenarios, we were amazed and very impressed by the Shure E2c's noise cancelling capabilities. With this kind of sound isolation, your ears won't suffer from listening fatigue nor the risk of permanant hearing damage (Unless you still want to run up your volume). Instead of competing with the surrounding noise by running up the volume on your audio device, the E2c's block out the noise naturally while allowing clear, high quality sound at a lower volume. We regret that the Sony MDR-EX71SL were unavailable for this section of testing, as the MDR-EX71SLs offers passive noise cancelling just like the E2c's.
So how's the look? And is it comfortable?
Yep -- it's very comfortable. Inserting these into your ears requires a bit of technique, but once you got used to it, it's like -- natural. My ears did not hurt after hours of listening. In fact, my ears feel 'naked' using other non-in-ear-canal earbuds after using the E2c's. These earbuds are also very light, you won't feel them on your ears -- unless the wire is weighing the earbuds down (Which in turn pulls down your ears itself, and it's very uncomfortable) as you run the wire behind your shirt or something. The earbuds itself are very light, weighing only 30 grams.
I bet you've never seen a QC tag on mainstream earbuds...
Comparing the cables of the E2c to other earbuds, the E2c's wires are noticably thicker, as you can see in the photo below. That's a good sign, as thicker cables usually mean having better conductivity.
From the left: Shure E2c, Sony MDR-E818LP, Creative stock.
These earbuds are completely different than the other earbuds in terms of design. While the wire on most earbuds runs straight down from your ear, the ones on the Shure E2c's run up and around your ear -- what they call the "Low Profile" design. Most people gets confused by the left and right ear, as most people attempt to wear these with the wires pointing down when the E2c's are first shown to them -- left and right ear switched. These earbuds itself may look weird to some people, but it looks fine to me. I personally think that the Sony MDR-EX71SL are better aesthetically.
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The Shure E2c's are definitely impressive earbuds. The treble and midrange sounds awesome, but the bass can be worked on a bit, although it can be fixed by a simple setting in relatively high-end players. Despite the slight lack of bass, the E2c's are still excellent earbuds for all types of music -- from rock to classical, these earbuds are designed for you. Very clean sound adds a lot to the listening experience. If you have $99 USD to spare for a pair of earbuds, my suggestion is -- just get them. You might also save your hearing on the way.
APH Recommended Award | APH Review Focus Summary:
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.0/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
Impressive earbuds and excellent sound isolation, price may not justify to many users. Bass needs a bit of work.
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