From their press release:

"Shure Incorporated has added a new look and feel to its popular line of E Series in ear earphones with the launch of the E3. The E3 sound isolating earphones combine the same unparalleled studio-quality listening experience common to the line, with a new level of comfort and design that make it the perfect accessory for personal monitor systems and portable listening devices.

The smallest and most compact design of any earphone in the Shure line, the E3s utilize low mass, high energy micro-speakers to deliver incredibly precise sound. In addition, the E3s block external noise with comfortable sound-isolating sleeves that contour to the inside of the ears.

With the Shure E3, users will enjoy:

Studio-Quality Sound: Sound isolation prevents outside noise from interfering with the music, and creates a quiet space for exceptional audio clarity. The studio grade, low mass, high energy micro-speakers employ balanced armature technology for more efficient output and extended high frequencies. Longer Wearing Comfort: Instead of bulky headphones, E3 wearers get form-fitting earpieces that stay securely inside the ear without uncomfortable headbands. And with Shure's most compact design, the E3 is Shure's smallest earphone model. Every E3 comes with its own complete Fit Kit to match a wide variety of ear sizes and fit preferences, including expanding foam sleeves, three sizes of flex sleeves, and three sizes ultra-soft flex sleeves.
A Stylish New Design: The Shure E3 sports a new design to match portable devices, while still looking discrete onstage. A carrying case rounds out the convenient package. The Shure E3 is compatible with all 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) audio outputs. Home and office users who crave audiophile sound can plug the earphones into their DVD entertainment systems and computers. Road warriors with portable MP3, CD, and MiniDisc players, as well as Palm and Pocket PC handhelds, will appreciate the sound isolation from travel noise. Gamers will love the fully immersive experience the E3c adds to systems such as the Xbox, Playstation, and GameCube."

The E3c retails for $179 US and is available now. For more info, visit the Shure E3c page.

[Edited by cmoy on 02-19-2004 at 08:21 PM.]

Got them for $139 at www.bhphoto.com in New York, best price I've seen anywhere.

They come with three sleeves: foamies, clear flex (3 sizes) and softer gray flex (3 sizes), and a triple-flange sleeve is an extra option ($10). I systematically tried them all and ended up with the large soft flexes. Everything else sounded tinny and over-bright, and the clear flexes were intrusive, but it's all a matter of your ear-canal shape.

The triple-flange have long stems that folded before entering my crooked ear canals, shutting off the sound entirely. I managed to get a good seal a few times, but they were no improvement over the soft flexes. I also tried snipping off 1/16" on the stems, which got them in my ears without folding but made them sound more metallic. Not for me, I guess. But the soft flexes are very comfortable.

The E3s are sturdy, with a slightly stiff cord that seems made for the real world, not like the fragile Etys cord. They go in your ears with the tail pointed up, to loop the cord over the ear and behind you, probably to limit microphonics. Walking with them still creates microphonics, though the music drowns them out. As with other canalphones, if you eat something crunchy while listening, you will definitely know it.

Isolation is excellent--soft music shuts out NYC subway. They're also sensitive, so I never have to go above halfway on my portable CD player.

As for sound, they will not make you give up a good pair of full-sized, open-air phones, no matter what hype you may read elsewhere. My Grado SR-125s are superior in every way except sensitivity; the Shures take about 2/3 the power for equivalent volume. But I'm not taking the Grados on the street or on an airplane.

The Shure sound is clear, though without the last detail of transients like cymbals or acoustic guitar. Soundstage is precise but not spacious, more shut-in than the Grados. There's a midrange hump, probably deliberate, that helps bring out vocals--actually a plus in noisy situations. And bass is present but needs help; I usually add bass boost to fill out the bottom with the Shures. As I've been using them for the last few weeks, the bass is filling out, so I'm hoping I can do without bass boost after more burn-in.

With the portable, I've been switching back and forth between the Shures and Sennheiser PX100, which were a step up from my old Koss Portapros. At first I preferred the Sennheisers (which of course provide zero isolation) but lately the Sennheisers have sounded veiled on top and flabby below compared to the Shures.

Although the above sounds a little half-hearted, I'm still happy with the Shures. In noisy places, they let you concentrate on the music, and the music sounds clear and natural. They're great on the subway or on the NYC street. If I wasn't spoiled by the Grados, I'd probably think they were incredible.

I just purchased the Shure E3c's to use primarily with my iPod. Although I do not have any other reference-quality head/earphones to compare them to, I offer this review more for what I have noticed while listening to them. In my first 3 days of ownership, I logged about 15-18 hours of listening on them.

First off, the Shures impress with the quality of their packaging and accessories. The package offers clear and detailed discriptions of all the items included and the specs of the phones themselves. Inside, you'll find the phones (secured quite safely), as well as a very comprehensive fit-kit and well-made carrying case. The instruction manual is very well written and includes information and instructions for the entire Shure E-series. Finally, you get a copy of the 2-year warranty, a regestration info sheet and a quick-start guide to insertion and usage.

After some testing, I decided on the medium grey-colored silicone sleeves that came pre-installed on the phones. The clear-plastic sleeves where a bit hard in my ears, while the foam felt too squishy for my tastes. The fit is quite comfortable and does not feel as deep into the canal as I initially feared it would. Once in, the E3c's provide a SUBSTANTIAL ammount of isolation. Again, Shure's instructions and tips are very helpful in achieving a great fit right off the bat. With the phones in place and the cords draped over my ears, it was time to turn my iPod on.

The first track I brought up on my iPod was The Dave Matthews Band's "Crush" from the Before These Crowded Streets album. Initially, I had to fiddle a little bit with the phones to get the proper frequency response...I hadn't inserted the phones as much as I coudld've. After doing so, I was very impressed with the sound of the E3c's. The track starts with Stefan Lassard's bass coming mostly from the right, then offers the crash of Carter Buford's cymbal on the right, then Leroi Moore's single note sax on the left then Dave's vocals dead-center. In fact, through the entire track, the imaging is set up very much this way with the sax and strings coming from the left, bass and precussion just off the right and vocals in the middle. Through it all, the E3c's conveyed a soundstage with great width and seperation. The sound was clear and detailed, the bass strong and never muddy.

My second track was "You Are The Universe" from the album Shelter, by The Brand New Heavies. Here, again, was a track with a very tight and deep bass line and the powerful, rangey vocals of Siedah Garrett. This recording is typical of The Heavies: super-clear and detailed. Here, the E3c's delighted me even more. The strings had virberation, Garret's vocals had breath and depth and the precussion was tight and speedy. The resolution provided by the E3c's was beyond anything I'd ever heard in the "portable" category.

A last track, "My Ever Changing Moods" by The Style Council showed me how quick and "light" the E3c's could play. This track has an airy nature to it with a jazzy feel. Here, the clarity of the instruments and vocals become paramount as bass is not the focal point of the track. The E3c's did not weigh the sound down at all and I could not detect any coloration what-so-ever. As before, I could not help but feel that the E3c's were playing the sounds as recorded.

In short, I cannot reccommend the Shure E3c/E3's any higher. I cannot comment on the "bright mid-hump" or the flat fall-off at the upper frequencies that some other reviewers have mentioned, since I don't have anything approaching the E3c's qulaity to contrast them with. However, I will say that the E3c's seem to be a great earphone when the price-to-performance ratio is taken into account. They offer a fuller, more detailed sound than Etymotics' ER6 or Shure's own E2 and are much "easier" to afford than the pricier Etymotic E4 and Shure E5. Throw in the comfort and custom-ability of the Shure fit-kit, the great support/warranty and Shure's quality and you get a great a portable no-brainer!

Arvin

Notably, our lead guitarist was certain his set was broken, since he wasnt getting any sound in one ear. After vigorously checking the headphone amps, cables, etc... and swapping out his E3s for the drummer's, we finally figured out he was putting one in kind of "sideways"! {DOH}

Myself, i kept snagging the cable on my guitar strap, which pulled them loose almost every song. (hey where'd the bass go?!?)One song i just ripped them out altogether and tried to use the front-of-house as a monitor. (which didnt work too well!) The other day i switched to the small soft inserts, and rigged up a clip to hold the cable to the back of my shirt, so i think that problem is solved. I actually bought these with custom ear-molds in mind, so the fit kit fiddling isnt a big issue. I would like to try those triple-flange inserts though!

I think the sound is excellent, i'm used to (very frequent) listening through a number of different high-end studio monitoring headphones, and these sound "normal" to me :-)

Anyway, got them home and unpacked everything (actually i couldn't resist ripping the package open while walking along Broadway and trying them out, but couldn't figure out how to get them in properly while running down the street!).

Here they are, hooked up to my 3G iPod, with the medium clear plastic earbits:

My first impression, unfortunately, is not so great. I systematically tried all the different ear bits (S,M,L soft silicone, S,M,L clear plastic, and yellow foam). I found that only the yellow foam ones provided really dramatic noise isolation. I found that the medium soft silicone earbits provided the best isolation of the rest, but it's not fantastic. When music is not playing, i can easily hear conversation, and it fails the 'rub your fingers together beside your ear' test, which even my Sony V6s pass.

Additionally, the right earphone consistently blocks less sound than the left one, and also rattles when i shake it, as if something is loose inside (but there is no buzzing in the audio that i can detect). Rubbing my fingers together beside the right ear sounds considerably louder than on the left, with various earbits, and i'm pretty sure my hearing is fine in both ears.

I won't comment on the sound yet, as they have not broken in, but on first listening it sounded worse than my Sony V6s, though better than the stock iPod earbuds.

Anyway, i've got 2 weeks to try these out , so we'll see. I'm concerned that i've got a defective pair, what with the uneven isolation and rattly right earpiece, so i might try to swap them out.

-Robin

It took some time to get used to the 'in the ear' feeling and sound, but now i'm really starting to like it.

I find that these headphones seem to shine on dense stuff - orchestral music in particular.

they sound different to my Sony V6s, in some ways more satisfying to listen to, though it's hard to put my finger on it.

I'll report more when i've got some more listening in on them, and they're further broken in.

the wonky right driver is still sort of an issue, but not as bad as i thought at first.. i still think i'll take them back for another pair in a day or two.

-robin

Regards

AD

This morning, while listening to the last movement of Mozart's Symphony No 35 (George Szell, Cleveland... the best ;)), i noticed an odd thing. With my Shures, it sounded like the bass (cellos and basses) were dragging, while with my Sony V6 cans, the 'dragging' effect was not as noticeable. On the other hand, the Shures sounded much more detailed, but at the same time, the Sony's were perhaps more 'comfortable' to listen to..

I'm still not sure which cans sound better (of course, they're very different types of phones).. actually, both sound good.

But the Shures are definitely more detailed.

I guess i'm also kinda sensitive to the cellos dragging in Mozart 35 because i'm a cellist and i've been practicing that symphony for an audition! ;)

-robin

Seriously... at first, i had to pull my ears in all directions and wiggle the phones a lot to get a seal. Now, using the stiffer clear ear thingies, i can just push the phones in and they just kind of 'click' into place.. i seriously think my ear canals are being moulded ;)

The right phone still has some kind of rattle on low frequencies.. i should get it exchanged, but i've been too busy recently.

Has anyone compared these different earphones (Shure E2/E3 VS. Etymolic ER-4P VS. Sony MDR EX71SL)?

Which would be the best choice for bass-heavy music like Hip-Hop/Drum-and-Bass/Techno etc?

thanks for any help

I don't have the luxury of testing these headphones before I buy so I'm hoping to get some idea of what I'm

with US80 different....

Hate to see that much different..oh well...

Z

If bass is really important, then check out the E5's. But considering the pricetag of the E5's, I'd rather like to give you the advise to buy a pair of EX71's, or get a pair of Koss-plugs. The Plugs are supposed to sound quite fine after some modifications which you can find somewhere here on Headwize. This won't cost that much, and you can find out if you actually like to have some pieces in your earcanal.

Oh, BTW, I DO like my Shure E3c's!! It just took some time to get used to the sound, my Sennheiser HD540's are just complete different sounding cans.

I have been using Sony D77 (production stopped) and now D77 for a year and a half. I like it but noise leaking too much the disturb me a lot. I went to www.audiocubes.com and the review of D66 is 100% satisfaction.

I think we all have different standard. Just wanna check if anybody have experiences with both E3c and Sony MDR66