are Shure's meant to sound like this :O !

[R B Customs]

I bought a pair of Shure E2C's to replace my nackered sony EX 71's

they came today, and plugged em into a bit of infected mushroom, and prodigy
and... Eugh
no bass.

i have them inserted correctly, tried a few of the different caps that coem with them and theres just a complete lack of bass, the mids and highs are superb, the lows are there but they have no real edge around them like my sony's did and no real headshaking sound like my DT-770's do ( ye different thing i know )

im listening through a creative Zen vision:m, tried many different EQ's etc and had no luck.

My EX71#s did have boomy bass levels like everyone said and i loved that to be honest. id never get another pair because of their shoddy build quality but im stuck now

can anyone aggree with any of this? or have a got a duff pair or something ?
i know they're the entry level shures, out of about 5 models, but it hardly makes me want to entertain the next model up

Rick

 

[R B Customs]

:S

They are not amazingly bassy but what they are is more tonally neutral than the Sony's etc. so you are probably also notcing that there is a lot more information being reproduced higher up (as you say, it sounds superb).

I think Shure now make an E2-G model which is supposed to have a slightly "enhanced" bass response and be more specifically tuned to consumer devices, might be worth seeing if you could swap them for a set of those...

I would also suggest that you try plugging them into somthing other than the MP3 player, a decent quality Hi-Fi cd player with a good headphone output would be better to test them with as it is probably more capable of driving them then the Zen - I have found this with both my E5's and UE10's is that they sound amazing when I have them hooked up to an IEM pack/CD player or use a good headphone amp, but out of my iPod the sound is deffinalty weaker.

As for EQ iirc when I have had bands using these as IEM's I normally do find that I just have to add a gentle shelve to everthing below about 100Hz to give it a bit of punch and notch out around 4-5KHz gently to even them out.

As for the other Shure's (E3/4) I have only used E5's with custom tips, although I've never had a problem getting a good amount of bass out of them (more than likely due to the fact they are dual driver and I had mine custom fitted).

I am now using Ultimate Ears UE10 Pro's though, and would also say they blow my E5s away totally

cheers for that.

ive tried them hooked up to my amp, and direct to my sound card.
now i normaly listen to my beyer's thru my Zen when im apintign or what not, and the volume, and sound is MORE than enough.

its weird and hard to explain without knowing the right jargon but it sounds like they're not in my ears properly... even though im pretty certain they are !

i think maybe these earphones were intended for musicians, rather than people who want to listen to music. i can hear that they DO represent the sound better and more as it is intended. but they just lack that punch i desire

also it has to be said that the isolation is pretty good. im using the foam tips at the moment and im well impressed with that aspect.

i did look at the ultimate ears range but have never heard of them before so decided to go with a name i knew.
i bought them froma well known online book store so maybe i cans end them back / exchange them.

im finding this whole thing very hard to explain... can you tell ?
cheers
Rick

 

[R B Customs]

okay, so ive just hooked them up to my amp, and it has indeed given them that outer coating of bass that i find so hard to descirbe ! they still cant match my beyer dynamics, which i will always use when at my PC.
but the bottom line is i bought them for use on the move so i think im stuffed.

would building a pocked amp perhaps let me yeild more munch from them ?

if not i may just return them and go for something else... any suggestions for around £50 ?
i bought my lass some sennheisers, they were cheap enough and have that nice bass i describe but the mids and highs are not a scratch on these


Rb

 

[R B Customs]

I think the problem with OcUK forums is that people jump on bandwagens and all start raving over something - the e2c's is one... also the iRiver H10 - both are poor products that only on these boards are praised.

ice mat siberias too lol

well, i was well put off buying another sony product in my life. i have had about 5 replacememnt pairs of my last sony earphones as the wires just ate them selves alive :O

ex90's look promising though, and aslong as the wires are coated properly ill be happy

gonna use the harder plastic tips on my shures today and see if that makes any difference to the foam tips.
if not what position do i stand in terms of sending these back? is that even possible.
i dont like being petty but tbh im not happy with the product

thanks for the input lads... the clingfilm thing sounds interestiong btw - is it practical?
Rick

 

[R B Customs]

silly question, but u have left them to burn in? (burn in meaning on and playing music for at least 20 hours)

whenever u buy any new decent headphones/iems etc, what you hear when u first open them isnt neccessarily their final sonic signature. pretty much all headphones need to be burnt in for at least 10 hours for the bass to come through. i was as dissappointed as you when i spent 130 quid on a pair of headphones to find they had less bass than my old 20 quid jvcs. after leaving them playing pretty loud music overnight, the bass appeared and i couldnt be happier

I do know about burning in, but i havnt doen it with these yet.
i didnt burn in my beyers, as i wanted to burn them in wih use, so i could hear the diffeence gradualy, and it did make a small difference.

ill will give it a go, but i think i will start looking elsewhere in the man time.

cheers
Rick.

 

[R B Customs]

EX71 do have overblown boomy bass and a shrill top end (both IMO), so if you're used to that sound then it could explain your observations on the Shures. Then again I haven't used the Shures myself.

yea, the sony's sounded terrible ( imo ) for everything apart from bass. it was boomy, and over done, but thats how i liked it. the highs were shrill also... didnt like that.
my worst gripe was the build quality, no word of a lie i have been through nealry 5 pairs of them until i lost my recipt and couldnt replace my current ones, which i use with bare wires showing, and all sorts ! the wires just ate them selves appart !

does anyone know where i stand in terms of returnign them ?
theyre from the big online book store, not a trader.

Rick

 

[R B Customs]

Customs, which flanges are you using on the e2's? from my experience with IEM's foams give better isolation but less bass in my opinion. Having previously used E2's and still owning them, they shouldnt be light on bass unless you're not getting a perfect seal in the ear. In fact I've found the E2's to be fairly boomy compaired with some dearer headsets. They arent the easiest of the shure range to fit in the ear as they are quite large and have an awkward shape. From memory I could never get a good tight seal if I using the reverse looped over the ear fit, found they fitted far better worn in the conventional way. I used the small hard clear flanges, they may be slightly uncomfortable initially but this improves with time. The E2's definately had more "loose" bass than my current etymotic's, the the E2's may be tighter in delivery than the sony's but I definately wouldnt say they are neutral.

Hey, ive tried all the tips, my ear canals seem pretty small to be honest, and the smallest of black tips wreck my ears ! im more than 'used' to In Ears, but those hurt in a totaly different way. Ive found the foam's to be the best seal / sound so far just not ideally hygienic :O

the shape of the clear tips is perfect, and have taken a while to get used to but still don't get as good a seal as the foams.



As for Queries regarding EQ on my Zen, anything past +4 ( you reccomended +12) just distorts the hell out of the music. they are warming up a bit now as they continue to burn in, and i compared them to my lass's Sennheisers today and ... well no comparison, the shures are a much much nicer sound, just minus the kind of resonance of the bass.

im lookign into some ultimate ears Super.fi 5's, and the sony 90's are looking tempting, just i may feel like a bit of a ninny on the bus with clingfilm wrapped round my buds !
then again... what are your guys thoughts of people wearing Beyer DT-770's on the bus ! i dont think i have the nerve lol

Its very nice of you lads to argue about the higher end IEM's but... i cant really afford to spend upwards of £300 at the moment but damn i wish i could ><

I think the last chance i will give these E2C's will be a purchase of a pocket Amp, C&C box, or a home made one. then i may just give up they dont sound like i would like them to.