Shure SE115m+ Sound Isolating Headset (Black)

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Today's Bonus:

• Dynamic MicroSpeaker II offers superior sound quality that's warm and detailed, with improved bass
• Sound isolating sleeves in multiple shapes and sizes effectively block outside noise
• Ergonomic earphone design ensures a customized, comfortable fit
• Integrated three-button remote and mic allows you to adjust the volume, control music and video playback, record voice memos and answer or end calls

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First, some background:

I have been listening to In Ear Monitors for at least 8 years now, since I purchased my first pair of Etymotics to accompany my first iPod back when they were the only game in town for IEM's. In many ways those Ety's are still my reference for everything else, even my collection of full sized headphones. Having owned an iPhone for a couple of years now, I have been on the lookout for a decent IEM with an elegantly paired mic and controls to replace Apple's own limited offering. This segment has really bloomed in the last 6 months, and I finally decided it was time to try some of the offerings out. I was very fortunate to come across a shop recently that had a large number of these sets in stock, with demo units, with a full selection of new ear tips of different sizes and materials to demo! They did not have the Ety HF2, which was ok, because I had largely ruled that model out anyhow due to the lack of volume controls, and due to the micro-phonics that my ER-4p's are prone to. Obviously this is a problem with all IEM's, but I find the problem to be worse with Ety's and I had hopes of being able to use these for some activity. The three models I focused my test on were the Klipsch Image S4i, the Monster Beats Tour, and the Shure SE115m+ (the subject of this review, and the model that I ultimately purchased). I found the Klipsch's to be rather boomy and the quality to be sub-par. I could have lived with the sound for my uses, and the mic/controls were very small and light which was a benefit, but in general the build quality had more in common with $20 ear buds than their $100 price tag. At $50-$60 they would have been a winner for me. The Beats were interesting. Nice build quality, using a unique flat cord, but again, clearly boomy and not particularly detailed. The bigger problems were the price, and the extreme sensitivity to ear position. Very slight movements ruined the noise isolation (which wasn't that good at best) and the sound entirely. No way that was going to work for any active use.

So, on to the Shure's:

These have the best sound isolation, and the best sound of any in the group. They don't stand up to the Ety's in either department, but they are far less microphonic, and that 'warm' description they use to describe them is dead-on. Compared to the Ety's the Shure's are missing all of the detail, but make up for that in a full, easy to listen to sound, without being overly bass-heavy or obviously accentuated in any manner. On Norah Jones' 'Come Away With Me' the Shure's were easily out-classed by the Ety's. Norah's somewhat nasal (only in the best way!) croon is as clear as if you were in the studio and she was singing to YOU. With the Shure's it's as if a layer of velvet has been placed over the microphone. She's obviously in the studio, and maybe, at best, you're at the mixer behind the glass. In comparison, on Elvis Perkins' 'While You Were Sleeping' and 'Moon Woman 2,' the Shure's compared much better. Their warmth appeared in this context as a full-ness of sound, rather than strictly as a veil. Bass-lines were much easier to follow, treble more mellow and easy going; the Ety's came across as detailed but flat in this comparison. Perhaps more accurate, but more fatiguing and less fun.

Microphone, iPhone controls, and conclusion:

I have not yet had the opportunity to use the microphone in a variety of situations (nor was I able to use the microphone on the models in comparison at all). That said, callers have yet to complain that they can't hear me, even in a loud airport environment, or of any sound issues at all. The size of the mic is a little bit excessive, and could have been placed a couple of inches lower than it hangs when worn with the wires hanging over the ears as recommended. Finding the controls by touch is not as easy as it could be. Otherwise, the controls work as expected. Volume up/down, center button to play/pause, answer/end a call, double-click to skip a song, triple-skip to skip backwards a song. It all works as it should. (I should note that despite its size, I find the mic on this model to be less bothersome than the adapter at the V on the standard SE115 model for adding the Music Phone Adapter, so keep that in mind if you are comparing this to the mic-less version). The cords have just enough weight to feel durable and built properly for the price point. They are far less microphonic than the cord on my Ety's, and don't hold their rolled shape as badly when removing them from their case.

Overall, in my comparison of these against my Ety's, I kept wishing that I could have the warmth of the Shure's with the vocal clarity provided by the Ety's. However, given the available options in this segment, I feel that the SE115m+ is a worthwhile contender. If Shure would reduce the size of the mic and controls by 1/2, fine tune its placement, and make it available on their higher-end models, we'd have a class leader. As it stands, this is still a worthy effort by Shure, and I'm certain these will be seeing a heavy rotation in my music listening. I'd give them a solid 3.5 stars if Amazon allowed such a rating.

Buy Shure SE115m+ Sound Isolating Headset (Black) Now

I bought these to replace my venerable E2C's I've used for years with iPods. I got an HTC Incredible and wanted a microphone. I looked at many and decided on these not sure how the mic/buttons would work on a NON iPhone/iPod. Well, everything works except volumn up/down. I can answer the phone, hang up, one click. I can index forward songs, double click, or index back, triple click. With music playing, I can pause, single click, or restart, another single click. With music playing, a phone call comes in, music pauses, a single click answers, another single click hangs up, music starts back up. The mic works great even riding my bicycle at 17 mph! Minimal wind noise. And here's the real bonus, these sound wonderful, better than my E2's, and the form inserts are way better than the orange foamies of the E2 These foamies are black, have a smooth surface where the ear wax doesn't stick like the E2 foamies stick, are softer making for a better seal, and I can just shove 'em in, no rolling to compress, and get a great seal, the trick to good sound 'specially bass. I bought a cheaper brand of buds and although they worked the same, the sound was AWFUL, and I mean AWFUL. These SE115m+ buds sound fantastic, good bass but not boomy, great mids and highs. Best buds I've tried in the lower end of the price spectrum (well, maybe not LOWER, LOWER!). Great value. I use 'em every day bicycle riding.

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Though the 115m+ is really designed for the iPhone (the volume control buttons doesn't work with the BB), it works fine as headphones for just about anything with a standard 3.5mm jack. The middle button does work with the BB 9700. One click either answers/disconnects a call or toggles between play/pause.

Comfort is pretty good even after long term use. I managed to sleep with these in my ears inflight; no problem 7 hours later. After the 12 hour mark, my ears did hurt a bit.

Occasionally I fought with the cord to get it wrap around the top of my ear. Not a big issue.

Noise isolation seems to be somewhat better than the Bose QC headsets (I've used them all). It works so well, I kept on taking the earbuds out to talk to people.

The audio playback quality is pretty good, but I'm no audiophile. Didn't really notice any distortion, even a higher volumes. Speakers handle bass boost pretty well (if that's your thing), but the highs seem a bit cut off. With MP3s and phones calls, it won't matter much.

The microphone works pretty well. Had a few short conversations; even in noisy environments the other party could hear me clearly.

Carrying case is a nice touch. The case comes with a clip so you can attach to any loop. A cord management system with the case would have been better.

Overall: a decent choice if you like fitted earbuds for noise isolation and want something very small/lightweight to go with your phone.

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My old Shure E2c earphones finally gave up the fight after 3 yrs. I can't speak highly enough of those so I wanted to go with Shure again but they were not stocked at my local "yellow tag" store. I bought some Etymotic earphones that were in stock and they sounded flat and lifeless so I returned them. Ordered these from Amazon and couldn't be happier. They sound good out of the box with plenty of bass. For my taste though I adjusted my EQ settings on my iphone4 to make them more "crisp". The "electronic" setting in the EQ seems just right to me. The volume/play buttons work great and keep me from having to reach into my jacket when skiing. I'm told the mic sounds good to people I call, and the build quality actually seems to have improved over my last Shure earphones. All of the buttons work seamlessly with an iphone 4.

One thing I might mention as others have is that fit is critical. These are supposed to go deep into your ear or they won't sound good. Experiment with the different adapters and wear them for awhile to see if they are comfortable. You can't just stick them in for the first time and make a snap judgement. Trust me, they take getting used to and are awkward and annoying for the first time user, but stick with it because the sound isolation (i laugh at crying babies on the airplane) and sound quality are far superior to anything else.

PS I only gave these a 4 star because I am not a fan of the 5 star system. A 5 would have to be a perfect product and I can't judge that for at least a year with any product. On a 1-10 scale I would give these a 9 out of 10 though as they seem nearly perfect at the moment.

***Update 11/8/11***

It's been nearly a year since I purchased this headset. While my first impressions of these still holds true, I have upgraded my rating from 4 stars to 5 stars. This is based on durability and quality construction. The headset has held up flawlessly as one should expect out of a higher end set such as these. But last week this set survived a trip through the washing machine followed by a trip through the dryer on high heat. I was bummed and expecting the worst, but I plugged them in and they worked perfectly! Only cleaner! Not only did the headset retain the sound quality, but the mic and sound controls worked perfectly too. I thought for sure the controls would have been toast but no problems. Gotta love the Shure Headsets!

I bought these headphones 6 months ago as replacements for my Shure E2c model phones (purchased in 2005). I thought I had lost my E2cs, so I purchased these (I found my E2cs a few months later in a coat pocket).

So, I will compare these to the e2c model directly. The price point is about the same, at least the 2005 price of the E2cs was similar to the 2010 price of the SE115m+. So, when I purchased the se115m+ I expected to get similar sound, and it is very close although they each have slightly different character. It looks like the E2c are now available for around $200 and they look similar to the E2cs I own (the plastic color is different).

The most obvious difference is remote on the SE115m+ cord, which is extremely convenient and a huge benefit over the E2c model. The remote works just like the apple headphones, click the middle button to play/pause, double click for next song, triple click for previous song (on supported devices such as iPod touch and iPhone and perhaps others). Use the up and down buttons for volume. The middle button can also be used for phone calls, such as to end a call. The SE115m+ is available without the remote for those who do not need it (model SE115).

Although the se115m+ is missing something on the cord -I wish the se115m+ cord had the sliding coupler like the E2c, that makes it easy to tighten the cord under your chin so the cord does not push the phones around, particularly useful if you're wearing a coat.

Sound

E2c

bright (but not overly bright)

open sound stage

very detailed

SE115m+

impressive bass for in-ear

tight sound control

detailed

Firstly, I like both headphones a lot, although I slightly prefer the sound of the E2c phones. They're more musical, slightly better balanced and more detailed. The SE115m+ are still high on detail, but are little more reserved, slight tighter sounding and have a bit more bass. If you really like a lot of bass, you will not like the E2c, but the SE115m+ might be satisfactory considering their other benefit (the remote).

If you like to skip songs a lot, or want to be able to answer phone calls while listening to music, the SE115m+ is going to deliver. They still sound great and you get the bonus of the remote. If you mostly listen to albums start to finish and don't plan to answer a lot of calls with the phones then you're probably better off with E2cs in this comparison, assuming you prefer the sound profile I described above.

With that said, you should also consider some of the newer Shure models since they may outperform the E2c model. You should also consider the SE210m+ if you really want the remote. From their specs, I would also assume they have slightly less bass than the SE115m+.