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-- My Shure E3C Earbud Headphone Review!
My Shure E3C Earbud Headphone Review!
Some of you may know that my Sonys snapped. I knew it was gonna happen eventually but i didnt have the funds to get a more reliable pair of cans when I needed it. I will say the Sonys have lasted me almost a year 
So anyway, one night at Pulse's final party, I saw D:Fuse play and he appeared to be mixing without the use of any headphones! I thought that was amazing but a closer look he was using earbud headphones. . . something like these:
Ever since then Ive been itching to get them because being economical that i am, if Im going to drop at least $150 for good headphones, I better be able to use it for other things than just DJing and monitoring. I remember I took a 6 hour flight to California and listened to music on my Sony 700's the whole way and ended up with the worse neck cramp ever. Not only that, carrying it around was a hassle.
So last night i took a plunge and went to Circuit City and dropped about $180 for these. Ive heard great reviews on these things so I thought I might as well give it a try and if I dont like it, I could always return them.
What you get:
1. Headphones
2. Assortment of earbuds (i recommend using the foams)
3. Small circular carrying case
OK so if you've never put on earbud headphones before, there is a specific way you gotta put them in and the directions will tell you. These things are shaped and angled specifically to go into your ear so its not like you can just stick it in your ear however you want. If you do, you'd defeat the purpose of spending $180 for "audiophile" quality because you wont hear it. When I first opened up the package, I immediately stuck them into my ear not reading the instructions and I'll admit, I was really disappointed because I couldnt hear any bass! But when I stuck them in again the correct way. . . .oh my it was great.
At first, youll think the bass seems a lil flat but after burning them in, the sound becomes richer and fuller. Sound quality surpasses the Sony 700s, the bass is clear, not muddy and punchy. The highs are crisp (almost comparable to the Pioneers HDJ1000s) and the mids to me sound great. For EDM purposes, they are great, for rock and classical music, they are awesome. Those are my opinions, so you'll have to test it out for yourself. To me, I feel the Pioneer HDJ1000s and Senn HD25 sound great so Im using those as my standard. Ive never used any other phones that surpassed them for DJing purposes.
Sound Isolation . . .. . what? Exactly. You put these things on and you wont hear shit going on around you. I put these things on while i was DJing and talking to me while I had these things in wasn't even worth trying. Even when I turned the headphone volume down on the mixer I still couldnt hear what ppl were saying to me. If you read up on all the reviews online, youll notice that a lot of ppl that use these are muscians that are in a band. Drummers love these things.
DJing with them . . . .Ill admit, is gonna take practice. You can either have 1 earbud in so you can use your other ear to listen to the monitor, or you can have them both on and just utilize all the cue and headphone functions on the mixer. Those are the big cons. On the plus side, you wont have to deal with carrying around bulky headphones, worry about them snapping, or worry about other ppl using them.
Lastly, before I end this I would like to mention that there are the E2C which is the lower model and will run about $99, and the E4C for like $300-$400. There are other brands comparable to the Shures such as Ultimate Ear, Sennheiser and Etymotic. Im not saying the Shures are best, more like Im very satisfied. I would like to try out the other brands such as Senn and Ety since they do have a longer reputation of putting out great audiophile worthy phones.
So here's a rundown on the pros and cons:
Pro:
1. Awesome sound isolation. Recommended by drummers
2. Audiophile worthy sound quality.
3. Economical since you can have multi-use for it.
4. No lugging around or wearing bulky headphones
5. Friends are reluctant to put them on
Cons:
1. Takes time getting used to, (even moreso for DJing)
2. Some people are reluctant to stick things into their ear.
3. Requires correct placement of earbuds in ear, not something you can just put on like headphones.
4. Still a pretty significant damage to the wallet
5. If you put both earbuds in, you may feel some pressure and youll hear sounds when you chew gum etc.
Thanks for the review. I've always wondered about Shure buds. I've only seen a dj use them once before.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Liam Thanks for the review. I've always wondered about Shure buds. |
Good stuff! I have a pair of the Etymotic ER-6 Isolators. I I agree with everything you said about isolating the sound. I use them also when I dont feel like talking to people. They work well for that 
.
Nice review! I've been thinking about buying some earbuds myself, but does it feel strange DJing with one earbud in and one just hanging there?
If you're the type of person who likes to take off the headphones often during a set to check the room sound, how are they for that? Say twice per song. I'm wondering if they are more hassle to remove than regular headphones, if so this would force you to keep them in one or both ears all the time.
I tried the Apple in-ear headphones as a cheap way ($40) to see if I liked the earbud thing, but I can't get them inserted properly and they always fall out, so I get no bass and way too much treble.
well, if you want to get technical, you cant really tell whats going on sound wise in the club by listening. You usually figure that out by checking the master output gain level.
mixxing wise, you have 3 options.
1. have one ear bud in, and the other off and tucked into your shirt
2. use both and rely on the gain indicators
3. get good at inserting the earbuds
Hmm I'm thinking wearing a shirt with a breast pocket would be in order.
I bought a pair of E2C's a year ago and I love them to bits.
The thing about isolation with earbuds is extremely isolating to the point that you can almost use them as earplugs ( I've done it at my job before ... stick them in the ears with no music and you hear almost nothing around you ).
The nice thing with the isolation on earbuds is that you won't have to push the volume that much hence less damage to your ear.
Congrats on your purchase. You won't regret it.
Thats pretty weird, I'm wearing my E2C's right now, they are the best earphones i've ever had. I've not tried Djing with them yet but i'll get round to it, they really are brilliant. With my new set up coming soon i'm thinking of buying wireless headphones for home and party use, like the Sennheiser RS-130's, I've yet to give them a try or any of the wireless sennheiser range, but if anyone has, let me know because i think the headphone wire really restricts you haha, imagine this...... cueing up a cd or vinyl, (dang you need a pee so bad!), going to the bathroom with your wireless senns on and then gauging your time on getting back to the booth for the perfect mix... Perfecto, how good does that sound...
| quote: |
| Originally posted by ZeJayMan Thats pretty weird, I'm wearing my E2C's right now, they are the best earphones i've ever had. I've not tried Djing with them yet but i'll get round to it, they really are brilliant. With my new set up coming soon i'm thinking of buying wireless headphones for home and party use, like the Sennheiser RS-130's, I've yet to give them a try or any of the wireless sennheiser range, but if anyone has, let me know because i think the headphone wire really restricts you haha, imagine this...... cueing up a cd or vinyl, (dang you need a pee so bad!), going to the bathroom with your wireless senns on and then gauging your time on getting back to the booth for the perfect mix... Perfecto, how good does that sound... |
nah ive seen headphones where you can walk around your room with.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Greedy nah ive seen headphones where you can walk around your room with. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Abhay uhh.... that's probaly line of sight. as a general rule of thumb, if u can draw a straight line from the headphone's receptor, to the transmitter. You should be able to get the signal (assuming it's close enough, though infra red goes a reasonable distance). If something comes in between (like a wall), the signal most likely won't be able to pass through it. Though it can pass through somet things.... then again, the headphones might use radio transmission. |
Yeah a strong radio signal or bluetooth is the way to go, i used to have old phillips infra-red phones, great sound quality, cheap, just not very practical.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Abhay uhh.... that's probaly line of sight. as a general rule of thumb, if u can draw a straight line from the headphone's receptor, to the transmitter. You should be able to get the signal (assuming it's close enough, though infra red goes a reasonable distance). If something comes in between (like a wall), the signal most likely won't be able to pass through it. Though it can pass through somet things.... then again, the headphones might use radio transmission. |
I know personally I would never want to rely on wireless headphones. Mainly due to batteries... what would be the purpose of a bluetooth dj headphone? I can see so many opportunites for failure when compared to wired headphones. Isn't it hard enough to find headphones that will last longer than a year as is?
After I read good reviews about the E2C's I decided to buy them for replacing my MDR-EX71 (mp3 listening).
The E2C'S sound is really good - bass is crisp, clear mids & hi's are a joy to listen too. I could imagine how good the E3C's are!
Wouldn't quite say the E2C's are as good as my HD25's but they are the best on the go headphones for my mp3 player, sound isolation is superb
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