Help me once again block the din of humanity

October 17, 2008 4:13 PM

My second pair of Shure SE210 in-ear headphones have just broken in the same way for the second time. Can anyone recommend some in-ear headphones that don't suck?

Not plain earbuds, but in-ear, of the type that you shove into your ear canal and thus block all noise around you. I've heard good things about the Ultimate Ears Fi 3 model. My priorities are noise-blocking (not noise-canceling, i.e. the cheesy non-working method of supposedly inverting ambient noise picked up with a microphone) over sound quality, although I'd like some with decent sound quality. Alternatively, does anyone know how to fix the Shures? It's an apparently well-known problem where the cables break internally and one or both of the channels die completely.

posted by DecemberBoy to shopping (21 comments total)

I have some similar to these, and they are more than adequate for blocking off noise on the plane when I travel, and generally cut a lot of background out - to the point that I rarely have the volume higher then 40-50% on my ipod on planes. They sound pretty good, too. I think I got them from Best buy, and they were around $35-40 and well worth the money two years later.
posted by Brockles at 4:46 PM on October 17, 2008

I don't like in-ear style, so I can't really vouch for these specifically, but all in all, Koss has great quality for the price (I have a pair of $25 headphones from them that sound much better than several of my friends' >$100 around-the-ear headphones. Mine even have richer bass, which crazy,) and they also have a No Questions Asked return policy if anything ever goes wrong. They'll just replace them, no issues.
posted by InsanePenguin at 4:46 PM on October 17, 2008

There's also these. Browse their site, I'm sure you'll find something you like.
posted by InsanePenguin at 4:47 PM on October 17, 2008

Creative EP-630. best in-ear headphones i've ever owned, and couldn't ask for a better price:


posted by bettershredder at 4:50 PM on October 17, 2008

Sorry here's a link
posted by bettershredder at 4:51 PM on October 17, 2008

I (and many of my motorcycling friends) are partial to the Etymotic ER-6. They're not cheap, but they sound GREAT and deaden background noise nicely.
posted by workerant at 5:01 PM on October 17, 2008

I love my Ultimate Ears. No complaints. They are very sturdy and well thought out - user replaceable parts! I own the super.fi 5 EB which I like better than my boyfriend's fi 3 when riding the subway (we don't share the earpieces :P). But the fi 3 probably has truer sound. The last pair I owned was an in-ear Sony which did not hold up for very long. I also found I could turn the volume down on my player with the Ultimate Ears and that they don't tangle when I stuff them in my bag. Keep in mind, they are my first experience with high-end headphones.
posted by waterandrock at 5:26 PM on October 17, 2008

I've heard good things about Shure customer service, so instead of fixing them, I would send them back to Shure and sell the replacements to fund one of the other suggestions.
posted by meowzilla at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2008

I have the Creative Labs EP-630 and used to have a pair of Shure E3cs. The noise blocking on the EP-630s is a definite step down from real canalphones. They don't go so deep into your ear. I won't comment about sound quality because I don't have the ears for it.
posted by meowzilla at 5:32 PM on October 17, 2008

Funny, I was just lamenting today about my failing Bose In-ear Headphones that i LOVE. Similar issue, internal wires flaking out causing sound to come out only in one ear. I had previously had them replaced for free, Im checking to see if I can get it replaced again for free. Its fantastic sounding headphones.

If they wont replace it, I did some googling, and this article on how to repair faulty headphones (Shure, no less!) may be worth your while if you feel handy enough..
posted by edman at 5:36 PM on October 17, 2008

I've sent back two pairs of Shures (E3c, replaced with the SE3xx equivalent; then the SE3xxs) and both times they were replaced no questions asked. I dare say I was at fault both times, too. I'd stick with them if you're happy otherwise.
posted by kcm at 5:37 PM on October 17, 2008

I have the Etymotic ER-6's that workerant mentioned above. They have great sound quality and they're quite good at blocking out ambient noise. My only complaint is that they don't stay in my ears very well; I have to adjust them fairly often, especially if I'm moving around a lot. But I think that's mainly due to the fact that I have small ear canals.
posted by number9dream at 5:59 PM on October 17, 2008

I also like the in-ear rubber ones much better than the bouncy hard type, mainly since they block street noise and wind better... I should probably try better ones, but I've been happy so far with a pair of cheap $10 pair of Griffin Earthumps myself, mainly because I like the shape of the rubber "insert".

I am about to start looking for new ones with a microphone (for iPhone use), but that market seems really thin.
posted by rokusan at 6:05 PM on October 17, 2008

I have had problems with my Shure too. Similar to kcm above, I had a pair of e2cs purchased two years ago and I loved them lots. Last year, the plastic on the wiring that bent over my ear started to shred and eventually the wiring inside went out as well.

I live in Canada while Shure is in Illinois but I just sent my pair in an envelope over snail mail for $2 with a copy of my receipt and a month later, I received a box with a brand new pair of e2cs. Well that pair broke with the exact same problem earlier this year and this time I sent them back without a copy of the receipt.. and now I have the new E2xx series.

It'll probably break down again next year but three pairs in three years ain't bad at all at that price and quality. Seriously, email them and explain your situation. Their customer service is great.
posted by tksh at 6:31 PM on October 17, 2008

I absolutely love my Sensaphonics. However they are extremely expensive. Not sure if that is the road you want to go down or not. The equivalent Ultimate Ears are another high end set of in-ear monitors. In a little bit more of a reasonable price range the Eyts recommended above are a pretty good set.

The Sensaphonics are amazing. I had a set of Sures that got me into the in-ear monitors and the Sens are worlds better. When I was an undergrad it was instant solitude on campus when needed.

You can pop over to Head-Fi if you want to read different reviews and opinions. There are a lot of helpful people, and a few trolls of course.
posted by Silvertree at 7:26 PM on October 17, 2008

Etymotic ER-4Ps. They are well built and, the one time I broke mine, they fixed them for a reasonable price (much less than buying a new pair).
posted by zippy at 8:13 PM on October 17, 2008

I'm still using my Ultimate Ears Super Fi 5 Pro's that are about 4 years old now and they still hold up very well. I only had to change the cable once. If the 3's are the same build quality then I would feel very confident about investing in a pair.
posted by cazoo at 8:22 PM on October 17, 2008

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I scored some "gently used" UE Super Fi 5 Pros on eBay for $150 (for that price I can deal with a bit of someone else's ear crud, although the seller says he's cleaned them), and I'm going to try to get Shure to replace my SE210s then hawk the replacement on eBay, thus hopefully coming out more or less even. I will never buy another consumer Shure product. Their microphones are great, their earphones not so much. The really cool thing about the UEs is that the cable is detachable from the buds themselves, so if the cable breaks in the same way I can just replace it.
posted by DecemberBoy at 8:34 PM on October 17, 2008

I've put my Sony's through the wash and they still sound as good as they day they were bought.

However they're not quite as sound insulating sa the Sures.

I would glance through this review roundup of in ear headphones and see what catches your ear.
posted by Ookseer at 11:05 PM on October 17, 2008

I have to give more praise to Ultimate Ears. Best ear/head phones I've ever owned. Not sure of my exact model (it was a gift), but it retailed for about $150. The silicon covers on it are comfortable and block out 26 db of noise, great for concentrating at work or blocking out noise on a bus/train.
posted by wastelands at 11:58 PM on October 17, 2008

Extremely happy with my Sennheiser CX300's. Keenly priced, good sound and the wires don't seem to tangle.
posted by Dr.Pill at 6:30 AM on October 18, 2008