Help me choose new in-ear earphones (2015 ed.)
May 3, 2015 3:46 AM Subscribe
I'm in the market for new sound isolating earphones. I had Shure SE210 earphones for a few years which did really well (and were chosen on a Metafilter recommendation) but now I need a replacement.
What I liked about the Shure SE210:
- sound isolation was great - this is important as I normally use them on long flights and on rattley Tube journeys
- I liked the over-ear loop you have to do to get them to settle in your ear
- I liked the sound quality
- they were mostly comfortable (see proviso below)
What I didn't like about them:
- they stuck out of my ears so I couldn't comfortably lie on my side or doze on aeroplane journeys. I'd prefer something a little smaller and less sticky-outy.
- they had a weird bulky extension lead point about 15 cm down.
- the cable got damaged twice just by the earphones, once in warranty and once (just now) when out of warranty. So something with a replaceable cable would be great but the extension point on the SE210 was really useless.
- my ears did feel tired if I'd had them in a while. I'm prepared to compromise on this one since I expect it comes with good sound isolation.
Other points:
I'm not a mad audiophile, and dedicated audio boards on the internet scare me, but I do appreciate good sound.
I'm prepared to go up to £200/ $280 but would rather stay in the £100/ $150 range.
I can buy from the UK or from the US, though UK is preferred for ease and speed.
I'm old fashioned enough to use them with an ipod nano rather than a phone, so mic and cord controls are not really priorities.
I would happily stay with Shure particularly if the size issue was resolved, but welcome other suggestions.
What I liked about the Shure SE210:
- sound isolation was great - this is important as I normally use them on long flights and on rattley Tube journeys
- I liked the over-ear loop you have to do to get them to settle in your ear
- I liked the sound quality
- they were mostly comfortable (see proviso below)
What I didn't like about them:
- they stuck out of my ears so I couldn't comfortably lie on my side or doze on aeroplane journeys. I'd prefer something a little smaller and less sticky-outy.
- they had a weird bulky extension lead point about 15 cm down.
- the cable got damaged twice just by the earphones, once in warranty and once (just now) when out of warranty. So something with a replaceable cable would be great but the extension point on the SE210 was really useless.
- my ears did feel tired if I'd had them in a while. I'm prepared to compromise on this one since I expect it comes with good sound isolation.
Other points:
I'm not a mad audiophile, and dedicated audio boards on the internet scare me, but I do appreciate good sound.
I'm prepared to go up to £200/ $280 but would rather stay in the £100/ $150 range.
I can buy from the UK or from the US, though UK is preferred for ease and speed.
I'm old fashioned enough to use them with an ipod nano rather than a phone, so mic and cord controls are not really priorities.
I would happily stay with Shure particularly if the size issue was resolved, but welcome other suggestions.
I fly a lot, and love my in-ear Bose noise cancelling buds. They are absolutely incredible when noise cancelling is on, and I find them very comfortable. Airplane noise? What's that?
posted by Yavsy at 6:34 AM on May 3, 2015
posted by Yavsy at 6:34 AM on May 3, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks, both.
Yavsy: do you know the model of your Shure earphones?
smoke: My SE210s definitely didn't have removable cords, maybe they were an earlier iteration than yours. Thanks for the tip about the SoundMagic PL50s - my interim earphones are Soundmagic E30s and whilst they're nothing exciting I'll see if I can dig up my Shure tips to see if that's an improvement until I've picked a replacement.
posted by tavegyl at 2:27 AM on May 4, 2015
Yavsy: do you know the model of your Shure earphones?
smoke: My SE210s definitely didn't have removable cords, maybe they were an earlier iteration than yours. Thanks for the tip about the SoundMagic PL50s - my interim earphones are Soundmagic E30s and whilst they're nothing exciting I'll see if I can dig up my Shure tips to see if that's an improvement until I've picked a replacement.
posted by tavegyl at 2:27 AM on May 4, 2015
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I am a little confused by your request re replaceable cables - the SE210 (at least here in Aus) does have replaceable cables? Indeed. I'm using my pair with an UltimateEars cable, which I find far superior instead.
The cable isn't replaceable, and they're kinda old by in-ear standards these days, but they are cheap as chips, tiny, and you can lie comfortable with them (they are also compatible with the shure black foam/olive tips that's a must for me), the SoundMagic PL50s are a lovely little single armature that have good isolation, lay flat nicely etc.
Your preferences sound similar to mine; isolation, comfort, nothing massive like UE phones - and if you can tolerate the lack of soundspace you get from a single armature, they are great phones. Can regularly be had for less than fifty bucks.
posted by smoke at 4:02 AM on May 3, 2015 [1 favorite]