I saw that the black foam sleeves can also be purchased in bulk from Amazon for $117 for 50 pair. The description says they are for the Shure SE series earphones and doesn't say whether they fit the E3's but I believe the stems are the same and that these should therefore work fine with the E3's.

The black foam sleeves will fit all Shure IEMs except for the E2 series and its variants. The E3,E4,E5,E500 and all the SE series will work with the black foam sleeves.

Shure vs. the rest
 

I've seen Shure headphones in a few stores and even tried them a few times - though only for short periods. At a cost of up to $550US - could they possibly be worth the price?

I've got 3 different pairs ranging from the e2c's to the e500's, love them, great sound, great performance. if you use your iPod or mp3 player a lot and appreciate comfy and great sounding earphones, get them. yeah, they are pricey but it'll make up for it with performance.

I've got 3 different pairs ranging from the e2c's to the e500's, love them, great sound, great performance. if you use your iPod or mp3 player a lot and appreciate comfy and great sounding earphones, get them. yeah, they are pricey but it'll make up for it with performance.

The black foam sleeves are available here http://www.earphonesolutions.com/forshe3e4e5w.html

Hey I have the e3c's I think - not sure, they were the $100 ones. They sell the foam plugs at the airports for like $1 a pair or something. I know I picked some up at EWR at some electronics store by the low gates in C (near the second floor lounge) I think. It was a while ago.

$6 a pair plus shipping is a little excessive considering the things just get clogged with earwax.

BTW if anyone knows where to get the screen waxguards for these suckers, I could use those.

First tried these at Macworld and only got the foam inserts to work... I actually got a nice deal on the E2Cs and took the plunge. Ironically in testing them out, I FINALLY looked at the instructions and the get used differently then other earphones... and found a few different styles worked quite well.

So if you haven't.. look and the directions.... foams seem to work by default, but i've been happy with the stand that shipped on them to begin with...

Nice device!^

Well, it's like most things, isn't it? If they're worth the price to you, that's all that matters.

Personally, I have the E4c which I bought for a pretty good price - but still a price that most "normal" people would find frightening. It has been one of my best purchases in the last few years by far.

- Sound quality: Sublime sound quality - no "despite form factor" or "all things considered" - just very good sound in its own right. The detail is good, the midrange (voice) sounds especially good and there's just the right amount of bass. Enough "kick" for me to appreciate it, but not flabby or muddy like a lot of the cheaper designs.

- Isolation: To me, this is one of the most important characteristics of these earphones. I realise that plenty of open headphones can outperform these at the same price, but you can't use those open headphones on a very noisy London Underground or on a flight while still ensuring you enjoy music in a quiet background and not having to crank up the volume. This is important because 1. it damages your hearing if you have to crank up the volume high enough for your open headphones to be louder than the background noise, 2. this isolating design provides a really relaxing quiet background so that you don't tire of the loud background noise, and 3. you also avoid broadcasting your taste in music to your seat neighbours.

- Size: Well, the Shure E4c are as small as earphones come. What I love about the size is that it looks very inconspicuous when in use - almost looks like a pair of black wires going into my ears. Also, I can sleep with the Shures on, no problem - something that I can't say for full sized headphones.

But obviously, the form factor (of In-Ear Monitors) is not for everyone. Some people can't get used to the rather invasive nature of the IEMs. Also, by their very closed nature, the soundstage you get from IEMs tends to be much smaller and narrower than full-sized headphones so it usually feels like you're listening to music in a smaller space when listening through IEMs compared to headphones. Oh, and I suppose I do have to replace the foam sleeve every 3 weeks or so, but it's not a big problem as long as you can find a decently priced replacement foam sleeve pack.

But that's just about the only thing I can criticise about my E4c, and the other advantages far, far outweigh minor gripes. I haven't listened to any of the cheaper models but I'm told that E4c is often just the right balance of sound quality vs. cost - highly recommended.

I guess I'm a little reluctant to believe that a $550 pair of headphones plugged into an iPod or similar and reproducing lossily encoded audio is really anything more than lipstick on a pig.

That said, I'd be happy to audition some of these fancy headphones, if only someone would send me a pair.

:D :D

I rip my music using a lossless codec. I've found the iPod to be excellent with my E5s...mostly because its battery powered so I dont get any grounding problems or voltage flux. At home/office I use a HeadRoom amp thats mind blowing.

I doubt if 40 yo ears can hear the difference either.

my ear test was a real shocker.

THANK YOU!!!! I have been looking for these custom molds for ages. Will be getting them when I arrive back home.