Shure's E500-PTH earbuds "a new paradigm"

You know how we roll, we're all about the new paradigms, and Shure is tooting their own "new paradigm" horn with their new E500 Sound Isolating Earphones we saw at CES. They rock a "Push-to-Hear" function that switches from noise cancelling to a microphone of what is going on around you, and pack a triple-driver punch (one tweeter and two woofers) into the in-ear canalphones. Of course all this paradigm shifting don't come cheap; the E500-PTH goes for $500, while the PTH accessory can be purchased alone for $60. Should be available in May.

[Conrad Quilty-Harper @ Jan 9th 2006 10:41AM]

That's pretty cool. The "press to hear button" could act as a hearing aid for all the people that have blown their ear drums by listening to music too loud...

[cmoney @ Jan 9th 2006 11:02AM]

Yeah then we can walk around with iPods for the REST OF OUR LIVES! Thanks shure. I never have to take out my earbuds ever again!

[boe @ Jan 9th 2006 11:03AM]

I wish I had checked these out at CES. I have the Sennheiser NC headphones which help but if you have a screaming baby right behind you, even those don't help on a plane. I wonder if these are any better. If you have any experience with botht the Sennheiser model and the Shure's I'd appreciate your feedback.



Thanks

[Armie @ Jan 9th 2006 11:25AM]

One of my clients is a doctor specializing in ear, nose and throat and he says that in-ear headphones RAPIDLY degrade your hearing (unrecoverable) and can permanently damage it to the point of deafness over time. I instantly ditched my damned expensive in-ear phones for over the ear geeky looking, but safer and just a good sounding ones.

[aptmunich @ Jan 9th 2006 11:32AM]

"Yeah then we can walk around with iPods for the REST OF OUR LIVES! Thanks shure. I never have to take out my earbuds"



I suppose the advantage is that in-ear earbuds usually take a while to insert properly compared to normal earbuds.

WIth this new ad-on, you can just leave them in...

[jimk @ Jan 9th 2006 11:39AM]

I'd love to get a pair of these, but $500 for a disposable pair of earbuds? I'd never pay more them $30 for a pair of earbuds that use those tiny little wires. Those wires will eventually break and chances are it'll be long before you get $500 worth of use out of them.

[ben @ Jan 9th 2006 12:06PM]

I have the e3c now... and they're too sound isolating, this little add-on will make them perfect. As it is, i can't hear my office phone ring (a foot from my head) with them on at a very low volume.

[bowlhed @ Jan 9th 2006 12:14PM]

think i will just stick with my bose quiet comfort 2 noise cancelling headphones. they are doing a great job for me, except for that �280 hole in my account.



whats the point of push to hear button, by the time youve got control of the unit you might aswel have just taken one of them out of ur ear to listen like a normal person

[djbizze @ Jan 9th 2006 12:14PM]

Boe, i just got off a plane with my Shure E2c headphones (Shure's "low-end" model), and the only thing I heard the whole flight was my music. Shure's in-ear headphones pride themselves on excellent sound isolation, not noise cancelling. Basically, the headphone acts as an earplug, so outside noises never even make it in your ear in the first place, meaning that you can listen comfortably at much lower levels than if your ears were having to compete with the noise of an airplane or crying babies. Noise canelling technology listens to the surrounding noise and mixes a negative wave into the signal so that destructive interference cancels out the noise, but this only works with steady noises like the hum of an airplane.



From what I've read elsewhere about the PTH device, it is not a noise cancelling device as found on other headphones like Bose or Sennheiser. Because the Shures do such a great job of blocking outside noises, my coworkers will frequently come up behind me and have to tap me on the shoulder for me to hear them, and honestly, it's a pain to take these out for 2 seconds and then have to put them back in again. The PTH just lets you hear what's going on around you through its external mic.



Aptmunich, I promise you that there is nothing disposible about these headphones. My E2c's don't even come close to the specs on the E500's, and I can still say without hesitation that I'll never go back to a pair of cheap earbuds. There is nothing second-rate about the construction here; the wires feel very sturdy and the jack is solid and well protected. Even if the wires do give out, they come with a 2 year warranty, and I've read countless accounts of people getting a product replacement instead of a repair. Sound quality is amazing (I'm constantly hearing things in my music that I never heard before), and these are only the lowest-end model. I'd love to hear what the $500 pair sounds like, but the E2c's do just fine for me.

[vour @ Jan 9th 2006 12:15PM]

Ear damage is a function of sound intensity, so earphones are not necessarily more damaging to hearing than noise from jackhammers; one has to be more careful about the volume levels, that's all.

[werk @ Jan 9th 2006 12:19PM]

jimk:



Shure will happily replace your buds under warranty, even if you break them yourself. They're awesome about replacements. The cables on my E2c and E3c's are much thicker than any other "$30 disposable buds" I've used before.



I wish that the PTH was an amp as well, if I'm carrying one more thing, it might as well serve more than one purpose.

[Avi Greengart @ Jan 9th 2006 12:45PM]

I got a private demo of the e500's at CES (though I don't think they were showing them on the show floor), and my first take is that they're probably worth the money. Aside from the price point, my big problem with the e5c's is that they are not as comfortable to wear as the e3c's and e4c's, so I tend to use those instead, despite the e5c's slightly more neutral sound quality. The new e500's were smaller and better shaped. In terms of sound quality, they seemed to have much more apparent bass, along with a slightly more "live" sound. Again, just a short demo - I'll be able to do a full review when Shure starts sending these out.



The Push To Hear function was kind of spooky, really. I'm so used to not being able to hear the outside world with these... Another feature of the e500's is a series of removable headphone cords - you can adjust the length for armband (shorter) or waist (longer) use.



In general, I agree with #8. Yes, if you listen to these at high volumes, you'll definitely blow out your hearing faster. But due to the fact that earphones from Shure (and etymotic and Acoustic Research's etymotic equivalents) block outside noise so well, I tend to listen at much lower volume levels than traditional headphones.



#6, I've never had a problem with durability on Shure's products, and I really abuse my e3c's (mow the lawn with them, yank on them when getting out of airplane seats, etc.). I tend to think of these like computer monitors: spend more now on the monitor/headphones and it'll last through several PC/portable media gadget upgrades.



-avi

[Expungable Robot @ Jan 9th 2006 1:06PM]

Does anyone know if the PTH accessory works only with the wiring of this new headphone, or if it will be backward compatible with other shure headphones? For instance could you use it with a E2 or 3C?

[Todd Sims @ Jan 9th 2006 1:16PM]

Does anyone here know of a high quality earbud or earphone that has a built-in equalizer to allow a person with only one working ear to hear both channels through one side? I've been searching far and wide for a solution.



ts

[gadgeTT @ Jan 9th 2006 2:41PM]

Nice, but certainly not original. I own a set of Sony noise-cancelling earbuds from about 4 years ago with similar functionality. They have a button on the battery compartment that when pushed, channels the microphones directly into the earbuds so that you can hear what's going on without having to remove the buds from your ears or stop the audio playing through them.

[Chris @ Jan 9th 2006 3:19PM]

I am pretty sure he is talking about the cheap earbud type of phone than the ones that seal in the ear canal. These have a more natural, less treble happy sound and it's been shown that high frequencies lead to the most ear damage.



"One of my clients is a doctor specializing in ear, nose and throat and he says that in-ear headphones RAPIDLY degrade your hearing (unrecoverable) and can permanently damage it to the point of deafness over time. I instantly ditched my damned expensive in-ear phones for over the ear geeky looking, but safer and just a good sounding ones."

[theo @ Jan 9th 2006 4:28PM]

Todd Sims--



You can merge the channels of headphones pretty easily using a few audio connectors from radio shack.



Cheaper and easier, and it works with all headphones.

[Avi Greengart @ Jan 9th 2006 6:01PM]

#12, yes, Shure said that a PTH doodad will also be sold as a $50 - $70 accessory for use with any headphones.



-avi

[DF @ Jan 9th 2006 9:48PM]

"One of my clients is a doctor specializing in ear, nose and throat and he says that in-ear headphones RAPIDLY degrade your hearing (unrecoverable) and can permanently damage it to the point of deafness over time. I instantly ditched my damned expensive in-ear phones for over the ear geeky looking, but safer and just a good sounding ones."



Your doctor-client is likely talking about earbuds rather than canalphones. Earbuds are often used at excessive volumes -- because they don't block any noise so you have to turn them up to hear them -- very close to your eardrums. Canalphones, on the other hand, seal in your ear canals so they block out a significant amount of external noise; you end up being able to listen at much *lower* volume levels than with other types of headphones.

[bandgeekndb @ Jan 11th 2006 8:47AM]

I just recently purchased a pair of Shure's E2c earphones and absolutely LOVE them. I've turned my player down from 90 (out of 100 on the volume scale) to 50 and still get the same apparent volume to my ears. My one complaint is the excellent noise cancelling, for when I can't hear someone next to me ask me a question, so the PTH dongle sounds like an awesome idea to complement my new babies!



Anyone looking for a quality set of in-ear phones, I can soundly recommend the Shure E2c's. Strong bass response (may require slight EQ tweaking on the device) and clear sound at all volume levels.



Shure's website has a 30-day "no questions asked" policy on returns, so anyone interested, try them out and if you hate them, send them back. I highly doubt you will.