Shure SE425 PRO Wired Earbuds - Professional Sound Isolating Earphones with Detailed Sound, Dual-Driver Hybrid, Secure in-Ear Fit, Detachable Cable, Durable Quality - Clear (SE425-CL)

I finally broke my Shure E3C earbuds after almost seven years of faithful service. I crazy glued the stem back onto the earbud and the buds still work, but I felt nervous about the stem breaking again and getting stuck in my ear. So I decided to get a new set and was wavering between the SE315's and the SE425's. The 315's are probably close to the equivalent to what I was replacing, but the other reviews I read for the 425's praised their better bass response (deep, but clean), the wider range, and the superior noise isolation. So I decided to spend the extra hundred dollars to upgrade to the 425's. I am very happy that I did. My old E3C's were great, and I would guess the SE315's would be equally good, but the 425's are a significant step up. I have a wide taste in music but at least half the time I am listening to classical, so strong, clean bass, and a wide range to handle every orchestra instrument and the occasional classical vocal piece are essential. I'm also in airplanes every week so sound isolation is important.I might mention that in addition to my old E3C's I also have a set of Bose Quiet Comfort 15's, bought when I thought noise cancellation might be better than noise isolation. I was wrong. The Bose are great at killing jet engine noise, and are truly eye-watering in a turboprop, but they don't cancel out babies and rude adults. The E3C's did a pretty good job of those problems, but the 425's are really amazing when it comes to sound isolation. With no music playing, I can still hear conversations, but they are very muffled. With music playing, even at fairly low levels, there is no ambient noise to intrude. Somehow, Shure tweaked the angle of the earbuds so they get a perfect seal. That being said, the 425's would be truly dangerous to wear while jogging or cycling.So about the sound quality of the 425's. Better than the E3C's; better than the Bose QC15's - but not quite at the audiophile level. My guess is you need to spend considerably more to get something that will sound as good as a quality THX-certified home surround system. On my home system, I can pick out exactly where a particular orchestra instrument is placed. Can't do that with the 425's but the stereo separation is very good and gives you the full depth you would expect. The quality of the 425's allow me to listen at lower volume levels, which is far less fatiguing (and quite a bit better for the ears!). The quality of the bass presentation I noticed when I played my Boston Pops recording of 76 Trombones. This piece has bass and kettle drums plus a tuba. On my E3C's and the Bose QC15's all three instruments sound the same and kind of mush together. On the 425's I can hear the difference between the drums and the tuba, and the sounds remain distinct. If you've never used noise isolating earbuds before, it is absolutely critical to get a good seal in your ear - otherwise the bass will be very weak. If you can clearly hear the conversations around you, you don't have a good seal. Conversations should sound almost like you're under water if you have the earbuds inserted correctly.A couple quibble points. As other reviewers mention, getting the foam sleeves off that the 425's ship with is no small task. Even using the trick of putting them in the freezer isn't a quick fix. Knowing that the stems the sleeves fit on are fragile, it took me almost 15 minutes of gentle twisting and pulling to get the foam sleeves off. Hey Shure, how about shipping the 425's without the sleeves installed? The good news is, if you don't use foam sleeves, the other sleeves (soft rubber in three sizes, and yellow memory foam) are much easier to get on and off. And once you find the right sleeve for you, you will never have to mess with that problem again. The other quibble I have is the semi-rigid, 3" wire cover adjacent to the bud. This wire should be bent to the curvature of the outside of your ear to help keep the bud securely installed. It absolutely does that; there is no way these buds are going to fall out accidentally. But the wire also makes the buds much harder to install in the first place. Getting the buds inserted and secured is a two-hand task, and takes a while even once you think you have the hang of it.If the quality of sound and excellent noise isolation are critical to you,and you don't plan to use them for jogging or cycling, and you can live with the quibbles I mentioned, these are the earbuds to buy!

In short, these are the best IEM's I've ever tried, but I'm not 100% convinced that they're worth $300.I'm not really an audiophile, but I did a lot of research on IEMs (earbuds that sit deep in the ear), and I thoroughly tested a few of my finalists. So, in this review I'm going to compare the Shure SE215's ($99), Shure SE425's ($299), and Etymotic Research ER-4PT's ($299). My main selection criteria were comfort, sound quality, and ability to block out outside noise (note that for this reason I first tried the Bose QuietComfort 20i's, but the active noise canceling pressure made my ears hurt).SHORT SUMMARY: I easily recommend the SE215's in terms of price-performance; but, if you have more to spend then get the SE425's. The ER-4PT's are very crisp, but they have some significant physical downsides.LONGER REVIEW:First of all, I hear that it's important to choose headphones based on the kind of music that you listen to. So, for my tests, I used ten songs representing my favorite genres of EDM (house/trance), synthpop, and pop rock. Songs included Instant Crush (Daft Punk), Good Morning Kaia (BT), Crush (Dave Matthews Band), and A Sky Full of Stars (Coldplay).Overall, the SE215's are excellent, especially for the price. When switching back and forth between them and the 425's, I could notice a clear difference, but not necessarily a $200 difference. If $200 isn't a huge deal to you, definitely get the 425's; but, I think you'd have to be a very discerning listener to really appreciate the increase in quality.So what's better about them? Everything is clearer. After listening to the 425's, the 215's feel almost like a light blanket was thrown over the speaker -- everything is just a little muddier and the individual instruments are less clear. There's less separation between the layers. But again, this wasn't a dramatic difference, so you'd still be very safe with the 215's (and I understand that $300 is an insane amount of money for most people to spend on earbuds).What about the ER-4PT's? They were even clearer, but almost clinically so. It felt a bit like I was in a perfectly empty room listening to every little nuance of the sound, but that sound was less warm than that of the Shures. To be honest, though, this difference was minimal -- in most cases, there wasn't a hugely noticeable difference between the ER-4PT's and the SE425's. I most preferred the Etymotics in songs involving crisp cymbals and complex background noises; but again, it wasn't a huge difference, and overall I slightly preferred the warmer bass of the Shures.More importantly, I found two dealbreakers that meant I couldn't keep the Etymotics: (1) That crisp clarity of sound sadly translated to the wire as well; every time I moved my head I could powerfully feel/hear the wire moving, to the point that it was quite distracting. I believe that this is called microphonics. (2) The plastic piece connecting the wire going to each ear was surprisingly heavy, to the point that its weight very quickly became annoying compared to the other earbuds.The other nice thing about the Shures is how easily they slip into your ears. Fair warning that it took me a while to figure out how to get them in right -- I was about to return them because it was so confusing at first, but I watched a youtube video and realized you have to actually significantly bend the rubbery part. Once you get the hang of it, it's extremely fast and easy to fit them in compared to the Etymotics that I really had to work in every time while holding my ear open with my other hand.So, like I said, I recommend either one of the Shures depending on how much money you can spare on headphones. One other tip, by the way: Be very careful about trying all the different types of tips that are included. I noticed a dramatic difference when I finally found the right set that made a truly tight seal in my ear canal -- the bass became significantly stronger and the overall sound became tighter and cleaner.Overall, I definitely recommend IEMs over regular earbuds (unless you're riding a bike or something that demands attention), but keep in mind that none of these will fully block out nearby voices on their own -- I needed to play white noise or music to achieve the true isolation I was looking for.UPDATE AFTER ANOTHER WEEK:After going back and forth some more between these and the 215's, I can safely say that the 425's are clearly better for anything but casual background listening. For certain songs especially, the 215's now sound like they're covered in a blanket when immediately compared to the 425's -- they're just much duller, muted, and bass-heavy. I'd still certainly recommend them for the price, but I've decided to spend a little more and keep the 425's.

This is my second pair of these earbuds and I love them. I use the included triple flange tips while riding my motorcycle and it completely cuts out the unwanted wind and engine noise while still being about to hear other noises in the environment. Sound quality is great. I would highly recommend.