Following on from last month’s post there have been another bunch of reviews of Shure’s new top-of-the-range in-ear earphones, the Shure E500PTH.
First up is Information Week who repeat the experience of previous reviewers by being blown away by the sound quality.
if sound quality is paramount — and you have $500 to burn — you’re unlikely to find any with more complete, professional sound quality.
The reviewer was also impressed by the noise isolation and comfort of the Shure E500PTH going so far as to describe them as the most comfortable earphones they’ve worn.
USA Today also reviewed the E500PTH as part of a feature on noise isolating/noise canceling headphones alongside the Bose QuietComfort 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones, Sennheiser’s PXC 250 NoiseGard and Voyetra Turtle Beach’s ANR-20. Again, it is the quality of sound that most impresses the reviewer with the Shure beating the other three products for sound quality.
Overall the USA Today reviewer gives the E500PTH three and a half out of four, tied with the Bose headphones as the best in the test.
Again, the Shure E500PTH has faired excellently in reviews. If you’re in the market for a pair of personal headphones - and have $500 spare - it appears you’re unlikely to get a better pair.
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August 19th, 2006 at 3:43 am
I picked up a pair while on holiday in the USA. I knew leading brand headphones and earphones could be bought much cheaper there than in the UK which was why I was looking. After extensively trying and testing flagship ‘phones from both Bose and Shure I was left gobsmacked when I first heard the E500. So much so that I left the audio store (luckily for me they just received their delivery that same day) with a pair and my wallet $549 (£310) lighter!
I recommend these to anyone who like in-ear phones and is a complete audiophile; not settling for anything less.
August 30th, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Thanks for your review King, they certainly seem like a great pair of earphones.
I agree, the price is a bit off-putting though.
November 11th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
I have Shure E3c, E5c and now E500 plus one Westone’s Um2.
There isn’t much differeces between E5c and E500 if any, although both are far superior than the E3c.
The PTH device is pointless, I never use it. When I want to hear outside noise I just push the stop button on my music player, so why bother with a bulky PTH I wonder?
The ONLY advantage of E500 over E5c is that the canle of E500 is black thus it wont turn green as does in E5c. Also the cable is much short, if that is what you want.
I have to say I was rather disapointed with E500, but that is only because I have E5c and Westone’s UM2. The E500 doesn’t stand out from these 3 earphones and it cost more than the others.
My conclusion is that, if money is no object, go for e500 otherwise Westone UM2 is a much better bet!!
November 11th, 2006 at 5:22 pm
J J,
I have to agree, when I heard about the PTH device the first thing I thought was “gimmick”. It doesn’t look like it can be removed either so I guess you’re stuck with it.
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:14 am
Ian,
I just picked up a pair on sale at a local store. The pth device is separate. If one wants to carry around a clunky piece of gadget with yet another wire dangling from it, one has the option to do so.