Review: Shure SE530PTH Earphones

Posted by: dgoldring on Aug 03 2007

Not long ago, I was talking with some folks on one of the many sites I frequent, when someone asked what were the best earphones available.   I discussed some of the models which I have reviewed, and then one of the other members mentioned the Shure line of headphones.  I was unfamiliar with these, and he suggested that I review them.  So, I contacted Shure and was presented with their new SE line of headphones.  In all, there are four pairs of headphones in this line.  Of course, I selected their top model, the SE 530.

 

What’s included: The box I received was packed full of goodies.  In addition to the earphones themselves, I received:

• a hard shell case
• a 3 foot cord
• the deluxe fit kit (the SE530 typically includes the more robust premium fit kit).
• the push to hear module (optional)

 

Comfort and Style: The Shure earphone is unlike any earphone I have ever used.  Let’s start with the cable.  Unlike many earphone cables, this is a thick, durable cable.  It is clearly designed to carry multiple channels of sound straight from your player to your ears with no interference. 

Additionally, unlike most headphone cables, this one is designed to split into two or more sections.  The main section consists solely of the dual cables going into each earphone.  This is what would typically be referred to as the "after the split" portion of the cable.  A rubber zipper allows you to adjust the length of the cables.  Raise it higher to move the split closer to your chin for a tighter feel; or lower the zipper for a more open look, allowing the split to fall closer to your chest.  This cable ends in a 3.5mm plug. 

You can then control the total length of the earphone cable by attaching the appropriately sized extension cable.  The unit shipped with a three foot extension cable.  This design allows you to control the length of the cord by swapping in longer or shorter extensions.  I found the three foot cord was much to long for my needs.  The SE530 is advertised as including a nine inch cord as well as the three foot extension, however, there was not one included with my review unit.  This probably would have met my needs much better.  Additionally, I found that the connection between the main cable and the extension was a little bulky.  This did not necessarily detract from my use or enjoyment of the earphones, but I could clearly notice the extra bulk and weight when I wore them.  Otherwise, I really liked this design and its endless customization options (not to mention the inline accessories which we will cover later).

This brings us to the earphones themselves.  As an aside, I should point out that these are earphones, not headphones or earbuds.  These terms are often, and incorrectly, used interchangeably.  Earphones contain a speaker which is covered by a soft rubber, foam, or plastic sleeve and placed into the ear canal.  Earbuds, on the other hand, are miniature headphones which fit into the contours of your outer ear.  Headphones, of course, feature a speaker which sits outside of your ear, and is held in place by foam or other padding and a headband.  The truest and clearest sound is obtained through earphones.

When I first started testing these earphones, I thought they were horribly uncomfortable.  I just could not get them to stay in my ears,and when they did, they were shoved so far in that I felt like I was scratching my ear canal.  Not good.  Then, I happened to glance at one of the promotional pictures in the materials I was sent with the earphones.  I suddenly realized that the picture depicted wearing the earphones by wrapping the cord around the back of your ear and inserting them into your ears from the top. 
I had the stinking things in upside down!  Most earphones are designed to be inserted into your ear from below.  The Shure earphones are a little more complicated.  The cable comes up from below your chin, but it then wraps behind your ears to insert the into your ears from above.  Since the earphone portion is angled to meet your ear canal, putting them in upside down was like driving the wrong way on a one way street.  Once I had them inserted properly, I found the earphones to be exceptionally comfortable.  Using the fit kit, I was able to size them for my ears and now when I listen to my MP3 player, I can barely tell I am wearing them.

Sound: The sound quality is where Shure has to earn its money.  These earphones will set you back $500.  Yes, for those of you who were just skimming the article, I did say 5-0-0 with a dollar sign in front.  That ain’t chump change, and the way Shure justifies the price must be based upon the sound quality.  Everything else is just window dressing if they don’t sound good.

I will admit that when I first started testing these earphones, I thought they sounded funny.  I thought how dare they charge so much money for such poor quality sound.  Well, further investigation revealed that I was dead wrong about this.  To paraphrase the classic break up line, it wasn’t the earphones, it was me.  First, as I mentioned, I had been wearing them improperly which meant they were not sitting in my ears correctly.

More importantly, however, I realized that when it comes to sound quality, I have developed a McDonald’s palette, and these are fine dining earphones.  Anyone who frequently eats at fast food can relate to this phenomenon.  Your taste buds grow accustomed to the grease and low quality meat.  Thus, when you go to a fine dining establishment, the higher quality food simply confuses your taste buds.  Before long, however, what you mistook for poorly prepared food is actually an explosion of tastes which your palette does not typically associate with hamburgers.  Oh yeah, and that burger came on a hand made sour dough bun with goat cheese crumbles,  and hand sliced fried potatoes.  Well, you get the point.  I quickly realized that the funny sounds I kept hearing were not distortion, but were higher and lower ranges of the songs which I had simply never heard before on other earphones.  This, in other words, was the hand made sour dough bun.

So, what makes the sound quality so much better on these headphones?  To begin, the SE 530 features a triple TruAcoustic MicroSpeaker.  If you are anything like me, you responded to that with a "Whaaaaa".  So, let me explain a little more.  This feature is designed to create an expansive sound stage for your listening enjoyment.  Essentially this is Shure’s network of multiple Hi-Definition speakers.  Each speaker is dedicated to a different frequency range, which ensures the truest possible sound.  It creates a listening experience that simulates live entertainment by creating a feeling of depth in the sound.  If you don’t believe me, try this experiment.  Listen to a song using your normal earphones and then listen to the same song with the Shure SE530.  I could not believe the difference.

These earphone also feature dedicated and separate tweeters and woofers.  I have to admit this is the main reason I asked  for the high end SE 530 instead of any of the other earphones in this line.   I have never seen earphones with a separate tweeter before.  The tweeter serves to distinguish the higher range sounds and treble while the woofer separates lower range sounds and bass.   If this all sounds like gibberish to you, then I will end this section where it started.  Do the Shure headphones earn their $450 pricetag?  They create an expansive sound stage unlike any I have heard before, which truly allows you to experience your music rather than just listening to it.  Heck, they even made the morning DJ’s on the radio sound good, which can be no easy task.

Noise Isolation: Like many in-the-ear style phones, the Shure SE530 utilizes noise isolation technology to block outside noise and create a pristine listening environment.  To accomplish this, the Shure earphones utilize special sleeves which fit over the speaker and naturally conform to the shape of your ear canal.  This naturally blocks most background noise from entering your listening environment while you are enjoying your music.

Noise cancellation, on the other hand, utilizes an electronic circuit to emit white noise on a specific frequency which counteracts background noise.  According to the Shure literature, noise isolation is better because noise cancellation can introduce artifacts from the background noise into your listening environment.  I have no idea whether this is true, or whether these artifacts would be noticeable to the average listener.  I can tell you, however, that I listened to my music on a busy city street during rush hour, and could barely hear the sounds of the traffic passing by.  And really, whether these ‘phones block noise better than any other is considerably less important than whether they work as advertised when I need them, which the did exceptionally well.

Push-To-Hear: One problem you are going to have, of course, is that the noise isolation technology can be a little too good.  According to my wife, I frequently do not hear her calling me to do things like empty the garbage or dry the dishes when I am wearing my Shure earphones.  I don’t know about all that, but Shure has anticipated this complaint coming from wives everywhere and created the Push-To-Hear (PTH) accessory.

The PTH unit consists of an amplifier and microphone which connect to the earphones inline.  In other words, it connects to your MP3 player on one end, and the earphone cable on the other end.  It can also connect between the main cable and the extension cable.  This is just one of several inline accessories offered by Shure.

I affectionately refer to this unit as the bionic ear, because it amplifies everything so well.  There is a volume knob which can be used to control the sensitivity of the unit, however, it is recessed so far it is difficult to reach in to turn it.  One thing I noticed was that the PTH unit had no discretion, it amplified all noises.  So, there were times when I would shift in my chair and nearly deafen myself from the amplified sound. 

Additionally, the PTH unit is enormous.  It is larger than my Sandisk Sansa e280, and almost as big as my Sprint Mogul.  Add to that the four foot extension cable attached to it, and you will quickly realize that this is not a portable unit.  When it is connected, you are left with a large, awkward unit on an extra long cord.  I really did not understand why it needed to be so large.  Similar technology currently exists in much smaller units.  For example, many hearing aids use similar technology, as does the the SoundID SM100 Bluetooth headset.  I was disappointed to find the PTH was such an unwieldy accessory as to make it completely impractical if you want to remain even remotely mobile.  

Accessories:  The Shure earphones include numerous accessories to make your use even more enjoyable.  The review unit I received included the deluxe fit kit.  This consists of:

• a carrying case
• three foot earphone extension cable
• three variously sized foam sleeves
• three variously sized flex sleeves
• triple flange sleeves
• an ear wax protection system

The premium fit kit, which typically accompanies the SE530 earphones includes  everything the deluxe fit included, as well as:

• an additional nine inch earphone extension cable
• volume control
• 6.5 mm earphone adaptor
• airline adaptor
• premium carrying case (instead of the standard one)

The only thing missing from this kits was a 2.5 mm earphone adaptor.  Many devices, these days are using the smaller 2.5 mm earphone plug instead of the more standard 3.5 mm, so it would be nice if the Shure premium fit kit would address this disparity by including an appropriate adaptor. 

Shure also offers several other inline accessories on their website, including the new music phone headset adaptor which allows you to use the Shure earphone to place and receive telephone calls.

Price: At $500, these headphones are obviously not for everyone.  If you are in the music industry, however, then you will likely appreciate the rich, true sound quality these produce.  If you are not in the music industry, you will love how your music sounds when you go to visit your friends who are in the music industry.  At these prices, however, these are simply not consumer headphones.  Fortunately for all of you who are not in the music industry, these are only one of four earphones in the new Shure SE line.  The other earphones in this line feature gradually reducing prices, down to the SE 210, which retails for $149.99, a much more user-friendly price. 

Conclusion: I thoroughly read all of the literature which Shure sent me with these earphones.  They made a lot of bold claims relating to the "pure sounds" and "optimal listening environment".  In fact, Shure even refers to these headphones as, "a rich, elegant design".  After reading these claims, I set out to test the Shure headphones, and prove these claims wrong.  I could not do it.  Sure, I had some complaints about the PTH unit, and a few minor tweaks here and there.  To be honest though, virtually every claim they made was supported by my tests.  These earphones really did create a crisp and pure listening environment.  The Triple TruAcoustic MicroSpeakers with separate tweeters and woofers really did create a sound with unimaginable high tones and low/bass sounds.  In fact, I thought there was something wrong with them because I was hearing so much more of my music than I was accustomed to. 

 

Vital Statistics:

Name: Shure SE530

Manufacturer: Shure

Where to Buy: Shure

Price: $499.99 (additional $59.99 for Push-To-Hear Control)

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