Shure SE215-K

After testing many in-ear phones in this price category I finally found a good counterpart for my money.

The sound quality is great for this price category. I really like a warm kind of flat sound with a decent bass response. The bass response could be better but hey, it's less than a hundred euros so what can you expect from a single driver earphone. No irritating frequencies stick out and no frequencies are lost. Of course when volume is turned way up the sound does distort a bit but does anyone actually listen to music with volume on maxium...

They are a bit uncomfortable in a long run and don't stay in the ear as I would like. I have to fix their position pretty much all the time. The cable is also a bit short for an iPod use but for monitor set-up it's great. It's not too long and it reaches the belt pack just fine.

The cable itself isn't very durable. I have my third cable at the moment in two years. It usually breaks from the ends. The iron wire stuck out from both wires close to ear so I had to put some heat shrink to cover them up and it worked fine but it's still a minor problem.

If you want good quality sound for low budget you should definetly look into these phones, but if you want also durability Shure isn't your choice.

I bought these headphones use as IEMs as an upgrade from a pair of 'noise cancelling' headphones that came with a phone. To say they were an upgrade from the phone headphones would be an understatement but that is to be expected. My main concern would be bass response as getting a good bass sound through IEM's is tricky but these sound great. The sound is full and fat, it doesn't sound farty or woofy. I'm very impressed with these. I was equally impressed with the highs - when my voice was coming through it didn't sound shrill or harsh, very present reproduction. The noise cancelling has been more than adequate to block out the sound of loud guitarist with valve amps blaring on stage.

The case provided is adequate - Westone's come with a nicer small hardcase but at almost twice the price and to my ears the exact same sound (maybe a bit lighter on the bass with the Westone) it isn't worth the extra expense. Go Shure and keep the softcase somewhere safe and you will have no problems.

I bought these to use as IEMs on function gigs. I normally play 2x1hour sets so needed something comfortable with a decent sound that doesn't break the bank.

It took a bit of experimenting and manipulation of the over the ear cable to get these to fit comfortably. After a couple of tries and home use I've found these to be reasonably comfortable and great sounding. I'm a bass player and while I could get a better sound from a more expensive set of IEMs, these do the job perfectly well.

Noise cancelling is great, Fit is fine and the sound is better than I expected at this price.

I'd highly recommend these if you're gigging musician on a budget.