Review : Shure SE210 Earphones - Analysed
After a very long delay I have finally been able to get my thoughts written about the new Shure range of canal earphones. In total Shure have released 4 new SE earphones, ranging from approximately £90 to a wallet busting £330.
I have decided in this series of reviews to make comparisons with the next model down focusing on the sound signature differences and quantifying the price differential - which translates to should you spend the extra money! As this is the review for the lowest model I will not be making any comments on how it compares to the models higher up, however I will be making comparisons with the equivalent model from the previous Shure E range earphones (this is due to the fact Shure’s marketing blurb has described the SE range as a technical upgrade to the E’s).
Moving on to the earphones under test - the Shure SE210, they are based around a single driver which Shure describes as a Hi-Definition MicroSpeaker. Having not broken a set open yet, I would assume they are similar to the Westone drivers as used in previous Shure earphones.
The earphones are supplied inside a bulbous clear plastic enclosure, which Shure are so impressed with that they have designed it in such a way that no mere mortal being can actually open. I would hazard a guess that even Zeus would have trouble getting this thing open.
Here follows a public safety announcement - if you or anyone you know having purchased these earphones are extremely excited at the prospect of handling and using your new purchase - STOP - any attempt at opening the packaging in an expectant state will lead to huge amounts of frustration and likely personal injury - you have been warned.
So after trying every cutting utensil in my tool box - fast forward 15 minutes I finally cracked open the packaging, and I still had another 2 earphones to open up - this quickly lead me to discover Shure’s next huge screw-up and this before I even got listening to the earphones.
Waste, Waste and more Waste. As you can see from the images after opening 3 earphones I had enough waste packaging to qualify for land fill tax. This much waste is pretty much disgusting in the current climate of concern for the environment (puns totally intended!!). Sad thing about this is that these earphones will be bought by people reading reviews such as this one, clicking on their preferred price comparison website and ordering from the cheapest online outlet - upon receiving their purchase the packaging is likely to be viewed as a major hindrance to them getting at their new earphones. Shure should really rethink the packaging or at least supply the necessary hardware to open it.
So what do you get inside all this packaging, obviously you find the earphones as well as a deluxe fit kit. The fitting kit includes a selection of tips including newly designed foam types, 3.5mm jack extension cord (more on this later), storage case and short form user manuals.
The foam tips have been redesigned with a non permeable coating so they are wipe able prolonging their service life, also they are extremely pliable. If you have ever used the original Shure E range yellow foam tips you will know how course and well - foam looking they are, these new foams look and feel more smoother and softer. I would hazard a guess and say they are neoprene based and still exhibit a good expanding force so maintain a good seal between the earphones and the ear canal.
click on images for larger versions.
With the new SE range Shure are trying to introduce the concept of modular earphones, modular in the sense of different cable lengths - I personally don’t see the point of this and I also feel the approach is a little misguided. The earphones have approximately 45cm (18″) of cable permanently attached which terminates in a comparatively speaking large and heavy Y-Junction stroke 3.5mm jack connector. The modular part is that you now have the ability to add a jack extension lead of the desired length in this case the supplied extension lead is approx. 90cm (3ft) long.
Several design flaws become apparent with this. Firstly, you now have 2 connection failure points. Secondly, the extension lead is made of cable which is much heavier and lot less flexible then the cable coming off the earphones, finally the connection point between the earphones and the extension lead is extremely bulky and ends up weighing 5 times as much as both earphones.
These ‘issues’ introduce extra steps in fitting and using these earphones. For me consumer earphones should be 1 step to fit and use i.e. fit in to ears and listen, these have become 2 step earphones. The cable exit is from the top of the earphone, so the cable goes over and around the back of the ear. Used like this the weight of the connection point and extension lead creates high levels of pulling force at the ear. Extra pulling force is also introduced by the drag encountered by the heavy connection point against your back when moving your head about.
The only comfortable way to use these earphones is to transfer the weight of the cabling from the earphones to the whole of your head, this is done by using the sliding rubber cable adjust. Once you have fitted the earphones and the cable is running down your back, stretch back with one hand and grab the connection point where the earphone jack and the extension lead mate, with the other hand grab the rubber cable adjust. While holding the connection point steady, slide the cable adjust tight up against the base of your head (the point your neck stops and your head begins). Doing this creates tension from the earphones to the cable adjuster which has the effect of transferring all the unwanted cable weight to your head.
Once adjusted like this it feels like it would take the pull of an Elephant to rip the earphones from your head but in actual use I found that after some moderate head nodding (as you do when listening to your tunes) the cable adjuster would start to slide and reducing that much needed tension which meant regular fiddling.
We have finally reached that point, the point where you can finally look over my rant about the packaging, waste and poor fitting……….
Initial listening felt very disappointing, for some reason I was expecting something very different than what I got. The sound stage and imaging is excellent, so is the detail but what is wrong - the only way I can describe it is like having the best speakers money can buy installed in a room with worst acoustics imaginable.
What I was hearing sounded extremely thin with no body. I pushed the bass knob to try and introduce some body and warmth to the sound, which thankfully introduced some of the desired effect. Bass roll-off is very sharp so don’t expect to hear any low undertones.
The sound has plenty of detail but not as much as other comparable transducer based earphones. The highs are not very sharp and certain midrange tones sounded lazy and smooth reminiscent of voice coil based earphones.
I was taken aback by how different the sound signature was so I compared it to the Shure E1, E3c and E4c. Surprisingly the older earphones have much more detail and warmth than the SE210, also the midrange and highs are not has bright especially when compared to the E4c which is an extremely bright earphone. I should point out the older Shure’s I tested are sold at a higher price point than the SE210, on the other hand they are also very old technology with the Shure E1’s hitting the ripe age of 10 years since release.
One other major short coming I found was the earphones readily distorted the bottom end as volume levels increased, if you listen to your music loud and expect to hear some semblance of a bass line stay away. These earphones just do not have the necessary headroom to give you that live music experience.
Rock
My rock album of choice for this review is Pink Floyd - Pulse (Live CD), I felt this would highlight the areas that the earphone does well and not so well.
Overall sound is clean and not much to fault in a technical sense, soundstage feels dynamic and well placed. The recurring theme with these earphones is that they just sound dead, the music is very lifeless maybe a better word would be soul-less.
Most of the instruments sound good, Guitars stood out for me as they where clean and very slightly lazy, this has the effect of removing some detail but nothing you will miss and it is more than made up by the smooth delivery.
Vocals sounded like they are being held back and this poor response in this critical mid-bass up the mid-range is probably the reason why these earphones sound so lifeless.
These earphones only seem to work for a narrow range of tracks, a fine example is the final track on the Pulse cd - Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2). As the intro starts very slowly you can feel yourself being pulled in to the music, it just sounds so good and then around 1m 40 sec the drums start up soon after the bass guitar makes an appearance. At this point you feel like you have just been deposited out of a birds bottom and you are left wondering what happened. The track just falls apart, Bass Guitar sounds damp, vocals are dull, and the track is sapped of all life.
80’s
Listening to a few Greatest Hits from the 80’s and I may just found the genre these earphones are designed for.
Tracks such as Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing really stood out, once the EQ was adjusted the music sounded so fluid and smooth, with plenty of detail and body. I can only put this down to the vocal being higher up in the frequency range, rather than the mid-bass area where these earphones are useless.
Most of the tracks with female vocals also benefitted by having the vocals higher up the frequency range.
Pop
Synth generated music took to these earphones like duck to water. The lazy mid to highs really helped soften and smooth out the sound while maintaining an accurate sound.
The earphones did struggle with more modern pop such as T.a.T.u and Black Eyed Pea’s, after adjusting the EQ to balance the sound increasing the volume resulted in distorting the bottom end - in this situation you have only two solutions, you either listen at lower volume levels or turn the Bass knob down.
Classical
Most tracks sounded good, I spent some time listening to Mozart’s - Eine Kleine Nactmusick. The sound was very good, could have done with more body especially the Violins. Plenty of detail and smooth highs I feel add to the musical feel but reducing any harshness in the recordings.
Sound was competent but the issues in the mid-bass and mid-range do you leave wanting especially in the string sections.
Electronic
With a bit of playing with the Bass & Treble and I think we may have found a genre these earphones can excel at with no buts’.
Not as sharp or detailed as other transducer based earphones, but the musical experience is extremely satisfying.
Some highlights include Jean Michel Jarre’s London Kid - excellent imaging and sound stage. Main Guitar and the remaining track where in total musical harmony.
The inherent laziness of these earphones provide a smoothing effect which adds a touch of feeling to this music, a touch of randomness in a sea of digital precision - I liken it to listening to Jean Michel Jarre vinyl record on a good quality turntable.
Rap / Hip-Hop
Fail and badly just not enough headroom to reproduce the bottom end at reasonable volume levels.
Metal / Punk
Good once the bass has been boosted. I was surprised with this genre, such as Metallica’s self titled album sounded really good and not just one or two tracks but every song.
More than capable of reproducing complex pieces as long as the volume levels are not too high.
Conclusion
I went in to this review expecting a lot, I was expecting earphones which would finally put the old Shure E1’s into retirement. Sadly no such luck these earphones just sound very disappointing they are billed as superior technology to the Shure E3c and E4c that maybe but those earphones still sound much better.
The modular concept is badly thought out and ill conceived, it really feels like it has been driven by the marketing department rather than user necessity.
The mid-bass and mid-range is very poor and I would recommend skipping these, for a little more money you can purchase something like the Shure E3c.
Ideal For
- Single genre music lovers (only if you like one of the following three genres)
- Electronic Music
- Metal
- Punk
Not For
- Everything else
- People expecting huge improvement from standard supplied earphones
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