Worth buying Shure e4c headphones for 2g shuffle???

[ubiquitous_andy]

Hi everyone,

I bought a 2g shuffle the other day. The stock headphones are really disappointing, so I need some replacements. I really like classical music, which is quite dense in frequencies and dynamic in volume and requires good headphones to reproduce it pleasingly. The Shure e4c looks great in this respect, but my question really is, do you think it is even worth it with the shuffle?

Anyone else using a shuffle with headphones that are 3 times the price of the unit? And are the results worth it?

All the best,
ubiquitous_andy

[Jokieman]

Hi everyone,

I bought a 2g shuffle the other day. The stock headphones are really disappointing, so I need some replacements. I really like classical music, which is quite dense in frequencies and dynamic in volume and requires good headphones to reproduce it pleasingly. The Shure e4c looks great in this respect, but my question really is, do you think it is even worth it with the shuffle?

Anyone else using a shuffle with headphones that are 3 times the price of the unit? And are the results worth it?

All the best,
ubiquitous_andy


Depends on how portable you need to stay, you'll probably notice some Hiss with the 2g shuffle and the E4C IEM's, but you can purchase Shure's volume control (also known as an Inline volume Attenuator) to get rid of the hiss by lowering the volume on the inline and raising it on the Shuffle. An Inline Volume Attenuator can be had for between $5.00 and $25.00

Another option is adding a low-gain amp to the mix like the Go Vibe V5 mini-amp for portable devices (with the low gain option). The Amp is around $75.00.

It depends on how important your music is to you as to whether or not it is worth the expense.

[n2xe]

I think the E4c will leave you dissappointed and a lot poorer. The Sennheiser CX-300 sounds much better at 1/4 the price. If it's sound quality you're after, most decent headphones sound even better yet. See http://www.n2xe.com/Buds.html for more info...

[Eric Lewis]

see if u loose the shuffle ok...thats 80 bucks gone..not so bad...but if u loose it all thats like 300...so buy wiselly!

[ubiquitous_andy]

I think the E4c will leave you dissappointed and a lot poorer. The Sennheiser CX-300 sounds much better at 1/4 the price. If it's sound quality you're after, most decent headphones sound even better yet. See http://www.n2xe.com/Buds.html for more info...

Wow, that's the first bad review I've seen.. versus hundreds that say they're fantastic.. I'm not sure your source is totally reliable, but I'll def. take it on board..

Thanks for the responses.. I am worried about losing them etc. But what I really want to know is if the shuffle's amp and digital-analogue convertor is decent enough to warrant buying great heaphones, or if the e4c headphones will just show up all the problems with the shuffle, which after all, is only $79.. It wouldn't be a fault of the shuffle, just my fault, for not buying a more expensive model ipod...

[gylee]

I am using UE5Cs with mine which are about 7 times the price of the unit and it sounds pretty good, so if you want the Shures go for it! They can stay with you through several iPods so I don't think it is a waste. You will notice a background hiss on the 2G Shuffle though with sensitive headphones. It is not too annoying.

[archesdevil]

I have a 2G shuffle and use ETY's er6i. Sounds spectacular...I encode between 224 and 320. If your going to listen with high end phones, in ear or otherwise, I can't understand why you'd encode with less. Bottom line... if your going to use high end phones, you'd better use high end encoding as well!

[Jokieman]

Wow, that's the first bad review I've seen.. versus hundreds that say they're fantastic.. I'm not sure your source is totally reliable, but I'll def. take it on board..

Thanks for the responses.. I am worried about losing them etc. But what I really want to know is if the shuffle's amp and digital-analogue convertor is decent enough to warrant buying great heaphones, or if the e4c headphones will just show up all the problems with the shuffle, which after all, is only $79.. It wouldn't be a fault of the shuffle, just my fault, for not buying a more expensive model ipod...


The Shuffle's sound quality is on par with all of the other Ipods. As far as DAP's are concerned probably the IAudio series has the best sound quality, yet it has issues of it's own such as being shipped with viruses on board. (which will no doubt be rectified.) Audio Encoding also plays an extremely big part in how good the music will sound. MP3's at 128 Bitrate will sound ok, but with a higher end IEM you're going to hear the flaws in the compression. The problem with the shuffle is that it's really not big enough (space wise) to rip at a higher bitrate. However AAC 128 is supposed to be as good as Mp3 196 Bitrate (unless you're using the LAME MP3 Codec). (I will also admit that I don't like the Shuffle's lack of screen, it almost feels like you are flying blind if you know what I mean).

The E4c's are expensive, but that doesn't mean you'll be wasting your money. I think the biggest concern with the E4c's is that you might have QC's issues with them at some point and they may require warranty work. Not a big deal, since Shure does honor it's warranty.

It's all a matter of what you are willing to spend. Will the E4c's bring out some of the Shuffle's issues like Hissing? Absolutely. Will they bring out the flaws in the MP3 codec? Probably. Can this be fixed? Absolutely.

The only thing I would recommend for sure is that you consider a Nano or possibly a 5.5g Ipod. Something with more room that will allow you to rip your music at a higher bit-rate (higher quality) Then look at the 100-200 range of IEM Including the E3C, UM1, Super.Fi 5 Pro, iM716, etc. I've also heard the V-Moda Vibe is supposed to be "really good" for it's price point, but I can't say for certain as it's still too new and I wasn't graced with getting my hands on a pair to test out and compare. I will caution that the E3C's suffer from a lack of Bass. So keep that in mind.

The Shure's tend to emphasize the mid-range tones (vocals), the Westone UM series tends to emphasize the lower range frequencies (bass), and the Super.Fi 5 Pro's tend to be an all around decent Phone. The iM716's are praised by many but really require an amp to shine. (In fact all of these can probably benefit from an amp, but it's probably only necessary with the iM716's and only then if you like to listen at loud volumes.)

Out of all of these the Westone UM series is the most comfortable. With the Shures coming in second place, the Super.fi's third, etc. The Vibe's look really uncomfortable to me, but people are claiming this is not so.

It's my feeling that once you move beyond the 100-200 dollar price range (I'll even stretch it to 300) you're paying for very small increases in quality when dealing with the universal IEM's.

In the end it comes down to whatever you feel comfortable with doing. I don't like trying to unduly influence a person one way or another, I'd rather just load them up with information and let them agonize over making the choice for themselves. hehehe. The only thing I will do is tell you not to buy Sony's line of IEM's. Any of them.

[dimmer]

The E4s are a good match for classical music, but I have to second what Jokieman says about bitrates. The E4s are a much better earphone than the cheaper Shures, being very precise and clear in sound and therefore much more revealing of audio faults. You really do need to record at a higher bitrate, if you want to avoid hearing artifacts around piano and string sound in particular. For that reason alone the bigger nano may be a better match if you want to take more music with you. However the old shuffle was widely regarded as having the best sound quality of all DAPS (iPod and noniPod), but I don't know how the new one stacks up.

[yinyang]

Wow, that's the first bad review I've seen.. versus hundreds that say they're fantastic.. I'm not sure your source is totally reliable, but I'll def. take it on board..

Thanks for the responses.. I am worried about losing them etc. But what I really want to know is if the shuffle's amp and digital-analogue convertor is decent enough to warrant buying great heaphones, or if the e4c headphones will just show up all the problems with the shuffle, which after all, is only $79.. It wouldn't be a fault of the shuffle, just my fault, for not buying a more expensive model ipod...

if you're going to listen to mainly classical with the Shures, then the shuffle may disappoint you with that hiss/static - it becomes more noticeable when you hit quiet parts of any particular piece of music. however i'm not yet sure whether all shuffles display this hiss or not, but the two that I have do, and I'm waiting for a replacement to come from apple. You can always get a refurb 1st gen shuffle, since they do not have any hiss (unless your music isn't very 'clean') or go with a nano, which apparently doesn't display the hiss (i don't have one).

otherwise the output from the 2nd gen shuffle is pretty good, especially for the price point - btw i'm using UE SF5Pros (the Ety ER6i's didn't 'reveal' the hiss, only the UEs, so i'd guess that those shures would as well!)

and welcome to the lounge :)

[ubiquitous_andy]

Thanks a lot for all of the replies, i read them with much interest, especially jokieman and dimmer! i seem to have hit the jackpot with this particular section of the forum.

I am recording all my cds with LAME vbr-new 192-320kbps. From what I've read in my reseach, the e4cs are great for classical music (as dimmer noted also), however some of the others seem to perform better at the very high end (as jokieman says), of course i do not need too much bass. accurate tight bass is very nice, but i cannot expect too much from such a tiny driver.

yinyang you are absolutely right about the hiss being a problem. i can detect it already with the stock headphones, so in quiet movements i will probably get a bit frustrated.

and as for the shuffle having no screen - definitely a problem, but i'm just using it on planes\trains. i will definitely consider getting a nano or 5g ipod soon.

:)