Buzzbait
New member
Let me preface this review with a few words about my current setup. For the last few weeks, I’ve been listening to music on my iPod Mini through a pair of Radio Shack 33-1991 earbuds. I’ve heard it speculated that the 131-1991’s are merely rebadged Sennheiser MX-500’s, but have no idea if this is indeed true. What I can say is that the 131-1991’s have a fantastic sound. I’ve tried countless earbuds and canal phones, and this cheap pair of Radio Shack earbuds blows them all away. Radio Shack ordinarily screws up whatever it makes, but the 131-1991’s are that rare exception to the rule.
The bummer is that the 131-1991’s are a discontinued model. I’ve seen them at a number of local Radio Shack stores, but when they are gone….. They are gone. I encourage anybody looking for a hot pair of buds to call a few of your local Radio Shacks, and see if they have this model in stock. You get great sound and an inline volume control to boot.
The only reason I’m even looking for a new pair of earphones is a matter of comfort. I have yet to find an earbud that will stay put in my left ear. The right ear is no problem, but my left ear is shaped such that every earbud falls out with no prompting. And if I really cram the earbud into my ear, I get quite a bit of discomfort. This is not a problem unique to the 131-1991’s. I have this problem with all earbuds.
I did try a few models of ear-clip earbuds, but couldn’t find a pair with sound that I liked. I tried models from both KOSS and Sony, and was left wanting. I next made the move to canal phones. I experimented with both the Sony EX-71’s and the Apple In-Ear canal phones. My problems with both canal phones were identical. Both featured rather bloated bass, harsh highs and a midrange that I can only describe as veiled. Vocals sounded as though there was a thick wool rug between me and the singer. This was far from what I was after.
So, after weeks of walking around, holding my Radio Shack earbuds in my ears as I went, I decided to purchase a more expensive set of canal phones, in an attempt to have my cake and eat it to. I did a ton of online research, and finally set my sights on the Shure E2C’s. I’m not even a fan of the isolation provided by canal phones, but when nothing else fits in your ears, what are you gonna’ do?
I started looking around at reviews and prices of the E2C’s, and all looked well. No problems. Then I happened to follow a link from the Stereophile website, to an online store called discountheadphones.com, where I found the even better Shure E3’s for just $111.94. That was a bargain that I just couldn’t pass up. The cost was over the $100.00 I had earmarked for the purchase, but not too far over. To make the deal even more pleasing, an email conversation with discountheadphones revealed that they were happy to send me the white E3C’s, instead of the gray E3’s, even though the E3C’s were not listed on the website. The store was very accommodating. A side benefit of the transaction was that headphones.com is an authorized Shure dealer, so I have a full 30 day money back guarantee.
Well, I got home from work yesterday, to find a UPS package on my doorstep, just 2 days after placing my order. Opening the package revealed one of those dreaded plastic blister packs, with my E3C’s held kidnapped within. After 14 hours of trying to get the blister pack open, I finally managed to get to my new earphones. Very nice quality. The carrying case is absolutely superb. The manual is somewhat brief, but comes in 37 languages. The build quality of the E3C’s themselves looks to be very good.
I spent the next 30 minutes listening to my iPod through the E3C’s, trying to find a good EQ setting. The sound was pretty harsh in the high end and lacking lower midrange punch, no matter what EQ setting I used. So I hooked up the earphones to my stereo for the next 4 hours, and let them burn in to some full orchestra classical music.
4 hours later, I was ready to do some more critical listening. While the sound still wasn’t totally to my liking, it was obvious that a few hours of burn-in did wonders for them. The highs calmed down nicely, and the midrange began to come into form. I did side-by-side comparisons over the next 3 hours, between the E3C’s, Radio Shacks, EX-71’s and Apple In-Ear canal phones. Even after just 4 hours of burn in, the E3C’s were already light years ahead of the EX-71’s and Apple In-Ears. The bass on the Shures was at least as good, and the midrange clarity was significantly better. The highs were far from overpowering, but pleasant to the ear.
The Radio Shacks provided much stiffer competition. The E3C’s had better bass extension, and a much more revealing midrange, but the Radio Shacks had more apparent punch, for lack of a better word. Kick drums jumped out of the Radio Shacks. Eric Clapton’s vocals were nice and throaty. B.B. King’s guitar was fluid and powerful on the Radio Shacks. Music though the E3C’s was very accurate, but just not as involving.
I have a feeling that this was largely a matter of dynamic range. The Shures have a ton of range. The guitar work can be quite loud on a certain track, while the vocals are much softer. On that same track, through the Radio Shacks, both the guitar and vocals seem to play at the same volume level. A number of various recordings revealed the same thing over and over. I do believe that the Shures are more accurate in their reproduction, but the Radio Shacks seem to be more “fun” to listen to on rock, jazz and blues, just because of the lowered dynamic range. I hope this is makes sense.
I will say that through the 3 hours of listening, the E3C’s started to sound better and better to me. I was noticing many more details in the music, which I was not able to hear through the Radio Shacks. The Shures also provided a much better soundstage. Vocals were gaining body as the E3C’s continued to burn in.
Then the battery ran out in my iPod. End of story for the night. I’ll be spending the rest of the week and the weekend comparing these two headphones, and will decide on Monday whether to keep the E3C’s or not. For the record, both of these phones have VERY similar sonic signatures. If you are thinking about buying the E3C’s, but are afraid of getting burned on such an expensive purchase, I highly recommend that you search your local Radio Shacks for the 131-1991’s. You will know instantly whether you’ll like the E3C’s or not, and will only have to spend $20.00 to do it. I’ve been running my Radio Shack earbuds with the iPod’s Rock EQ setting.
I’d also like to touch briefly on the fit of the E3C’s. I had no problems getting a proper fit. I found the soft flex sleeves to be very comfortable, and to provide a good amount of isolation. They were quick and easy to put in and remove. The foams were also comfortable, and gave massive amounts of isolation. It was almost impossible not to get a perfect fit with the foams. But since I’m not a big isolation fan, I’ll probably stick with the soft flex sleeves. The normal flex sleeves are good, but a bit finicky to get a good fit with.
Wrapping the cords over the tops of your ears is pretty much a must when using the soft flex sleeves, if you plan on moving around at all. This helps to keep the phones in your ears, and eliminates almost all microphonics. I wear glasses, and had no discomfort problems with wrapping the cords over my ears.
That’s it for now. I’ll be posting more observations in this thread over the next several days, as I do more and more listening.
The bummer is that the 131-1991’s are a discontinued model. I’ve seen them at a number of local Radio Shack stores, but when they are gone….. They are gone. I encourage anybody looking for a hot pair of buds to call a few of your local Radio Shacks, and see if they have this model in stock. You get great sound and an inline volume control to boot.
The only reason I’m even looking for a new pair of earphones is a matter of comfort. I have yet to find an earbud that will stay put in my left ear. The right ear is no problem, but my left ear is shaped such that every earbud falls out with no prompting. And if I really cram the earbud into my ear, I get quite a bit of discomfort. This is not a problem unique to the 131-1991’s. I have this problem with all earbuds.
I did try a few models of ear-clip earbuds, but couldn’t find a pair with sound that I liked. I tried models from both KOSS and Sony, and was left wanting. I next made the move to canal phones. I experimented with both the Sony EX-71’s and the Apple In-Ear canal phones. My problems with both canal phones were identical. Both featured rather bloated bass, harsh highs and a midrange that I can only describe as veiled. Vocals sounded as though there was a thick wool rug between me and the singer. This was far from what I was after.
So, after weeks of walking around, holding my Radio Shack earbuds in my ears as I went, I decided to purchase a more expensive set of canal phones, in an attempt to have my cake and eat it to. I did a ton of online research, and finally set my sights on the Shure E2C’s. I’m not even a fan of the isolation provided by canal phones, but when nothing else fits in your ears, what are you gonna’ do?
I started looking around at reviews and prices of the E2C’s, and all looked well. No problems. Then I happened to follow a link from the Stereophile website, to an online store called discountheadphones.com, where I found the even better Shure E3’s for just $111.94. That was a bargain that I just couldn’t pass up. The cost was over the $100.00 I had earmarked for the purchase, but not too far over. To make the deal even more pleasing, an email conversation with discountheadphones revealed that they were happy to send me the white E3C’s, instead of the gray E3’s, even though the E3C’s were not listed on the website. The store was very accommodating. A side benefit of the transaction was that headphones.com is an authorized Shure dealer, so I have a full 30 day money back guarantee.
Well, I got home from work yesterday, to find a UPS package on my doorstep, just 2 days after placing my order. Opening the package revealed one of those dreaded plastic blister packs, with my E3C’s held kidnapped within. After 14 hours of trying to get the blister pack open, I finally managed to get to my new earphones. Very nice quality. The carrying case is absolutely superb. The manual is somewhat brief, but comes in 37 languages. The build quality of the E3C’s themselves looks to be very good.
I spent the next 30 minutes listening to my iPod through the E3C’s, trying to find a good EQ setting. The sound was pretty harsh in the high end and lacking lower midrange punch, no matter what EQ setting I used. So I hooked up the earphones to my stereo for the next 4 hours, and let them burn in to some full orchestra classical music.
4 hours later, I was ready to do some more critical listening. While the sound still wasn’t totally to my liking, it was obvious that a few hours of burn-in did wonders for them. The highs calmed down nicely, and the midrange began to come into form. I did side-by-side comparisons over the next 3 hours, between the E3C’s, Radio Shacks, EX-71’s and Apple In-Ear canal phones. Even after just 4 hours of burn in, the E3C’s were already light years ahead of the EX-71’s and Apple In-Ears. The bass on the Shures was at least as good, and the midrange clarity was significantly better. The highs were far from overpowering, but pleasant to the ear.
The Radio Shacks provided much stiffer competition. The E3C’s had better bass extension, and a much more revealing midrange, but the Radio Shacks had more apparent punch, for lack of a better word. Kick drums jumped out of the Radio Shacks. Eric Clapton’s vocals were nice and throaty. B.B. King’s guitar was fluid and powerful on the Radio Shacks. Music though the E3C’s was very accurate, but just not as involving.
I have a feeling that this was largely a matter of dynamic range. The Shures have a ton of range. The guitar work can be quite loud on a certain track, while the vocals are much softer. On that same track, through the Radio Shacks, both the guitar and vocals seem to play at the same volume level. A number of various recordings revealed the same thing over and over. I do believe that the Shures are more accurate in their reproduction, but the Radio Shacks seem to be more “fun” to listen to on rock, jazz and blues, just because of the lowered dynamic range. I hope this is makes sense.
I will say that through the 3 hours of listening, the E3C’s started to sound better and better to me. I was noticing many more details in the music, which I was not able to hear through the Radio Shacks. The Shures also provided a much better soundstage. Vocals were gaining body as the E3C’s continued to burn in.
Then the battery ran out in my iPod. End of story for the night. I’ll be spending the rest of the week and the weekend comparing these two headphones, and will decide on Monday whether to keep the E3C’s or not. For the record, both of these phones have VERY similar sonic signatures. If you are thinking about buying the E3C’s, but are afraid of getting burned on such an expensive purchase, I highly recommend that you search your local Radio Shacks for the 131-1991’s. You will know instantly whether you’ll like the E3C’s or not, and will only have to spend $20.00 to do it. I’ve been running my Radio Shack earbuds with the iPod’s Rock EQ setting.
I’d also like to touch briefly on the fit of the E3C’s. I had no problems getting a proper fit. I found the soft flex sleeves to be very comfortable, and to provide a good amount of isolation. They were quick and easy to put in and remove. The foams were also comfortable, and gave massive amounts of isolation. It was almost impossible not to get a perfect fit with the foams. But since I’m not a big isolation fan, I’ll probably stick with the soft flex sleeves. The normal flex sleeves are good, but a bit finicky to get a good fit with.
Wrapping the cords over the tops of your ears is pretty much a must when using the soft flex sleeves, if you plan on moving around at all. This helps to keep the phones in your ears, and eliminates almost all microphonics. I wear glasses, and had no discomfort problems with wrapping the cords over my ears.
That’s it for now. I’ll be posting more observations in this thread over the next several days, as I do more and more listening.
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