Shure E500PTH Earphones

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 21st 2006 at 11:05AM

Now that every one has an iPod the market for ear buds is getting more and more competitive. The latest from Shure are the E500PTH sound isolating earphones. These little beauties will cost you more than the iPod itself but they do have cool details like a "Push to Hear" feature that lets you lower the music so you can pay attention to the outside world. They also have three mini-speakers, one tweeter and two woofers to create multi-dimensional sound. The headphones are sold with a premium accessories kit that includes the detachable Push-To-Hear Control, sound isolating sleeves, adapter jacks, a carrying case and a level attenuator for using your headphones with high-output audio sources such as airplane armrests. The total package costs $549.

Tags: ear phones, ipod accessories, shure

Filed under: Gadgets

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

jamette Jul 21st 2006 12:03PM

Are you nuts. that is ugly. not for that price.

Thomas Hsu Jul 21st 2006 11:44PM

You can remove the hideous and surprisingly large PTH unit (as a matter of fact, people who have already tested the E500 say it sounds better without the PTH unit). The E500 is supposedly able to compete with Westone's UE-10, which is $1000. The E500 IEM itself looks great in my opinion.

I believe it's $499 instead of $549. At least, I've preordered one already for that price.

Thomas Hsu Jul 21st 2006 11:46PM

Oops, sorry on the previous post. I believe $499 is the pre-ordering price at most merchants and $549 is the MSRP.

Jeff Jul 22nd 2006 8:02AM

My pre-order price was $399 and I should receive it next week.

Doug Schmidt Jul 24th 2006 9:27AM

I purchased the E500PTH headphones almost on a whim at an airport store in New York's JFK called Altitunes on July 23, 2006. I got them for [$499.00] (even though I thought that I could get them cheaper elsewhere, I still bought them).

The packaging is impressive -- an aluminum box with all the sleeves, adapters, PTH device, and headphones + cool elliptical shaped case that can fit in your hand. It was very hard to see how these could cost $499 when I opened the box up...until I used them with my iPod Video (5G). I was able to hear a broader range of sound on the same old songs that I listen to all the time. My music was brand new again! I could hear all the different instruments nearly isolated as clear as a bell, guitar rythms I've never really picked out before, and yes, recording and artist imperfections. WOW, it was amazing!

How they fit: The fit of these earphones are excellent. The buds are designed to fit snugly in your ears, and is NOT uncomfortable even over long periods of time (I could barely tell they were in my ears once they were fit). The wire wraps over the top front of your ear and then hides behind your ear, and they fit and LOOK flush with your head and ears. Truthfully, I've never had headphones that fit and looked this great that I could wear for hours at a time. (P.S. I was a big Bose Quiet Comfort 2 [$299.00] fan for a long time for the noise cancelling effect mostly, but the sound range does not even compare to the E500PTH).

The PTH mechanism: It stands for Push To Hear, and is basically a AAA-battery powered microphone that turns on when you slide the dial forward. It can be removed from your headphone configuration completely, but if you want to talk to somebody, you'll have to keep taking the earbud(s) out, and that is not fun, because once you've found the perfect fit, you really don't want to mess with them.

Buy these, if you have the $. You really do get what you pay for...

NakedShuffle Jul 25th 2006 12:45PM

I can't believe someone's first consideration on a pair of $500 headphones they've never heard before is that they're aesthetically unappealing. You probably don't keep your iPod in a case, either.

GC iPod Sep 16th 2006 8:08PM

I think I'm going to have to try more expensive earbuds like these Shure ones. My ears are so sensitive I normally don't feel very comfortable at all wearing earbuds but I love the way they are so unnoticeable. If an expensive set of earbuds means a barely-there fit, I definitely want to give them a try.

Reid, Ang Oct 12th 2006 11:24AM

I own a shure E2c last year and now i had a E5c. The E2c are real good, in their clarity at least. But just that the sound of the E2c are thin and the timbre are not as defined. The bass of the E2c are also in mid range. I do not really feel th thumps of the bass using the E2c. However, with the E5c, everything tops the line. The E5c has the clarity and is even more define then any of other earphones i had heard (E3c, E3g) the E3 series have good bass responses but their overall sound is still small, thus sounded far away. But not for the E5c, it sounded as if is infront of you. The E5c has almost all frequencies responses. Strong thumping bass and 'Live' vocal lines. The only thing i feel that can surpass my E5c's sound quality is my recording studio monitor, Mackie K240. other than that, i think it is a good earphone. The only other earphones i heard that is better than My E5c is the UE 10 Pro. which i could not possibly afford. However, i had been looking at the E500PTH, which consist of 3 drivers in each earbud, i really wonder is the sound quality of the E500 better or in compete with the E5c. Please do let me know if you had both the E5c and E500. thanks....
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