crutchfield should step in here if they are going to sell iems of this quality remind all of you the basic rule number one i pods are junk and the new ones are known to tear theese high quality moniters up expecialy the rt channel GET A HEADPHONE AMP it is very well worth it if you get real industruis get the e500s bass shaker and specail restorer just like good subs underpower is bad your mp3 is at most putting out only 1.7 volts

Right off the bat I have to admit that these are by far the best value for higher-end earphones I've ever used. The sound is great, they're extremely comfortable when properly used, and they do a fantastic job sealing out background noise on an airplane - even on long flights. They're a lot more portable than the Bose noise-cancelling sets, and in my opinion these do a better job. I love them. So why the one star?

It's simply this: the silicon endcaps, even when regularly and carefully cleaned, OFTEN come off the end of the earphone, leaving the cap stuck deep within the ear canal. I have had to pull them out on numerous occasions with a pair of tweezers, and this is obviously not a safe thing I want to continue to do.

Note that Shure includes three different encdcap sizes with the earphones, and I have taken the time to go through and make sure I had the smallest ones. I clean them regularly with alcohol, and make sure that the tube into which the silicon slides is clean as well. I've bought replacement silicon caps (from Shure), and the problem continues. I can't imagine that this wouldn't be a problem with someone with larger ear canals, because one would simply choose the next larger endcap size to get the right sound-sealing fit.

So until Shure comes out with a redesign, I cannot recommend them under any circumstance, despite the fact that in every other way, I love them.

I have the slim Sony DE-J2000 CD player I've used with my Shure E3's. I have to say, the music is delightful with these. The bass isn't too bad either. High ends, very accurate. I am a heavy critic on ear buds, but these come with every imaginable ear bud to fit your ears for tailored comfort. I recently had the foam ones embedded in my ears for a 9+ hrs. flight back from Europe to the States. They never were uncomfortable for me. I was very surprised because I usually dislike these style of headset ear buds very much. I was very pleased though. The airline audio entertainment even sounds a lot better than the ones issued (make sure you buy an adapter plug though - 1 into 2 prong plug) headsets they give you in business class. Despite the ear bud headsets being pricey, I think that they are a very good choice in sound quality and definitely comfort. With a good quality CD player, I can vouch for that.

After reading all of the reviews, I thought I was going to be blown away by the sound of these things.

But I swear that the phones that came with the Zen Creative Vision sound better than these. I couldn't believe my ears, so I tested them, one after the other, and these sounded like a transistor radio, in terms of the low-end.

The *only* reason that I kept them is that, because you insert them into your ear, it cuts out most of the background noise, especially good while biking.

HOWEVER... if you run with these on, the THUD of your footsteps reverberates back through the ear plugs, so you have to turn the volume up to overcome that, which partially negates the promise that you can listen to these at lower volumes than outside-the-ear designs.

The long cord is nice... until it's not. Another reviewer complained about the lack of a clip, and I agree. You only have to catch the cord once on a door handle, cabinet, arm, etc. to realize that a cord should have been standard issue.

My friends thought I was nuts to but the Shure E2C earbuds. However, I returned the E2's and decided to try Shure E3. I love them! There is one particular low frequency that doesn't sound good to me (it could be my ears) but everything else is fantastic! If I could have afforded the E4's, I would have gotten those but this one was worth the extra money over the E2's. Every penny!

I have had the old E-1 as an in-ear monitor (I am a musician), and now use the E2 for emergency back-up, the E-3 for riding my motorcycle, E-4 for commuting on foot or train, and the E-5 for late-night listening at home. Look, it is all about bit-rate, and quality of source. Listen to a full-size wav file on a CD, or a factory CD (and put on the first level of sony bass boost) and the sound is unbelievable. The compressed file sound on my ipod is substandard unless I use at least 192kbps, and I make up a custom EQ that I apply to all tunes on that ipod. The idiot who says a green day tune overpowers them is using a distorted file, with gain too high or merely pumps up the bass. He also may not have broken in the phones. These are used for years by professional musicians with custom ear-molds, and handle higher levels of sound-pressure than the common user. Get them, break them in, and enjoy!

All of Shure headphones block out surrounding sounds, which is one of the reasons why I purchased these headphones. I am relatively happy with them. In general they do sound better than the standard iPod headphones. However, they aren't perfect. The highs are very crisp, and I disagree with another reviewer who says they are too strong. They are clear. What is lacking however is the bass. If you try to bump up the bass with an EQ, they will distort. If you're looking for kicking bass, these are not the headphones for you. If you're looking for a well-balanced headphone that blocks out ambient noise, these headphones are well made, have enough earpieces to fit well, and sound rather good. Just don't be expected to be blown away, as you'll be disappointed right out of the box, but over time they will quickly grown on you as they have on me.

Overall sound quality is only adequate. The fatal flaw is the high end. It's unacceptably shrill at any volume level. Music isn't supposed to hurt unless it's WAY too loud. Bass distorts too easily. For example, Green Day's Hitchin' A Ride trashes'em. I also had issues with the fit. Even a slight move loosened them to the point where sound quality was compromised. At around $30, these issues might be acceptable. For $180, I expect better. In my humble opinion, they are an improvement over the iPod originals; but the sound doesn't live up to the price.

I just took delivery of the E3G's today. 2 day delivery through one of the worst walls of snow that the east has seen. This is a credit to Crutchfield's partnership with UPS. I tried them on the POD and they sound FANTASTIC! But this is not the only reason that I purchased them. My hobby is waving flags at very fast race cars at road race courses east of the Mississippi for the American LeMans Series, Speed GT and Speed Touring series. These cars are very loud and I stand very close to the track. Much of my time is spent communicating with race control sometimes in 90-100 degree heat. Most of the time the flaggers trade off the radio headphones and they can be sweat covered and get hot and uncomfortable. I think you can get the picture. These phones will allow me the ear protection that I need and make it easy to transfer for my shift on the radios. The rest of the time I can plug into the Ipod and pick up on the live broadcast of the race. The normal ear protection I wear has a very similar valve when compared to the EG3. I knew they would work as soon as I put them into my ear. You can almost hear your heartbeat. Thanks again to Crutchfield for their in stock, service, and delivery. By the way, I have plenty of room on the white clothing, that I wear, to wear a Crutchfield sponsor patch if they have one...Watch the 12 hours of Sebring live on The Speed Channel in March and maybe you will see me at corner 3 wearing my new E3G's.

I recently purchased the Shure E3Cs and just got back from England. I used the headphones on the airplane and the sound was amazing. The headphones by themselves do more than enough to cancel outside noise. When the music is playing, that is about all you can hear. The noise from the engines, peoples conversations, and the inflight movie were silent as soon as I pressed play on my iPod.

If you are looking for a great set of headphones and can spend the extra money, these are a great choice!