I have just come into the possession of some Shure E4 earphones. My, they’re good. Read on for more reviewy goodness.

I work at Plastyk Studios and the guys there are great. Not only that, as the company directors they decide when their company give gifts, and while I’ve been working there it’s been at Christmas time, like a Christmas bonus. So this year I got a roll up piano keyboard (as a bit of a cool gimmick) and also the E4 headphones.

Allow me to begin this review by saying that if other in-ear headphones aren’t as good as these, I wouldn’t want to use them. Ever. These earphones sound the way I would expect earphones to sound. Which, incidentally, isn’t much of a qualitative difference to the sound of my Sony earbuds, which I reviewed here. Ironic that the E4 gets a mention at the end of that review…

Anyway, these E4s sound glorious. Crisp and clean are the key words here. Everything they reproduce has an air of precision about it. I have heard details in my favourite music tonight in just a cursory play-through which I have never noticed before on other speakers varying in quality from a dodgy Philips boom box thing through to Alpine car audio and large PA systems.

For mine, the only reason to bother buying these is if you care deeply about precise clean sound and, more importantly, have issues with ambient noise. These headphones block out a decent amount of sound, between 18 and 20 dB I’m told. More if you use the foamies or get custom molds for your ears. However, if you’re not going to use these on stage, on a plane or in a noisy workplace, stick with cheaper earbuds. They sound about the same for the price, they’re less physically intrusive to wear and you don’t have to worry about getting a good seal between the earbud and your ear canal.

The only negative comment I have at the moment is that the seal of the earbud seems to restrict airflow and pressure equalisation between my sinuses and ears. It feels like I’ve just driven up a hill and the pressure is still stuck in my ears. Perhaps inserting them with an open jaw will help…

I can’t wait to try these out on stage. Alas, it will be a while before I can afford the Mipro MI-808 to make it convenient and safe enough to even think about trying in-ear monitoring. I can wait.

Update, 2 January 2007
I have been using the E4s more frequently in the last week, now that the busyness of the Christmas season has passed. The first thing I have noticed with more frequent use is that, while I was getting a great seal in my right ear using the small grey flex sleeve, my left ear was not sealing correctly. To remedy this I took scissors to the set of triflange inserts and reduced them to what’s known as a “modded triflange”, or biflange. Essentially, by removing the smallest flange and chopping a bit off the tube, it becomes the best-of-both-worlds solution, bridging the gap between the small and mid-sized flex sleeves and catering to my irregular ear canal sizes.

My first take on these headphones was not as effusive as I thought it might have been. Since then, however, my opinion of the Shure E4 has improved, like it should with good wine or a new friendship. I have come to appreciate the finer musical detail which the E4s can reproduce – they are incredibly precise. Also, using the biflange inserts means that I get great isolation – normal conversation over more than about 2 metres is inaudible.

Perhaps the best thing, though, is that they are incredibly responsive. With my Sony MDR-E828LPs plugged into my iPod, I have become accustomed to a slight audible volume decrease at any sudden change in dynamics, whether it be a kickdrum or a band entry. While I understand the deficiencies of the iPod’s headphone output (quantified here and, indeed, like any non push-pull output as analysed here), the E4s react better than other headphones under the same conditions, and quite markedly at that.

The last thing to say is that it is a pleasure to have headphones which do not require attention to keep them in the ears. I watched a DVD on my laptop while lying in bed and the headphones remained comfortably seated in their proper place through the whole viewing.

All in all, the E4s are becoming a better listening experience the more I use them. Still can’t wait to get them on stage…