Shure E3g Earphones Review

The Shure E3g earphones fit snug inside of the ear canal. The primary appeal of the Shure E3g earphones is their sound quality and noise isolation. I picked up my set on eBay which cheaper than any other retailer that I could find. Before I purchased my earphones, I read every review that I could find. While these reviews helped me to reach my decision to buy the E3g's, it seemed like each review left out something important. Hopefully this review will provide some of the details that were missing in the other earphone reviews.

The sound quality is excellent, even at high volume. Because the sound drivers are so small, they do not draw a lot of power from the amplifier (I use an iPod). Most of the distortion in a sound system is from too little power to the speakers. This is not a problem with the Shure earphones. The earphones (also called canalphones because they fit inside the ear canal) include a nice carrying case and several types and sizes of sleeves that fit between the earphone 'tube' and the ear canal.

The most comfortable sleeve for me was the foam sleeves, but the foam needs to be rolled around the tube before inserting the earphones. This takes a couple of seconds, and I got tired of having to do it each time. I really did enjoy the foam though—the noise isolation is incredible. Because the foam sleeves make such a tight seal, they also provide the best bass response of any of the sleeves. Eventually, the foam picks up earwax and dirt, so they need to be washed and cleaned. After several cleanings, the foam lost its elasticity and does not seal any more.

It is sometimes difficult to get the earphones to fit 'just right' in my ears. With the larger size traditional headphones, small differences and movement are unnoticeable. The canalphones exadurate the problem because they fit inside a small and sensitive place.