I have owned these earphones for about a month now. I don’t know if I would consider myself an audiophile, but I enjoy my music when it sounds good. When my old pair of Sony earbuds fell apart, I decided it was time to step up to an entirely new level of earbud sophistication. After some research, I decided on the Shure SE215, which had received many favorable reviews. Plus, at roughly $100, the price was reasonable compared to other kinds of headphones out on the market.Ultimately, the Shure SE215s are the best sounding in-ear headphones I have ever heard. There were, however, a few initial problems with these earphones. This next portion of the review is going to sound overwhelmingly negative, but bear with me!The first problem I had with these earphones came down to comfort. For the first week or two of ownership, the SE215 is a difficult headphone to wear comfortably, and finding an easy way to wear them is a long and awkward process. The SE215 is shaped quite differently than any other earphone I have owned, and therefore resulted in some unique kinds of ear pain and fatigue from even the briefest periods of use. The cable on the SE215 is designed to curve up and over the ear, which was once again completely different from any other earphone I have used. Problem is, the cable is quite rigid and will not curve around the ear easily. In fact, it took me a good three hours before I had found a way to keep the earphones in my ears without the cable falling off and bumping into my cheek, which was annoying. Then, after I found a way to keep the earphones in my ears, the next issue presented itself. They sounded terrible, alternating between a slightly “tinny” sound with no bass and having the right earphone muted in comparison to the left earphone. This was confusing, because the SE215 was supposedly the best sounding earphone in the world for the price.Now, any sane person would be asking themselves why I gave these earphones a perfect 5/5 if I had such a rough time with them. Rest assured, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Allow me to explain.The ear pain and fatigue is common with any new kind of earphone. As mentioned before, I have owned Sony earphones over the years. I remember each one of those headphones bothering my ears for the first few weeks of ownership. Eventually, your ears just get used to the new earphones, which leads to lessened pain and fatigue. After a month or so of regularly listening to them, the SE215 no longer fatigues my ears. They are actually rather comfortable. The cable has also limbered up a bit, making it easier to fold up and around my ears than before.But the biggest improvements have to be attributed to the foam “sleeves” included with the SE215. These headphones come out of the box with six pairs of interchangeable “sleeves,” which are the parts of the earphone you insert into your ear. Three pairs are rubber, and three pairs are made of a fragile foam. Having no experience with foam sleeves, I immediately attempted the rubber sleeves. I am not too sure why these earphones come with rubber sleeves, because they are largely useless. The rubber sleeves refused to stay in my ears and made the earphones sound awful. So I moved on to the foam sleeves, which were a revelation. Not only are they very comfortable, but the foam sleeve really allow the Shure SE215s to work their magic. In order to work properly, the instructions state that the earphones must have a good seal against the outside world. The foam sleeves provide that seal, leading to a sound experience that rivals even the audiophile-spec Sennheiser HD 595s I use for serious stereo listening. The foam sleeves are fragile, though, so handle and replace them with care.The Shure SE215 really is a fine piece of audio equipment. They sound phenomenal, easily matching much more expensive headphones and outclassing everything I have tried up to this point in my life. There are some initial problems, but these problems will either go away over time or can be erased entirely by using the foam sleeves. I would not use them for exercise, but that’s what a cheap pair of earbuds are for. I highly recommend the Shure SE215 to anyone wanting an amazing earphone.

This is not the first set of Shure earbuds I’ve owned. I had a set of the E2c’s, which were fantastic. After about 5 years of hard labor, they finally gave up the ghost, and suffered the usual death by cable rot to which that series of buds were so prone. So I took to the search for a replacement, and these were my criteria…1. They must be in-ear style buds, with the option to switch the sleeves (The piece that goes in the ear). Also, they must include those swappable pieces.2. They must have a good warranty of at least 2 years.3. They must not cost more than ~100 USD.4. They must sound great.(These are in no order of preference, and all considered equal)So with that in mind, I also need to mention that I was partial to Shure. Mostly, because the E2c’s were my first real good set of earphones, and broke down all my stigmas as to “Why would anyone pay so much for headphones?” So here is my review.The Sleeves – There are 2 different types of sleeves bundled with this set; one a flexible rubber, the other a re-expandable foam. Each has three separate sizes, to help you find a good fit. I tried both. The foam sleeves feel nice, so long as you insert them like earplugs. They expand nicely to your ear canal. They offer fantastic sound isolation, and stay inside. The rubber sleeves are comfortable, but they are constantly being pulled out of your ears by the very stiff cord. I will try them again once I get the cord broken in a bit more, but for now, I’m going with the foam sleeves.The Warranty – 2 years, not bad, but my E2c’s had 3. From what I hear, the cable rot issue is still going on, but I will expand on that in a minute.The cost – If you can get them for 100 USD, then do it. I think they are normally 2X that price.The Sound – At first, I was a bit worried. I was hearing some odd pops in the earphones. Pops that I shouldn’t be hearing from a headset this expensive. But, that turned out to be from the player I had them plugged into. I tried a different source, and no pops. They are at least as good as my E2c’s were when I first got them. There is some talk about the lows and highs and all that, and I don’t know about all that. I know that I was getting some weird looks at the restaurant I was at when I was headbanging and booth-breaking (sit down dancing at my table) to the music. I listen to a lot of rock, electronica, and trip hop, and it all sounds great.Other Stuff – I mentioned the cables, and for good reason. Shure has a history of cable rot; the insulation on the wires literally rots off, and results in dead headphones. To combat that, they have added 2 features. One, an additional layer of insulation around where the wire goes over the ear (The most common place of rot). This likely extends the life of the cable, which makes it even thicker than it already is, which makes it VERY stiff. This stiffness leads to the cable not staying in place, and needing some serious breaking in, which in turn could lead to breaking the wire. So be careful, and be patient. If you use the foam sleeves, then it isn’t that big of a problem.The other thing is that they made the cable able to be detached from the earpiece, which means you can replace it if it goes bad. This is nice, except that, it’s proprietary. It is unlikely that Shure will still have these cables in a few years available for purchase or otherwise. So while it’s a nice feature, you likely won’t be able to use it for anything other than changing the color of your wires. (It would likely be a good idea to order a spare once these earbuds are discontinued).I also want to comment on the case that comes with the set. At first, I didn’t like it, becasue my previous Shure’s had such a nice case. It was solid, with an insert in the middle that you could wrap the cords around and place the drivers inside of. This case is soft, and has no way to manage the cables or drivers other than jsut stuffing them inside, which is what I didn’t like at first. But over time, I have grown to like how much more compact it is. The soft case fits easily into my pocket, and keeps everything pretty contained (the last case bulged a lot). And I’ve never once had an issue where I felt they were compromised as a result. So I would say the soft case works quite well, and has a sharp looking Shure logo on it.So that’s my experience with the 215’s. I recommend them to anyone that knows how important a good set of headphones are, but doesn’t have a lot of money to dedicate to them.

This is my review of the Shure SE215 in ear monitors. I’ve had these headphones for a decent amount of time, just over a year now. I’ve used these in all sorts of different scenarios, from studying, to sleeping, and even intense golf course maintenance. My review will be divided into 3 different sections: durability, design, and sound quality. Enjoy!## A quick note on the ear tipsA lot of people really like the ear tips that come with these headphones. I used them for quite some time and was very happy with them. After a while, the memory foam started to get really gross and firm, so I decided to research some new tips. Much to my surprise, I discovered that the beloved Klipsch oval eartips fit these buds perfectly! I quickly bought them and couldn’t be happier. I can confidently say, at least for my ears, the Klipsch oval tips blow any of the stock tips out of the water. The seal is fantastic, and they’re easy to put on. They dont get uncomfortable over long periods of time, and they dont try to push themselves out of your ear like the memory foam tips. They’re literally perfect for me. I **highly, highly** recommend you give them a shot instead of the stock eartips.## DurabilityThese headphones are made out of plastic, and doesn’t contain a single piece of metal in the enclosure. Don’t let this fool you, however, these headphones are amongst the most durable in-ear buds I’ve ever owned (far surpassing the Klipsch Image X10 and S4, as well as the Monster Turbines, which have an *all metal* enclosure and Monster Beats Tour). I don’t treat these headphones kindly either. I never put them in their carrying case and I frequently wear them in rugged environments, such as mowing the grass (in 95º heat) and, as stated earlier, golf course maintenance. I have the clear model, which has a kevlar and mesh lined cable. Once again, this cable is by far the most durable I’ve ever seen. The cable that came with these headphones when I purchased them wore out very quickly, I think it was a lemon. In less than a month of daily use, I found the sound would short out momentarily at random times. Thankfully, these headphones feature removable cables (a feature which really shouldn’t be overlooked), so I bought another one and it’s been working perfectly ever since. Overall, if you’re looking to buy a pair of headphones that will last for *years* on end, these headphones are definitely the right call.## DesignI love the design of these headphones. I dont really have any complaints, so I apologize in advance if I sound overwhelmingly positive. A huge advantage of having earbuds that sit flush with your ears (and dont stick out like typical earbuds) is that you can sleep with them! It’s so great being able to lay my head on a pillow and not feel any pressure in my ear canals. If you use earbuds in the house, this is really a feature that should not be overlooked. Furthermore, since these headphones sit flush with your ears, you can wear them in the rain with minimal risk of water touching the driver enclosures (let alone actually seeping inside). Lastly, the way the cable wraps above your ear makes it very difficult for cable tension alone to pull them out. This means that the buds can literally stay in for days without the usual cable sways slowly wiggling them out of your ears. It also means that if the cable catches something (like a door handle), the earbuds aren’t likely to get yanked out (which is usually a pretty jarring experience). The only problem I have with the clear model in particular is that the right angle headphone jack doesn’t fit cases very well. I dont have a high-profile case, just a thin TPU shell around my iPhone 6. Despite the fact that my case is thin, it was still too thick to plug these headphones in. The black cable seems to be designed for mobile devices, because it doesn’t have these issues fitting my case.If you plan on using these with a phone, I recommend you buy the black variant.## Sound qualitySound quality is highly subjective. What I think sounds good, others might think sounds like garbage. This is why I try to reduce the weight of sound quality in my reviews, and instead, focus on the factual, measurable parts of these headphones. Lets get this out of the way, these headphones are **not** balanced. They have a significant bias towards the lower frequencies: bass, but it can also turn some people off. Unlike some other bass-boosted headphones on the market, these headphones aren’t a complete mess when you get to the higher end of the spectrum. Trebles are very clear, sharp, and precise. The trebles are very independent of the lower frequencies (high mids in particular), which is a great characteristic to see at this price point. I wish they were just a brighter (trebles should be louder), but its not a deal breaker, especially if you aren’t a huge audio snob like I am. Shure always does a great job with their mids, and these headphones are no exception. They’re very clear, controlled, and accurate. Sometimes, in very complex songs, the bass will run into the mids, causing things to sound muddier than they should, but its not a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination. These scenarios are generally few and far between.Overall, I think a lot of people will be happy with the sound of these headphones. They have the bass-boosted emphasis of most modern headphones, however, it isn’t overdone, and it doesn’t come at the expense of the mids (in most scenarios) or the trebles. For $100, you’re not going to get a perfect pair of headphones, but you can get one thats pretty damn good for most people. Unless you’re a *serious* audio snob, or you listen *strictly* to spoken word audio, I highly recommend the Shure SE215 (in black). Seriously though, pick up a set of the Klipsch eartips while you’re at it. You **will not** regret it.

These sound wonderful. I use them as IEMs with our band’s Phenyx Pro PTM-10 receivers (available elsewhere on Amazon). They isolate the drums I play nicely while still allowing me to hear the band well enough to harmonize effectively. They’re much, much better than the earbuds that come with the Phenyx units.The build quality of these is very good, although on my pair, the right earbud does occasionally pop loose from the MMCX connector, but only when unwrapping them our of the case and putting them on, never while performing. It’s not been an issue worthy of deducting a star—yet.

To start, I have these plugged into a Qudelix 5K as the main go to. At my desk at work they’re plugged into a Hiby FD3For my own uses (just music, not averse to a podcast or audiobook) These are pretty hard to beat. Currently competing with my Linsoul Tangzu and Tin HiFi T3+I like the rotatable MMCX connector on these until I don’t. It’s a nitpick, and historically monitors don’t fit snug in my right ear. Not a fault of theirsIt’s a reference sound, so that could be a turnoff for some. It does not bother me delving into my sub bass collection while wearing these. If anything the highs can get a bit fatiguingFoam tips till I die. The isolation on these on their own are great and are rounded off with foam tips. You can block out most of the outside world with these. They get to fight NYC noise for an hour a dayGet these if you can find em for 90 like I did. I returned these once previously and came to regret it over time. My single favorite thing about these is the small footprint.***A note, if you do not desire the isolation these provide and the niceties, save yourself the dough and get some MEE M6 pros. But if like to be fussy once in a while and want a pair of Shures in Green, Do eet