When we were over in Asia last year I had a couple chances to visit the Hong Kong tech meccas. I was very pleased to buy one sealed set of these, thinking I might pass the favor on to a fellow head-fiér. As it was, I put an ad up but the closest I got to a reasonable bid was still below my out-of-pocket. And YES, I did pay the customs duty when I brought them in!
Since no one was that eager to pay what I was asking, I decided to open the box in mid-December, awarding myself an early Xmas present. I'm so glad I did! These Shures have a very different sound from my bronze and clear Shure sets. (Incidentally, all my IEMs are now on Comply tips, the deep-foam ones if available for the IEM. Some IEMs don't have long Complys available though. It all has to do with the size of the shnozzle; length and diameter. SE535s take the same as tips as Westone 4/4Rs, FWIW. )
The sound ... well, along the way, my kit expanded to a Cowon Z2, 32GB internal and an extra 64GB microSD. It has been hard to start to write this review because the upgrade of the Cowon over my last-generation Zunes is sheer amazing... and the Cowon is also Android, meaning I can play (smartphone-like) anything, while also listening to my music.
Let's put the sound this way: You will abandon your previous rigs, perhaps in their entirety, when you buy these two pieces of kit.
Ranking, I'd put the red SE535s in the top two of my collection. I still prefer the discontinued Sony MDR EX1000 for its precise soundstage imaging. But I haven't seemed to have found time to put those IEMs on while this is such a fantastic pairing!
Since no one was that eager to pay what I was asking, I decided to open the box in mid-December, awarding myself an early Xmas present. I'm so glad I did! These Shures have a very different sound from my bronze and clear Shure sets. (Incidentally, all my IEMs are now on Comply tips, the deep-foam ones if available for the IEM. Some IEMs don't have long Complys available though. It all has to do with the size of the shnozzle; length and diameter. SE535s take the same as tips as Westone 4/4Rs, FWIW. )
The sound ... well, along the way, my kit expanded to a Cowon Z2, 32GB internal and an extra 64GB microSD. It has been hard to start to write this review because the upgrade of the Cowon over my last-generation Zunes is sheer amazing... and the Cowon is also Android, meaning I can play (smartphone-like) anything, while also listening to my music.
Let's put the sound this way: You will abandon your previous rigs, perhaps in their entirety, when you buy these two pieces of kit.
Ranking, I'd put the red SE535s in the top two of my collection. I still prefer the discontinued Sony MDR EX1000 for its precise soundstage imaging. But I haven't seemed to have found time to put those IEMs on while this is such a fantastic pairing!
