jamesyoko
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2013
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Hello fellow comrades on Head-Fi, warmest greetings from sunny Singapore.
I write as an avid audio enthusiast short of audiophilia due to my lack of experience garnered by years of audio exposure and influence.
With that said, I was driven by the obligation to write a review of these BA's after my time with them.
Walking Into my local audio store to pick these up was almost as good as the day I was allowed to finally put my hands on the wheel of a high octane gas guzzling vehicle.
As I finally unravelled the packaging I was greeted by the fresh scent of industrial automation reminiscent of freshly baked polymer packed in new cardboard.
Sound Quality
Moulding the little black olive tips with my fingers I firmly positioned the IEM's over my ear canal. Plugged the jack into my trusty little itouch, scrolled to "The Sky" by Mat Zo and fired them up. As the first beat resonated through my ears I closed my eyes in anticipation for that familiar punch induced by the low frequency curves. When the last beat vibrated through the drivers and my eyes opened I found myself lost, not from the sheer amazement of it all but from the multiple questions I had plastered all over. "Where is the bass?.. Did i mess up the EQ?.. Is the jack firmly secured?" I was vaguely disappointed to say none the least expecting much more than what my girlfriend's SE215's offered. I spent the next 2 hours fumbling back and forth between these two IEM's trying to find out why my SE535's were so mute in the low frequency department.
Somewhat disappointed I decided to call it a night and set them down by the bed side. Over the course of the next few days I decided to allow the 535's to "burn-in" in hopes that it would stretch the low end response a little bit more. I am a firm believer of mechanical burn-in time, it may be debatable as to whether burn-in may indeed take place in such micro engineering but I shall omit that from this review. Roughly 70 hours and a plethora of genres later I can honestly say I have noticed no noticeable change in frequency response except for maybe that these olive tips have become a little more oiled from my ears and perhaps seal a little better as opposed to them dry out of the production line, maybe that's just me.
From Michelle branch to Frank Sinatra and even some heavily saturated trance music, these IEM's clearly shine from the mid end up, with clear and concise vocals minus the harsh and overpowering treble some IEM's suffer from. I would call the mids replicated on these similar to that whiff you get from opening up the oven door spreading the air with the sweet creamy scent of a baking cake. The mids leave your ears tender with a sweet after taste of mid end vanilla.
The highs are clean and colourless, precise to say the least whilst not being over intrusive and piercing, overall very controlled with no roll-off noticeable. Warm is a word I would not associate with these IEM's, a colder more metallic signature is inherent in its construction. I have not yet had the opportunity to try out other cables due to budget constraints, however I have a stage93 SPEC planned in the pipeline.
The only downfall in this department can be said in its bass, whilst not necessarily as bad as what some other users may have reported it to be, it is somewhat lacking. It is indeed accurate and quick however leaving some users like myself yearning for that extra bit of extension. It would be great if Shure could squeeze in a few Hz into the low end not necessarily to an overpowered stance but more of an assertive one.
I have tried amping these reds with an ibasso BOA and an Xduoo XP-1, I have noted that the the response has increased ever so slightly, producing more punchy bass response but that's about it, I mainly run these unamped direct from my i devices and they run just fine with more than sufficient juice.
Sound Stage
Having tried the likes of open cans such as the HD 700's and the RS125's I have come to appreciate the spacial feeling from the nature of open cans.
The SE535's are definitely a good balance, I wouldn't define them as the most spacious IEM's however but they are more than adequate for my needs. Walking down the street it seems as though speakers were placed all around me, from the tree by the road to the little red fire hydrant, everything appears to be brimming with sound. Gone was the feeling that I had two speakers placed two inches from my head, a little bubble shaped sphere of sound now revolved around my head jazzing my travel to and from school.
Close your eyes and you will find yourself sitting 5th row from the stage listening to Olivia Ong in all her splendour.
Build Quality
Being the overly cautious creature I am I tend to baby my things. These IEM's are build like an ape. hold them and you will find all the little drivers encased tightly inside it's shell with all it's glory, flexing not one bit from any pressure exerted. The only qualm which I may have with these are of the connectors Shure have chosen to use, it is the only thing which I could see failing. The shallow depth of the connector itself has the potential to cause a slight amount of play, and if you're as OCD as I am about little engineering flaws and imperfections you'll be annoyed at how the socket allows play for even a slight milimeter.
Whilst these IEM's are still relatively new, time can only tell if the engineering decision made by Shure will come back to haunt them.
Conclusion
I wouldn't define these as in-ear nirvana but they are seriously good. Whilst definitely not the bassiest IEM's around they are indeed one of the more balanced ones. I found myself exhilarated by the clarity reproduced by such tiny little drivers. Although my initial reaction was all but impressive, I have grown to love these IEM's, in a way I feel that they have moulded my taste slightly, finding appreciation for more balance and all round clarity as opposed to having deeper thumping bass sacrificing all other aspects of the spectrum. While this is all subjective I will not smother this review skewing it in favour of the 535's and making you feel like it is capable of deep bass. It just isn't, these IEM's were made with detail and accuracy in mind sacrificing lower frequencies in the process. These IEM's offer you a whole new perspective of music, I found myself scrutinising my entire library of songs nitpicking all the little flaws in recording, often leaving me in dismay to find my once favourite tracks tainted by the incurable flaws of imperfection.
A review can only do so much to break things down into more easily understandable layman talk for you to understand. To fully understand and appreciate these IEM's would require you to head to your local store to give them a good test.
Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy review, I hope I may have shared some insight into helping you better understand these IEM's and perhaps even helped with your purchase.
Regards,
James
I write as an avid audio enthusiast short of audiophilia due to my lack of experience garnered by years of audio exposure and influence.
With that said, I was driven by the obligation to write a review of these BA's after my time with them.
Walking Into my local audio store to pick these up was almost as good as the day I was allowed to finally put my hands on the wheel of a high octane gas guzzling vehicle.
As I finally unravelled the packaging I was greeted by the fresh scent of industrial automation reminiscent of freshly baked polymer packed in new cardboard.
Sound Quality
Moulding the little black olive tips with my fingers I firmly positioned the IEM's over my ear canal. Plugged the jack into my trusty little itouch, scrolled to "The Sky" by Mat Zo and fired them up. As the first beat resonated through my ears I closed my eyes in anticipation for that familiar punch induced by the low frequency curves. When the last beat vibrated through the drivers and my eyes opened I found myself lost, not from the sheer amazement of it all but from the multiple questions I had plastered all over. "Where is the bass?.. Did i mess up the EQ?.. Is the jack firmly secured?" I was vaguely disappointed to say none the least expecting much more than what my girlfriend's SE215's offered. I spent the next 2 hours fumbling back and forth between these two IEM's trying to find out why my SE535's were so mute in the low frequency department.
Somewhat disappointed I decided to call it a night and set them down by the bed side. Over the course of the next few days I decided to allow the 535's to "burn-in" in hopes that it would stretch the low end response a little bit more. I am a firm believer of mechanical burn-in time, it may be debatable as to whether burn-in may indeed take place in such micro engineering but I shall omit that from this review. Roughly 70 hours and a plethora of genres later I can honestly say I have noticed no noticeable change in frequency response except for maybe that these olive tips have become a little more oiled from my ears and perhaps seal a little better as opposed to them dry out of the production line, maybe that's just me.
From Michelle branch to Frank Sinatra and even some heavily saturated trance music, these IEM's clearly shine from the mid end up, with clear and concise vocals minus the harsh and overpowering treble some IEM's suffer from. I would call the mids replicated on these similar to that whiff you get from opening up the oven door spreading the air with the sweet creamy scent of a baking cake. The mids leave your ears tender with a sweet after taste of mid end vanilla.
The highs are clean and colourless, precise to say the least whilst not being over intrusive and piercing, overall very controlled with no roll-off noticeable. Warm is a word I would not associate with these IEM's, a colder more metallic signature is inherent in its construction. I have not yet had the opportunity to try out other cables due to budget constraints, however I have a stage93 SPEC planned in the pipeline.
The only downfall in this department can be said in its bass, whilst not necessarily as bad as what some other users may have reported it to be, it is somewhat lacking. It is indeed accurate and quick however leaving some users like myself yearning for that extra bit of extension. It would be great if Shure could squeeze in a few Hz into the low end not necessarily to an overpowered stance but more of an assertive one.
I have tried amping these reds with an ibasso BOA and an Xduoo XP-1, I have noted that the the response has increased ever so slightly, producing more punchy bass response but that's about it, I mainly run these unamped direct from my i devices and they run just fine with more than sufficient juice.
Sound Stage
Having tried the likes of open cans such as the HD 700's and the RS125's I have come to appreciate the spacial feeling from the nature of open cans.
The SE535's are definitely a good balance, I wouldn't define them as the most spacious IEM's however but they are more than adequate for my needs. Walking down the street it seems as though speakers were placed all around me, from the tree by the road to the little red fire hydrant, everything appears to be brimming with sound. Gone was the feeling that I had two speakers placed two inches from my head, a little bubble shaped sphere of sound now revolved around my head jazzing my travel to and from school.
Close your eyes and you will find yourself sitting 5th row from the stage listening to Olivia Ong in all her splendour.
Build Quality
Being the overly cautious creature I am I tend to baby my things. These IEM's are build like an ape. hold them and you will find all the little drivers encased tightly inside it's shell with all it's glory, flexing not one bit from any pressure exerted. The only qualm which I may have with these are of the connectors Shure have chosen to use, it is the only thing which I could see failing. The shallow depth of the connector itself has the potential to cause a slight amount of play, and if you're as OCD as I am about little engineering flaws and imperfections you'll be annoyed at how the socket allows play for even a slight milimeter.
Whilst these IEM's are still relatively new, time can only tell if the engineering decision made by Shure will come back to haunt them.
Conclusion
I wouldn't define these as in-ear nirvana but they are seriously good. Whilst definitely not the bassiest IEM's around they are indeed one of the more balanced ones. I found myself exhilarated by the clarity reproduced by such tiny little drivers. Although my initial reaction was all but impressive, I have grown to love these IEM's, in a way I feel that they have moulded my taste slightly, finding appreciation for more balance and all round clarity as opposed to having deeper thumping bass sacrificing all other aspects of the spectrum. While this is all subjective I will not smother this review skewing it in favour of the 535's and making you feel like it is capable of deep bass. It just isn't, these IEM's were made with detail and accuracy in mind sacrificing lower frequencies in the process. These IEM's offer you a whole new perspective of music, I found myself scrutinising my entire library of songs nitpicking all the little flaws in recording, often leaving me in dismay to find my once favourite tracks tainted by the incurable flaws of imperfection.
A review can only do so much to break things down into more easily understandable layman talk for you to understand. To fully understand and appreciate these IEM's would require you to head to your local store to give them a good test.
Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy review, I hope I may have shared some insight into helping you better understand these IEM's and perhaps even helped with your purchase.
Regards,
James
