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Topic: Shure SE530's? (Read 26169 times) previous topic - next topic
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Shure SE530's?

Anybody bought or heard these yet? I'm considering replacing my Senn CX-300's with a pair of SE530's.  I currently mate my CX300's to a HeadRoom Micro amp with the "desktop" chip. I'm curious what type of bottom end response the 530's get.

I understand there's a HUGE price difference between the CX300's and the SE530's but ideally, I'd like to replace my CX300's and even my reference Senn HD-580's, with the SE530's. Am I dreaming?
Sennheiser CX300 and HD-580/HeadRoom Micro amp w/desktop module

Shure SE530's?

Reply #1 –
Quote from: quick01 on
Anybody bought or heard these yet?
I understand there's a HUGE price difference between the CX300's and the SE530's but ideally, I'd like to replace my CX300's and even my reference Senn HD-580's, with the SE530's. Am I dreaming?

There is a huge difference in price, but also a huge difference in sound. I just sold my E500s, not because it wasn't a great headphone, but because it wasn't a good match with my Sony NW-A808. The 808 is quite detailed and crisp, and the E500s are (in my opinion) extremely detailed but quite cold which made the overall effect too bright for me.

There's no real comparison between the CX300s and the E500s, I've had both - once you hear the clarity of the E500s, it's quite hard to go back and listen to the 300s!

I thought the E500s had great bass, (without any boost) much more than the E4s I had, and if it wasn't for the mismatch with my player, I'd have kept them.

Think about what sound you're looking for before you fork out all that money - although you could sell them on eBay if you didn't like them, I sold mine on Amazon and got all my money back! Now I've ordered the Westone UM2s because there's been some positive comparisons between those and the E500s - plus they're a lot cheaper.

I ordered mine from Earphone Solutions and saved $44 because they have a 15% sale on until Juy 4th. Total inc. postage was $279 which was about the maximum I was prepared to pay anyway, so a lot cheaper than the E500s and supposedly a little more 'musical' and 'involving' than the E500s.

I'm sure you'll get tons of opinions about them anyway - it's very hard to quantify 'sound' when we all 'hear' it so differently!

Shure SE530's?

Reply #2 –
Agreed! CX300-vs-SE530’s is not a fair comparison. But, what I’d like to do is also use the SE530’s to also replace my Senn HD-580’s. I think the Shure 420’s would be a fairer price comparison since the UM2’s and 420’s are both dual driver set ups. I’m still in the “research” stage, but I was considering ordering them from HeadRoom. They have a 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee so I would only be out the shipping. I’m not familiar with Westone. I would very much like to hear your feedback on the UM2’s, especially since you’ve owned the E500’s.

Thanks for the feedback! Hmm…I’m a bit surprised that two “newbie’s” are the only ones on this forum that have any feedback on this topic.
Sennheiser CX300 and HD-580/HeadRoom Micro amp w/desktop module

Shure SE530's?

Reply #3 –
Well, I haven't tried the SE530s but I have ordered from HeadRoom several times and can highly recommend them.

I am currently using a pair of Shure e4c's and with the new black foam tips I love them.

I can understand julikat's comment that they aren't very lively, but they work well for me.
JXL

Shure SE530's?

Reply #4 –
JunkieXL: Agreed! Headroom was first-rate when I bought my Micro amp. Question. Just curious, how's the bottom end on your E4c's?
Sennheiser CX300 and HD-580/HeadRoom Micro amp w/desktop module

Shure SE530's?

Reply #5 –
Quick and Junkie:

Junkie, I preferred the E4's much more than the E500s for acoustic, classical, folk and flamenco. The detail and clarity that came through with songs that have a very simple background, for example, on: Tea for the Tillerman, Neil Young Unplugged. . . was unbelievable. I could listen for hours and hours without ever tiring of it - so they were plenty 'lively' with that style.
But as that forms only about a 1/3 of my music, I wanted something that would be more of an all-rounder, even if that meant sacrificing some of the E4 clarity.

Quick, I'm hoping to get the UM2s by Saturday and will definitely report back. I can't say if the E500s would replace your HD580s because I don't have them, so you have to wait till someone who's used both can give you a comparison! I can only say that despite all the hype and anticipation of the E500s, they never really excited me. I don't know any of the 'technical' terms to use, but in plain language, I didn't enjoy the separation on the E500s, I felt all the instruments and vocals were too separated, so that nothing 'joined' together in my head. . . does that make sense? In that respect, I didn't feel very involved with the music - I could 'appreciate' the 500s for their clarity and detail - but I didn't feel a huge sense of enjoyment when I listened to them - and for what they cost - I expected a huge something!! So I appreciated them more than I enjoyed them. Also didn't like them at all at lower volumes as they sounded ordinary without some loudness.

RE: Bottom end of E4 - I found that the bass depended on 3 things - the seal, the player's bass output, and the equalizer properties. Although the E500s had a lot more bass than the E4s, it didn't matter as I found the bass on the E4 perfectly adequate. Again, this was with my 808 which has an excellent equalizer. I got the bass spot on, thumping, tight and not lacking in any way at all.

Then I experimented with an identical track on a friends Creative Zen Vision:m, and there was no bass at all, none, nada, zilch! Even EQing hardly helped. I can only think one has more bass output than the other, which of course makes comparisons difficult as we're not listening with the same equipment.

My tuppence worth is if you appreciate detail and separation over warmth and involvement, then you'll probably like the E500s. But wait for the flurry of replies and advice  first,  before making any drastic decisions! As for me, I'm giving up after the UM2's - it's too time-consuming to chase the elusive perfect sound. . .

Shure SE530's?

Reply #6 –
The bass response really depends a great deal on the seal; as mentioned above.  I was just listening to an e-mix by Mark Ronson (house music w/ lots of bass) in an arcade during my lunch break.  Using the new black foam tips that came out for Shure's new SE line, the bass and sound quality was excellent.  Deep rich bass with clear highs.  FYI... I was using my 3rd gen iPod with the EQ set to Electronic

I can also say that the seal was extreme enough to block out the noise from the D.D.R. machine that was 5 feet behind me and all of the noise from the 5 zillion kids that had A.D.D. and were on a sugar high...

I'd highly recommend the e4c's to anyone looking for a good IEM type headphone. 

I have heard that the new SE420's (the new '07 e4c counterpart) are slightly better, though I haven't tried them for myself yet.
JXL

Edit: Typos...

Shure SE530's?

Reply #7 –
Quick, the SE420s are going to sell for about £200 here in the UK, and about £175 from the US - and the UM2s are available for £125, and they're both dual drivers. I'd considered the SE420 but was worried that they'd be too cold.

I read that the SE series was designed for the consumer (rather than for professional monitoring) so the sound signature should be slightly different to the E series (except for E500 and SE530 which are the same phone with different accessories) - but I didn't want to spend so much before at least trying the UM2s and if I don't like them, they'll go back or appear on eBay! If that happens, despite my determination to stop looking for the perfect sound, I'll probably still try the SE420 as a last resort, and then I'll definitely give up, or will I???

Shure SE530's?

Reply #8 –
Good feedback guys!

To be honest, I'm having second thoughts about spending ($450 USD) on the SE530's! The SE420's ($350 USD) are due out in a few weeks according to all reports. Also, I've read some really good reviews about the UM2's. But, my concern is that the UM2's have been out for several years and may be replaced in the not to distant future. Of course, that's just speculation on my part. I think I'm going to concentrate on getting the most feedback on the UM2's and the new SE420's. As I said earlier, I'm still in the research phase of this process so I won't be buying anything for at least a month or two. 

julikat: Let us know what you think of your new UM2's.
Sennheiser CX300 and HD-580/HeadRoom Micro amp w/desktop module

Shure SE530's?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: quick01 on
Good feedback guys!

To be honest, I'm having second thoughts about spending ($450 USD) on the SE530's! The SE420's ($350 USD) are due out in a few weeks according to all reports. Also, I've read some really good reviews about the UM2's. But, my concern is that the UM2's have been out for several years and may be replaced in the not to distant future. Of course, that's just speculation on my part. I think I'm going to concentrate on getting the most feedback on the UM2's and the new SE420's. As I said earlier, I'm still in the research phase of this process so I won't be buying anything for at least a month or two. 

julikat: Let us know what you think of your new UM2's.

Hi,

I own the E500. I don't like them at all.
For me the multi-driver on a headphone is sonically a big mistake, even if on a marketing point of view, it's a good way to sell headphones for the price of three. A multi-driver system for classical speakers is a mean to give a high level of sound with a fairly large frequency response. But you have a price for this: phase issue. Currently, no multi-driver speakers I'm aware of don't have this issue. Some can handle it more transparently, but when you use a multi-driver system, you need cross-over filters and therefore you will have phase distortion.
The benefits of the headphones are to be able to deliver a full range sound at a sufficient level for the ears. Therefore, no phase distortion. For me this problem is really perceptible with the e500. Between 2.5 khz and and 6 khz, the e500 are not coherent at all. It's probably why it's not a professional earphone (and I'm audio engineer).

Now, if you want to buy it, I can sell mine (they are currently on e-bay). Just let me know.

Shure SE530's?

Reply #10 –
marcan: Thanks for the good info regarding phase distortion.  I've read several dozen feedback/reviews on the UM2's and this issue was never mentioned as a problem. Hmm...in addition to cost, yet another reason not to consider a three driver set-up.

From an audio engineering aspect, would this be a non-issue for a two-driver IEM setup?
Sennheiser CX300 and HD-580/HeadRoom Micro amp w/desktop module

Shure SE530's?

Reply #11 –
Quote from: marcan on
The benefits of the headphones are to be able to deliver a full range sound at a sufficient level for the ears. Therefore, no phase distortion. For me this problem is really perceptible with the e500. Between 2.5 khz and and 6 khz, the e500 are not coherent at all.

See, there's the technical bit that goes far over my head. Marcan, would your theory explain why I also didn't enjoy them, and why I didn't feel any 'unity' in the music, if that's the right word? Or would that produce some other issue that I wasn't aware about? And can you please confirm what Quick asked about whether this applies to dual drivers too. Thanks



Quote from: quick01 on
Good feedback guys!

To be honest, I'm having second thoughts about spending ($450 USD) on the SE530's! The SE420's ($350 USD) are due out in a few weeks according to all reports. Also, I've read some really good reviews about the UM2's. But, my concern is that the UM2's have been out for several years and may be replaced in the not to distant future. Of course, that's just speculation on my part. I think I'm going to concentrate on getting the most feedback on the UM2's and the new SE420's. As I said earlier, I'm still in the research phase of this process so I won't be buying anything for at least a month or two. 

julikat: Let us know what you think of your new UM2's.


Quick, I'm beginning to think the UM2s are going to be like the super.fi 5 pros I had, too warm and thick - in which case I won't like them, and I'll definitely try the SE420 as soon as it's available and sell the UM2s as 'almost new'. Rest assured I will definitely post my comments about the UM2s after I've listened to them for a few hours. Postal strike still going ahead, so they should be here Saturday or Monday.
Research as much as you can, it could save you a lot of money in the long run.
As for the E500s, I got mine new for $350 from eBay inc. postage to the UK, so my main concern about the SE420 was the fact it had less drivers and would cost the same, about $350 (for me in England). But I'm curious to see how they sound. If I love the UM2s, I won't need to try the SE420s, but I can already feel in my waters that I'll be trying the SE420s!

I e-mailed Shure about a definite date of release, and they said (3 days ago) that they had already started shipping internationally and that most of the stock would go to their online retailers first.

Shure SE530's?

Reply #12 –
Quote from: quick01 on
marcan: Thanks for the good info regarding phase distortion.  I've read several dozen feedback/reviews on the UM2's and this issue was never mentioned as a problem. Hmm...in addition to cost, yet another reason not to consider a three driver set-up.

From an audio engineering aspect, would this be a non-issue for a two-driver IEM setup?


Same problem.
For me, the best in-ear is still etymotic er4s. Very flat but probably the more precise sound I ever heard.
I think you can have them for around 200 $.

Shure SE530's?

Reply #13 –
Quote from: julikat on
Quote from: marcan on

The benefits of the headphones are to be able to deliver a full range sound at a sufficient level for the ears. Therefore, no phase distortion. For me this problem is really perceptible with the e500. Between 2.5 khz and and 6 khz, the e500 are not coherent at all.

See, there's the technical bit that goes far over my head. Marcan, would your theory explain why I also didn't enjoy them, and why I didn't feel any 'unity' in the music, if that's the right word? Or would that produce some other issue that I wasn't aware about?

It might be that you sensible to it.
Basically, you hear the basses and the high frequencies, but between both it's a complete mess for me. It's particularly obvious on vocals. I can clearly hear the driver of the high frequencies working separetely.
Normally you should hear the music, not the driver...

Quote from: julikat on
And can you please confirm what Quick asked about whether this applies to dual drivers too. Thanks

As written before, two drivers have the same issue.

Shure SE530's?

Reply #14 –
Quick, Got an e-mail from Shure UK to say the SE420 will be available from July 9th here in the UK, so will probably get them from Amazon (great returns policy!) and see how they compare with the UM2s.
Expecting the UM2s in the next couple of days
[/quote]

Shure SE530's?

Reply #15 –
julikat: Yes that's what I heard as well.  Hmm...so you're going to do a side-by-side comparison, huh? And no doubt report back to your buddies at the Hydrogen Audio Forum? I knew there was a reason why we "Yanks" loved the "Brits"!   

Keep us posted! 
Sennheiser CX300 and HD-580/HeadRoom Micro amp w/desktop module

Shure SE530's?

Reply #16 –
Quote from: quick01 on
julikat: Yes that's what I heard as well.  Hmm...so you're going to do a side-by-side comparison, huh? And no doubt report back to your buddies at the Hydrogen Audio Forum? I knew there was a reason why we "Yanks" loved the "Brits"!   

Keep us posted! 

But of course I'm going to do a side-by-side comparison!! Now that I know I can return them to Amazon I will definitely buy them just to have the luxury of comparing them. You'll have to let me know exactly what info. you're after - remember I don't the technical stuff about 'muddy bottoms' etc  - but I can do my best to explain the sound and where it's coming from so I can give you an idea. So feel free to compile a list of questions so you can find out as much as possible before you buy.

Shure SE530's?

Reply #17 –
julikat: Here's what I'm looking for. I apologize in advance for the "snooty",  "audiophile" lingo.  But I really don't know any other way to describe what I'm looking for.

•  Overall balanced and musical presentation for Rock, Jazz, Blues and Classical genres.

•  Full, rich bottom with plenty of low-end reach but without being overpowering.  Bass should be tight, not bloated.

•  Transparent middle with clarity, detail and slightly forward sound on vocals.

•  Detailed, mostly neutral high-end with just a very slightest hint of brightness but only at moderate-high volume levels.

•  Through analytical and detailed sound, ability to reveal quality of source…ie…MP3 –vs- loseless signal comparison.

Quite honestly, as I said before, I’m looking for the sound of my Senn HD-580/600’s in the form of a more conveinient/portable package. I understand in the advance this is unlikely to happen but you can’t blame me for trying. 
Sennheiser CX300 and HD-580/HeadRoom Micro amp w/desktop module

Shure SE530's?

Reply #18 –
Quick - UM2's came today but haven't had a chance to listen yet. I'll do  that tonight and post back first impressions.

By the way, you were talking about trying to replicate the sound of your Senn HD-580's. This is an excerpt from a review on Amazon comparing the Etymotic ER6i with the 580's. I thought you might be interested in reading it as the user makes direct comparisons.

"Etymotic Research ER6i: The sound quality is good. The following is a short, subjective comparison with the HD580. Bass: precise and measured, a bit thinner than the HD580, which are not bass-heavy to start with. Drums come out well defined and without smears. Low range strings are just beautiful. If you are a bass monkey, however, you may be disappointed unless you process the signal beforehand. These earbuds can reproduce a big bass if the source requires it or the listener so prefers; but they may need encouragement in the latter case. Midrange: sharp, pleasant, balanced. Never too present or too far. Almost as analytical as the HD580. What else is to be said? High: a lot more generous than the HD580, but still well controlled. When the source is good, it's a pleasure; if the source is poor it's not very forgiving. Even if evident, however, the high range is not overpowering. Watch out for cranky or noisy amps, like that built into my laptop: they are devastating to the ER6i. Perhaps this is the reason I had to improve on it . . .. Fortunately my external D/A is totally silent, no hiss at all that I can hear."

Shure SE530's?

Reply #19 –
Excellent, this is the kind of feedback I'm looking for! Good find! His feedback is spot on and I agree 100% with his accessment. The 580/600's are great even without an amp. But, when you add a good headphone amp, they become simply stunning using WMA Lossless.

Hmm...so the 420's will be available next week huh? Cool! 
Sennheiser CX300 and HD-580/HeadRoom Micro amp w/desktop module

Shure SE530's?

Reply #20 –
Quote from: quick01 on
Excellent, this is the kind of feedback I'm looking for! Good find! His feedback is spot on and I agree 100% with his accessment. The 580/600's are great even without an amp. But, when you add a good headphone amp, they become simply stunning using WMA Lossless.

Hmm...so the 420's will be available next week huh? Cool! 

They're coming tomorrow via special delivery! Meanwhile, I sold the UM2s after deciding I didn't really like the sound. I didn't use them with an amp as I'm only interested in 'portable' listening so it might be worth asking other people what they thoughtof them amped.

I didn't like that I had to turn them up loud for the quality to come through, as it was lmuch ouder than I would normally listen to - plus at lower volumes they sounded really ordinary (like the E500s). So bedtime listening would have been a no-no with both of them as I don't want my ears assaulted when I'm trying to sleep and as I said, the quality dropped off as soon as the volume was lowered.

Now, please forgive my non-audiophile lingo  but here's what I 'heard'

Bass: I don't know what 'tight' or 'punchy' actually means - but the bass was good and I thought it was quite defined, ie., it didn't merge into one sound and become blurred. I liked the bass and didn't think it was overpowering, except with certain styles of music (more later)

Mids: Is this where most vocals and instruments are placed? If so, I wasn't keen on the vocals presentation. It felt very congested, a bit like the E4, vocals were playing in my brain with no space at all. I find that quite off-putting.

Treble: OK, I know what treble is, and I really sensed a lack of detail here, with cymbals etc hardly meriting a whisper. On 'Only Living Boy in New York - there are cymbals crashing throughout most of the song (in my right ear). With the UM2s, even after much EQing, I could not make out the cymbals at all, they were very faint, like someone clearing their throat in the distance??

I was expecting a much bigger soundstage so I found that disappointing as having to turn the volume up loud for them to shine, meant the 'in-my-head' feeling was extremely intense and I didn't like it.

My music is split - about 60% acoustic, classical, flamenco etc - and the rest is rock. The UM2's were very good with rock, but I could not bear to hear softer styles of music with them, as the bass tended to come across too prominently and seemed to upset the balance of more delicate sounds.

Finally, on a surprise note - I borrowed my friend's SE210 expecting to laugh her out of the house - and found they had the most enjoybale presentation I'd heard in combination with my NW-A808 (which is a very analytical player that desperately needs warming up for my ears to be able to tolerate it).
The vocals were the best thing - imagine standing at the front of the stage with the singer a few feet higher than you - the effect is very natural and realistic. The clarity was much better than the UM2s, the soundstage was bigger and I actually preferred them to the much more expensive E500s because they don't sound as cold. Soundstage is bigger than the E4 too, and without the brightness that used to cause my ears to ring!

Again, in non-audiophilic (is that a word??) language, the E500s produced a sound that was too separated for me - bass, mids and treble were so isolated from each other that I felt no sense of 'blending' (yes, that's my new non-audiophilic word thank you very much ) The SE210s were not much good with rock, but really quite acceptable with all other styles, so I'm assuming the SE420 will be better overall.

We'll see, as I never expected to prefer a single driver headphone to dual and triple drivers. Maybe it's to do with matching a particular headphone to the player that's being used - but if I could only pick one out of the UM2, E500, E4 and SE210, it would be the SE210, simply because the vocal presentation was so lovely. Closer than the E500s which made it feel more intimate, but not "in-the-head" as the sound comes from slightly higher up which really makes a difference.

Unfortunately, they're really fiddly to get a good fit. I had to keep pushing them in at an angle as without that - the sound was really tinny and echoey. Maybe the SE420's will fit better. So I'll let you tomorrow what I think of the SE420 - for the extortionate price they're charging, (about the same as the E500) - I expect them to be excellent!

Shure SE530's?

Reply #21 –
Oooh oooh - I learnt a new AW (audiophilic word) - 'cohesive'. I know it's not strictly an AW but I think this might explain what I meant when I said I could hear the bass, mids and treble too separately in the E500s. Excerpt from a review below

"A poor crossover can result in the high and low frequencies sounding distinctly separate, resulting in a loss of cohesion when listening to music. Thankfully Shure hasn’t fallen foul of these issues. The dual drivers in the SE420s give a very good account of themselves, producing a completely cohesive sound – vocals are crystal clear while bass lines thump and flow through your head"

That's what I heard with the E500s - 'frequencies distinctly separate'. I know there are some really serious audiophiles out there who will disagree with me, since the triple-driver E500 is considered to be the Holy Grail of headphones - but that's what I heard, and tried to explain (poorly) in my previous post. The guy who wrote that review also said the E500s were the best he had ever heard - so I'm hearing separation and he's hearing something completely different. )

Mind you, he doesn't state what he's using them with, so unless you listen to the same song, same bitrate, same player and same headphones - you can't really judge what the other person hears since so many other factors are involved. What you really need is someone who's used the E500s with your exact setup - and songs and bitrate and player and. . . see what I mean?

Shure SE530's?

Reply #22 –
As I said in my previous posts, lake of cohesion is the necessary evil of all multi-drivers system.
I felt that it was particularly noticeable with the e500.
I think also that multi-drivers for headphones is SONICALLY (not commercially) a non sense.

Shure SE530's?

Reply #23 –
Julikat: Well done…bloody good job! Hmm…that’s strange, the UM2’s are listed with an impedance of 27 ohms, which is very efficient. I don’t understand why you would have to crank them up, for them to sound adequate. The lack of treble response, even after EQ’ed, would have killed the deal for me. Glad you were able to sell them so quickly. Wow, that is suprising that you preferred the 210's to the 500's! 

If I’m not mistaken, the SE420’s come with several sets and styles of earplugs. So hopefully you won’t have a difficult time with getting a good fit on those. I don’t have to remind you that a good fit or “seal”, is critical for these IEM’s. I’m very much looking forward to your feedback on the 420’s!
Sennheiser CX300 and HD-580/HeadRoom Micro amp w/desktop module

Shure SE530's?

Reply #24 –
Quote from: marcan on
As I said in my previous posts, lake of cohesion is the necessary evil of all multi-drivers system.
I felt that it was particularly noticeable with the e500.

Yes - I remember reading your post, and asking you if the triple-driver explained the reason I was hearing that 'separateness' and you answered that maybe I was 'sensitive' to it - but you didn't explain sensitive to what - the lack of 'cohesion'? If so, then I am very sensitive to it, I really don't like or appreciate that separation at all - but I know a lot of people like the E500 sound and almost 95% of all feedback is positive, so the frequency separation issue must be down to personal preference. All I know is I don't want to 'appreciate' my music - or sit there quietly noting minute little details like a nostril hair quivering in the wind, if the downside is that none of it is 'joined' together. So now I know I need some 'cohesion' in order to enjoy, rather than 'appreciate' the music.

Those SE420's are under pressure!