I'd have to say these are the best earphones I've ever owned. The clarity of the music is remarkable. I switch between my old Sony earphones and the E500 earphones when I made the comparison. The bass response was tighter than I expected since my older Sony earphones were a little more boomy.
I can't believe the amount of accessories you can get with one pair of earphones. So many choices that I was having a hard time deciding which was best for me. They had sleeves for all types of ears, big, medium, small, flanges, foams, etc. Not only that, they have long extension cords, short extension cords, volume control cord, etc.. I'm still trying to figure out what fits me best (I just received it today :) With the stock set of ear piece (which doesn't fit me best) it felt comfortable putting it on for extended periods of time. External sounds were reduced, but I can't confirm if it can reduce sound up to 90% as advertised since I'm still trying on earpieces. I could still hear conversations when the music was turned off, but when the music was on, all other sounds were gone.
The earphones came with Shure's PTH (Push To Hear) device. It have a built in mic which would be used to hear outside noise. To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed. Shure was bigger than my Sony's controller (note that the PTH of the Sony was also for noise cancellation). I probably will only use them if I'm flying.. and that's a maybe. The mic did pick up a lot of rubbing when I was fiddling with it in my hands. The mic worked as expected, it drastically lowered the music, and turned on the microphone. The unit also wasn't really a push to hear, really it was more like a click to hear which I prefer since I've had experience with my Sony's where it went to mic mode because something in my pocket pressed the button.
The case for the earpiece is very rugged. It's a rigid nylon material case with a zipper. It will protect the earpiece without any problems. Only thing I wish was that it had a center spool to help quickly roll up the earpiece without risk of it tangling.
Over all, I am happy with it. It was very expensive, but if it can last me over a few years, then it would be worth it.
I tried them in the airplane. If you're the type that wants to get rid of all noise, then you should go with a good pair of noise cancellation, otherwise these headphones reduce noise 80-90% depending on how good the earpiece seals on your ear. I could slightly hear the engine roar and a baby cry (in the same aisle), but with my music on, it was not noticable unless I paid attention to them. Still over all the sound quality is better than all headphones I tried out so far.
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