Anything open-backed will work, give me your preferred music and price range and I'll be able to help you pick one out.  

Posted by Era News

No offence but are you guys really that poor you have to sell stuff to buy stuff? Get jobs then you can buy most things you want without selling things.

Because someone sells something to buy something else means they're poor? Great logic. I bought the 3DS and it turned into a $140 brick sitting in my desk drawer. I sold it and bought something I would actually use more often...

Here I even took a pic of whats currently in my wallet for you <3
That cash is partially from the 3DS though, I would usually never carry that much.



Regardless of anyone's financial status who the hell are you to judge what someone spends their money on?  

Posted by Rexx

cash money swag

No condoms in your wallet? Step your game up boy.  

Shure SE215 Review
My Shure SE215 came in the mail today (got here overnight and I only paid for ground, that's nice), and while I'm not absolutely blown away, these earphones are a great deal in the budget range of IEMs/in-ears. The isolation is crazy good with the included foam tips, and they fit so snugly in your ear that I feel I can sleep with them. They look great imo with a nice, subtle, yet professional design and I don't feel like it would attract thieves. The fit is hard to get in at times, but I'm sure I'll get used to it, and once it does get in, it feels brilliant. Also comes with a nice clamshell carrying case and three sets of foamies and silicon tips. I probably won't use the case, but it's a nice addition.  

Sound Quality
On to sound quality... I was initially searching for a set similar to my HD25 that had bright, sparkly treble and tight, controlled bass, but I took a leap of faith with the SE215 after reading some glowing reviews about them. I didn't know I could love something with a signature so different than ones I favor. The SE215 is a warm, bassy headphone with very strong emphasis on the bass and midrange regions. The treble is obviously not the focus of the presentation; it's rather lackluster compared to the mid-bass but I, as a treblehead, still see it acceptable in terms of quality.

The bass is the the best part of the earphone - it hits very hard, deep with amazing depth that surpasses both my HD25 and M50. The sub-bass is actually very prominent without being boomy, and it's really exciting when listening to bass-heavy music. I'm listening to a hip-hop song, and it's actually making me want to jump up and dance as ridiculous as that sounds. The bass is among the best - including $500+ setups - that I've heard to date. The midrange is the second in line for presentation, it's relatively balanced and pleasant to listen to. I concede, female vocals are not mastered perfectly; they do reveal a slight metallic timbre, strangely reminiscent to Skullcandies - rest assured, they are much better in that respect. Male vocals, however, are fantastic. I said that the mid-bass is one of the best parts of the earphone, and it really shows in male vocal songs, especially acoustic ones. The upper mids, however, leave a bit to be desired. While the sound captures snares and percussion beautifully, electric guitars and other electronic elements can seem to lack depth compared to the lifelike, powerful bass. The treble is the least engineered part of the sound, but the rest of the earphone is so great that it overshadows the treble's performance - both sonically and symbolically. It's laid-back and rolls off at the upper end of the frequency range, but it does still manage to be smooth and nice to listen to. While I did say the treble is the least focused on, I do feel it's leaps and bounds above other earphones I've tried in this price range. It's definitely the quietest part of the signature, but the quiet ones are always among the strongest. My favorite part of the treble: no sibilance (trill on the letters 'S' and 'T').

As for soundstage and presentation, the soundstage isn't stellar enough to put you on stage, but you're definitely in the front row of the concert house. The soundstage far exceeds that of my HD25, which is no small feat in itself. The music has great depth, and really brings it alive - I realize that's a very ambiguous description, but it's the best I could think of at the moment.  

Music Used
Can't Hold Us - Macklemore and Ryan Lewis: I know in advance I'm going to get hate for this song, but holy **** - this song is excellent for auditioning headphones and its one of the first ones I look to for testing, and damn, does the SE215 sound amazing on this. The intro of the song sounds alive - the bass thumps at the beginning can be felt, and the subtle percussion elements really bring out the fantastic soundstage of the earphones, and to a close listener, will really kick in the "wow!" factor these earphones have. Macklemore's voice sounds incredibly realistic and when I closed my eyes, it did indeed simulate the voice being in front of me better than my M50 could.

Canon Rock - Funtwo: The infamous classical song reorganized into a rock piece that went viral on YouTube - the guitar, as opposed to other electric guitars, sounds great on the SE215. It doesn't bring out the intricate detail as well as my M50 or HD25, but it sounds lush and forward. The kick drums felt rather recessed - I'm not Shure (ha, ha) if the recording was to blame or the earphones themselves, but they didn't sound awfully great. The snares and other percussion sounded decent, however. The song didn't bring out any of the SE215's strengths in soundstage, but the recording is definitely to blame on this one. Other instruments sounded neutral, not worth noting but not necessarily bad.

Crossing Field - LiSa: My typical audition track for female vocals, as well as other subtle electronic elements and busy sounds. The beginning of the track and the verses feel particularly flat when the higher-pitched electronic samples blend in, but otherwise, the track is wonderful instrumentally. As for the voice, it's quite lackluster when compared to "Can't Hold Us". It, too, sounds flat but the voice gets decent extension and doesn't distort at the highest pitches at the end of the chrous, which tended to split my ears on my HD25 due to the sibilance and sparkle. It's rather laid back and lets the instruments take priority in the recording, which doesn't account for a bad sound - I like it.

In One Ear - Cage the Elephant: Another song similar to Can't Hold Us in that it has so many elements that can be tested on a headphone - soundstage and drums in particular stand out for this track. The intro and outro of the track sound extremely real and you can easily pinpoint where the sonic cues are coming from. Each and every instrument was recorded from a different position in relativity to a binaural microphone (different places in the room), and the SE215 does a stellar job of reflecting it. The soundstage is just unparalleled. The vocals sound nice - they're lush and lifelike, but they do seem recessed in comparison to the instruments. The separation between instruments is also unmatched.

Pompeii - Bastille: One word to describe this song: detail. The SE215 retrieved so many bass details that even the HD25 couldn't capture. The bass extends very, very deeply on this song and the instruments sound amazing. Similar to Can't Hold Us, the vocals are excellent and forward - very smooth, very lifelike. The drums do sound flat on this song compared to my M50, but I'll have to recheck since I haven't done an A/B with them.

Predator - Chrispy Remix: Another amazing song in the bass department. Exactly like the song above, refer to that. It is notable that the song begins to sound muffled at the chorus, but I haven't compared to my other sets so I'm not sure if it was always like that.

Zelda's Lullaby (Orchestrated) - Skyward Sword OST: Wow. Just... Wow. This track is stunning on the SE215. Every. Single. Instrument. Is wonderful. The low notes hit deep with good decay, and the brass instruments pass by fluidly and powerfully without sounding either flat or overly aggressive - even the treble sounds excellent on this track. There isn't much to say - it's almost perfect. Soundstage isn't showcased as well, but it's definitely there. I can't rave enough about how great this track is on these earphones.

VERDICT
The Shure SE215 is an amazing earphone that will only run you $99, offering some of the best soundstages in class and easily sporting the best bass I've heard in any set so far. It's a very warm, lush earphone that's extremely well suited for genres such as rap, hip-hop, EDM, and most instrumental genres such as classical or jazz. While it performs exceptionally well at rock, I feel there are better options out there for it: the ATH-CKM500 comes to mind. This is definitely a well-justified purchase at just under $100, exhibiting quality in bass and soundstage of that worthy of a $300 price tag. While the treble lags slightly behind, at this price range, it will not disappoint. Highly recommened to almost everyone looking for IEMs under $100.

Note: I originally wrote this for Head-Fi, but I figured I'd share in case anyone showed interest in IEMs.  

just came in da maillll


the build quality on these things is pure sex.  

vmodas look amazing  

pls review http://www.sxc.hu/assets/18/173184/apple-headphones-1234211-m.jpg (Unsupported image host)  

are u trying 2 pick a fite w/ me  

Do it.  

Posted by Talon

are u trying 2 pick a fite w/ me

pls halp review

http://bimg1.mlstatic.com/auriculares-skullcandy-gi-rasta_MLA-F-3883171250_022013.jpg (Unsupported image host)  

actually Skullcandy hired new sound engineers and they sound much better now, esp the Hesh 2.0  

talon your new signature is so ****ing embarrassing please stop changing your sig it gets worse ever time (rin is best girl)  

"my opinion is better than urs and thats a fact"