Picked up a pair of Shure e2c’s after borrowing a friend’s e4’s. Not cheap, by any stretch, but they’re *really* nice. They fit really well in my ears, and the soft rubber inserts do a great job of, well, keeping EVERYTHING out. I honestly can’t tell a difference between the e4 and e2c’s, aside from the size, and my ears are big enough that there’s no real need for “smallness.”
The office I work in is ridiculously loud. Basically, I work on a wall adjacent to a furniture maker, and as a result, randomly throughout the day, his saw fires up, and runs really loud. On top of that, the HVAC system and my own computer, even, make a LOT of ambient noise, to the point where I’d find myself much more worn out during the day than I wanted to be. Using my friend’s headphones for the last few days has really made me feel better, and as a result, the cost seemed like it would be worth it to me. I had the Apple in-ear headphones, which were nice enough, but these do sound markedly better, and keep more of the noise out. I can’t say whether I’d have noticed in any other environment, but where I’m working, the difference is noticable.
I’ve heard the etymotics are good, as well, but buying them from a local store with a return policy was valuable to me, and so, the e2c’s won the deal.
Good stuff.
I enjoy my E2c’s, as well. For some odd reason, you can only get adapters for customized earplugs on the E3c’s and above; other than that, I guess size is the only difference.
It hurts to not have my ears plugged when waiting for the “el” when underground. And even walking the busy city streets is nice with them in.
But best of all: the volume on my iPod is at about 1/16 (definitely lower than 1/4, probably lower than 1/8), even while listening to acoustic folk music. In other words: I am not drowning out ambient noise with louder noise.
Shure’s are awesome 🙂 The main difference I’ve noticed between the E2 and the E4s is that the bass isn’t as “boomy” and it sounds more accurate, making the highs sound clearer and better. E2s are awesome for the price though. Great customer service too. If the headphones break while under warranty, they’ll ship you out a new pair in the retail packaging.