Yo
u can drop a lot of scratch on Shure earphones. And you probably won’t be disappointed—until your credit card bill arrives with a five hundred dollar charge for something you’ll be plugging into an MP3 player. Shure knows that not everyone is a razor-eared audio snob, so a set of earphones designed for Mr. and Mrs. John Q. iPod was more necessity than novelty. The result, the single-driver SE110s deliver great sound isolation and audio that is absolutely good enough for that Britpop you (secretly) ripped at 128kbps—and far better than anything else we’ve seen south of Benjamin. If you try them out on audio files with a higher bitrate, you’ll need pretty keen hearing to pick out the failings—a little blur in the midrange, somewhat squishy bass—but when that credit card statement shows up, you probably won’t be able to hear the difference over your hoots of frugal elation. —Joe Brown
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WIRED__ Detailed highs, great noise-blocking. Comes with two lengths of headphone cord—that both fit in the iPhone’s 3.5mm jack. Magic black ear-sleeves are the most comfortable in-ear anything we’ve ever used.
TIRED A tad muddy in the lower mids. Bass won’t rattle your brain. A little bulky, but when size goes down, price goes up.
$99, shure.com
