Head Butler - Products

Shure E3c Sound Isolating Earphone Stereo Headphone

Nothing costs what they tell you.

Butler remembers when his parents bought their first Cadillac. You'd think all the "extras" would be "standard." But no --- electric windows were "optional." Imagine: a Caddy with roll-up windows. Butler 's parents couldn't. And up went the price.

Ditto the iPod. You would think that a 40 GB iPod at about $400 would come complete. And it does. Until you look around and see that the smarties aren't using the standard Apple earphones --- they've traded up.

The Wall Street Journal surveyed earphones and selected Shure the best. But which Shure? There are great Shure earphones for about $170 --- and greater ones at around $475.

From an investment point-of-view --- how often will I be using the iPod? How much does that come to per day? --- the $475 earphones (the E5c) are probably (gulp) a bargain. Butler hasn't tried them, but Amazon buyers rave about them. One buyer says, "....like having the musicians wired to your brain, the sound quality is frighteningly good." Another raves, "This is true sound isolation. It's like being in a booth in a recording studio. You hear nothing but the music. It's simply genius."

Butler, a family man, voted to buy the "cheaper" earphone, the E3c.

They are flawless. Butler lacks the technical vocabulary, but he gathers that the big difference between these and standard earphones is that the standard phones pump up the bass. Yes, you get a big sound. Just not the sound that was intended.

A savvy Amazon buyer says it better:

"The '3's do not overpower you with bass. They deliver your music to you as your favorite musicians intended for you to hear it. What you are paying for with these headphones is ACCURACY. Those tight, crisp high-hats bucketed in syncopated pockets of time that you may have not even heard before will elude you no longer, once you get the '3's. The slight tune-decay of those analog synth chords that you're supposed to hear just upon the release of the keys on your favorite 70's fusion recordings would send chills through any jazz/funk afficionado like myself, but you'll never hear 'em without these puppies. The raw, airy echo of live drums that manifests the musically intended mood of good music more than almost any other component or aspect will be kept from you no longer once you are down with the '3's."

Translation: You want these. You really want these.

-- Jesse Kornbluth, for HeadButler.com

To buy the Shure E3c earphones from Amazon.com, click here.