Shure E500PTH

Best sound quality of any in-ear headphones I've tested. Very comfortable. Compact and lightweight. Push-To-Hear (PTH) module is very handy when you need to hear outside sounds briefly. Great accessory set. Very efficient.

You pay through the nose for joy in your ears. Gain wheel on the PTH module is too recessed.

The Shure E500PTH are quite expensive headphones, but they sound absolutely fantastic, and the Push-To-Hear module is a brilliant idea. They're worth all of the 54,900 pennies.

Outstanding sound quality

smaller, and without the need to be custom-fit to your ear canals. The other surprise is that they're actually more comfortable than Shure's earlier and equally expensive E5c earphones, which house only two drivers. As with most of the top-end in-canal...

Though acceptable as-is for many users, additional color choices and lower price would be great

I just got my E500s (for Christmas which comes early here). While all the bits are nice they're mostly superfluous for me, especially considering my wife has the E4Cs. Anyway something that hasn't been pointed out is that the pre-mounted black ear...

Next I fired up Breath Me by Sia, a track that I had recently used to evaluate the Etymotic ER.4 microPro headphones. This is a great test track since it starts off with very subtle acoustics and builds to a loud and enthralling climax. The Etymotic...

Brilliant earphones

Very expensive

If you're looking for top-notch in-ears, try these - but don't overlook Shure's other models and Etymotic designs.

Exceptional sound quality with a three-driver design, Comfortable and do a great job of passively blocking out noise, Includes push-to-hear control, Multiple ear adaptors and a nice set of accessories

Pricey but a solid investment, Switch on push-to-hear controller feels cheap

If you're the type who prefers uncompressed or lossless formats, require low-profile headphones, and don't mind investing in high-end headphones, the Shure E500PTH should be on your short list.

Shure's E500PTH 'phones offer exceptional sound quality with a three-driver design that's previously been available only for hundreds of dollars more; comfortable and do a great job of passively blocking out noise; includes push-to-hear control;...

Pricey but a solid investment; switch on push-to-hear controller feels cheap.

If you're the type who prefers uncompressed or lossless formats, require low-profile headphones, and don't mind investing in high-end headphones, the Shure E500PTH should be on your short list.