Hi!
Welcome to Lachlan Likes A Thing, a show were I take a thing and see whether or not I like
it.
Now the thing we're looking at in this video is the Shure SE215 dynamic micro driver in-ear
earphones.
Now the earphone I'm looking at in this video specifically is the Special Edition of the
SE215, and the special edition differs from the standard edition in that it comes in this
blue colour instead of the black and clear versions of the standard edition.
It has a slightly different design which apparently has slightly more enhanced bass, and it comes
with a 1.2m cable instead of the 1.6m cable on the standard edition.
Now I haven't actually heard the standard edition in comparison with the special edition
but from all the reports I've read from people who own both they apparently sound very similar.
The SE215 special edition apparently sounds just a bit bassier and perhaps with a little
more edge in the highs, but I would imagine that most of my comments about the special
edition would apply to the standard edition.
Now the standard edition retails for $99 recommended retail price and the special edition just
costs a bit more than that.
I don't know if it's a limited edition, I got my pair for $130 but availability seems
a bit spotty in some countries.
I think it's still very easily available in Asia.
Now for that price I have to say I think the SE215 is a demonstration that even a big company
like Shure can scale down the features from their more expensive earphones like the SE535
and scale them down to a $99 earphone and you still get detachable cables, you still
get very strong noise isolation, this negative profile fit, a really high quality thick cable.
And so a lot of the times when I criticize more expensive earphones having poor build
quality it's because of earphones like the SE215.
My one real concern with the SE215's design is that the nozzle of the earphone is relatively
thin and it's made out of plastic which could be a potential weak spot for the design.
It would be nice to see more companies moving towards making the earphone or at least the
nozzle out of metal.
So as I mentioned before the SE215 special edition comes with a cable that is precisely
116cm in length and I have to say that's a little bit short.
I would have preferred a slightly longer cable, maybe about 1.3, 1.4m.
That said the cable is very nice in quality, it's quite thick, it's quite durable, and
you know, very reassuring, especially since it's also detachable.
However this cable is relatively heavyweight for an earphone cable especially with this
very very chunky Y splitter here.
And so what you'll find, you won't really notice this when you're, you know, just wearing
it normally, but if you were to move around a lot with this cable, especially if you were
to go running or go working out with this earphone you'll find that this cable will
bounce around quite a lot and the earguides might flop over your ears.
So I wouldn't necessarily recommend the SE215 at least with the stock cable as a workout
or a gym earphone.
Now in terms of comfort I find the SE215 quite comfortable.
You get this negative profile fit which means that you can lie down with it, and it won't
be uncomfortable - at least not as uncomfortable as it sticking out of your ears.
It also means wind noise isn't a huge issue.
One thing to note though is that the earpieces are relatively large and they do rest mostly
in your outer ears so if you have smaller ears you might find it rubbing up against
your ears, so that's one thing to watch out for.
In terms of noise isolation the SE215 is very very strong, very very good, especially for
a dynamic driver earphone.
Because it is a pretty much a completely sealed design it blocks off a lot of external noise
and I would especially recommend it to anyone who was after a dynamic driver earphone with
all the kind of tactile bass that you get from that if you wanted very strong noise
isolation.
So this is a top pick in that regard.
Now in terms of sound the SE215 is very much a love it or hate it in-ear earphone.
The sound is very rich, very smooth, even a bit sleepy.
So the highs are quite rolled off on the SE215 but overall it's not a completely muffled
sounding eaprhone.
There's still quite a lot of richness and detail in the vocals.
It's just very much an earphone that's tailored towards a warmer or a darker sound.
Now if you've heard the V-Moda M80 which is a portable headphone that I reviewed earlier
on my channel the SE215 is basically the earphone equivalent of the V-Moda M80 sound.
So very rich, very bassy, maybe a little rolled off in the highs but overall a very technically
competent earphone.
Now the soundstage on this earphone is quite intimate.
Because of the rolled off highs you won't get a sense of spac - sorry spaciousness with
the sound of this earphone, but you know, it's not completely claustrophobic.
Again I still think this is a really good signature especially if you're going to do
a lot of traveling with this earphone because you don't have to turn up the volume as high
just to block out external noise, the noise isolation is great, and the richness of the
sound is still present on low volumes, so if you want to take care of your hearing on
the train or on a plane the SE215 is a really good bet.
Now if you have the SE215 or you're interested in the 215 but you wanted something that was
a bit more dynamic, a bit more lively sounding, the Yamaha EPH-100 is another earphone that
I'm listening to at the moment, I don't have a review up of this on my channel at the moment,
but subscribe if you want to see that.
The EPH-100 sounds quite similar to the SE215, it's just a bit more lively, it's a bit more
dynamic, it's got a bit more attack to it, and overall I think this is a bit more precise
sounding than the SE215 for a similar sort of price.
But with the EPH-100 you don't get this negative profile fit, you don't get the detachable
cables, so overall it's a very nice package.
Now if you wanted something a bit more neutral of course you'd look at something like the
HiFiMan RE-400 and you can check out my review of that on my channel.
Or the Vsonic GR07.
But this is a bit like a kind of dark chocolate of IEMs, it's very rich and perhaps not the
best for overall all the time critical listening.
At the same time this earphone I think is such a nice complete package especially a
good backup earphone or especially as an earphone for a gift for anyone.
I think most people on the street would be very happy with this earphone, especially
with the rich and bassy sound and the really good noise isolation and the detachable cables.
So the holidays are coming up so if you wanted a nice gift for someone special for $99 I
would really really recommend the SE215, or if they really like the colour blue then I
would go for the limited - sorry, the special edition.
Anyway thanks for watching this review, click the Like button if you found this review helpful.
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Thanks to everyone who's liked my other videos and subscribed to my channel and happy listening!