What’s so great about the Shure E3c earphones? Well they sound great for one. A lot better than those buds that came with your iPod. How much better? 10 times? I don’t know but definitely way better, near audiophile quality. Before purchasing them I read a number of reviews comparing them to earphones from Shure and other manufacturers and many of them claimed that this model sounds better than many others costing more, including even higher end models from Shure. I haven’t had the opportunity to do any side by comparisons myself so I can’t vouch for those conclusions. I can say they just sound really nice however.

The other reason I like them so much is that they are very effective at blocking out ambient noise. If you try to use your iPod on a New York City subway with the stock earbuds you’ll need to turn them up to an ear splitting volume level just to hear even a little detail in your music. With these babies you can really get into your tunes without blowing out your eardrums. This also makes them perfect for listening to your own music while you’re out working at a cafe. There are a number of headphones available these days with active noise cancellation circuitry but who needs that when you can use simple earphones that physically block out other sounds.

How does it block noise so effectively? Well this part may be a deal breaker for some people. The thing is you have to stick them inside your ear canals, just like you would with any kind of earplugs. At first it may feel pretty weird and uncomfortable. It’s definitely a feeling of penetration which some people may find icky to say the least. But when you get used them there’s no going back! If you’re already used to earplugs then there shouldn’t be any problem. If not you’ll need to get to know the alignment of your ear canals. They are not perpendicular to the side of your head as you would normally assume.

So here’s what might be the best part, and what I’m so thankful for. They come with a 2 year warranty which normally covers defects and anything you could blame on the manufacturer. In practice however the coverage extends way beyond that. I accidentally stepped on the left earphone crushing the housing and making it unusable. Nobody’s fault but my own. I sent it back to Shure anyway hoping they wouldn’t charge me too much to replace the housing since the driver inside it was still working. Just over a week later I got a package in the mail with a brand new set of E3c’s at absolutely no charge! I’ve found reviews elsewhere on the web where people have had similar experiences. I guess this is what you get when you deal with a very customer service oriented company. And so thanks again to Shure for fixing my dumb mistake for free. I wish more manufacturers were as nice…