1. Posted: Jun 9 2008

   I've had the SE420's for about a month now and they are out of this world. I was looking to buy the 530's but just couldn't justify the steep price. I found these babies new online for about $215.00 and words can not describe the pure musicality of these IEM. For all the folks that complain about bass response, this is more user error than a issue with the 420's. Being that I have a Zune, I don't have the luxury of having a EQ, which is fine with me. The 420's give you exactly whats recorded. To quote the 1970's R&B Funk group the Ohio Players "Heaven Must Be Like This".

2. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 14 2008

   I originally purchased some Bose Quiet Comfort 3 earphones, but returned them and bought these instead, and am generally glad that I did. The pure sound quality on these is better than the Bose. The only area where the Bose might be better is if you want to listen to some really loud pounding bass, although the Shure's have good bass in my opinion. I have tried both these and the Bose on airplanes and commuter trains, and I think the noise cancelling of the Bose is only slighter better than the noise deafening that these provide. If you have the Shures on even medium volume, you won't hear any airplane or trains noises. Turned off, the Bose will probably block a little more sound. But these are about 1/20 of the size, and can fit into a small purse if you wanted or in the side pocket of your work bag, while the Bose are huge, both to transport and to wear. That is the real difference in my mind - that, and the pure sound is better with these. My only complaints are that it really takes some time to learn to fit them just right to your ear. If you don't have them fitted just right, you lose half the sound quality and sound isolation. Sometimes if you jerk your head quickly one of the phones might get pulled a little out, and you have to spend 30 seconds tinkering with it to get the earplug sealed just right again. If not for that, I would give these 5 stars.

3. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 5 2008

   I purchased a $5 pair of generic headphones for my trip to Seattle as I had left my Bang and Olufson earbuds in the wash the night before (not the first time, but I one of the drivers was tragically ruined this time around.) Of course I was saddened to be brought back into the world of the common person's music experience. I had raved about the B&O's for so long, and now, they were gone!!! :( Needless to say, the $5 head phones I bought lasted me an hour; before getting caught on the seat, ripping the wires. While in the DFW airport I went looking for some headphones to rival my B&O's. Low and behold I came across a store with every headphone you could think of. I was like a kid in a candy store. I had no cash in my bank account (student loans ughhh) so I was looking to spend $99. I tried them all and found they couldn't beat my B&O's. So I looked into the more expensive ones, thinking to myself, I can wait and save for a set later and go without for the trip. I came across the Bose line (all of which I could never recommend to a friend.) So I hit up the Sennheiser and the UE lines and didn't like anything below $1000!!! So I came across the Shure line. I tried them all on. After having about 15 different IEM's in my ears (not just Shures), I came across the 420's and the 530's. While I had no words for the 530's quality I did have a heavy gasp when I heard the price. I wanted them so badly, but the $420's were only $350, and I must say, there was a noticeable difference between the two, but as far as the price to sound quality goes, these IEM's took the cake. The 420's beat out everything I had heard up until the 530's. Having fallen in love with them, I bought them on the spot with my credit card. Looking back on it, I wish I had bought the 530's instead. I love my 420's, don't get me wrong! But my next pair will be the future equivilant to the 530's. I should look into trading up if they'll let me do that.

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