Adventures in Head-fi : Shure se112 IEM

I had some spare money ($50) in my online debit account so I decided to go on an audiophile earphone adventure.

Shure’s distinctive se215, with its bulging oval housings and curled cables that run over and down the back of one’s earlobes -the distinctive profile of quality audio. At around $100 on sale, these were close to the limit of my monthly spending budget. After some research, I decided to get its baby brother, the se112 instead for just $37. What a bargain, I thought, for a supposedly similar sound.

The tall gray box was packed with goodies. A colorful registration card with a bar code for convenience, yellow and black precautions, manual folded neatly, all tied together with a squiggly clear rubber band, a tasteful storage pouch in soft black, 3 sets of bouncy tips and a nozzle cleaning tool.

Unlike many earphones, the 112s come with a long and very narrow nozzle, around which there is a ‘barb’ that makes changing tips a bit of an art. Twisting them off gently is the recommended procedure. Once put on properly (fully down the nozzle unlike in my photo), sound is channeled through impossibly small holes deep in-ear. If not seated in right, bass will be less full.

I am a vinyl guy, so I have m4a / aac rips of my records off a low-end AT USB turntable, captured by an iPad 5 with Garageband. I had owned several respectable earphones such as the BeyerDynamic MMX 102 and Sennheiser PX-100, also cheap Chi-Fi offerings from Moondrop, KZ, and VE. The Chinese multi-drivers are nice and punchy, and the MMXs have incredible placement and voice. But it’s the Shures that are most listenable at a medium low volume because they have the most detail and good timing. Otherwise, they are often unremarkable and neutral. I could doze off in the afternoon listening to Joan Baez.

Construction and design-wise, the se112s are most appealing, with their tough, completely sealed, bulb enclosures, beefy wires and plug, the tougher than normal tips. Internally, the 112s are equally solid-built. Norah Jones’ voice on Thinking About You can rattle some cans but not these ones. On Outkast’s Elevators single, I could at last pinpoint the second female singer. I liked the secure fit and effective noise seal. However, knocking about the cables (walking fast) will transmit vibrations.

It ‘Shure’ was a fun holiday. Tonight however, I have to resume coding !Browse2. Will be using Raspbian to lay down the code then port it to the RISCOS toolbox as I’m more comfortable working in Linux.