Shure E4c Noise-Cancelling Headphones

While I previously reviewed the Shure E2c’s, I’ve actually been using the E4c’s for the past few months now. Frankly, they are simply my favorite overall headphones on the market. Why? Well, let me tell you!

Reason #1 – Sound Quality
They sound good. Very very good. After a very exhaustive, very thorough comparison with the Bose QuietComfort2’s in both quiet and loud environments, I found they sounded the same, if not better.

Reason #2 – Noise-Cancelling
These things make the world quiet. When I’m sitting on a flight and there’s a baby hollering nearby, I just don’t notice. Well, I do sometimes, but that’s usually when I find vomit in my lap (that’s not my own, of course).

Reason #3 – Price
At sub-$200 they are cheaper than the Bose QuietComfort2’s!

Reason #4 – Size Matters
They fit in my laptop case, and are smaller than everything else in there. About the size of a deck of cards! The whole darn kit is smaller than a single earpiece of the Bose unit!

Reason #5 – Comfort
While I’ve heard a few people complain about earbuds (and my cousin once got a pair actually stuck in his ear canal), I find them much more comfortable for long-haul flights. The Bose headsets basically make my ears sweat (ick). These don’t. I can fall asleep with em. Winner!

There are exactly two downsides to these otherwise wonderful headphones.

Issue #1 – Placement
You have to put them in correctly, which is done by looping the cable over and into your ears from behind. Any other placement and your sound quality may suffer.

Issue #2 – Color
I hate the fact that it looks like I’m wearing iPod headphones (which sound only mildly better than my Honda Civic’s built-in car stereo while driving 85MPH on the freeway). I really don’t want to be part of the ‘iPod club’, especially considering I don’t own an iPod! I wish they were greyer, or even brightly colorful.

Bottom line

If you are even remotely considering the Bose QuietComfort2 noise-cancelling headset, you should turn around, walk out of the Sharper Image, and go get a pair of the Shure E4c’s. Trust me.

update: the team at TrustedReviews just tried them also, although they don’t seem quite as enamored as I was…