Shure SE115m+ Sound Isolating Headset (Black)

First, some background:
I have been listening to In Ear Monitors for at least 8 years now, since I purchased my first pair of Etymotics to accompany my first iPod back when they were the only game in town for IEM's. In many ways those Ety's are still my reference for everything else, even my collection of full sized headphones. Having owned an iPhone for a couple of years now, I have been on the lookout for a decent IEM with an elegantly paired mic and controls to replace Apple's own limited offering. This segment has really bloomed in the last 6 months, and I finally decided it was time to try some of the offerings out. I was very fortunate to come across a shop recently that had a large number of these sets in stock, with demo units, with a full selection of new ear tips of different sizes and materials to demo! They did not have the Ety HF2, which was ok, because I had largely ruled that model out anyhow due to the lack of volume controls, and due to the micro-phonics...Read more

I bought these to replace my venerable E2C's I've used for years with iPods. I got an HTC Incredible and wanted a microphone. I looked at many and decided on these not sure how the mic/buttons would work on a NON iPhone/iPod. Well, everything works except volumn up/down. I can answer the phone, hang up, one click. I can index forward songs, double click, or index back, triple click. With music playing, I can pause, single click, or restart, another single click. With music playing, a phone call comes in, music pauses, a single click answers, another single click hangs up, music starts back up. The mic works great even riding my bicycle at 17 mph! Minimal wind noise. And here's the real bonus, these sound wonderful, better than my E2's, and the form inserts are way better than the orange foamies of the E2 These foamies are black, have a smooth surface where the ear wax doesn't stick like the E2 foamies stick, are softer making for a better seal, and I can just shove 'em in, no rolling...Read more

Though the 115m+ is really designed for the iPhone (the volume control buttons doesn't work with the BB), it works fine as headphones for just about anything with a standard 3.5mm jack. The middle button does work with the BB 9700. One click either answers/disconnects a call or toggles between play/pause.

Comfort is pretty good even after long term use. I managed to sleep with these in my ears inflight; no problem 7 hours later. After the 12 hour mark, my ears did hurt a bit.

Occasionally I fought with the cord to get it wrap around the top of my ear. Not a big issue.

Noise isolation seems to be somewhat better than the Bose QC headsets (I've used them all). It works so well, I kept on taking the earbuds out to talk to people.

The audio playback quality is pretty good, but I'm no audiophile. Didn't really notice any distortion, even a higher volumes. Speakers handle bass boost pretty well (if that's your thing), but the highs seem a...Read more