Quite a long time ago got into the Shure IEM earphones and every few years, when I felt I had gotten my money's worth from the model I had been using, I would upgrade to the next better model. I started with the SE2xx level model, when to the SE3xx, then the SE5xx level before finally going to their top end model, the SE846 in 2016.
9 years later, they are still in use as my primary headphones/earphones and they get used pretty much every single day for more than 2 hours, often as much as 4 hours. I still use the large black foam in-ear sleeves, as they fit my ears and block at least 33dB of ambient sound - making it possible to listen at surprisingly low levels and still hear everything because all the noise around me is damped by 33dB or more.
Since I first got them, I went from direct cabled connections to my phone or portable audio player to a stand-alone BT headphone amp from Audio-Technica when worked well. However, I didn't like carrying an extra piece of gear around with me to keep track of and remember to charge and such, so when Shure released their first BT cable, I got one and loved it, but the mic was in a terrible location which picked up a ton of wind noise. I then tried a 3rd party BT cable, and it worked better, but the battery didn't last as long as I needed it to. Later Shure released the TW2 bluetooth adapters with "true stereo" compatibility and the latest high quality audio standards and I moved to those and never looked back. Now they sound amazing, work well, are very comfortable to wear for hours on end, and they are compatibile with all of my devices I need to connect the earphone to.
After about two years with the first set of TW2 Bluetooth adapters, the batteries started dying quickly, like in half the time I was accustomed to, so I felt it would be worth the cost to get another pair of the adapters. I've had them for a few months, and they are great.
Basically, over 9 years of owning these high-end IEMs, I have used them for tens of thousands of hours, maybe longer. They've gone with my all over the world and as long as I replace the sleeves when needed and keep the audio output tubes clean from wax and grime, they are working perfectly. They've had five different Bluetooth solutions and I still keep a cable on hand for when I want to plug them directly into an amplifier.
I think I've gotten my money's work from these.
I also cannot think of any headphones which are as engaging and easy on my hearing. I get absolute clarity and never have a hard time making out what is in the signal (unless the signal is poor, like on a garbled phone call).
I cannot recommend them more for people who travel (I wear them from the moment I pass through TSA security at the airport and rarely take them off until I land at my destination and either have to go through passport control or hail a taxi).
9 years later, they are still in use as my primary headphones/earphones and they get used pretty much every single day for more than 2 hours, often as much as 4 hours. I still use the large black foam in-ear sleeves, as they fit my ears and block at least 33dB of ambient sound - making it possible to listen at surprisingly low levels and still hear everything because all the noise around me is damped by 33dB or more.
Since I first got them, I went from direct cabled connections to my phone or portable audio player to a stand-alone BT headphone amp from Audio-Technica when worked well. However, I didn't like carrying an extra piece of gear around with me to keep track of and remember to charge and such, so when Shure released their first BT cable, I got one and loved it, but the mic was in a terrible location which picked up a ton of wind noise. I then tried a 3rd party BT cable, and it worked better, but the battery didn't last as long as I needed it to. Later Shure released the TW2 bluetooth adapters with "true stereo" compatibility and the latest high quality audio standards and I moved to those and never looked back. Now they sound amazing, work well, are very comfortable to wear for hours on end, and they are compatibile with all of my devices I need to connect the earphone to.
After about two years with the first set of TW2 Bluetooth adapters, the batteries started dying quickly, like in half the time I was accustomed to, so I felt it would be worth the cost to get another pair of the adapters. I've had them for a few months, and they are great.
Basically, over 9 years of owning these high-end IEMs, I have used them for tens of thousands of hours, maybe longer. They've gone with my all over the world and as long as I replace the sleeves when needed and keep the audio output tubes clean from wax and grime, they are working perfectly. They've had five different Bluetooth solutions and I still keep a cable on hand for when I want to plug them directly into an amplifier.
I think I've gotten my money's work from these.
I also cannot think of any headphones which are as engaging and easy on my hearing. I get absolute clarity and never have a hard time making out what is in the signal (unless the signal is poor, like on a garbled phone call).
I cannot recommend them more for people who travel (I wear them from the moment I pass through TSA security at the airport and rarely take them off until I land at my destination and either have to go through passport control or hail a taxi).