As Good As It Gets

After going through exhaustive research and use of just about every top flight "In Ear Monitor" type of stereo headphone setup I tried one of the Shure E4C's as a last ditch effort before I literally gave up on hopes of finding the "holy grail" of in ear monitors. Allow me to preface my opinions with some background on myself. I've played guitar both professionally and non professionally over the last 43 years, had several years of music theory and have been a very serious audiophile for at least the last 40 years. I also sold esoteric high end audio gear for several years along the way. So what I'm basically saying here is I am not the typical layman with an arbitrary opinion. Having had my hearing tested in the last several years, I've been fortunate to have not experienced significant hearing loss in any area of the audible spectrum (my high end sensitivity is still intact). With all that said I evaluated the Etymotic 4p, Westone UM-2's as well as the venerable Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5's in addition to several other less known manufacturers. All of these models exceeded the $200 price range. I won't bore you with my audiophile assessments of those other brands. I WILL however tell you that as a recording engineer/musician, and having a fine set of very accurate time aligned and phase coherent monitors, the Shure E4C is the FIRST In Ear Monitor I've used that emulates those to a tee. I am completely blown away at their utterly smooth mids and high end. As far as I'm concerned they do NOT lack the air in the upper registers others have reported. They are never brittle, hence they are accurate in that register. They are NOT forward nor recessed in the midrange....they are DEAD ON with NO apparent bump. The low end is another area I'm in complete disagreement with others. It is tight, defined and NEVER bloated. Easily adjusted via EQ if you're interested, but never phony. Bottom line...they were the BEST investment I've made for my travel listening bar none. I can't recommend them highly enough. They were, by the way....the ONLY IEM that I was able to easily get a proper and comfortable fit and seal with. A complete NO BRAINER. If one is looking for a IEM I say don't walk......run out and get these.....you won't be sorry.