The trick is in the earplugs...
Right, so now we’ve established that the E2g earphones work by blocking out outside noise, how does this work in practise? As with most top-end kit, the E2g earphones come with a wide range of differently sized earplugs so you can match them to the size of your ears. My lugholes are so large that Maggie tried to close them down in the ‘80s but even I managed to find a set of plugs to fit.
The trick is to find a balance between comfort and Sound Isolation that suits you best, especially if you just stick to the range of silicone plugs that come with the earphones. By far the best comfort fit for everyone will be by using the special expanding foam earplugs, of which you get three pairs with the kit. These are great as all you do is roll them between thumb and forefinger to compress the foam, then slip the E2g earphones on before the foam expands back to its normal size. The foam expands to fit your ear canal perfectly allowing you to get on and enjoy your audio but there is one drawback. Seeing as the foam by nature is porous, they do become grubby after a couple of weeks of use meaning you’ll want to switch them out to a clean pair… unless plugging old ear wax into your ears is your thing, of course…
Click for larger imageThe design of the E2g earphones is something a bit different too as to accommodate the switchable plugs and to get the sound right into your ear, there’s a thin tube leading from the driver itself. Now you’d expect a design like this to have a detrimental effect on the bass but Shure have thought of that, as can be seen by the size of the earphone body.
What they’ve succeeded in doing is to fit as large a driver into the body as possible whilst still staying within the bounds of an in-the-ear piece. What this means is that the driver part of the Shure E2g is actually quite a sizeable ‘bud’ which, at first glance, looks like there’s no way it’ll fit in your ear. But if you follow the Shure fitting guide, you’ll soon see how it all works and, provided you don’t have abnormally small ears, the fit is very snug and comfortable.
Click for larger imageWhat you will find is that the Shure way of doing things is such a deviation from other in-the-ear earphones that you’ll have to spend some time using them to get the best balance between comfort and sound isolation. With my huge lug-holes, I thought I’d start off with the biggest pair of silicon plugs, but it turns out my left ear is slightly smaller than my right. After a few hours use, the left plug was making my ear ache, but switching to a slightly smaller plug sorted this out straight away. So the lesson here is to not be afraid to experiment and find the best fit for you.
