Shure SE215 IEMs?

[pglaser01]

but WHY are they better? whats the difference you speak of, between the um20's and the 215's? Can you elaborate or describe your experience with both?

id be curious to see a link to the um pro 20's, i see $299 on sweetwater.

Owning both....the um20's firstly have dual drivers vs the single dynamic driver of the SE215. So spacing is a bit different and some may like this.

I think the main difference, at least to my ears, the UM20s have a little more bump in lower mids and seem, again just to me, a little warmer tone baked than the shure's. This low mid of the UM20's are even more prominent after I moved to the SE425. The 425's are more balanced to me, but bass doesn't come through even as much as the 215s! I actually use a +2db lo boost on my IEM pack at times with my 425's that I didn't have to do with my 215's and I even did a -2db lo cut with my UM20's.

The 215's were great to find your place but at times got congested if you put everything into your mix. This didn't happen with the UM20 or SE425s. But again to me the UM20s were a little warmer overall, Ampeg-ish....if you will!!

YMMV but this was simply my experience.

 

[s0c9]

Owning both....the um20's firstly have dual drivers vs the single dynamic driver of the SE215. So spacing is a bit different and some may like this.

I think the main difference, at least to my ears, the UM20s have a little more bump in lower mids and seem, again just to me, a little warmer tone baked than the shure's. This low mid of the UM20's are even more prominent after I moved to the SE425. The 425's are more balanced to me, but bass doesn't come through even as much as the 215s! I actually use a +2db lo boost on my IEM pack at times with my 425's that I didn't have to do with my 215's and I even did a -2db lo cut with my UM20's.

The 215's were great to find your place but at times got congested if you put everything into your mix. This didn't happen with the UM20 or SE425s. But again to me the UM20s were a little warmer overall, Ampeg-ish....if you will!!

YMMV but this was simply my experience.

This will be true of MOST multi-driver buds vs single driver.
I'm no expert but HAVE run the gamut of many different buds, both wired and wireless over the last 7 yrs.. and (if folks have read my prior posts on IEM's) I'm a HUGE proponent of multi-driver buds.
Think of it this way..
If you were listening to a PA speaker, would the music sound "better" being played thru a cab with a single speaker or thru a 2 or 3-way cab?
It's the same thing with your buds. . 2 [or more] speakers (crossed over) will usually sound MUCH better than a single speaker producing the same audio, due to frequency separation and other factors.
It's simple physics!

 

[DeepBassNine]

Owning both....the um20's firstly have dual drivers vs the single dynamic driver of the SE215. So spacing is a bit different and some may like this.

I think the main difference, at least to my ears, the UM20s have a little more bump in lower mids and seem, again just to me, a little warmer tone baked than the shure's. This low mid of the UM20's are even more prominent after I moved to the SE425. The 425's are more balanced to me, but bass doesn't come through even as much as the 215s! I actually use a +2db lo boost on my IEM pack at times with my 425's that I didn't have to do with my 215's and I even did a -2db lo cut with my UM20's.

The 215's were great to find your place but at times got congested if you put everything into your mix. This didn't happen with the UM20 or SE425s. But again to me the UM20s were a little warmer overall, Ampeg-ish....if you will!!

YMMV but this was simply my experience.

I know they're duals (um20) vs singles (215s). I am currently trying to justify whether making the jump from 215's to something like the um20 is worth it. Overall, i like the 215's, no real complaint. They "do the job", but as you mentioned in your response, it does get muddy or "congested" when adding multiple things in the mix. I wanted to know if moving to a dual driver system, would help with that issue, give more clarity, and if it would be worth it.

 

[pglaser01]

I know they're duals (um20) vs singles (215s). I am currently trying to justify whether making the jump from 215's to something like the um20 is worth it. Overall, i like the 215's, no real complaint. They "do the job", but as you mentioned in your response, it does get muddy or "congested" when adding multiple things in the mix. I wanted to know if moving to a dual driver system, would help with that issue, give more clarity, and if it would be worth it.

Then yes it will definitely help with that. Just think about what overall sound profile you'd like. Again if you're only looking to jump up to dual drivers i.e UM20 vs SE425 I will attest at least to my ears the Westone's are inherently more low end "warm" or heavy...so some EQing may be needed depending on your preferences.

 

[Medford Bassman]

I use the SE215s.i had custom inserts made and wow did that make a difference. Single driver or not, I use them as my IEMs for working band that doesn't use amplifiers on stage. Yes I could spend more but the custom inserts only cost me $130 plus $50 to have the mold made. Great investment IMO

 

[musicman7722]

I did make a mistake as Westone it is the UM2 not UM 20. I am not sure what the difference is now?

Also the 215's (which I own) are really a toy compared to Westones, and most others as well but that wasn't the point of this thread. I find them very rigid and uncomfortable to even put around my ear. The Westones have a very nice design and fit around the outside of the ear. I have used a more expensive pair of Shure buds that my drummer bought once when he forgot his at home. I wasn't impressed and they cost him close to $400. anyway I mean no offence here to any just sharing - ok

 

[denhou1974]

I used 215's for about 6 mos. I convinced everyone in my band to do it and as far as I know we did everything right. We had separate mixes, eq's on each mix, and I was running a carvin em900 wireless into the shure se215 ears. At first I thought It was so cool. The more and more we went on with it over time, I started to get picky with my mix. I would crank the bass in my mix and still never felt like I could "feel" it. It was there, it just didn't feel good at all. I don't know if thats just the way using ears is or if my mix was just jacked. I pretty much gave up in the middle of a gig one night and threw the ears away and hooked a powered speaker to my aux and I felt like I had been liberated. When I used the ears by myself messing around on an electronic drum set it sounded like I was playing drums in Madison Square Garden and when I used them with my irig to practice bass it sounded great. I think they are great buds, I just don't think I could get into the whole ears thing in a live setting. I'm bummed because I was ready to ditch my whole rig and just go in ears. Now I'm looking at buying another 810. haha. I'm out of my mind.

How loud was your IEM volume?

I bring my small rig to get the feel (it's a 210 combo ... down by my feet) and I can feel the low end even with the IEMs. The benefit of the IEMs is that I don't have cymbals and vocal monitors blasting in my ears all night. No ringing on the way home and no sleeping with the TV on [to mask the ringing].

 

[musicman7722]

More than likely you were increasing volumes rather than cutting them. When my mix goes to mush I stop and ask myself what am I hearing to much of and bring that or them down. This usually brings the mix back in focus. Some instruments like guitars and drums can go up in your mix without you even touching your faders. It is the nature of how they play usually "1 LOUDER". Also i don't need to feel my bass in my calves. I know a lot of bass players write this and i just don't get it. I haven't had that need since the 80's. I just want to hear the damn thin in my ears which my calves can't help me with

 

[KJMO]

I used the se215s 2 yrs. every week for worship, and they worked great. We each had our own mix on our phones through a behringer x-32. If they are a toy, then I guess I'm just not that serious. I'm past the point of wine tasting adjectives for my headphones. I just need to know what people are playing, and the shures do that. Now, I will say doing your own mix is harder than people seem to realize, but that's not due to IEMs, per se.

 

[musicman7722]

Well I want to apologize for the "toy" comment to one and all.

 

[onzki]

Hi, need advice to buy new IEM or not .
During a live show, I was using an IEM that sounded trebly lacking the low-end.
After the show I told the FOH mixer guy that my bass sounded bad/thin in my IEM and my intent is also to ask if how it sounded in the master speakers, he said it’s all souding good, and suggested that I should look for IEM specific for bassist (with special drivers designed for bass). I find that hard to believe because when I practice bass at home with Shure Se215, It is not sounding thin.
Our mixer is Allen Heath QU-24. Thanks!

 

[drpepper]

Hi, need advice to buy new IEM or not .
During a live show, I was using an IEM that sounded trebly lacking the low-end.
After the show I told the FOH mixer guy that my bass sounded bad/thin in my IEM and my intent is also to ask if how it sounded in the master speakers, he said it’s all souding good, and suggested that I should look for IEM specific for bassist (with special drivers designed for bass). I find that hard to believe because when I practice bass at home with Shure Se215, It is not sounding thin.
Our mixer is Allen Heath QU-24. Thanks!

So that it's clear, you use SE215s to practice at home, and the bass is fine, but you tried them at a show, and the bass sounded thin?

Quite often, the culprit with lacking bass is quality of the seal, but if the above is the case, it stands to reason that the difference between one situation and the other wouldn't necessarily be on the IEMs, and I'd ask how your bass signal is going into the mixer? Is it pre-EQ from your amp/DI box straight from your bass?

And are you using QU-You to control your mix, or is that being done for you.

Going back through those questions, if the bass going in is a raw/un-EQd signal, it's going to tend to sound thin.

Two things you can do to some effect...one thing is send an EQd signal to the mixer and the other is that if you're using QU-You, you have EQ and compression for your mix and can fatten your sound up there. EQing your mix has a limited impact because it's affecting the whole mix, no just the bass channel, but may be enough for you...you'd have to try and see. The upper right of the screen has a waveform-ish looking icon that says "Double Tap". That's how you open the EQ in QU-You.

 

[Baker69]

I own a set of Shure SE215’s and they were my first step into IEM’s. I find them very light and comfortable but as some have said not really ideal for bass. Our keyboard player uses some and he finds them ideal (for keyboards).

I decided to try a set of KZ ZS10 Pro’s a couple of years ago and they instantly made my SE215’s redundant. At half the price of the SE215’s with 5 drivers pers side (as opposed to a single driver on the 215’s) they really do blow the Shure’s out of the water.

A lot of guys still like and use SE215’s and are very happy with them, after getting the ZS10’s though there’s no going back for me. IMHO the SE215’s are sort of the SM58’s of the earphone world, people still use them as they are sort of an ‘industry standard’, even though they know there are alternatives and better options out there.