Are my E3c dying? - Riovolution

Highnoon

2007-04-26, 16:58 #1

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Subject: Are my E3c dying?

I've had the exact same music on my iPod for a really long time. Just a week or so everything was fine. I typically listen to all my music on about half volume, which is plenty loud with my E3c. I hardly ever change the volume because it's all leveled by track to 92.0 dB using MP3Gain. Now I find myself turning up the volume to full to get a comfortable volume.

The only other pair or headphones I tried were the Apple earbuds. They seemed normal and were plenty loud at around half-volume. Is it possible that my E3c are dying? What causes this? I treat them really well, and I cleaned them very thoroughly just about an hour ago.

flattop100 2007-04-26, 22:21 #2

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Or the amp on your ipoop is crapping out.

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Highnoon

2007-04-26, 22:35 #3

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but as I said the other headphones I tried were fine.

Toby 2007-04-27, 07:39 #4

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Have you tried the e3cs on something else?

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epithetless 2007-04-27, 12:51 #5

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I can't remember -- Do the e3cs have replaceable filters? This sounds like your typical IEM-blockage-from-regular-use to me (where the filters may be dirty even if the they don't appear to be). If the filters can't be replaced, I'm still thinking accumulated blockage...just not sure how you would go about cleaning them.

EDIT: I just did a quick search, and it looks like the filters of the e3 series aren't user replaceable. Boo. In the user guide, Shure says:

"If the nozzle of your earphone is blocked, clean the nozzle using the supplied
wax removal loop. . . When cleaning, do not force any object through the earphone nozzle! This will
damage the earphone sound filter."

This post was edited 2 times, last on 2007-04-27, 13:05 by epithetless.

Highnoon

2007-04-27, 14:26 #6

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In reply to post #4

Quote by Toby:
Have you tried the e3cs on something else?

I just tried them on my computer, and again I had to crank the main volume and the volume within iTunes up to full to achieve a comfortable listening level.

Epithetless - There are no objects lodged in the nozzle. It's perfectly clean.

radish 2007-04-27, 14:35 #7

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Mine died in a similar way a while ago, but only on one side. No wax, but one side was considerably quieter than the other. I replaced them with the v-moda buds and am very happy.

Highnoon

2007-04-27, 14:43 #8

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I'm not real keen on spending more money on headphones at the moment... but I believe they are still in warranty. I guess if there is no possible fix I'll just send them back... again.

epithetless 2007-04-29, 09:30 #9

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Quote by Highnoon on 2007-04-27, 14:43:
I'm not real keen on spending more money on headphones at the moment... but I believe they are still in warranty. I guess if there is no possible fix I'll just send them back... again.

Well, at least there's that. As for the filters (and forgive me if I'm being pedantic), they can be dirty without being visibly obstructed. This will lead to a decrease in volume as you described. Various other IEM models (e.g. the e4 and Etymotics) allow you to replace their filters once something like this happens. The left channel of my Altec Lansing iM716 became slightly muffled a while ago, for instance, and replacing the perfectly clean-looking old filter with a new one brought the earphones back to life. Sadly, it seems Shure didn't include such an option with the e3 -- its filters are fixed deep inside the nozzle with no way to access them.

Highnoon

2007-06-02, 20:48 #10

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Oh wow I kinda forgot about this thread. Anyway I sent them back a while ago and now I have a new pair. I burned them in for a while and everything is perfect!