Shure AONIC 3 Wired Sound Isolating Earbuds, Clear Sound, Single Driver with BassPort, Secure In-Ear Fit, Detachable Cable, Durable Quality, Compatible with Apple & Android Devices - Black

Product Information

I remember I could listen to the AONIC3 while panning around and felt immersed undistracted with the sound. The irony is that any wired headphone can turn into wireless very easily but the opposite is impossible - the Chinese get it.

The sound quality is superbly balanced too, with deep, detailed bass, expressive mids and engaging highs. I wasn't expecting this, however thanks very much for graphing etc, definitely would have been helpful. Playing the first track of Black Country, New Roads’ debut album, Instrumental, they offer the more compelling listen; cymbals are convincingly cutting as opposed to softened, there’s greater texture to the oboe and trombone melodies, and the drum rhythm is tighter and faster, propelling the track’s rightful frenetic energy. The interchangeable design is clever, but the Shure AONIC 215 isn’t quite as convenient as other, more affordable earbuds. With weight, detail and a good dose of dynamic subtlety, they really are accomplished in-ears – not as good as the Sony WF-1000XM5 or Bose QC Ultra further up this list, but not miles away, either.

There’s a familiar richness and fullness to the sound, but the new buds have a bit more of a skip in their step than before, as well as more detail around the edges of tones and instruments. I could probably name 10 iem's that are better, cheaper and better looking than many of those you mentioned. In today’s world that is a tricky question as there are a variety of different form factors and technologies on offer.

Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Sennheiser says every component inside these lightweight (4g without cable) in-ear IE 300 headphones has been carefully tuned to produce optimal performance, from a low resonance membrane foil to the resonator chamber, which is designed to compensate for the masking effects of trapped air in the ear canal with the buds in use.With rigidity and minimal vibrations in mind, Sennheiser's engineers have chosen to go with a single driver rather than the more fashionable multiple-unit approach that many rivals take – and the results are fantastic. The only slight issue I had is the "communication" cable with the microphone etc doesn't really lend itself to coiling up into the case, so I changed it out for the EAC46CLS cable, much easier to deal with. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.

There’s detail and analysis, but the headphones stop well short of sucking the life and emotion out of the music. Playing Billie Eilish’s No Time To Die from the eponymous upcoming Bond film, the Shures capture the track’s eerily quiet opening before gradually layering the vocal and instruments neatly on top. The noise-cancelling works a treat, while Adaptive Transparency muffles loud noises when letting in ambient sounds.The big news for the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds is they feature Bose Immersive Audio (their version of spatial audio) and while the results are a little mixed, the ambition is definitely there. Testing earbuds, whether it is the wired or wireless variety, naturally doesn't require us to be in a test room all the time, although when we want peace and quiet and to compare pairs with their closest rivals, then a dedicated room does come in handy.