Shure SE315: Misappropriation at the MWC
28.2.2018
Translation: machine translated
Video: Stephanie Tresch
Team digitec improvises a lot at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This has now become so commonplace that we think outside the box when choosing equipment. This includes headphones that are actually intended for rock musicians on stage.
Alienation of purpose. One of my favourite words. Simply because the concept alone forces me to see things completely differently to how a manufacturer or their marketing department wants to see them. This is also the reason why video producer Stephanie Tresch and I approach our product management team in Zurich with strange questions. We rarely explain the use case, but instead ask about features.
This is what happened a few weeks ago when I happened to be filming Product Manager Fabio Endrich and Stephanie happened to be passing by, who happened to want a set of headphones.
"I need noise cancelling," she says. Because she's going with me to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and wants to have a crystal-clear picture of the sound from the microphone before the recording begins. Because the sound is incredibly important in high ambient noise levels.
Fabio Endrich happens to have a pair of Shure SE315s to hand - all those coincidences in Zurich. Without looking up from his work, he presses the headphones into her hand. So we couldn't have staged it any better.
Stephanie walks away in her usual, slightly bouncy gait, I collect the microphone that happened to be on Fabio's table.
Noise cancelling without Active
Through a chain of circumstances that neither Stephanie nor I can fully comprehend, the Shures have finally landed in my hands. Stephanie, meanwhile, relies on Marshall in-ears, which she stole from me in exchange.
I don't want to give the Shure away again.
After a first test in Zurich, I ask Fabio why he swears by the Shures without any ifs and buts - even before we've taken the random shot.
"I use them on stage," says the musician, who occasionally tours Switzerland with his band. But the album is a long time coming, he adds.
If you've ever stood at the front of a concert, you'll have noticed that musicians often wear headphones. The reason for this is that they don't want to hear the music from the massive speaker arrays at the edge of the stage like the audience, but rather the instruments and voices of their colleagues and themselves. In addition, of course, every musician would permanently damage their hearing if they had to endure the maximum volume of the stage speakers at every concert.
So Shure has also misappropriated things. Namely earplugs and headphones. The manufacturer has combined the two things.
This allows Shure to achieve something that other manufacturers have invested tens of thousands of dollars in: Almost perfect noise cancelling. The outside world penetrates my ears about as well as it does with Oropax. Because that's exactly what the buds actually are. You press them together, put them in your ear and they fill your ear canal. In the centre are the small speakers from which the music sounds.
Some glasses for good measure
A third element that Shure has used for a different purpose is the glasses. Because on stage, Fabio Endrich, just like other musicians, not only has to play music, but also deliver a good show. This includes moving your head. If you're in the middle of a song and your headphones fall out of your ears, it's a bit unfavourable.
"A musician can't just interrupt the song on stage and be like "Hey, sorry, I need to use my headphones for a moment here,"" jokes Fabio.
That's why Shure has adapted the concept of the headband and, unusually, the cables go upwards and not downwards. They then merge into freely adjustable earpieces that you can clip behind your ears. This ensures the headphones stay firmly in place.
The sound quality is what I would expect as a musician on stage. Rich bass, nice highs and at a comfortable volume. Because I don't have to worry about noise from the outside world.
The form factor with the headband cables is the biggest weakness of the headphones. It always takes what feels like an eternity to get the earbuds into my ear. First I put the earpiece in my ear, then I make strange contortions until the earpieces are in place. It takes a little longer than I'd like.
Since Stephanie and I have to get straight back to work - the night shift is waiting - I'll quickly summarise. The Shure SE315 are my new favourite headphones. They're not so much made for the morning commute, but they're easy to use there too. Because if you want heavenly silence on the tram or bus, or want to hear the video producer in front of the camera, then the Shures are your best bet. <p
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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