Shure has long made its name in the most demanding of professional studios, and the company has always applied itself to the same level of quality and performance in its consumer line. One of the best examples of their successful consumer series is the Shure SCL2, successor of the very popular E2.

Initial impression for this pair of earphones from the premium manufacturer Shure was not very complimentary. HWM’s demo unit came with its carrying case and the earphones themselves, but somewhere along the length of this test unit’s tenure with other publications, it seemed to have lost its “Fit Kit” – an essential set of foam and rubber sleeves essential for customizing the earphones to the particular ear canal that is going to be listening through them.

The proper way to wear the SCL2s, as demonstrated by an officemate.

A selection of sleeves ensures a proper fit.

My initial impression was further hampered by the fact that I didn’t actually know hoe to fit these earphones to my ears – the Shure SCL2 possesses a somewhat organic shape with its bulbous main body leading to an angled tube that terminates at the rubber sleeves. Its cable is angled along the same plane as the angled tube, making for a confusing initial fitting but eventually leading to a very logical fit once the user gets used to the shape. It is meant to be worn over-the-ear, with the cable running over the top of the earlobe and running to the rear and down. In this position, the whole shape of the Shure SCL2 fits perfectly into the contours of a normal ear, and with the Fit Kit ensuring that the earphones are pumping sound directly into your ear canal and excluding extraneous noise at the same time, the SCL2s can concentrate on producing the best sound possible.

From this angle, the SCL2s seem strangely angular - how to fit them inside the ear?

The Shure SCL2 Sound Isolating Earphones is an in-ear set with a much improved “Single Dynamic Driver” that is designed to reproduce the fullest sonic range that can be found on a non-monitor level set of earphones. This distinction is important to note due to its low suggested retail price of around P4800, a price that may seem expensive until you consider that Shure’s other studio-level products can reach prices of up to P24000.

This is how the earbud will look like once it's worn.

The SCL2, like the E2 before it, relies on sound isolation to give the listener the cleanest and most accurate reproduction possible, and it is due to this reliance that it becomes important to ensure a good fit for each person who wants to use the SCL2. As such, this pair of earphones comes with what Shure calls a "Fit Kit" that contains flex, soft flex, foam sleeves and wax guards, all of which comes in three sizes. It is imperative that the user experiment with the different sleeves and find out which will give him or her the most snug fit, both for getting the best performance from the SCL2 and for ensuring listening comfort over long periods of use.

The "sound canal" extends directly into your ear canal, excluding everything else.

And what sound it is, taking “full sonic range” and standing it on its head with bass that had that crisp yet un-delicate reverb, a weighty mid-range that jumps out from whatever you’re listening, and highs that are very clean and clear, probably due to the “spacing” between the different tones that this pair of earphones are capable of – this pair is good not because the individual sound types are excellent, but rather excel due to how good they come together, what people in the industry like to call excellent “detailing”.

Gold-plated connector helps durability.

This detailing enables the listener to discern multiple instruments from one another, with each instrument very clearly differentiated from the rest. When compared to a lesser pair of earphones, say the bundled ‘buds that are included with Apple’s iPods, the muddle of sound that one doesn’t usually notice comes to the fore and creates instant dissatisfaction – this is a negative attribute of the SCL2 I’d say, as it instantly can tell the listener that their previous earphone set is much less capable than it.

The included carrying case is a sturdy affair that prevents your SCL2s from getting tangled up.

Shure did not neglect the detailing in its looks and packaging either – the cable is a healthy 5’2” in total length, with the right-left earbud “Y” at the 1’2” point. The cable diameter is an extra-thick 2mm, while the cables leading to the earbuds themselves are a meaty 1.5mm. A hard carrying case and a couple of “wax guards” in addition to the Fit Kit are included. The Shure SCL2 is the best possible introduction into the premium-level audio, taking advantage of its sound isolating capability to deliver the best combination of performance and cost; just make sure to fit them properly into your ear and learn how to wear them over your earlobes. More pictures to follow.

The SCL2 comes in two varieties: a clear and a black version - corresponding to the "CL" and "K" models.

Parting Shot.