Shure KSE1500 Review – A Revolutionary Approach In Its Class

Shure KSE1500

£2500

8.9

Sound Signature

9.8/10

Build Quality/Design/Functionality

9.0/10

Value

8.0/10

Pros

• New level of reference sound signature for portable audio. Very detailed sound presentation.
• Solid build quality and simple to use with a classic design.
• Micro detail outstanding and excellent dynamic transitioning.

Cons

• Quite large and makes stack a bit bulky.
• Cable a little thick in terms of ergonomics.
• Price out of some people reach but then again this is a revolutionary product,

Shure arguably is the only brand that is well known amongst the professional consumers as well as the audio enthusiast for well over a decade and it is for a good reason. To me Shure really begun to be known to the so called audiophile world with the release of SE846, some might argue that honor is bestowed upon SE530 and SE535 but to me SE846 marked the era that Shure should be proud of, the era where Shure tried to do things differently.

While the rest of the market focus remains on increasing driver numbers in order to in large improve bass/midrange Shure focused on how to do the same thing arguably with more coherence without increasing the driver numbers and they implemented a low-pass filter in the SE846 and instantly it was a hit. SE846 was sold out for weeks in Japan and it has always gotten a very popular respond from the massdrop community whenever it appears on the audiophile section.

And than came the Shure KSE1500. AnakChan described KSE1500 as a revolutionary product and I strongly agree with him and I could not find a better way to describe Shures KSE design approach.
As stated before the current trend in high end IEM design is to find a way to stuff more drivers inside the acrylic shell and when that has reached its limit to the point that is physically impossible to stuff more drivers without them looking like the two pin sticking out of the head of Frankenstein the other focus is shifted on offering fancy art work to make those larger things look more appealing, which to me is a great idea as after all we are paying for a very personal product which resembles the shape of our ear, I see no harm in that however I believe end of the day what counts first and foremost is how it sounds and I rather pay more for sound than anything else.

To me more drivers don’t always translate to better sound, I experienced this with quiet a few product, rather few too many. One can only push an old technology so much and so much innovation can be achieved based on the same driver and driver combinations. It is like trying to over clock a Pentium 4, an over clocked pentium 4 it is still a pentium 4 and against i7 generation it is just an old technology.

In order to take the next step a new approach is required and to me in large Shure approach in the KSE1500 clearly is an indicator of that.
The following is going to be my personal review complied over the short period of time I have owned the KSE, I will periodically update the review as I see required.

Already gaining positive reviews from some of the well known mainstream sites, View 1, View 2, View 3 View 4

I have taken the time to contribute my unbiased views of the Shure KSE1500 to share with the earphonia.com audience., I hope this helps potential buyers to make their decision.

1.1 Brief history

Electrostatic headphone aren’t a young thing, the one that really started making an important impact on music reproduction have been around since the 60s, beginning with the SR-1 produced by the Japanese mastermind of of the electrostatic technology STAX. Arguably STAX  paved the path for the development of a very limited yet immensely important number of headphones, to name a few SR009 and Orpheus.

The technology in large, or at least the one that mattered for the head-fi hobbyist remained in the hand of STAX, for a very long time until Senheisser decided to prove what their engineers are capable of and as a result they commissioned their engineer to design a so called statement product, a thing that is based on the ‘money is no object’, they named it Orpheus.  Orpheus was one of a kind and Senheisser did not venture into that territory for two and half decade. There is only one way to look at it in my view and that is no matter how good a dynamic driver is designed and no matter by whom end of the day if you want the very best the technology to use  in terms of developing the best headphone one can possibly built the design has to implement an electrostatic driver. This is why despite their expertise in dynamic driver Senheisser next flaghsip product is also another electrostatic design, the HE1060.

I don’t want to bore you on how electrostatic work, or to but it more specifically I am not going to pretend on knowing how it works, for a very concise read I highly recommend the Martin Logan ELS101 guide,http://amasci.com/esloud/eslhwto.html

1.2 What is my background?

I believe it is important to know a little bit of the reviewer’s preference and background and know what kind of sound signature they like. This way you can perhaps spot any possible biases their preference can bring into the review written by them.

I got into the head-fi hobby back in 2006 when I just finished high school and I was about to start my undergraduate degree. The need of a good isolating IEM made me search the web and I eventually found out about the ER4S. I got into head-fi when I started searching for an amplifier for the ER4S. Despite me wanting to purchase the Xin reference or  the minibox E+ I ended up getting Fiio E7 which kept me happy for an year. The next purchases were hm601 and hm801. hm801 pushed me into this hobby greatly. And now this hobby is no longer a hobby, it is an obsession, a drug and in a sense has formed a small portion of my quest into dealing with my existential crisis (or at least that is what I call it).

I always thought there will never be a true all in one product that one can purchase and remain happy, there is no such thing as ones preferred sound signature tends to change with age and as we loss our hearing, also with age. To me the key is keeping a set of product with a contrasting sound signature. And to a certain extend that mentality has remain intake after owning the KSE1500. However if I was to say if there was ever a product worthy of making anyone happy it would be the KSE1500. Its tranparency and its ability to respond well with EQ allows it to be tailoring for a wide sound signature. I am going bit off topic so in short my prefeered sound is anything that is not too V shaped. I appreciate a good warm sound without a sacrifice in treble detail.

1.3 What defines a good sound, should I sell my kidney for it?

What constitute a good sound? The simple answer is whatever works for you but statistically speaking however there seems to be an answer. The science of head-fi, that is the science concerning the sound produced by headphone/inner ear monitors is young compared to to the science and research put into loud speakers. The issue that we face is we know what makes for a good sound when it comes to loud speakers, at least we are confident enough to know what makes a good sound for a larger portion of the market, however the sound science discussion when it comes to headphone and of course for the case of IEM is almost non-existent (at least for IEM).

There are people like Dr Sean Olive from harman audio who have started doing research into headphone sound, and companies like golden ears who believe best sound is what is closes to neutral.
According to Dr Olive headphone listeners tend to prefer less bass compared to similar sound coming from a loud speakers. This is in large due to the fact that when it comes to headphone and IEM keeping a good bass responses is much easier compared to a large room where bass largely linked to the room and how well it is treated.

While the research continues and in large it appears that those research are rooted in loudspeakers research there appears to be a few similarity between what make a good sound in both headphone and loud speakers. It appears in both method of sound reproduction transparent sound holds an important status.  When it comes to what constitutes a good sound reproduction of the music as recorded by the artist in an studio the argument is anything that is able to color the sound less than the original recording and is able to produce the detail without masking them, no matter how faint those details are.

The argument is not whether the item makes the music engaging but whether the sound produced remains true to how the music sounds from the original source file.
There are people like Dr. Floyd Toole who arguably the god father of Loudspeaker design standard who believe we can never reproduce a live recording true to how it sounded in the concert hall and we should give up trying to mimic it, there is just simply no substitute to live performance. However to him the important aspect of a loud-speaker which can be translate to the headphone world, at least for recording engineers is a set of neutral recording instruments.

KSE1500 sound signature is non-existent, perhaps it is the closest thing to the neutral sound Dr Toole is referring to: something that is not having any particular peak, excessive focus on any particular focus on any particular frequency range and is able to reproduce the detail within the music track with minimum loss.

1.4 General comment regarding packaging, accessories and ergonomics

Packaging: The packaging includes all that one needs to get started listening to music. It comes with all set of tips from Shure for one to test and figure out which works for them. I would have liked to see a hardcase large enough to accommodate both the IEM and amplifier together.

Source: Shure Asia

Ergonomics: My main issue  is how the cable is in the lower half, after the Y-splitter. This is where perhaps I would have liked the cable to be a flat cable. The cables passed the the Y-splitter seem to be individually meshed and than wrapped together inside a larger meshing. As a result they freely twist and slide over each other and the fabric that is enclosing them can twist and look messy.

The cable is microphonic, even with the shirt clip. It can be loud and audible if the music is quiet. I find having the cable go behind my head and using the chin-slide snugly fitted behind my head reduces the microphonic by 80%.