Shure SE535~ A Very Realistic Sound

The Shure SE535 is currently the flaghip model for the Shure IEM division. Many said that the SE535 is a direct replacement for SE530 that solved the outdated cable issue with no improvement in the sound department. I believe they were wrong because they do sound different from what I have auditioned (A-B testing) at the time of purchased. 

Specs:

Speaker TypeTriple High-Definition MicroDrivers
Sensitivity (1kHz)
119 dB SPL/mW
Impedance (1kHz)36 Ω
Noise Attenuation
Up to 37 dB
Frequency Range18Hz – 19kHz

Input Connector
Gold-plated 3.5 mm (1/8")
Cable64" Detachable (at ear) with wireform fit
ColorAvailable in Clear or Metallic Bronze

360° Lock Snap Mechanism using MMCX 

(micro-miniature coaxial)

Design

First we will get to the design. The Shure SE535 have replaced the old cable that always have breakage issue with a new Kevlar reinforce cable with removable 360° locking mechanism. The removable cable allows the users to upgrade the cable just like many current flagships IEM or just replaced it with a new pair of stocks cable to prolong the life of your favorite IEM. The new cable is really thick which makes it less prone to tangle. The result is a cable that is very easy to manage especially when you are taking it out from your pocket after a long walk or jog. The body of the Shure SE535 also has been reduced by a small percentage compared to their old Shrue SE530 thus giving it a more ergonomic fit in the ear.

A Smaller Housing than SE530. Top dual woofers driver, Bottom single tweeter driver.

Shure SE535 still shares the same triple driver two way crossover designs as their previous models which consist of a dedicated tweeter and dual woofers. SE535 is still a very sensitive IEM and will cause hiss in some system. If you can, try to find a DAC and Amplifier or your Digital Media Player/MP3 that doesn’t have hissing problem. This is not a problem that only involves Shure SE535 because even more expensive Custom IEM also has such issue. So don’t worry about it and try to find a clean source for your Shure.

The sound of Shure SE535 is very clean and detailed. If you are going to play from a poor quality source such as poorly recorded CDs, MP3 or YouTube video then you will hear all the flaws in it. They are very revealing of your source quality so do help yourself by getting better source after all you are paying that much to seek for sound improvement. In spite of this, they are not too revealing of your components because Shure SE535 is not too sensitive to system changes. What it means here is that SE535 doesn’t improve much by adding an amplifier into the chain. There are pros and cons to this. The Pros is that they can get you into a high quality sound straight away with the lowest budget possible by using your iPod or any other player that you currently have. The Cons is that you won’t be getting big improvements that are associated with getting high end sound setups. If you do choose to add an amplifier, you can save your money by skipping those entry level amplifiers and jump straight to the high end amplifier. Though they won’t improved as well as other more resolving and transparent Headphone/IEM, adding a good amplifier will still improved the sound quality in areas such as better control on the drivers to give a smoother response and better details extraction. So if you are using entry level amplifiers, instead of improving the sounds quality you are restricting the performance of an already good sounding IEM. Don’t forget to upgrade your source (DAC) because details extractions are the biggest improvement for Shure SE535 in a high end sound system.

Sounds

The previous flagship, Shure SE530 has a warmer sound with a more rolled off highs. In other words, the current Shure SE535 has a more balanced sound that is not too warm and not too bright. Besides that, you also get improvement in the extension in the highs. More or less it still retains the same amount of mids, but the added highs makes it sounded less warm into a slightly bright yet balanced sounding IEM. So what you get now is an upper mids and treble oriented sound signature. It is definitely a good IEM for vocals lovers as well as those Audiophile titles.

Shure SE535 is a very lively IEM because of the added boost in the treble area. Besides the lively presentation, the upper mids and treble produces the sense of realism that is above anything that I have own so far. I have even AB the Shure with Crossroads HR1, LCD2 rev2, Ortofon E-Q7, ACS T15, Beyerdynamic DT880, Sennheiser HD650 and not even the JH16PRO could achieve these levels or realism that Shure SE535 can achieve. The level of realism is so high it felt as if the vocalists are singing next to you carrying a true voice that is natural and no added coloration at all. This is how good the sense of realism is. This sense of realism is also carried through instruments in the higher notes. The mids details extractions is also better on this IEM because I have notice some minor details from one of the songs which I have done an AB test with the headphone above to confirm the findings. Besides the LCD2 that is very close in presenting that minor details all the others have either failed or at most produce only a very small amount and unrealistic sound. (Never tested on my newly acquired JH16PRO because I have forgotten which songs and at which part I have heard this effect during my AB test with the others)

The bass is the limiting factor in this great sounding IEM. As stated previously, Shure SE535 is a lively IEM with a balanced sound. So the bass thought is still fairly good in midbass punch it is not as pronounced as the mids and treble. The bass is just enough to give a universal sounding IEM but won’t be enough if your genre emphasizes on heavy bass. Adding a warm/ bass oriented amplifier should be able to help out in this area. Do mind that they are not the extremely weak kind yet; you know the type when you would say only if I have better bass punch.

The speed is faster than the mellow E-Q7 but at the same time it is still not fast enough for the fast rock and metals. Shure SE535 has a greater genre bandwith when compared to the heavy mids oriented eq7. Though Shure SE535 is not good with faster pace songs but they still work quite well with slow rocks such as the progressive rocks from pink floyd. In that sense Shure is more universal sounding while the E-Q7 is only focused on certain genre only. Moving outside the genre, the slow pace and mid centric sound will become a burden for the E-Q7. E-Q7 works best with slow paced songs such as jazz, vocals especially male, instruments and other slower genre while the Shure also could do what the E-Q7 could do although in a different way SE535 could go further to more different type of genre.

Another key strength of the Shure SE535 is the soundstage. Though I don’t remember much from the audition with the EQ7 but compare to other headphone that I own so far, this IEM can be considered as having the widest soundstage beside the Shroom EB. But on 3Dness soundstage, the Shure SE535 still wins against the Hippo Shroom EB. Instruments separation is well separated like other headphones in this price range. You won’t be hearing much congestion in the instruments and the positions are fine. At certain time when I’m not focusing on the songs I just thought that someone just called me from outside or the thunders that shatter in some songs felt like it came from outside my house. That is the performance of the soundstage these SE535 could give.

So what you get here is a great sounding IEM that is worth the title of one of the many top universal IEM that works well with a wide genre but excelling at female vocals, jazz, instruments, classical and audiophile titles. Do spend sometime to rework your library with high quality songs and good sound setup if you can still afford it after purchasing this IEM. If you have constraint in your budget, then don’t worry about it because you are not loosing much from it. After all this IEM can get you going with straight out of anything you have.

Price: US$549.99 (RRP, Market Price are lower)/ MYR1668
 
Source: Govibe DAC, Hifiman HM-602 (as DAC and DAP), iPod Classic

Amplifier: JDSLabs CmoyBB, SPL Auditor, Fiio E5, Hippo Amp.