Friday, May 4, 2012

"How did they sound? In a word, terrific." - Andre Marc of AVRev.com on the Paradigm SHIFT E3m

Andre Marc of Audio Video Revolution (a.k.a. AVRev.com) tested out a pair of our Paradigm SHIFT E3m earbuds and what were his overall thoughts? ... We'll leave it to Andre to say,  "In a word, terrific." Andre's review hit AVRev.com this week and we'd love for you to give it a read in full. In the mean time, here's an attempt at a summary...

Initial Doubts
"I must say upfront that I have never been fond of in ear buds and I have always used traditional headphones or portable models with ear hooks. I simply could never get earbuds to stay in properly and have always been underwhelmed by the sound, which tended to be thin."

The Confute
"The SHIFT in ear buds are the first such products that I have had no issue with. They fit perfectly, did not come out at any point, and never got tangled up. Since I generally use headphones exclusively for the gym and occasionally while traveling, this is a major plus. E3m’s were very comfortable and I barely noticed they were in my ear, and they were totally unobtrusive."

Sounds "Terrific"
"How did they sound? In a word, terrific. I would characterize their overall sound as a bit on the warmish side. High frequencies were mellow, midrange textures were supple, and bass was weighty and articulate... These earbuds were also very easy to drive, with plenty of usable volume range. Even the quietest portable devices should have no problem."


"I used the E3m’s on my Apple iPod Nano and really enjoyed the plush sound across all genres of music, including alternative, jazz, classic rock, world, and R&B. I thought imaging was excellent, and at certain points I had forgotten I was even listening to earbuds, as there was the illusion of three-dimensional sound on well-recorded material."



Extra Features
"There was also very good insulation from outside noise. These are not active noise cancelling earbuds per se, but they were great at not letting competing ambient noise in."

"Obviously a lot of engineering went into the E3m’s performance and the microphone and volume control are not just tacked on features... The volume control and microphone worked flawlessly, and the earbuds themselves and the connectors were well above average in build."

Conclusion
"Paradigm has yet again done their homework, developing a great sounding product that is well built and ergonomically impressive... their performance is in line with, or even surpasses, headphones and earbuds I have owned costing the same and even much more. If you are shopping for an upgrade to the crummy earbuds that come with your iDevice, put the Paradigm SHIFT series at the top of your list."

Click here! to read Andre Marc's full review at AVRev.com.
Click here! for more info on the Paradigm SHIFT E3m and to buy online.