Macworld (2019-06)

JUNE 2019 MACWORLD 129

I wasn’t able to detect any microphonics
while listening at volumes 50 percent and
higher: The only time you’ll hear rustling
from these things is if it’s on the track your
audio source is playing.
While testing the SE535 with in their
Bluetooth 4.1 configuration, I
found the audio feels well-
balanced with a wide
soundstage that lets every
element of your music shine (so
long as you’re listening to a
high-quality recording). The
warm, booming bass line and
Nathaniel Rateliff’s vocals in
“Shoe Boot” were well separated
from the music the horn players
in Rateliff’s band were making.
While listening to our test playlist
and almost everything else over
the course of a week, I throughly
enjoyed the well-separated,

punchy audio the SE535s delivered.

The only time that these earphones

failed to shine was when I listened to low-

quality files or standard-definition streaming

content. Podcasts and music discovered on

SoundCloud or steamed via YouTube

sounded rather awful when

played through the SE535s—full of

artifacts and background hiss. But

this has more to do with the quality

of the audio source than the

quality of the earphones.

BOTTOM LINE

Shure’s SE535V+BT1 earbuds

may be prohibitively expensive,

but their rich sound, repairability,

and ability to be modified to

meet your individual needs place

them among the finest

earphones we’ve had the

opportunity to use. ■

mmmmh

Shure SE535-V+BT1

Wireless Sound

Isolating Earphones

PROS

• Incredible sound quality.


• Thick cables prevent
  tangling and microphonics.


• Outstanding passive noise
  cancellation.
  CONS


• Prohibitively expensive for
  most people.


• Reveal the flaws in low
  quality recordings and
  streaming music.
  PRICE
  $399
  COMPANY
  Shure