Others say...

"Shure Sleeves"
I read customer reviews and brought the Shure triple flange sleeves. I was shocked and disappointed that the ear sleeves doesn't block out the ambient noise; poor noise isolation. In addition, they don't fit comfortable in my ear. I believe the best sleeves for noise isolation is the Shure gray rubber sleeves. Learn and live.

"3-way flanges"
Worth it. I wish they shipped with the E3c's. I trimmed off the end for my ears. My wife left all three flanges for herself.

"These actually fit!!"
I had a pair of Harmon Kardon headphones with the triple flange sleeve. I wanted to get a little bit of a better pair so I got the Shure E4C's. If you have an odd sized ear the triple flanges are the best option if the regular buds fall out of your ear. At times they are not the most comfortable, but it's just a small sacrifice to pay for their performance.

"Great quality sound. Rubber quality issues."
First of all, please remember that different people have different ears that fit different sizes and shapes of plugs, so please do not judge the product based on the very subjective matter of ear compatibility.

The sleeves themselves provide very good sound isolation. Even with the music off, they can reduce the deafening rattle of the subway to a lulling hum. Put the music on, and you're cut off from the world! That can be good and bad. When you do want to be cut off, it's great; but I wouldn't recommend walking in traffic with these things in your ears - you may get run over. Also, if people are talking to you, don't expect to hear them.

I absolutely love these things except for one detail. They don't last long. They will come clean and white, but the rubber will deteriorate with time and turn hard and yellow whether or not you've ever put them in your ears. They come three pairs at a time; one I used, the other two I kept spare, and within just a few months all pairs were an ugly yellow. The ones I hadn't used also turned hard and inflexible. The one I used got too soft and slimy, and even after I scrubbed them with soap inside and out, the plugs just wouldn't stay on the earphone tips anymore, but slide off and fall.

For the sound quality and isolation, these are definitely worth getting. I'd just recommend buying one pair at a time, or if not (like these come three pairs together) then changing them often, before they have hit their expiration date.


p.s. I use them on my Westone earphones, which they are compatible with.

"Work Great for Etymotic ER-4 Too!"
I've got Etymotic ER-4 headphones -- which sound great, by the way -- and these sleeves fit perfectly. Even better, they give just a little more space between your eardrum and the speaker. This allows a slight expansion of the stereo field, which I'm enjoying immensely.