E Series gaming earphones

We'd never heard of Shure before these came along. You probably haven't either, unless you're a technician at a recording studio.

You see, usually Shure equipment is to be found in the hands or ears of musicians such as Velvet Revolver, System Of A Down, Ben Folds and Rob Swift.

Quite whether they use theirs for playing mobile and handheld games is another matter of course, but it points to the kind of pedigree that Shure has. So when we heard about its new earphones specifically designed for gaming on the go, we were naturally enthused.

And we're pleased to report that after a month of use in various circumstances, we're still just as excited about them.

The hook is a simple one: you want headphones that output quality audio but that don't let any external noise in.

It's a crucial point if you're a regular commuter, for example, playing your PSP or Game Boy on the bus or train. With ordinary headphones, you end up cranking the volume up just to try and drown out the noise of the tracks or traffic. Not only does this annoy your fellow passengers and damage your hearing, you still can't hear what's going on in the game all that clearly.

The E Series earphones – the entry-level E2g, mid-range E3g and high-end E4g – get around this by employing what Shure calls 'sound isolating' technology. While this sounds fancy and high-tech, it actually amounts to a set of flexible sleeves for the earphones that mould themselves to the inner contours of your ear. The design prevents ambient noise from entering and it really is effective.

This approach has been taken to avoid introducing artefacts into the sound, we've been told by Shure, which can sometimes result from using noise-cancelling headphones like the established Bose models. The upshot is that when you are listening to something, be it a CD or game soundtrack, you can hear little else but that.

They're not perfect, by any means, and you can still hear snippets of conversation if it's taking place right next to you. But they're a vast improvement over normal earphones and, until you get used to it, a little disconcerting.

Tailored to favour the higher-frequency sounds that dominate game soundtracks, they offer crystal clear audio. Dialogue, gunshots and other sound effects are vibrant, crisp and well-balanced. There's a real sense of space when using the E Series, too, and the way in which sounds move around you is very accomplished.

Much of this is down to the console/mobile and the game you play but, unlike many earphones, there's a much better balance than just having sounds in your left and right ears.

The one area where the Shure E Series don't perform so agreeably in is music. This is perhaps to be expected from a product designed specifically for game audio.

Earphones like these, whatever the make or model, suffer from a lack of bass due to the fact that they're so small. Small speaker cones just aren't capable of producing low-frequency sounds, and that's that. But with these, the lack of bass is accentuated ever so slightly. It seems worse than it is because the sound reproduction through the rest of the range is so impressive.

All told, the Shure E Series are the best in-ear earphones we've had the pleasure of using, both for the audio quality and the sound isolation. But we're not sure if we're ready to swap our faithful over-ear Sennheiser headphones yet, particularly when cost is considered.

The entry-level E2g set weighs in at £70 to £80 – a serious lump of cash. You could go and buy a Game Boy Micro for the same price! Worse, the set we spent most time with, the E3g, costs £149 and, while they sound a lot better than their cheaper cousins, it's even harder to accept a PSP-equalling price.

In fact, it starts to become clear why the likes of the Beat Junkies and Ozzy Osbourne use Shure kit: they can afford to. If you're fortunate enough to be mixing in those heady circles, then rock on. If not, you can still dream.