Shure's E500PTH headphones are revolutionary. While most headphones use a single speaker driver for each ear, the E500PTH headphones use three drivers one each side--one tweeter and two woofers. That's right, these are three-driver headphones, and the sound quality is exceptional.

The E500PTH headphones also have very effective sound isolation features. Molded sleeves slip into the ear canal and block out (according to Shure) up to 90 percent of external ambient sound. This also improves the bass response. The sleeves come in three sizes that are easy to switch, so you can be sure your headphones will be comfortable.

With such efficient sound blocking, what do you do when someone needs to speak to you? To solve this problem without requiring you to remove the E500PTH headphones, Shure has included Push-To-Hear (hence the PTH suffix in the product name). Wired into the headphone cable is a VoicePort microphone. When you push a button on the port, your music is muted and the microphone is activated. Instead of simply relaying all external sounds, the microphone is most sensitive to the frequencies of the human voice. The VoicePort is removable, and it can even be used with other headphones. This rates highly on the "neat-o!" scale, although it is more of a gimmick than a useful feature, and it may take you a while to become comfortable using it.

The E500PTH headphones come with a 1/4-inch jack adapter, so you can use them with just about any home audio component. The package also includes 3-foot and 9-foot modular cables, a carrying case and a level attenuator that lets you listen to high-power sources such as airplane armrests outputs.

The E500PTH headphones are quite impressive, and the three-driver design and Push-To-Hear technology can't be found on any other headphones currently available. If you can afford it, the E500PTH's sound quality is top-notch, but we wouldn't recommend these headphones for the VoicePort alone.

Pros:  Three-driver speakers for excellent sound, effective sound isolation
Cons:  Expensive, Push-To-Hear VoicePort is less useful than it sounds

Warranty
2 years