Why Do My Earphones Lack Bass? How to Fit Shure Earphones Correctly

Marc Henshall | February 23, 2014 Why Do My Earphones Lack Bass? How to Fit Shure Earphones Correctly

It's a common misconception that Shure earphones "lack bass". In reality, less than 1% of earphones returned to Shure service for "lack of bass" are defective. In almost all cases, the cause is due to how they're fitted, and here's why:

In order to have "full bass" with Shure earphones, each earphone must be properly seated in the ear canal, and the ear canal properly blocked. The smallest of air leaks into the ear canal will reduce the bass significantly. The tricky part is, each person's ear is different, and for this reason, Shure supplies a wide variety of flexible earphone sleeves to help provide a good fit in the majority of cases.

Find your own Personal Fit

It's important to experiment with the provided sleeves to find the best fit for your ears. Once the ear canal is properly sealed, the bass response will be noticeably improved. The seal you create is also integral to sound isolation (a key advantage to Shure earphones). If you would like to know more about Sound Isolation, check out  "what's the difference between noise canceling and sound isolating earphones".

Custom Ear Molds

A small percentage of the population will have ear canals that do not suit any of the provided sleeves. In this case, it's best to have custom ear molds created by a specialist company, such as Custom IEM

Marc Henshall

Marc Henshall

Marc forms part of our Pro Audio team at Shure UK and specialises in Digital Marketing. He also holds a BSc First Class Hons Degree in Music Technology. When not at work he enjoys playing the guitar, producing music, and dabbling in DIY (preferably with a good craft beer or two).