i am currently testing both the Shure E3c and Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 pro. I think most of the reviews i read are accurate. Shure is cleaner, doesn’t have much bass, very low noise floor. you can’t hear much white noise while the iPod is on but not playing any music. The ultimate ears are not as clean sounding, but much much stronger bass. it has a constant audible white noise just having the headphones plugged in, of course you can’t detect it once you are playing music. regarding what people say about comfort, i don’t have a problem with either. and yea, the cord on the super.fi 5 pro tangle a lot, like the reviews say. but i don’t think this is because the cord is very cheap / thin / low quality. i just think the sheath is more sticky and the cord is more stiff, making it want to hold it’s shape and tangling and sticking on itself.
i think for most people listening to rock, hip-hop, pop, the Ultimate Ears will be better. Just because the bass it pumps out is soo much stronger. I read not even the more expensive E4c can match the bass on the super fi 5 pro.