puts you in control of your audio experience. Select balanced, warm or bright audio through removable nozzles for three unique sound signatures. We switch to Eilish’s No Time To Die from the upcoming Bond film of the same title and the Aonic 50s display detail in abundance, but without creating the same sense of atmosphere as the very best. They do many things well, but don’t engage enough with the listener to leave the same lasting impression as the Sony WH-1000XM3s or B&W PX7s, for example. I enjoyed the Aonic’s sense of personalization and versatility. Shure has shown that one earphone can try to do it all, and for the most part, the Aonic 5 succeeded. However, accessibility can be an issue, and this IEM can be a hard sell for some. I found that the more you put into the Aonic 5, the more it delivers. Some may just need an IEM that has a flat, neutral response for monitoring, and the Aonic 5 does that very well, but for a more textured, satisfying sound signature, it definitely benefits from outboard gear. One lovely little perk here is PausePlus. Imagine you're listening to death metal at the office with Max ANC deployed and your boss approaches (just a random example, no reason). If PausePlus is toggled to on, simply pressing the multi-function button to pause the music also deploys ambient sound, so you can hold a polite conversation with your superior and pretend you were only listening to the latest episode of Revisionist History podcast. It looks quite nice, too, and is logical enough to navigate. But it proved unwilling to play FLAC files and was prone to crashing (or ‘not responding’) quite a lot more than is acceptable. But, as I say, Shure seems confident that the updates timed for when the Aonic 215s go on sale will result in a better experience.

In case you're wondering whether the Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2's headband is nicely padded, yes it is. (Image credit: Future) Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 review: Value Paolo Nutini's Loving You is a delight, with Nutini's textured voice held centrally among agile guitars and easy drums. The entire frequency range is skilfully balanced, and sweeping from the deepest notes of The Avalanches’ We Will Always Love You to the highest is smooth and even-handed. The deepest notes are pretty deep in this recording, but Shure’s claim that the 215s can dig down to 21Hz suddenly doesn’t sound as fanciful as it did when simply reading the spec sheet. Up to a point, it’s Shure in-ear business as usual here. The company’s long favoured a monitor-style ‘twist to fit’ design for its in-ear models and the Aonic 215s are no exception. There is quite a wide selection of ear-tips included in the big circular box the Shures come in, and once you’ve identified the ones that suit you best then the 215s fit snugly and comfortably.Low frequencies are deep, textured and alive with fine harmonic detail - they start and stop with absolute control, and modulate seamlessly into the frequency information above them. In the midrange, the Shures have complete command of timbre and, again, even the finest of details – Marvin Gaye’s vocal is as characterful via the AONIC 50 as you’ve ever heard it. This acquisition is yet another example of Aonic's commitment to championing mid-sized studios and creating an environment where teams can create fantastic games." Some might find the maximum setting more useful in particularly noisy environments where you might benefit from a slightly fuller, weightier sound, but we prefer the noise-cancelling on its standard setting. Verdict Shure estimates battery life to be up to eight hours, with the charging case carrying 32 hours. Your results will vary with your volume levels. Aonic 215 (Gen 2) EQ and Sound Quality The control buttons are also used for power on/off, Bluetooth pairing (the Aonic 215s use Bluetooth 5 with aptX, SBC and AAC capability), play/pause, answer/end/decline call and to summon your voice assistant. Button action is positive, and the Shures prove responsive to commands.

with the separately available SecureFit Wireless Adapter, or connect to other MMCX cable accessories for further customization. Stay connected to any device, no matter where you are.The app is more than simply for control, though. In fact, it’s fundamentally a hi-res music player - all major file types catered for, up to a maximum 24bit/352kHz where WAV and FLAC files are concerned. Any locally stored music can be arranged into playlists and so on, and can be run through the app’s EQ settings – there are a few presets and the facility to save quite a number of custom settings too. Deploying the Treble Cut EQ option is the panacea for the upper registers, but it really is worth switching out these profiles depending on your music. If you're someone who believes headphones should just sound good without having to lift a finger, you may not like this solution – and it's a fair point. The Shure Aonic 50 Gen 2 arrived in the third week of September 2023, having been announced on August 31.