Shure SE530

Design

Both designs are pretty bland. The SE530s have an interesting shape, but that shape has the potential to make the headphones less comfortable for you. The SE530s are a lot sturdier than the Sennheiser MM 50 iPs, however.

Shure SE530	Sennheiser MM50 iP

Frequency Response

The MM 50 iPs have better bass response, but a slightly more choppy frequency response overall. Regardless, the MM 50 iPs have a better result here.

Shure SE530	Sennheiser MM50 iP

Distortion

Sennheiser headphones are typically devoid of distortion. Since both headphones have less than 1% distortion, however, they both fall under the category of ‘ridiculously low distortion.’

Shure SE530	Sennheiser MM50 iP

Tracking

An even, flat response beats on both sides, but the SE530s’ is flatter. There’s probably no difference between these two to the average listener.

Shure SE530	Sennheiser MM50 iP

Isolation

The SE530s can isolate better than the MM 50 iPs pretty much across the entire board. There’s a small chunk at 1kHz that the SE530s didn’t feel like blocking out.

Shure SE530	Sennheiser MM50 iP

Comfort

As we’re likely to say throughout these comparisons, although the SE530s weren’t the most comfortable headphones we’ve tried on, they do come with far more customizability options than the average set of in-ears. This means that, although we personally didn’t think they were as comfortable as other in-ears, they have the potential to give more people a better fit.

Verdict

The MM 50 iPs are great headphones with a great price. It’s hard to beat them in terms of value. What’s more, the SE530s actually didn’t best them in terms of audio quality. If you have a strong desire to pick up the SE530s, be it for their fit or for their extras, be our guest; for the majority of buyers, however, the MM 50 iPs would probably be the better choice.