Shure SE425-CL-LEFT

The SE425-CL-LEFT is a single left earphone piece with sound quality in the 83rd percentile and a perfect 5/5 user rating. It's a replacement part for musicians, not a standalone product, and the $165 USD price reflects that. Great sound, rough comfort and build scores, no cable included.

The SE425 uses a dual balanced armature driver setup with a frequency response of 20Hz to 19kHz and a 22Ω impedance. That's a solid spec sheet for stage monitoring. The sound quality percentile of 83 puts it well above average in our database, and owners back that up. One session musician specifically called out how well it handles click tracks and prelay while still letting them hear their violin. That's the kind of isolation and clarity you want from a single-sided IEM.

But let's be real about the numbers that aren't great. The build quality sits at 34th percentile, which is mediocre. Comfort is 28th percentile, so it falls behind most of what we've tested. And the connectivity score of 13th percentile is one of the worst we've seen, though that's mostly because this is a bare earphone piece with no cable in the box. You're paying for the driver and the Shure tuning, not for accessories.

Stacked against the competition, the SE425-CL-LEFT is in a weird spot. The Technics EAH-AZ100 and Sony WF-1000XM6 are full wireless earbud sets with ANC, mics, and charging cases, and they're in the same price ballpark. The Apple AirPods Pro 3rd Generation brings active noise cancellation and a mic to the table too. But none of those are single-sided stage monitors. The SE425's 83rd percentile sound quality beats a lot of consumer earbuds, but its 31st percentile ANC score and 12th percentile mic score show it's not playing the same game. The Soundcore P31i and EarFun Air Pro 4+ are budget options that give you a complete set for less money, but they won't match the Shure's isolation or driver quality for professional monitoring.

At $165 USD in the US and €180 EUR in Germany, this is a tough value proposition if you're buying it as a standalone product. You're paying full earphone money for half an earphone set. The budget score of 37.9 out of 100 reflects that. But value here isn't about price per driver, it's about price per avoided headache. If your SE425 left side died and the alternative is buying a whole new set, $165 starts to look a lot more reasonable. The replacement parts angle is a recurring theme in user feedback, and owners consistently frame this as a reliable backup solution rather than a primary purchase.

The Shure SE425-CL-LEFT is a single left-side earphone piece, no cable, no clip, just the monitor itself. It's a replacement part for musicians who already own the SE425 set and need to swap out a broken left bud. At $165 USD for one side, it's not cheap, but the sound quality lands in the 83rd percentile of our database, which is genuinely impressive for a two-driver balanced armature design. The user sentiment score sits at 80th percentile, and the 5/5 rating across four reviews tells you the people buying this know exactly what they're getting.

The catch is that this is a very specific product. It's not a full earphone set, it's a left ear only. The connectivity score is a rough 13th percentile because there's no cable included, and the mic score is 12th percentile because there isn't one. If you're looking for a complete listening solution, this isn't it. But if you're a session musician with a dead left SE425, this is the fix.

Skip this if you're not already invested in the Shure SE425 ecosystem. The comfort score of 28th percentile means it falls behind most IEMs we've tested, and the build quality at 34th percentile is mediocre for the price. If you need a complete earphone set with a mic, the 12th percentile mic score and 13th percentile connectivity score should send you running toward the Sony WF-1000XM6 or AirPods Pro 3rd Generation instead. And if you're on a budget, the $165 USD price tag for one earphone piece is hard to justify when the Soundcore P31i gives you a full set for less.

The SE425-CL-LEFT is a niche product that nails its niche. The 83rd percentile sound quality and 80th percentile user sentiment tell the real story: musicians who need a single-sided monitor for click tracks, prelay, or practice love this thing. The 5/5 rating across all four reviews isn't a fluke. But the comfort, build, and connectivity scores are all below average, and the price is high for what's essentially a spare part. If you're a working musician with a broken left SE425, buy it and get back to work. If you're just looking for good earbuds, look elsewhere.