I cant comment on the Shure buds, but I have a pair of Etymotic ER-4S's and I LOVE them! unfortunitly my little sister just broke one of the buds and I had to get them fixed

cost me $135 a new pair is $330. I did however get them used in trade for a pair of SR225 (Grado) cans I had which i paid $150 for, so i think over all i'm still doing alright, some guys over at
www.headfi.com spend $1000's on that stuff, to rich for my blood, I just got my first amp and wow, you can totally tell a different. While i was waiting for my new buds to come, i was tempted to try out the ipod buds that came with my ipod and let me tell you, they suck, even with the amp they suck, get far far away from stock buds if your budget permits, you'll never look back.