[Sinocelt]

Quote:

I think that people who love the sound of the ToGo!334 will LIVE 846. Love it.

 
Similar sound, but better? 

 
The TG!334 is still, to this day, the best earphones/headphones I've had the privilege to listen to.
 

I've not written a review: I never do that unless I've had day in and out for three weeks. 

 
When will that be? 

 

[Ultrazino]

If this Shure model really obviously bests all 500$ IEMs, I can understand Shure's price decision.
The SE535 is still being compared to W4, UE900, SM64, and all the other top tier (and IMHO better) universals.
 
If I look at the sales ranking for in-ears on Thomann, Shure dominates the market! I have no doubt that the technology in the SE846 could be sold for 500$, but it would annihilate the SE535 sales.
 
Nevertheless, it's a bold move that has caught my attention, but I will not buy a transparent piece of plastic for 1k$. No matter how good it sounds. Premium price needs premium design (customs, AKG, Sennheiser, ...).

 

[fuzzy1969]

Quote:

 
Er, I've got more microphones from Sennheiser than from any other company. They're still very present in this market segment. Plus, they own Neumann. 

I get regular emails from shure, from when I registered my 535, there always about their microphones and stage/studio stuff Im not saying sennheiser dont but shure as a company seem to concentrate in this area more than it does in term of many different headphone models and Im not a shure fanboy I have some sens cans as well.

 

[up late]

27 pages and only three people have actually heard these things. that's an hour I'll never get back.

 

[korebrent]

Thanks for putting my thoughts into words

read my mind thanks for that post

 

[korebrent]

I mean hey some of you are rich n money is a play thing I'm not ......however Im far from broke so say I've had my 530 for four years considering what I paid for them .....what shure is charging for these .....lol...brother and I represent a large portion of the consumer pool out here......why would care how good they sound are you kidding me ....so sure there's plenty of customers with thicker wallets but I'm afraid from a bussiness standpoint its folly my friend and my fear is that if this price point is allowed into the market all things quality will be out of my reach ...I couldn't less if you cared its just an average joes ramblings

 

[music_4321]

Quote:

... but keep up the good anti custom fight.

Quote:

 
... you are displaying your anti custom bias as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodvibes /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
It's more than coincidental that the most respected IEM reviewer's favs are customs but I doubt they look upon it as a universal truth as you do the opposite.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodvibes /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Don't know and don't really care because I'm happy and don't have an axe to grind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodvibes /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
No need to continue the anti custom crusade...

 
 
Oh dear...

 

[czqdtc]

Yeah he's insane about his jh13... Sadly both my old jh13 and new freqphase jh16 are not as ideal as I would like them to be. He's the lucky guy on earth.

 

[a_recording]

I don't get it. Why is there an argument about price?
 
If the price is high and the SE846 sounds bad, people won't buy it. Maybe the price will be lowered within Shure's margins, (which we don't know), maybe they will work out how to make it more economically. Maybe it will sell just well enough that Shure will consider it a success.
 
The Sennheiser HD700 doesn't get much talk around here, but I guess Sennheiser is happy where it is. The Sony EX1000 was released at a (then) stratospheric price; it's a forum favourite now at the lowered street price after all these years.
 
Shure is not a charity. It has no obligation to provide everyone with wonderful sound. Good audio quality isn't necessary to continue living, or even necessarily to enjoy music (even if it might feel like that at times on the forum!) It's Shure's prerogative to price it however they like and its your prerogative whether or not to buy it. It isn't as if Shure has suddenly captured a monopoly on oxygen and are price gouging us so that we don't choke to death. The release of the 846 doesn't mean your current collection of nice gear will suddenly crumble into dust or stop letting you hear nice things.
 
Discussions about pricing are important in that it's important to know how Shure's $1k flagship compares to Fitear's $1k flagship compared to AKG and Sennheiser's compared to the many many many custom IEM options on the market. At this point we don't even know how it compares - though thank you to Jude, Currawong and Shigzeo for their great impressions so far!  And if it compares badly well... we will know soon enough.
 
Arguments about value for money are generally pretty tiresome on a audio enthusiast forum. From an outside perspective, all of this is luxury. 
 
Maybe you don't like the upward trend of IEM pricing. Should we argue about a Ferrari's value for money? We find turbochargers and superchargers in small cars now, and not because we complained to sports car manufacturers that the technology was too expensive. It's because it was smart technology that was prototyped in specialised luxury models and then trickled and economised for the mass market because it delivered a competitive edge. Soon enough, either Shure will roll out the SE846 ideas across a line of cheaper IEMs, or some other enterprising company (maybe some young hungry OEM) will do it for them, design patent be damned! 
 
Sennheiser, JVC and (possibly) Audio Technica seem to be taking the bet that micro-drivers are a better design direction than BA's. Maybe the SE846 will be a very expensive bet for the company. Innovation and competition is fun!
 
Just sit back and enjoy the show. 
 
This is coming from someone who can only fantasise about buying a $1K IEM by the way.

 

[shigzeo]

So I take it that the SE846 leans more toward the lower end, like the TG334? I can sense lots of similarities between the 2 in your impression post, do you think the SE846 can stand side by side with the TG334, or even, top it?

Again, read my impressions from the POV of an ER4 lover. And, again: I have spend only a handful of minutes with it. I would guess fifteen at the most. I've spent months with the TG334. Still I reviewed it after spending around a month with it day in day out.

I am confident in mympressions of the 334. The SE846 would need a clear run through. That will take weeks. I can say that it is a wowing earphone - one that I won't forget or that anyone can forget. It delineates lows from mids better than most phones I've spent time with.

But until I can do a long, regimented back-to-back, I can't say with any certainly which comes out on top. I think I can say that tip rolling, quiet venues, amp rolling, and copious helpings of alcohol are necessary to pin the blue pin.

Till then, I'll read this thread with enthusiasm. People will buy it and make proper reviews. CurraAmos did his best and so have I.

But we got small windows with an earphone that deserves a bay kitchen set, a couple of lawn chairs, Robertson Davies, and Sambuca.

Definitely the 334 will bowl some people over. Ditto the SE846.

 

[goodvibes]

Quote:

 
 
Oh dear...

I'm convinced! LOL Yours has been an ongoing theme. 
 
By the way, I'd take a 1+2 over a jh16. The opposite regarding my 13s. It's not about form over function but individual comparisons. You've over stated in reaction to those that said they would just buy a custom. I wouldn't be one of those until I heard it compared. I did, on audition, prefer a JH5 to an se535. Means nothing in regards to the SE846. I don't believe in those type of extrapolations or projections either way.
 
Shigzeo, can't wait for an extended review.

 

[shigzeo]

I hon

If this Shure model really obviously bests all 500$ IEMs, I can understand Shure's price decision.
The SE535 is still being compared to W4, UE900, SM64, and all the other top tier (and IMHO better) universals.

If I look at the sales ranking for in-ears on Thomann, Shure dominates the market! I have no doubt that the technology in the SE846 could be sold for 500$, but it would annihilate the SE535 sales.

Nevertheless, it's a bold move that has caught my attention, but I will not buy a transparent piece of plastic for 1k$. No matter how good it sounds. Premium price needs premium design (customs, AKG, Sennheiser, ...).

i honestly don't think Shure could sell it for 500$ - that is unless they intended to take a serious loss in order to strong arm the market into their camp.

This earphone has so many extremely fiddly, intricate parts that had to be mad expensive to implement.

The air of this thread is a bit confusing: had the SE846 been a custom-cum universal like the 334, its 1.000$ would make more sense?

I think you have to put this thing in your hand and in your ears. Then you'll see. It isn't another universal. It isn't a custom-cum universal. It's something else. Maybe the market isn't ready for it yet.

But I don't think that will last long. Portable hi-end audio has grown beyond the simple landscape of customs and high end portable amps.

Partially it is because our portables are getting better. We no longer necessarily need amps to get on with the sensitive earphones. All-in one units obviate the need for complicated set ups.

And earphones: the non-custom is rolling in. The SE846 really is a game changer. The market won't be the same after this.

 

[fuzzy1969]

Thanks shigzeo, appreciated, looks like it wont surface in the uk until next month and the deal in the US is for North America only.

 

[quartertone]

Quote:

If the price is high and the SE846 sounds bad, people won't buy it.

 
I think this core tenet of many free market enthusiasts is naive - as if people only bought the best value products, uninfluenced by marketing campaigns and brand names!

 

[quartertone]

Quote:

No, music would be the raw food or materials for the cloths. Headphones, amps, and DACs would be the tools used to prepare (and cook) the food and create clothing designs. You would determine for yourself how well the food was prepared.

 
This is totally untrue. Music is complete without anyone even recording it, let alone listening to it on the gear of their choice. Thinking that music needs audio equipment to exist is pretty ass-backwards.