[Black Label]

I have spent my first month  pushing the envelope of high volumes "these really to "go to 11". For the most part I found the sound didn't fall apart (if it had I would not have kept pushing the envelope)). Where I did find the sound falling apart at higher volumes was with poorly recorded pop/rock which was in my collection at 128kps. (Like you initially when I ripped my collection I was worried about space constraints and about 25% were done at lower rip rates or were downloaded as such,.)

My higher resolution stuff 192kps 320kps AAC or AIFF stuff only falls apart where there were limitations of the original recordings. A by-product methinks of sound/recording  engineers in the early 1970s showing up to work having had a handful of Quaaludes for breakfast.

However in many cases recordings of this era truly find themselves in the Pantheon of what the 846 can do and where it can take you - what joy can be found in pulsing it to the "Edge."
Frank Zappa, any Steely Dan (Hey Nineteen - " The Cuervo Gold, The fine Colombian Make tonight a wonderful thing" an exceptional example) and of course Pink Floyd - just three of favorites ..Oops drifting OT a bit

As to what are Dangerously elevated levels well to borrow from the late Doctor (HST) himself
"“The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.” Hunter S. Thompson

In the interest of keeping my hearing and /or not having permanent ringing in my ears a la Pete Townsend I have as of late been limiting my volume to 75% max (except for the odd passage then you got to light the afterburners and let it rip). 

I am pretty certain the that near dangerous point/edge is somewhere before the point where blood starts to flow  freely from your ears.

IF you have blood flowing from the ears  that will interfere with your the sound causing it to "fall apart"  at that point IMO you may you have set the volume a tad to high and might want to turn it down a bit.. But that's just me

 

Hahaha, I did heartedly chortle at this.

I hope I am dead before I am deaf!

 

[rmiller511]

The box was a bit large for the job but I have my perfect case AND I have enough bubble paper to pop for months to come.

 
You gonna share your bubble wrap with your hifi friends, aren't you?

 

[rmiller511]

   
You're sure it's not a funky jack in your DAC or source? Jacks can be intermittent, too.

 
Unfortunately, it is with earphones themselves.  Been busy today so haven't had a chance to listen to them for any length of time. Going to switch cables and see what happens.  I have bad feeling it's the earphones themselves.  Time will tell.

 

[Black Label]

If it's opposable, it's crossed for your rmiller511.

 

[Watcherq]

 

1. Are there any string fanatics out there who've owned the SE846? How does it do with string quartets or cello sonatas? 

I'm not a string fanatic but the SE846 sounds fantastic with strings if the source is good and your equipment chain is matching.  I'm using my PC with the iFi nano iDSD DAC.  The cello sounds so detailed and balance with Yo Yo Ma's album (Yo Yo Ma plays Ennio Marricone SACD), it is very emotive.  With Itzhak Perlman playing Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 (the 1997 recording on RBCD) the attack and sharpness of the strings is balanced off with the "air" and lightness in it especially when I enabled the PCM->2xDSD in JRiver.
 
Note that when I was playing the same pieces with my Meridian Explorer on the SE846, cellos sounded dense and sonorous while the violin sounded a little dull and perfunctory; hardly exciting at all.  The impedance mismatch with the Explorer made the music sound heavy in comparison to the iFi DAC.

 

[rmiller511]

So....
 
I'm using a Galaxy S4 with poweramp feed through a Fiio E11 amp.  What would a reasonable upgrade be for the player and amp?  Don't have a AK240 budget.  Just want something better than what I am using that would better utilize the 846s.

 

[Roscoeiii]

These 846s are so sensitive, I'd go with a quality source whose built in output stage is quality and quiet as a mouse. 

 

[milford30]

  So....
 
I'm using a Galaxy S4 with poweramp feed through a Fiio E11 amp.  What would a reasonable upgrade be for the player and amp?  Don't have a AK240 budget.  Just want something better than what I am using that would better utilize the 846s.

 
I think it depends on how you use the setup, personally I use my S4 straight into 846 using n7player, for everyday usage, walking around etc, I don't notice enough to justify carrying my ibasso D10 around. Plus I just got my silver plated cable with android control today, I prefer the ability to skips songs/answer phone without taking out my phone, than the slightly bigger soundstage and cleaner sound with an amp on the go.
 
Otherwise I have read the DX90 is worth a try.

 

[spook76]

So....

I'm using a Galaxy S4 with poweramp feed through a Fiio E11 amp.  What would a reasonable upgrade be for the player and amp?  Don't have a AK240 budget.  Just want something better than what I am using that would better utilize the 846s.

I also had a Fiio E11 with my SE535s and found that I did not need an amp and with the artifacts the E11 introduced it was not worth it.

Unfortunately, I would not advise using 846 directly out of the Galaxy S4 as this article points out: http://www.jensign.com/S4Distortion/

Give a thought to going balanced with balanced amp like the Ray Samuels or ALO amps and balanced terminated cables. The 846 really scales up beautifully and the cost would be about $600-800 far less than the cost of the AK240.

With a low output impedance amp the issue of the S4 impedance becomes moot because with an amp in the chain it is the amps impedance that matters.

 

[milford30]

I also had a Fiio E11 with my SE535s and found that I did not need an amp and with the artifacts the E11 introduced it was not worth it.

Unfortunately, I would not advise using 846 directly out of the Galaxy S4 as this article points out: http://www.jensign.com/S4Distortion/

Give a thought to going balanced with balanced amp like the Ray Samuels or ALO amps and balanced terminated cables. The 846 really scales up beautifully and the cost would be about $600-800 far less than the cost of the AK240.

With a low output impedance amp the issue of the S4 impedance becomes moot because with an amp in the chain it is the amps impedance that matters.

 
The article states:
'oscillation occurs at an S4 volume level of 11/15. Surprisingly the oscillation is ONLY present at this Player volume setting for these sine wave tracks (i.e. no oscillation for Player volume levels of 1-10 and 12-15'
 
I usually listen at 4-5/15, so it's not a problem, avoid setting your volume at 11 and have your ears start bleeding. Also from this, it would seem like it's a software problem, I also don't use the stock player.

 

[Black Label]

I am tempted to go all out on the AK120 in July. Hopefully it is possible to audition it before taking the $1,500 (including purchase of 128GB SD card) plunge.

 

[Brokenlax]

I'm really disappointed with Shure on the SE846, I ordered another pair and now the right ear piece is developing a creaking noise.(previously it was the left) The sound quality is extremely good but the build quality is just piss poor. They really need to redesign how the nozzle works because whenever you insert the iems pressure from the nozzle pushes the contents inside and in time it gets loose and develops the creaking noise. This wouldn't have happened had they used a fixed nozzle instead with replacement filters. (etymotic)

For now since the creaking is minor I won't even bother spending money returning because I just know it'll happen again. Maybe in a year they'll come out with a fix or a redesign I'll RMA it and get the fixed ones.

 

[M Coupe]

is the collar loose on the nozzle? If I changle filters in a hurry and don't properly (not too much though) tighten them, they will creak as you put it.

 

[zenpunk]

I doubt there is anything wrong with the design, which is actually phenomenal. Considering two pairs in a row had the same issues, I would blame the user or he might be very unlucky.

 

[Black Label]

I am going to take the human error side as well.

If I want the filters changed, I will have someone assist me; not least because I cannot see what I am doing.