[IpodHappy]

You need a low impedance source because the SE846 impedance is non-linear. The impedance is higher for the low frequencies than it is at high frequencies. If you have a few ohms on the output, the HF will be attenuated as a result, resulting in boosted bass. I find the iPhone with the headphone adapter to be very good, assuming you don't drive it to clipping. The Fiio X5II is also good. The iPhone 6 by itself sounded a bit muddy.

Can some one explain to me how does the impedance work

I notice the se535 has 3 BA drivers but it's 36 ohms and the se846 has 4 BA drivers and it's only 9 ohms

Does that mean the se846 use lower power from a smart phone or DAP or even the bluetooth cable ?

And what confuses me the most is how is how did 4 BA drivers got that low impedance ??

 

[Gavin C4]

Oh. It is even only 0.37. This might be an umpopular opinion but I think the iphone beats most daps hands down. Low output impedance, no hiss and stable os.
The bass bloat should be kept at a minium now, right?

The cord mojo even has a close to zero output impedance. It's just all about earphone pairing. And I can see lots of happy users using the iPhone + Mojo combo out there.
Combined with the ultra smooth iOS interface, the user experience is much better than some Android based DAP that suffers from lag....

 

[Dan199]

Hi all,

I lost my beloved Westone 4R’s last week and have been trying to pick a replacement. I went to my local audio store, who were awesome, and let me try a bunch of IEM’s on my shortlist. I tried W40, W60, W80 and the SE846.

I think I’ve narrowed it down to the W60 or SE846, it really depended on the track as to which I preferred more. Pink Floyd - Breathe was utterly sublime on the SE846, but when it came to Red Hot Chili Peppers - Around The World, the highs were just way too bright. The cymbals would literally make me blink. Turning the volume way down, it was fine, but the same song with the W60’s was much more enjoyable.

Given the right song (less trebley), I love the sound of the SE846, but they seem to be more fatiguing. I was testing them with the blue filter and unfortunately that’s all the store had at the time. Do the filters genuinely make much of a difference? Is it possible if I were to try it with the warmer filter it would solve my problems?

 

[AndrewH13]

Hi all,

I lost my beloved Westone 4R’s last week and have been trying to pick a replacement. I went to my local audio store, who were awesome, and let me try a bunch of IEM’s on my shortlist. I tried W40, W60, W80 and the SE846.

I think I’ve narrowed it down to the W60 or SE846, it really depended on the track as to which I preferred more. Pink Floyd - Breathe was utterly sublime on the SE846, but when it came to Red Hot Chili Peppers - Around The World, the highs were just way too bright. The cymbals would literally make me blink. Turning the volume way down, it was fine, but the same song with the W60’s was much more enjoyable.

Given the right song (less trebley), I love the sound of the SE846, but they seem to be more fatiguing. I was testing them with the blue filter and unfortunately that’s all the store had at the time. Do the filters genuinely make much of a difference? Is it possible if I were to try it with the warmer filter it would solve my problems?

The filters make a significant difference. The only general complaint by those who don’t like the 846s is the slightly rolled off treble, and a lack of that last bit of crispness. I have modified the Blues, taking foam out, to install a touch brighter treble. Have you been up close to a live group? Cymbals to my ears are much brighter than any gear I’ve heard portrays. I have the Westone W40s, my first quality iem and a replacement for the W4. Nice but rather warm and soft in the highs, I wonder if the W4s have conditioned you to a cosier sound?

 

[csglinux]

The filters make a significant difference. The only general complaint by those who don’t like the 846s is the slightly rolled off treble, and a lack of that last bit of crispness. I have modified the Blues, taking foam out, to install a touch brighter treble. Have you been up close to a live group? Cymbals to my ears are much brighter than any gear I’ve heard portrays. I have the Westone W40s, my first quality iem and a replacement for the W4. Nice but rather warm and soft in the highs, I wonder if the W4s have conditioned you to a cosier sound?

I completely agree with that. Our brains adjust, so that when we're accustomed to a brighter sound and then change to a warmer sound, we tend to hear it as muddy or veiled, but then going back the other way we tend to hear the brighter source as a shrill or too strident. Very few people complain that the SE846 gives too much treble. It's usually the other way around One great feature of the SE846 is the ability to change tuning filters. If you want something more rolled-off than the blue filters, you have the black, but also a number of Knowles' dampers that you can substitute for the stock filters:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/se846-filter-mod.802350/

 

[Dan199]

Cheers for the replies guys! I don’t think it’s that I’ve been conditioned, I think slightly warmer with softer highs is just my preference. Before the W4r I had a pair of SE215. A year later I happened across an audio store and was able to try the W4r and was instantly sold.

I think the W60 is probably the “safe” choice for me but I hate what they’ve done with the removeable face plates... they seem way less robust, *especially* compared to the Shures.

 

[csglinux]

Cheers for the replies guys! I don’t think it’s that I’ve been conditioned, I think slightly warmer with softer highs is just my preference. Before the W4r I had a pair of SE215. A year later I happened across an audio store and was able to try the W4r and was instantly sold.

I think the W60 is probably the “safe” choice for me but I hate what they’ve done with the removeable face plates... they seem way less robust, *especially* compared to the Shures.

Still, you can't really rule out the SE846 until you've tried all tuning options...

 

[Dan199]

Still, you can't really rule out the SE846 until you've tried all tuning options...

Oh for sure! That's why I haven't pulled the trigger yet. The salesperson was going to arrange to have the full retail box sent to them from their other store so I could experiment.

 

[Erfan Elahi]

Still, you can't really rule out the SE846 until you've tried all tuning options...

i haven't tried any of these. But, I am thinking, w60 has 6 drivers, where's se845 got 4 drivers. So more drivers mean more power right?

Still, you can't really rule out the SE846 until you've tried all tuning options...

 

[csglinux]

i haven't tried any of these. But, I am thinking, w60 has 6 drivers, where's se845 got 4 drivers. So more drivers mean more power right?

If you mean acoustic output power or RMS, this usually has nothing at all to do with the number of drivers; it's more a function of the impedance and sensitivity of the headphones. Single-driver headphones can easily be more sensitive than multi-driver headphones.

In theory, more drivers let you do a better job of covering a wide frequency range. But on the other hand, many of the best IEMs I've heard (e.g., Xelento, KSE1500) use only one driver. In my experience, more drivers doesn't usually correlate with anything except a more expensive retail price

 

[phthora]

If you mean acoustic output power or RMS, this usually has nothing at all to do with the number of drivers; it's more a function of the impedance and sensitivity of the headphones. Single-driver headphones can easily be more sensitive than multi-driver headphones.

In theory, more drivers let you do a better job of covering a wide frequency range. But on the other hand, many of the best IEMs I've heard (e.g., Xelento, KSE1500) use only one driver. In my experience, more drivers doesn't usually correlate with anything except a more expensive retail price

Yup. Multi-BA set-ups exist to divide the sound up, so that each driver handles a small portion of the spectrum and can be, as it were, specialized for that spectrum. Given that, I don't know how there would be any advantage to doubling up in a given spectrum. Seems like you would just run into additional engineering concerns, such as issues with timing the output of those overlapping drivers. I just see the point in having more drivers than the number of crossovers + 1.

 

[csglinux]

Yup. Multi-BA set-ups exist to divide the sound up, so that each driver handles a small portion of the spectrum and can be, as it were, specialized for that spectrum. Given that, I don't know how there would be any advantage to doubling up in a given spectrum. Seems like you would just run into additional engineering concerns, such as issues with timing the output of those overlapping drivers. I just see the point in having more drivers than the number of crossovers + 1.

I believe there is some theoretical benefit to doubling-up within the same frequency range - because you buy yourself a bit more headroom.

 

[phthora]

I believe there is some theoretical benefit to doubling-up within the same frequency range - because you buy yourself a bit more headroom.

Wouldn't that benefit only make a difference if you're running into distortion at higher volumes? Or does it give a fuller sound at lower volumes too?

 

[csglinux]

Wouldn't that benefit only make a difference if you're running into distortion at higher volumes? Or does it give a fuller sound at lower volumes too?

Headroom just means being able to reach higher volumes without clipping or distortion. In theory, it shouldn't make much difference at lower volumes, but I'd bet there's some potential of a subtle (negative) effect in there somewhere, i.e., phase errors, comb-filtering type interference. But it allows manufacturers to bump the specs and the price!

 

[phthora]

Headroom just means being able to reach higher volumes without clipping or distortion. In theory, it shouldn't make much difference at lower volumes, but I'd bet there's some potential of a subtle (negative) effect in there somewhere, i.e., phase errors, comb-filtering type interference. But it allows manufacturers to bump the specs and the price!

Bingo! Not that the K10 or the Zeus or the U12 aren't great, I just wonder if any of that sonic greatness depends upon their numerous BAs. It also seems like the 4 or 5 BA versions are usually the most neutral options. Could just be my biases playing with me though.