My K10 CIEM is in the making so your comments are worrying! In your opinion is it better than the K10? (I'm sure treble already is) .
Kind of waiting to compare this to the Katana, just to be thorough, but the lower price and superior construction of these are tempting.
So the 846 is completely outclassed by Andromeda / K10? I'd like to think 846 can still be kept for bassy tracks (rock, metal, electronic).
Well.. I really luv the K10 CIEM and it has been my reference for a while. The Andromeda sound is much closer to Planar types headphones (LCDX, HIFIman EDX etc) with very good tight deep bass. The main diff I think is its excellent transient response, which make the bass freaking awesome. Now in terms of qty, if Se846 (blue filter) and Andromeda with both comply tip produces about the same amount of bass but the Andromeda would have more texture, faster decay and clarity .. thanks to its awesome transient response. The K10 CIEM would have slightly more mid bass qtyl but the bass is slower and slightly muddy.. more dynamic bass than Planar type fast bass... The Andromeda win hands down on bass quality due to the speed of the driver reacting to the change in input signal and how quickly it cut off... = excellent transient response = Excellent bass.
The treble extend beyond both the K10 CIEM and SE846 and I think it is now closer to Planar headphones like the Hifiman Edition X. Most IEM fails to produce that last sparkle needed to match Planar headphones & JH's IEM would be even further away. I suspect Jerry tune the treble down to avoid sibilance.. but the Andromeda would not shy away. Excellent treble with just the right amount to brighten the tonality (u can tune it down with comply foam) but there is no noticeable sibilance.. In fact its almost the same as LCD X type of treble... like a veil being lifted among them
Vocal is comparable to SE846 but with much more clarity (thanks to the treble- it make everything easier to notice). If you want to hear every breathe in between each note.. pick the Andromeda. It beat the K10 CIEM hands down. K10 CIEM is a warm IEM. Don't get me wrong, the K10 has all the details but Andromeda makes it even more noticeable.. hence headfiers say they heard things that wasn't there before.. well they are there, just not so presence.
Finally the sound stage is consider huge and wide by IEM standard. It makes the SE846 sound narrow. The Andromeda and K10 CIEM both have about the same 3d'ness and soundstage. I would say Andromeda win by a hair as its treble trick me into thinking its wider.. It's in JH layla league.
For fitting, K10 feels the best as its custom and it really quiet. Andromeda is not so comfortable.. it has a lot of edges. The SE846 feels much better. Ken ball should make it round instead of creating edges all over.
Andromeda is pretty sensitive and efficient. it is the loudest among them. Overall I would not worry about ordering the K10, its still one of the very best out there in my opinion and I have no intention of selling it.. but I do have every intention to sell the SE846. The Andromeda would completely outclass the SE846 except for fitting and seal. thats my personal opinion so far..
