[transmaster]

I basically spaced this place out. Moved into the Apple ecosystem and sort of got isolated as Apple can do to you. Things have changed as I am moving into higher end Earphones and portable BT DAC/Amps from FiiO. What triggered the return is the purchase of an Mac Studio. Apple Mac audio reproduction sucks swamp water, My Mac Studio is no exception. I am used to 7.1 Dolby surround and killer ASUS Xonar Essence headphone amps in the computers I used to assemble in the ASUS ROG gaming motherboard world. I got an admonishment from the Mac that if I wanted playback at more than 97 Khz that I needed to purchase and external DAC/Amp to do it. So I did a FiiO K7 it will do PCM 384kHz-32bit. I plugged my Shure SE-535's into it with a FiiO silver balanced 4.4mm cable installed and I was total gobsmacked by the sound. I am honestly thinking of a pair of SE 846 Gen 2's. I have used Shure Earphones for more than 10 years, I have a 7 year old set of SR-215's. I have been through numerous cables but I only ever lost a set. My dog at the time chewed up the earpieces because they were making noise. I also very much like the Etymōtic ER4SR's but they have a proprietary version of the MMCX plug their 2.5mm balanced cable is a fragile and expensive.

I remembered this forum and I decided to come back for advice on future headphone/Earphone choices.

 

[Alexy]

Funny enough, my story is quite close to yours. Somehow got stuck into the Apple ecosystem too - and honestly, the Airpods Pro are pretty good for commutes and gym - and completely stopped chilling on audiophile forums. Used to dream of SE846's, and although most people will agree that you can today have more/better for less, it's still on my list and I'll probably order a pair in the next couple months (I had SE535's some years ago too but I had issues with the drivers on one of them, so I returned them and never bought another pair). It's also interesting to see how things have evolved since the last time I checked forums and the audiophile world.

Welcome back

 

[transmaster]

I have been looking at the FiiO upper range earphones. Every Piece of FiiO gear I have purchased I have been very pleased with. But my long history with Shure SE line of earphones make the SE-846 Gen 2's look real good. If you do get a set of SE-846 Gen 2 the first thing to do is replace its cable with the FiiO MMCX cable, I am using the FiiO LC-RC cable. It has screw in interchangeable plugs, 4.4mm balanced, 3.5mm, and 2.5mm balanced.
https://www.fiio.com/cables

 

[m-i-c-k-e-y]

To OP: Never had or will go to Apple because of those reasons....glad you have enjoyed of being "free"...

 

[transmaster]

To OP: Never had or will go to Apple because of those reasons....glad you have enjoyed of being "free"...

Oh I am not imprisoned by Apple, I have Ryzen 7 PC with Windows 11 sitting beside the Mac Studio.