[xaddictionx]

Hehe try the Angie thread.

Oops sorry! Posted in the wrong thread!

 

[325xia]

I've done some more testing now with a Modern Desktop with decent audio, Dragonfly 1.2, TabS 8.4, iP5 and Note 4 and find the Qualcomm Note 4 to be excellent with the SE846. If I'm splitting hairs the Exynos Tab S 8.4 does sound slightly better (more life) but nothing in it really to my ears. As for the SE846 themselves, amazing and much better than the standard SE535's I had in every way.  Still be using my trusty Klipsch X10i for exercise duties which still impress me with the SQ for the money (plus super comfort).

I've also now decided my ears can't tell the difference between Spotify Extreme 320kbps files and the lossless FLAC ones on Tidal so sticking with the cheaper (and more flexible for me) Spotify Premium.

Having read all the feedback and only liking silicon tips, I've now tried the Westone Black Star Tips and they are more comfortable than the Shure greys (get itchy ear with the greys). I always liked the Klipsch ovals for comfort but the Westone seal better and are just as comfy so now fitted to my SE846's & X10i's. Think they also make the earphones sound slightly better too but that's likely due to the better fit.

My ears can certainly tell the difference between Tidal Hi-Fi tracks and Spotify Extreme 320kbps tracks with the 8's. Tidal is so much better. This is with my iPhone 6. Can't go back to Spotify now. Lossless is worth it to me.

 

[joshnor713]

My ears can certainly tell the difference between Tidal Hi-Fi tracks and Spotify Extreme 320kbps tracks with the 8's. Tidal is so much better. This is with my iPhone 6. Can't go back to Spotify now. Lossless is worth it to me.

Me too. I used to use Google Music and can't go back now. The $20/month for Tidal is a bit much, but no point with the 846 if you're not gonna use it to it's potential.

 

[ubs28]

Same here, had 5 different pairs of um3x/RC and now the Pro 30. Maybe something else can beat them in terms of clarity, details or soundstage, but nothing can beat the SE846 in terms of bass, not K3003, not IE800, not Noble K10U, not Roxanne, not W60, not LCD-2/3, not K812.

Yeah, like the Pro 50 which have a lot of sub bass than sub bass, all it does is making them very muddy sounding. The W60 can produce slightly lower sub bass I found, maybe 1 or 2 Hz lower but they don't have the punchiness or the sub woofer feel of the SE846.

 
Technically, the HD800 has a better bass than the Shure SE846. It's faster, more detailed and it has more impact (probably because it hits your head also rather than just your eardrums).  
 
On most songs like pop music, the bass of the Shure SE846 works better since it delivers a subwoofer bass which seems to be more enjoyable for that type of music. On high quality recordings of movie soundtracks or orchestra music for example, the reference bass of the Sennheiser HD800 works better. 

 

[proedros]

well thing is that bass is just 1/3 of the sound spectrum , so even if 846 kills in the bass(which i am sure it does) , there are still 2/3 of the sound spectrum left , and the important thing is the overall sound.

since Danz03 mentions the K3003, i have seen almost all people who owned both 846 and K3003 , say that the K3 is the better iem , it is just not as hyped as the 846 - which is fine in a way , it's not like AKG is some small company whose selling of the K3 is a 'live or die' commercial thing.

for bassheads i guess 846 is a wet dream - but for the music lover who is not just a bass junkie, well....




 

 

[Chodi]

  well thing is that bass is just 1/3 of the sound spectrum , so even if 846 kills in the bass(which i am sure it does) , there are still 2/3 of the sound spectrum left , and the important thing is the overall sound.

since Danz03 mentions the K3003, i have seen almost all people who owned both 846 and K3003 , say that the K3 is the better iem , it is just not as hyped as the 846 - which is fine in a way , it's not like AKG is some small company whose selling of the K3 is a 'live or die' commercial thing.

for bassheads i guess 846 is a wet dream - but for the music lover who is not just a bass junkie, well....




 

The first thing you hear comments about the 846 is usually the fantastic bass. That is because the bass is exceptional. Don't let that fool you into thinking that this is just for bassheads. The 846 can produce some very detailed refined sound across the spectrum. If there is one area that is not up to reference it would be the very top of the treble. Other than that the mids are exceptional. The mids are where most of the music lives so this is a very strong point with the 8's. The K3 is excellent also but very different and not as customizable. The 846 is also more comfortable and fits very much like a custom iem. I listen to mostly classical music on my 8's and they produce glorious sound. They are not the very best at everything but then what is? They are very good all round earphones. They also scale well with better equipment.

 

[ubs28]

  well thing is that bass is just 1/3 of the sound spectrum , so even if 846 kills in the bass(which i am sure it does) , there are still 2/3 of the sound spectrum left , and the important thing is the overall sound.

since Danz03 mentions the K3003, i have seen almost all people who owned both 846 and K3003 , say that the K3 is the better iem , it is just not as hyped as the 846 - which is fine in a way , it's not like AKG is some small company whose selling of the K3 is a 'live or die' commercial thing.

for bassheads i guess 846 is a wet dream - but for the music lover who is not just a bass junkie, well....




 

That is not true. The Shure SE846 delivers an excellent subwoofer bass but it does so without interfering in the mids which is quite unusual. The most important spectrum of the sound are the mids the Shure SE846 does also excellent (with the blue filter). 
 
I think you need to upgrade your equipment if you think the Shure SE846 is a basshead IEM. With my Apogee soundcard they are bass canons, but with the Chord Hugo they don't sound like that.

 

[3nenbgumi]

 
That is not true. The Shure SE846 delivers an excellent subwoofer bass but it does so without interfering in the mids which is quite unusual. The most important spectrum of the sound are the mids the Shure SE846 does also excellent (with the blue filter). 
 
I think you need to upgrade your equipment if you think the Shure SE846 is a basshead IEM. With my Apogee soundcard they are bass canons, but with the Chord Hugo they don't sound like that.

I'd advise you to forget about this - Mr.proedros here is known universally around this forum to be a person who'd bash pretty much anything under the sun which is not his "beloved" Hifiman's or K3003 as overpriced piece of **** - without actually owning or at least having extensively auditioned the said items. Statements like "well thing is that bass is just 1/3 of the sound spectrum , so even if 846 kills in the bass(which i am sure it does) , there are still 2/3 of the sound spectrum left" do go to show you how informed he is about the whole matter.
 
On another note, I got my pair of SE846's with the ALO SXC 24 cable today and am pretty happy about it - in my most humble opinion I'd take it over the Parterre's any day and while it's not as good as my JH13FP's, I could not imagine myself getting a lot happier with a high end universal pair of IEM's.

 

[MadGTI]

Quote
   
I'd advise you to forget about this - Mr.proedros here is known universally around this forum to be a person who'd bash pretty much anything under the sun which is not his "beloved" Hifiman's or K3003 as overpriced piece of **** - without actually owning or at least having extensively auditioned the said items. Statements like "well thing is that bass is just 1/3 of the sound spectrum , so even if 846 kills in the bass(which i am sure it does) , there are still 2/3 of the sound spectrum left" do go to show you how informed he is about the whole matter.
 
On another note, I got my pair of SE846's with the ALO SXC 24 cable today and am pretty happy about it - in my most humble opinion I'd take it over the Parterre's any day and while it's not as good as my JH13FP's, I could not imagine myself getting a lot happier with a high end universal pair of IEM's.

 




Unquote
 
Agreed with you that SE846 is good at every department even with the black filter (even the treble top extension). I have Alo SXC copper balanced cable out of AK120II and can't be more satified with those female vocals so sweet and airy.

 

[phnx90]

Took the plunge and bought a new cable for my SE846. Justified it by telling myself that they work on my old W40s too, so really I was paying for essentially two cables rather than one.

 

[joshnor713]

Took the plunge and bought a new cable for my SE846. Justified it by telling myself that they work on my old W40s too, so really I was paying for essentially two cables rather than one.

 
And??  Howz it sound?

 

[Max Minimum]

  Quote
   
I'd advise you to forget about this - Mr.proedros here is known universally around this forum to be a person who'd bash pretty much anything under the sun which is not his "beloved" Hifiman's or K3003 as overpriced piece of **** - without actually owning or at least having extensively auditioned the said items. Statements like "well thing is that bass is just 1/3 of the sound spectrum , so even if 846 kills in the bass(which i am sure it does) , there are still 2/3 of the sound spectrum left" do go to show you how informed he is about the whole matter.
 
On another note, I got my pair of SE846's with the ALO SXC 24 cable today and am pretty happy about it - in my most humble opinion I'd take it over the Parterre's any day and while it's not as good as my JH13FP's, I could not imagine myself getting a lot happier with a high end universal pair of IEM's.

 




Unquote
 
Agreed with you that SE846 is good at every department even with the black filter (even the treble top extension). I have Alo SXC copper balanced cable out of AK120II and can't be more satified with those female vocals so sweet and airy.

I agree and disagree with you here.  Female vocals (all vocals really) do sound terrific with the SE846.  And the 'phone sounds truly great across a wide swath of the frequency spectrum.  But up top there seems to me to be something missing.  Of course all of my comments here are "to my ears, with my gear."  When I got the 846, I was stunned that it beat my DT880 not just in quantity of bass but in quality.  Same goes for the midrange as well.  But treble?  It's not even close.  Whatever it is that makes metal sound like metal is not doing its job with the 846, not in comparison to some other widely available headphones. 
 
This is especially the case when the music is dense with the sound of a number of instruments.  Cymbals make more of an "s" or "sh" sound with the 846 compared to the much more ringing metallic sound with the DT880.  Interestingly, it's not nearly as much of a problem when you hear a cymbal that is not competing with much else.  I suspect our brains take cues from a number of different sections of the frequency spectrum when determining what kind of material has made a certain sound.  When many sounds compete for your attention, every last bit of audio information becomes important in teasing things out.  Just a theory, don't hold me to it, haha.
 
For people coming from entry level phones, they would think I was crazy for saying that.  Compared to bad or average headphones that are even more limited in the treble region, there is nothing to complain about with the 846, and cymbals and such will sound more metallic than you've heard before.  But compared to something that really does an excellent job with treble, the 846 just doesn't compete up top.  As always, though, ymmv, as will sources, amps, cables, ears, etc.
 
All that said, I listen to the 846 more than anything else these days because it does everything below the top range so well.
 
Side note to MadGTI: Rereading what I've written, the way I've responded here makes it sound a bit like I think you don't have quality gear.  My references to lower quality gear were aimed at people in general who are coming from non-audiophile gear.  I have no idea what you have (unless those are your iems in your av), but you speak as if you've heard good stuff.

 

[phnx90]

Took the plunge and bought a new cable for my SE846. Justified it by telling myself that they work on my old W40s too, so really I was paying for essentially two cables rather than one.

 
And??  Howz it sound?

I must be one of the few people who thinks the SE846 is intolerably / painfully sparkly on the balanced / blue filters and when listening to cymbal-heavy songs, so a copper cable works just fine for me.

Tried the black filters for a week, and while that alleviated the issue, the mid bass was a little too much, although fun at times. The black filters also dial back the mids as well, so I couldn't stay with them. Ideally, I would want something that dials down the treble a little bit that doesn't do too much for the mids and lows, and these cables do just that. I don't notice any significant difference in the mids and the lows, but my ears don't hurt when I listen to cymbal-heavy songs anymore.

FYI, the cables are Lab Kable Super Nova Mk III, which I purchased for HKD 2,280. Overpriced, I'd say, but I'm flying to London next week for a fortnight, so I don't have the luxury of time. Wish these cables were a little thinner though; there are surely plenty of 8 braid cables that don't look like it may have been made with the remnants of Rapunzel's ponytail.


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[Chodi]

I must be one of the few people who thinks the SE846 is intolerably / painfully sparkly on the balanced / blue filters and when listening to cymbal-heavy songs, so a copper cable works just fine for me.

Tried the black filters for a week, and while that alleviated the issue, the mid bass was a little too much, although fun at times. The black filters also dial back the mids as well, so I couldn't stay with them. Ideally, I would want something that dials down the treble a little bit that doesn't do too much for the mids and lows, and these cables do just that. I don't notice any significant difference in the mids and the lows, but my ears don't hurt when I listen to cymbal-heavy songs anymore.

FYI, the cables are Lab Kable Super Nova Mk III, which I purchased for HKD 2,280. Overpriced, I'd say, but I'm flying to London next week for a fortnight, so I don't have the luxury of time. Wish these cables were a little thinner though; there are surely plenty of 8 braid cables that don't look like it may have been made with the remnants of Rapunzel's ponytail.


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I think you would get farther by experimenting with different tips. The only way you could call the 846 bright would be the source or the tips. More often the result of a bad seal. I use a solid silver cable with mine and it is not in the least bright. 

 

[phnx90]

I must be one of the few people who thinks the SE846 is intolerably / painfully sparkly on the balanced / blue filters and when listening to cymbal-heavy songs, so a copper cable works just fine for me.

Tried the black filters for a week, and while that alleviated the issue, the mid bass was a little too much, although fun at times. The black filters also dial back the mids as well, so I couldn't stay with them. Ideally, I would want something that dials down the treble a little bit that doesn't do too much for the mids and lows, and these cables do just that. I don't notice any significant difference in the mids and the lows, but my ears don't hurt when I listen to cymbal-heavy songs anymore.

FYI, the cables are Lab Kable Super Nova Mk III, which I purchased for HKD 2,280. Overpriced, I'd say, but I'm flying to London next week for a fortnight, so I don't have the luxury of time. Wish these cables were a little thinner though; there are surely plenty of 8 braid cables that don't look like it may have been made with the remnants of Rapunzel's ponytail.


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I think you would get farther by experimenting with different tips. The only way you could call the 846 bright would be the source or the tips. More often the result of a bad seal. I use a solid silver cable with mine and it is not in the least bright. 

Fair point - currently, I'm using the Westone Star Tips (Orange). Best sleeves I've tried so far that isn't a custom.

Don't like Shure olives because of the muffle, and don't like the Comply tips because they're far too high maintenance.

For obvious reasons, tri flange tips won't help, and my experience with the Shure mushrooms have been that they're brighter than star tips.

With that said, I'm also a little sensitive to treble. My W4s and W40s didn't have that issue, but lots of people I've read didn't think the treble was sufficient on those. The last IEM that gave me pain was the W3s.


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