I hadn't listened to the Shures for quite some time. The last time I had, it was with my QP1R and Therium 8 Wire, and at that time I preferred the sparkling airiness that the Andromeda offered that didn't seem to exist with the 846's, even with the White inserts. The mid and sub bass is presented differently, with the Shures being more visceral when using the stock Blue inserts, less so when modded. Yesterday was quite surprising. When using my X5 and swapping IEM's on the larger gauge pure silver Silvergarde, I thought that the detail of the cymbals sounded a little more pronounced and distinct from the 846's and that the Andromeda's seemed to bunch all of the different cymbals together. I was Seriously impressed because I didn't remember ever hearing the level of distinct clarity that I heard from the 846's at that moment. The bass was a little weaker than I would have liked, but that was in part to the modded Blue inserts, and more so because the Andro's seemed to completely flip the character that I had become accustomed to. The bass was less defined and the mid bass presented less impact.
Honestly...I'm not the person to spend a lot of time comparing one piece of equipment to another. I can pretty much make a decision on what I prefer to listen to in half a song. I certainly didn't believe what I was hearing in the different characters of both IEM's. I typically always have my X5 with me because I use it as a transport for my car stereo, and I'll occasionally bring the 846's connected to the stock silver litz cable that comes with the Andromeda's. It's very thin and ergonomic, and I won't lose my mind it something happened to it verses an accident with my Norne cables. (That's actually dumb...because Trevor would fix anything that happened to his cables, but the stock ALO cable is more mass produced). I was never really overly thrilled with that particular combo in comparison to the QP1R/Silvergarde/Andromeda that usually stays at home. But after what I heard yesterday from the 846's...apparently all I need to do is take the heavier gauge (I'm purposely not using cable names repeatedly) silver litz on the road with me and I should be thrilled with my street rig.
Back to the drastically uncharacteristic performance that I heard from the Andro's yesterday. I believe that for the very first time I was hearing the finickiness that I had only read about regarding the Andromeda and whatever source they're connected to. It would be an impossibility that I would have come to the same conclusion above regarding my IEM preference using my QP1R (which I don't have in my possession right now) previously. This isn't meant to be a one over another post comparing what I feel are vastly different IEM's. What I wanted to convey is that I experienced a Holy Crap moment yesterday using a 846/Silvergarde combo with my X5.
Very Pleasantly Surprised!
