[118900]

Shure got back to me and said it might be skin acidity issue which would make sense since my nozzle seal has also worn away. Maybe I didn’t clean them properly last time I used them. Currently waiting on repair cost quotes, hope it’s reasonable.

Do you have a rough estimate of how often you wear them, say an hours per month average? Seems to me that unless you are the creature from alien you shouldn’t be doing that to a headphone just due to skin acidity surely, especially considering what they cost (unless you have really been hammering them constantly them in 4 years, but even then, skin acidity?......)

 

[cthomas]

.

 

[iBrian]

Is there a spreadsheet or somewhere where all the mods on together with what the differences are?

 

[Andreeas1978]

Thx for clarifying!
That's something interesting, I couldn't have imagined that ever!

 

[Andreeas1978]

Is there a spreadsheet or somewhere where all the mods on together with what the differences are?

That would be sooo great! I haven't start modding exactly because of that, there are too many variables with too many outcomes that I can't remember which is which and does what. That's also a good thing for sure..

 

[Andreeas1978]

Shure got back to me and said it might be skin acidity issue which would make sense since my nozzle seal has also worn away. Maybe I didn’t clean them properly last time I used them. Currently waiting on repair cost quotes, hope it’s reasonable.

Remember also that any trace of mineral oil found in many cosmetics eat through rubber like crazy, I always take care of hair, beard oils etc when I use them. I lost some nice sunglasses to that.

 

[GWagon]

Just removed the foam from my blue filters and wow! The clarity! Crazy how much they’ve opened up. I don’t know if it’s just in my head but the bass seems to hit harder and the top has so much more air.

Love it.

 

[TigerAlex]

This is a bit of a noob question, but if I bought a DAP such as the FiiO M11, which I have my eyes on, should I notice a significant improvement in sound quality over an iPhone XS using the 3.5mm adapter?

Has anyone tried the M11 with the SE846? Is it a recommended combo?

Anything will be better than your iPhone.

 

[Brooko]

Anything will be better than your iPhone.

You'd be surprised. iPhones generally do not skimp in the audio components, and usually measure very linear - even under load. Some actually sounded better than some of my DAPs. Most notable was the 4 series and the SE. Nowadays you don't really get a choice (not having a headphone jack), so you virtually have to use a DAC/amp combo. But they are still marvelous as a transport. My Xr into the Hifiman R2R2000 is brilliant.

Generally iPhones get a bad rap - but its usually from people who have either matched them with IEMs with wrong impedance (and in the case of the SE846 they wouldn't generally be a good match - SE was fine though - I tried that combo), or they haven't tried a volume matched proper test. And no - the statement "anything will be better than your iPhone" is patently false. I could name quite a few Android devices which would be measurably and sonically worse.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

I struggled to hear a difference between my iPod Touch 6th Gen vs. my Chord Hugo 1 being driven by that same iPod Touch! Maybe, if I switched between the two repetitively, but not reliably if I just picked one or the other and just listened. Even when I did hear some small difference, it was not enough for me to reliably formulate a preference. The sixth review here (“I’m SOLD! Even Better Than The Hugo (1)”) details my efforts (no way to link directly to my review...they are all in a long list and you have to count down 6). I DID hear a difference between the iPod and the Hugo 2.

 

[DavidS11]

Is there a spreadsheet or somewhere where all the mods on together with what the differences are?

+1

 

[DavidS11]

You'd be surprised. iPhones generally do not skimp in the audio components, and usually measure very linear - even under load. Some actually sounded better than some of my DAPs. Most notable was the 4 series and the SE. Nowadays you don't really get a choice (not having a headphone jack), so you virtually have to use a DAC/amp combo. But they are still marvelous as a transport. My Xr into the Hifiman R2R2000 is brilliant.

Generally iPhones get a bad rap - but its usually from people who have either matched them with IEMs with wrong impedance (and in the case of the SE846 they wouldn't generally be a good match - SE was fine though - I tried that combo), or they haven't tried a volume matched proper test. And no - the statement "anything will be better than your iPhone" is patently false. I could name quite a few Android devices which would be measurably and sonically worse.

I use my iPhone SE when I'm out and without my DAP. Totally acceptable to listen to for those situations. It's sad that new phones do not come with headphone jack anymore.

 

[csglinux]

It's sad that new phones do not come with headphone jack anymore.

Agree 1000%. Unfortunately, we've only ourselves to blame for this situation. When Apple ditched the headphone jack, most of the world didn't even blink. I understand the convenience factor - I have BT devices myself - but I hate that Apple (and now others) force you to use BT (or some silly dongle). Apple will no doubt claim in a couple of decades (once BT eventually matches the reliability and SQ of wired) that they were way ahead of the curve. In the meantime, people are buying inferior-quality audio products like Airpods and rewarding Apple for their courage corporate greed.

In my experience, Apple devices don't measure all that well, especially in regards intermodulation distortion (one of the more insidious forms of distortion). Here's a comparison against an Android device (admittedly, a better-than-average Android device - I'm sure you can find bad examples too). All measurements into a 32-Ohm load:

Note that Apple doesn't support a 96 kHz sample rate (in fact MFi licensing specifically forbids it). There's a deeper question of whether you can hear these differences. I guess Apple proved that 99% of people don't care, but it's presumptuous to assume those differences aren't audible to anybody. Of course the uneducated masses will still queue up for their shiny new iPhones that are vastly improved this year by virtue of the model number being incremented by 1, but what I find slightly disappointing is that many people I know and respect on this site are also still carrying iPhones or jackless-Android phones. If we don't vote with our wallets, we can expect to get exactly what we deserve.

 

[MarkF786]

I struggled to hear a difference between my iPod Touch 6th Gen vs. my Chord Hugo 1 being driven by that same iPod Touch! Maybe, if I switched between the two repetitively, but not reliably if I just picked one or the other and just listened. Even when I did hear some small difference, it was not enough for me to reliably formulate a preference. The sixth review here (“I’m SOLD! Even Better Than The Hugo (1)”) details my efforts (no way to link directly to my review...they are all in a long list and you have to count down 6). I DID hear a difference between the iPod and the Hugo 2.

It’s always good to hear honest experiences like this as compared to the “golden ears” who claim to hear the most minuscule differences between any two devices.

I used to be one of those “golden ears”, believing things like I could hear the difference when coloring a CD edge green - though with some careful observation and self honesty I came to see most differences I heard were self imagined.

 

[pacman46]

I use my iPhone SE when I'm out and without my DAP. Totally acceptable to listen to for those situations. It's sad that new phones do not come with headphone jack anymore.

i miss the headphone jack but my iPhone X still sounds really good actually. I’ve heard some pretty expensive daps and I just can’t see coughing up that much for them. Most the difference is very small and for on the go you can’t hear the difference maybe at home but even then not really. Now using a half decent amp/dac combo absolutely. But I think it’s more the amp section then the dac section making that difference. Now the Impedance of the source will make a difference but that’s with every amp speaker combination and specially with BA iems with them needing a very low impedance. I’ve never had a problem with the iPhone X as I’ve read somewhere before that the Impedance is close to 0.