[jerryjose46vr]

I never use balanced because the SE846 is very low impedance and the higher output impedance of balanced connections don't mesh well with this particular IEM.

Thanks. That's good to know.

 

[rlw6534]

Thanks. That's good to know.

Just to add, it's possible that some might like the sound with a higher impedance balanced connection, but it lowers the damping factor and can cause low bass roll-off.

 

[MayorSimpleton]

Do any use se846 with balanced cable for more power? I got myself a Fiio ka3 and since it has a 4.4, I swapped cabled to try the 846. It gets too loud, and had me wondering if its an overkill!

I also tried my SE846 balanced (with a Fiio BTR7). No improvement, arguably worse. Sticking with SE with these.

 

[jerryjose46vr]

I also tried my SE846 balanced (with a Fiio BTR7). No improvement, arguably worse. Sticking with SE with these.

Do you find it better with btr7 otherwise? I feel like ka3 is improving the iem in a noticeable way!

 

[psikey]

Do any use se846 with balanced cable for more power? I got myself a Fiio ka3 and since it has a 4.4, I swapped cabled to try the 846. It gets too loud, and had me wondering if its an overkill!

I use balanced for the improved channel seperation (no crosstalk) and because I have nice balanced cables, not for the power. Its already so easy to drive from anything.

I use 4.4mm on my BTR7 over 3.5mm. I keep all my cables on 4.4mm and rarely swap to reduce risk of any damage constantly swapping. I use a 3.5 to 4.4mm TTRS adapter with my A307 (listening as I type but to Z1R today).

 

[beanoir78]

Do any use se846 with balanced cable for more power? I got myself a Fiio ka3 and since it has a 4.4, I swapped cabled to try the 846. It gets too loud, and had me wondering if its an overkill!

Nope, apart from increased loudness it’s highly unlikely to improve anything else - unless your kit is something very unusual and definitely not portable, and your cables are 40m long.

 

[plakat]

Do any use se846 with balanced cable for more power? I got myself a Fiio ka3 and since it has a 4.4, I swapped cabled to try the 846. It gets too loud, and had me wondering if its an overkill!

Yes, definitely overkill for such a sensitive, low impedance IEM.
@rlw6534 already mentioned all the technical aspects why its probably not a good fit soundwise as well.

 

[jjazzy]

Yes, definitely overkill for such a sensitive, low impedance IEM.
@rlw6534 already mentioned all the technical aspects why its probably not a good fit soundwise as well.

I use it with xdsd gryphon, and that combination is amazing. Eventhough it has a lot of power, it has a very good dac build in so I would not call a good amp/dac overkill

 

[plakat]

I use it with xdsd gryphon, and that combination is amazing. Eventhough it has a lot of power, it has a very good dac build in

It's not impossible to use the SE846 with (rather) powerful amps, its just not necessary I think. But it that's the one you have available, then by all means use it if it works fine. Do you have enough room on the volume setting?

 

[burninglove]

I’m looking for an alternative to the Astell and Kern Billie Jeans I have been using for the last three years.

The SE846 gen2 were 799 on Amazon prime day, so I bought them along with the tw2 bluetooth ear pieces. I had rush shipping, but the first set never came. The replacement set from Amazon came 5 days later.

The Shure cable is awful. The memory wire around the ears is torture and the coating on the cable feels gross. The Mmcx connectors are a concern. In fact, the right ear piece has never worked right. There is a short that made it intermittent when first using them depending on the position of the cable. I didn’t have this problem with the left one.

Then, the right stopped working completely when I switched to the ear pieces. Switching between the wireless and the wire feels fragile and uncertain. The bluetooth ear pieces are going to be returned as I don’t think switching between the cable and the pieces are going to be able to regularly happen long term without damaging the connector. The right iem has stopped working completely.

Amazon won’t send me a replacement set for the prime price, so I am going to ship it to Shure for a replacement.

The fit is better than the Billie Jeans. I used comply tips with both. The Billie Jeans are larger and stick out of my ears a bit. The Shures feel more comfortable. I wish I could comment on the sound compared to the Billie Jeans, but that’s not possible without a working set.

We’ll see how quickly Shure makes this right. You would think that after 10 years, the cable would be better and the connector durability improved, or at least the QC.

 

[plakat]

MMCX is always a PITA… and it was never meant to withstand frequent connect/disconnect cycles. As much as I love the SE846, I’m keeping my set on the TW2 exclusively to avoid problems with the sockets. I wish the more robust T2 connectors were used…

 

[xSDMx]

I would never feel comfortable regularly switching between wired and wireless. MMCX is way too fragile. I also keep my SE846 on my TW2 at all times. Probably the only time I'll reconnect them again is for a TW2 Gen 3.

 

[jjazzy]

It's not impossible to use the SE846 with (rather) powerful amps, its just not necessary I think. But it that's the one you have available, then by all means use it if it works fine. Do you have enough room on the volume setting?

More than enough, and that is connected through 4.4 balanced. I tried the cheaper options like, ifi blue, or the other lower options, also the fiio one’s none of them sounded as smooth and musical as the xdsd gryphon (and I tried quite a lot of them, around 15 different amps/dacs)

 

[jjazzy]

I’m looking for an alternative to the Astell and Kern Billie Jeans I have been using for the last three years.

The SE846 gen2 were 799 on Amazon prime day, so I bought them along with the tw2 bluetooth ear pieces. I had rush shipping, but the first set never came. The replacement set from Amazon came 5 days later.

The Shure cable is awful. The memory wire around the ears is torture and the coating on the cable feels gross. The Mmcx connectors are a concern. In fact, the right ear piece has never worked right. There is a short that made it intermittent when first using them depending on the position of the cable. I didn’t have this problem with the left one.

Then, the right stopped working completely when I switched to the ear pieces. Switching between the wireless and the wire feels fragile and uncertain. The bluetooth ear pieces are going to be returned as I don’t think switching between the cable and the pieces are going to be able to regularly happen long term without damaging the connector. The right iem has stopped working completely.

Amazon won’t send me a replacement set for the prime price, so I am going to ship it to Shure for a replacement.

The fit is better than the Billie Jeans. I used comply tips with both. The Billie Jeans are larger and stick out of my ears a bit. The Shures feel more comfortable. I wish I could comment on the sound compared to the Billie Jeans, but that’s not possible without a working set.

We’ll see how quickly Shure makes this right. You would think that after 10 years, the cable would be better and the connector durability improved, or at least the QC.

The cable was better, the just asked more money and give less. The original se846 had even an better cable thab the second se846 2. I bought a fiio cable and never looked back. It seems normal nowadays, ask premium and expect to buy everything seperate.

You see it everwhere, selling dacs with crap psu, amps with crap psu, but you can buy upgrades everywhere also for premium prices.

It is what it is. As long as people think it is normal to pay 5000 euro for a dac, it will continue to get worse and worse or 15000 euro for a pair of speakers (like b&w they started at 6000 a piece now it is 14000 I think, don’t remembering they changed so much in sound or that the inflation in 8 years was 100%)

 

[bigmistake68]

Aside from impedance the 846s are also just way louder than some other sets.
I have Timeless and also just picked up Blessing 3 on Prime Day - was doing some A/B testing and is necessary to adjust volume a lot to not have the Shures blow my ears off!

On that testing, the Moondrops are going back. They’re worse than the Timeless which were half their price! Neither are a patch on my 846s, especially with my green filter mod.