[rmiller511]

   
Haha, every bit of this is 100% true and I'm still keeping my Atrios for the same reason. In fact, the SE846 accomplishes something you almost NEVER see in headphones: have people raving about the quality of the bass without it being code for "it lacks bass but sounds good". This is the first case I've seen where the bass is giant AND musical. 
 
I'm not an IEM hound, my experience is fairly limited, but I will say that the MG7 and the SE846 represent two different styles of bass power and both do it wonderfully.

 
 
Amen, brother.
 
I fell behind in this thread and wrote that not knowing you had actually bought a pair for yourself.  So glad you did.  It's nice to hear another MG7er's opinion.  All I can say is...you must be loving these things.
 
There are so many products on the market that produce a lot of bass - tons and oceans of it.  But it is both rare and a pleasure to find headgear that do it with the quality AND quantity that the 846s and MG7s do.  What is sad is that so many people have what I call 'bass boom boxes' that produce the quantity, and as such think they have heard incredible bass, bless their soul. 
 
For me, personally, I am glad it happened the way it did - I bought the atrios first.  While the bass was a game ender, the mids and highs were not.  Not that the MG7s do not produce great mids and highs, they do, but coming from the westone way of life, I could not help but miss the incredible BA mids and highs I was accustomed to with the W40s.  And it was about that time that 846s were gaining global recognition not only for their bass, but the rest of the sound spectrum as well, that I made the decision to buy.  Had I bought the 846s first, I would have ended my quest at that point and would have never known the joy of MG7 ownership.  My girlfriend, who is also a bass hound, followed suit as well with atrios and I have to tell you - I would sooner take heroin away from an addict as to take Linda's MG7s from her, and I would gravely fear the well being of anyone that would even try.  Fortunately for me she has not heard the 846s, otherwise I would be reduced to using the Atrios again (the well being thing).  I tell her the bass on them is a disappointment - not up to her high standards and she would not be interested in hearing them.  Of course I say this while turned away so she cant see how long my nose grows.  Thing is, unbeknownst to her, she has a pair coming this Christmas.  Gonna be interesting to see which pair she reaches for the most.  It really comes down to 'how do you like your bass'.   I'm simply glad I have both brands as I am sure you do to.
 
Really glad to see you made the purchase, and glad to see you active in this thread.

 

[rmiller511]

SomeGuyDude -
 
Just had another thought...thinking back on your earlier posts - trying to resolve the 846's bass in your own mind. 
 
To me, it's like this:  the 846's bass, while giving you a lot of it, still sounds natural and real.  They simply give you more of a good thing.  The Atrios, on the other hand, while every bit as deep and big, sort of takes a different approach - as if the engineers said, "okay, so we have given them a lot of bass - now, how do we make the bass we gave them even better?  Answer: Colorize it.  They like lots of bass, we will give it to them even BASSIER". 
 
I'm a big NIN fan.  Been listening to 'closer' since it came out in 1997, but after the first few listens, the kick drum at the beginning was something you endured while waiting to get to the real meat of the song.
 
And then I bought the Atrios.
 
Being excessive is something I have never had a problem with so I attached my bass boosted (position 2, to be exact) FiiO amp to my heavily EQ'd Galaxy S4 (poweramp with both the 30 and 60hz bands maxed), turned all volumes to full, inserted the MG7s and hit the play button on closer.
 
What followed was the most incredible bass sound I have ever heard.  Probably will EVER hear.  The kick drums were not something you had to make your way through anymore - it became the reason you listened to the song at all.  The sound is just something I cannot describe - I am not that clever with words.  What I CAN tell you is I was dumb struck with awe.  That kind of bass detonation, at that sound pressure...at volume levels that would melt or otherwise destroy most every other IEM known to man, and the Atrios made it sound like childs play....like saying "no big deal, dude.  so what else would you like to hear...and why do you look so stupified?"
 
As magnificent as the 846 bass is, I cannot duplicate that effect with them.  It is simply a different type of bass.  Like I said in a previous post - an "effect", almost.  Whatever it is, it is incredible.  It is that sound that I use as a kind of personal yard stick for gauging any bass heavy IEM.
 
But it also works the other way around in as much as I cannot get the same sound out of the MG7s that I do the 846s, as in the case of Creed's "with arms wide open" where the song climaxes with this incredibly low and massive and sustained bass attack, and right when you think the bass cannot possibly go any lower, it does.  Simply amazing, and cannot get that same sound out of the MG7s.
 
You say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to.  6 of one, half a dozen of another.  It comes down to personal taste.  End of story.
 
I am sure this will change in due time, but at the moment, I own the two most amazing (IEM) bass cannons to be found, and life is good.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

I think it's fair to bring up the MG7 because they do have a sort of "magical" feeling bass, though in a very different way. The MG7's bass is huge, it's enveloping, and more than that it's SMOOTH. It doesn't feel inflated, just incredibly powerful. That's a good distinction and it's probably why I still love the things even if they haven't been in my ears in a little while. 
 
Since the majority of my listening has drifted into the metal world (specifically of the black/sludge/post variety), the MG7 hasn't quite scratched the itch since it can't handle the kind of instrumental separation needed there, but man. I still look back VERY fondly on getting a few drinks in me and having hip hop playing on the MG7s at full blast and being just amazed at the bass power. The things gobbled it up.
 
I'll say also that transitioning to the Westone STAR silicones has been a perfect solution for me. The black mediums do the job perfectly. Pain-free fit, great seal, and I don't think there's any coloration in the sound. Which makes sense because, if you think about it, the amount of actual surface area from the plug that soundwaves hit is very small, so as long as it's quality material and thick enough it's not going to cause any goofy sonic effects. 

 

[dsincere]

I think it's fair to bring up the MG7 because they do have a sort of "magical" feeling bass, though in a very different way. The MG7's bass is huge, it's enveloping, and more than that it's SMOOTH. It doesn't feel inflated, just incredibly powerful. That's a good distinction and it's probably why I still love the things even if they haven't been in my ears in a little while. 

Since the majority of my listening has drifted into the metal world (specifically of the black/sludge/post variety), the MG7 hasn't quite scratched the itch since it can't handle the kind of instrumental separation needed there, but man. I still look back VERY fondly on getting a few drinks in me and having hip hop playing on the MG7s at full blast and being just amazed at the bass power. The things gobbled it up.

I'll say also that transitioning to the Westone STAR silicones has been a perfect solution for me. The black mediums do the job perfectly. Pain-free fit, great seal, and I don't think there's any coloration in the sound. Which makes sense because, if you think about it, the amount of actual surface area from the plug that soundwaves hit is very small, so as long as it's quality material and thick enough it's not going to cause any goofy sonic effects. 

Hmmm I've never heard them before ....they must have a post for those somewhere on this forum ....just always decided to try and start closest to the top as I could becsuee I always used to spend money thinking I was saving money, getting about 70 percent or so of the sound thinking it was a deal, only to end up buying further up the chain as I should've done in the first place .....and gotten the sound that I was after....aim twice, squeeze the trigger once....

 

[hertzsogood]

Hmmm I've never heard them before ....they must have a post for those somewhere on this forum ....just always decided to try and start closest to the top as I could becsuee I always used to spend money thinking I was saving money, getting about 70 percent or so of the sound thinking it was a deal, only to end up buying further up the chain as I should've done in the first place .....and gotten the sound that I was after....aim twice, squeeze the trigger once....

Well that company has been around since the 1980s.

 

[dsincere]

Well that company has been around since the 1980s.

Hmmm ok I see not long....well I love my shure SE846 they sound very very nice ....

 

[M Coupe]

I personally think referencing the 846's to other headphones/earphones is a good idea for the thread. It makes the 846 accessible to others that may be looking for a new product. I am sure other MG7 owners may look at the 846 as a future option. Point is the more owners there are the more we all learn regarding tweaks, sources, and music that brings our beloved 846 to life.

The only threads I find tiring are the fanboy/bash threads that don't have objectivity.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  Well that company has been around since the 1980s.

 
Maybe so but some companies despite being around a while haven't really been on the headphone radar always. Look at the companies that used to only do hearing aids that are getting into audio now. Or a company like Marin Logan that did home theater speakers before cracking into headphones. Heck, Ultimate Ears was a company that for ages pretty much only made custom monitors for stage musicians. 

 

[cb3723]

 I've been trying to figure out what's so unique about the bass on these, and I know it's easy to say "oh they just emphasize the bass without it imparting an effect on the mids" but that doesn't really tell the whole story.
 
I went through a battery of music, from fun rock Primus to Queens of the Stone Age to post-rock like Jakob and God is an Astronaut, sludgy black metal like Abest and Black Drop Effect and prog like Scale the Summit and Cloudkicker. Abest in particularly knocked me on my ass with how powerful the bass was, and that's when it hit me:
 
The bass, as in bass frequencies, don't sound boosted. The bass instruments do.
 
What I mean is, when you're listening to music on these, it doesn't sound like they've been EQ'ed to boost the low end, it literally just sounds like the amplifiers on the bass guitar or the mic on the kick drum got turned up. If you've ever been to a rock/metal concert live, you know that sound. The sound of the bass drum making the shirt on your chest flutter and the bassist hitting a low string and letting it ring out while your hair stands up. That doesn't happen because the engineer on the mixing board changed the EQ for the whole band, it's because he turned up the volume level of those instruments.
 
That's what the SE846 manages to do.
 
When I first turned on "No One Knows" I was actually unhappy as hell. I heard that bass guitar pound and I went "oh crap, the whole song is gonna sound blown out" because this isn't my first rodeo with bassy headphones (my MG7s, what I'd call the inexpensive IEM bass kings, are sitting to my right). When you hear bass in a rock sound play loudly, you know it means the whole song is going to be tilted. Yet, no. Not the case. As soon as the bass guitar stopped, ANY hints of bass boost vanished. On recordings that I know are trebly, it sounds like the "subwoofer" got turned off (and I suppose it did, in a sense). 
 
I know it's another post about the bass on these, but I had to get it out there. Lots of great headphones have crystalline highs and liquid mids and great soundstages and all these other things, but the SE846 did something REALLY special on the lows, which also worked to the benefit of the rest of the spectrum. Thanks to that excellent crossover and separation, the reproduction of the mids and highs isn't even slightly colored by bass in the drivers. It's just amazing. 

Congrats dude, your impressions made it to the head-fi home page
 
I have zero IEM's whatsoever and have always thought (wrongly it seems) that they were second fiddle to full size over the ear headphones, but your impressions intrigue me, hmmmm.....
 
edit: I tell a lie, I do own URbeats - part of Alexander Wang's Beats X range, but I've barely used them

Spoiler

 
How do these IEM's sound with other genres of music like dubstep, trance etc?
 
Would my Fiio E17 drive them ok?
 
If you had to choose between your Shure SE846 or Final Audio Design Pandora Hope VI, which would it be?
 
What's the catch?
 
Will you sell me yours for $10? 

 

Cool impressions bro

 

[hertzsogood]

   
Maybe so but some companies despite being around a while haven't really been on the headphone radar always. Look at the companies that used to only do hearing aids that are getting into audio now. Or a company like Marin Logan that did home theater speakers before cracking into headphones. Heck, Ultimate Ears was a company that for ages pretty much only made custom monitors for stage musicians. 

What Year did Ultimate ears start? 1995 thats after 1980s. Maybe Ultimate ears was one that put multiple drivers while Future Sonics used 1 Dynamic driver in the 80s.

 

[hertzsogood]

Hmmm ok I see not long....well I love my shure SE846 they sound very very nice ....

Yep I also am enjoying both of my 846. One with stock cable and the other with upgrade cable.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

LOL is it weird that I'm proud that I got front-paged? I feel like it's my first moment of being like, a legit audiophile in terms of my opinions being at least somewhat coherent. 
 
I thought the same about headphones vs IEMs. Even when, years ago, I stuck with cheaper IEMs (Etymotic MC5, Shure SE215, Klipsch S4), I recognized that they weren't as capable as their big siblings, but liked the convenience. When I started buying "real" headphones, a journey that started with the Audio Technica A700 and ended with the Pandora Hope VI, my belief in that was only solidified. 
 
I haven't dabbled with much by way of dubstep/trance, but what I have heard (and I get my EDM from a British friend who's huge into the scene so I don't mean Skrillex) sounds crazy. I mean like, standing in a rave hall crazy. I still put on hip hop and when I get the songs that make the subs in my car slam, these do the same. Then when it's time for the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, any hint of bass elevation is gone. That's the magic of the quad driver.
 
My music of choice is metal, as I've said before. These IEMs are as close to being at a live show as I can imagine an IEM being. I started laughing listening to a few tracks because it didn't even make sense how powerful the bass was while still sounding wholly separate from the other instruments. 
 
Fiio e17? Dude I play these straight out of a Macbook Pro and a Nexus 5. The N5 needs a volume boost but it's got a really quiet sound card. The volume never goes up to 50% on the MB. That e17 will do wonders. 
 
The main catch is, well, they're IEM's. They just will not have that "head-hugging" sound of big cans. If you can't get the fit right you have to mess with the pieces until you get it. If your skin is sensitive the foams are gonna hurt. You'll find yourself tapping and fiddling with the earpieces every so often just to make sure they're sitting right in case you hear any imbalances. All the normal little niggling problems with IEMs. The cable's also not my favorite, I'd really, REALLY prefer a nice light braided one that didn't try to have a "memory" aspect. Sonically there are no drawbacks to my ear. None. The only drawbacks to these are the inherent drawbacks of being an IEM.
 
10 bitcoins? Sure deal! 

 

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  Yep I also am enjoying both of my 846. One with stock cable and the other with upgrade cable.

 
Which cable is that? I'm sure you've said, I just forget. 

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  What Year did Ultimate ears start? 1995 thats after 1980s. Maybe Ultimate ears was one that put multiple drivers while Future Sonics used 1 Dynamic driver in the 80s.

 
I just mean it's understandable for someone not to have heard of a company even though they've been around a while, that's all. 

 

[hertzsogood]

   
Which cable is that? I'm sure you've said, I just forget. 

Copper/Silver/Gold opened the Meds and Treble alot but somewhat tamed the bass a bit.