[justrest]

Hello everyone,
 
I want to buy SE846 but i have some question. 
 
- is it sound bright ? (not dark)
- How is soundstage and sound ?
 
and is it worth of 1000$ ? any better advice?
 
I need help. Thank you!

 

[Loquah]

  Hello everyone,
 
I want to buy SE846 but i have some question. 
 
- is it sound bright ? (not dark)
- How is soundstage and sound ?
 
and is it worth of 1000$ ? any better advice?
 
I need help. Thank you!

 
Since buying the SE846s, I have sold my UM Miracles and demoed the TG!334s, AKG3003, and Sennheiser IE800 as well as many other lower priced IEMs. Based on everything I've tried, nothing is as good as the SE846s at all things without getting into full custom territory and spending $1500+ (i.e. Noble K10, Roxanne, etc.)
 
The 846s are not bright, but are very accurate with the white filters. If you like a bright sound though they may not be as bright as you want (for example, the FIDUE A83 is a nice IEM which is not as good as the SE846, but offers a brighter treble than the SE846).
 
Soundstage is excellent - not huge, but extremely coherent and well defined, especially through the midrange. Overall sound to my ears is exactly like being in the same room as the instruments. The SE846 is the very first IEM I have heard which accurately produces the sound, feel and ambience of live music - they are awesome and worth every cent!

 

[justrest]

   
Since buying the SE846s, I have sold my UM Miracles and demoed the TG!334s, AKG3003, and Sennheiser IE800 as well as many other lower priced IEMs. Based on everything I've tried, nothing is as good as the SE846s at all things without getting into full custom territory and spending $1500+ (i.e. Noble K10, Roxanne, etc.)
 
The 846s are not bright, but are very accurate with the white filters. If you like a bright sound though they may not be as bright as you want (for example, the FIDUE A83 is a nice IEM which is not as good as the SE846, but offers a brighter treble than the SE846).
 
Soundstage is excellent - not huge, but extremely coherent and well defined, especially through the midrange. Overall sound to my ears is exactly like being in the same room as the instruments. The SE846 is the very first IEM I have heard which accurately produces the sound, feel and ambience of live music - they are awesome and worth every cent!

Oh dear, thank you for your answer.
I have Westone um pro 30 and  i love it. As you know um pro 30 is dark sound and not as wide soundstage. i want to buy some bright iem.(i kept um30)
I liked se846 very much. Amazing build quality,great looking and very good reviews have. Maybe this week I'll get the chance to listen to SE846 and i will give my decision. Probably i will buy  
 
By the way i looked westone W60 but i think se846 is much better iem.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  Hello everyone,
 
I want to buy SE846 but i have some question. 
 
- is it sound bright ? (not dark)
- How is soundstage and sound ?
 
and is it worth of 1000$ ? any better advice?
 
I need help. Thank you!

 
The sound is not bright at all, but nor would I call it dark. The thing with the SE846's is that the subwoofer technology gives them a huge subbass thump, but it doesn't translate into a "consumer curve". It means that drums and low frequency instruments have heft to them, but the rest of the spectrum is VERY well represented. Whether you will like the 8's comes down very much to what you think of a "subwoofer" type sound. It's not overblown, not overpowering, but it IS present.
 
The soundstage is hard for me to do the best comparison on because I don't listen to a lot of IEMs, but I'll say it feels rather complete. It's not cramped, but neither is it like sitting in a concert hall. It's just comfortable. Instruments are all spaced out and bell clear without feeling like they're all fifty hards in all directions. I don't feel like I'm wearing headphones ever while wearing these.
 
Is it worth $1000? I absolutely think so, but you'll also find people who think it's a $500 headphone with a subwoofer gimmick tacked on. If you're in the ballpark of these I'd say to at least look into something like the Westone W6, Heir 8.0, and the Noble 6. Those seem like the "primo" $1000 universal IEMs. I was looking all around while my SE846's were getting repaired, but sitting here with them in my ears... I'm good.
 
Side note: the Comply regular T100 Isolation tips  are MUCH better than the TX100 with the wax guards. They actually sound very good. 

 

[warrior1975]

Agreed with what someguy said. I own both the 8s and Heir 8.0 Universal, I definitely prefer the Shure. They really do sound very good and I find them to be incredibly comfortable, much better for and isolation than all of my other IEMS.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

It's also worth pointing out that tip/filter choice can have some serious effects on sound. If you, for example, use the black filters and silicone tips you're gonna have some bass monsters. Swap to the white with the yellow foams and the sound gets MUCH more "even", the bass tamed a good bit. 
 
The nice thing about that is you can sit around and putter with various configurations until you find one that clicks for you. The general advice is to buy the Westone Variety Pack with the silicone and foam tips of varying kinds. I ruined a bunch of mine so I'm going to buy another one. 
 
It does bug me how much work is required to alter the sound, let's say you want to bump the bass for some hip hop and then tamp it down for classical you need all the various tools (in contrast to something like the Aurisonics ASG-2.5), but once you find that sweet spot you're good to go.

 

[warrior1975]

Tips do make the biggest difference in sound to me, IMHO. I tried a few headphones, with the wrong tips, you can be very disappointed. If you are not hearing what others are hearing, definitely change your tips up. Tips almost caused me to sell my beloved Ref1 on more than one occassion.

 

[Black Label]

Interesting reading, given that the AK120 is once again on my radar.

The next gen iPhone is offering 128GB storage, but at AU$1,300, I am unsure as to whether it is worth it (especially given that Apple do not - and never will - offer an SD card slot).

What is a Lightning amp, though?

Edit: Oops!! I was reading page 400 in the belief that it was the final latest page in the thread.

 

[burtomr]

What is a Lightning amp, though?
 

 
Ray Samuels Audio makes the Lightning Amp   LINK

 

[Black Label]

Want!!

In other news... I have switched back to the white filters... I will post impressions of the white filter + Westone foamies combo soon.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Man, I seriously cannot use the whites. I've tried a few times, and that spike around 8-10KHz kills me. I'd rather just tamp the bass down with the yellows and call it a day.

 

[moedawg140]

What do you use instead of the whites, SomeGuyDude?

 

[warrior1975]

Man, I seriously cannot use the whites. I've tried a few times, and that spike around 8-10KHz kills me. I'd rather just tamp the bass down with the yellows and call it a day.

I didn't enjoy the whites one bit either... way too harsh on my sensitive ears!!

What do you use instead of the whites?

Blues FTW!!

 

[frankrondaniel]

  Man, I seriously cannot use the whites. I've tried a few times, and that spike around 8-10KHz kills me. I'd rather just tamp the bass down with the yellows and call it a day.

 
I'm the same way with the white filters - very fatiguing listen for me.  I stick with the blue filters.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

What do you use instead of the whites, @SomeGuyDude?

 
Blues all the way. As far as I can tell, the whites don't actually "flatten" the response at all, they add a spike to the treble that gives it the appearance of being brighter.
 
Just checked the graphs and I was right:
 

 
Notice how the blues and whites are effectively the same until 2KHz where they pop upward and then a little after 10KHz they meet up again. IMO the best strategy with the 8's is sticking with the blues and then playing with tips for the ones that offer the right amount of low end, that'll give you roughly the most linear response, even if it's not flat.