[olddude]

846 plays nicely with the Fiio X5. When I had a DX50 I found that it needed an amp to sound good with my other iems (didn't have the 846 then).  But I still have my X5 and the 846 sounds very good with it, no need for an amp.  (I listen with my Pono, but I've used the X5 a few times "just to see.")

 

[Jimmyf1312]

And, I'm assuming you are using the 846's with the iPhone 6 and Tidal. Correct? If so, I have hope.

yes.
 

No, unfortunately you cannot. I'm considering getting tidal as well, but I'd have to either add an amp to my Note 4 or root. I didn't care much for a stack on my cell tbh. I may root, add V4A, and subscribe to tidal.

I feel like the one thing keeping me from purchasing a super high end dap is the fact I can't have tidal on it or some sort of streaming service, so until then I'm happy with my 8's out of my 6+ for tidal and my x5 with my music library. hopefully the x7 will let us have some sort of streaming service.

 

[H20Fidelity]

A little derail - I took what you said about the Alien and bought one.

 
Be sure to pop into the Alien thread and tell us your thoughts. =)

 

[Allucid]

And, I'm assuming you are using the 846's with the iPhone 6 and Tidal. Correct? If so, I have hope.

yes.

No, unfortunately you cannot. I'm considering getting tidal as well, but I'd have to either add an amp to my Note 4 or root. I didn't care much for a stack on my cell tbh. I may root, add V4A, and subscribe to tidal.

I feel like the one thing keeping me from purchasing a super high end dap is the fact I can't have tidal on it or some sort of streaming service, so until then I'm happy with my 8's out of my 6+ for tidal and my x5 with my music library. hopefully the x7 will let us have some sort of streaming service.

Sony's DAP runs on android - Spotify.
Sorry about your wallet, I think I just held a lighter to it.

 

[warrior1975]

Lol... No worries bro!! My wallet has been burning since arriving here. I had a zx1, really loved it, but it wasn't powerful enough for me. I had to stack it, which eventually became tiresome.
I've kicked around getting a zx2 but my next dap will be Fiio X7, which should have streaming services as well.

 

[moedawg140]

I am sure that anyone who has read this entire thread (or most of the thread) knows exactly how I feel regarding my setup/source/input/custom sleeve synergy regarding the SE846 + iPhone 6 + Tidal + Silver Litz + modded black filter + SCS combination -- and my thoughts about DACs/Amps/DAPs regarding perceived better resolving signature compared to usefulness and perceived same or better resolving signature of the iPhone 6 (or any smartphone that pairs well with the SE846).
 
I did get to listen to the Shozy Alien a few months back, but was not overall impressed with it (relative to other DAPs I have listened to in the market), so I didn't post anything about it.  Since it has been brought up, I would just like to say a few thoughts about it.  I A/Bed the Alien with my iPhone 6, and I could not hear that the Alien resolved better, it just sounded different.  This is not to say the Alien does not sound great for its price.  It most certainly does.  With that said, I would not say that the Alien's sound signature is any 'better' than the iPhone 6, far from that statement.  Mainly because the iPhone 6 has a plethora of apps and settings that will change, mold and morph an IEM/headphone's sound signature, and the functionality of the iPhone 6 (or any smartphone that pairs well with the SE846) is more than 10-fold, more like 100-fold, compared to the Alien.  If you are searching for a very simple to use music player without a screen for a reasonable (to some/most people) amount of money, then the Alien is worth a try and then buy.  My opinion is that the iPhone 6 (or any smartphone that pairs well with the SE846) is much, much more versatile due to the applications and multitude of settings within those applications to tailor the sound that sounds the best for you.

 

[Allucid]

edited post, too big of a quote to snip on an iPhone

 

[moedawg140]

Thank you for this post. I have an iPhone 5 with no intention of getting a 6, and recently bought the alien. Hopefully what you said isn't true for me, but if it is I'll return the Alien when it comes. People were saying it sounded better than the X5, so I sold that for the alien. Let's hope I don't regret my decision.

 
No worries.  I would still try out as many devices as you can, but if you like the Alien, you can keep it, or sell it if or when you find something else that sounds better to your cerebral cortex.
 
I will say, to my ears (and others who A/Bed their 5 to my 6), the 6 outputs more power than the 5 (which I owned for ~ 2 years) and sounds amazing, especially when paired with your favorite music playback/streaming service application.  The 5 is more than likely perceived to have a resolving signature (neutral sound), and the 6 is perceived to have a resolving with a very slight bass tilt to it (more output power).

 

[e30ernest]

  Just got my Complys today.  With the Westone Stars and the white filters the 846 sounded a bit less rich in the mids compared to the modded blue filters (but the modded blues had less upper trebles).  Just tried the white filters with the Complys and the mids now seem rich and upper trebles sound good as well.  This may give me the best of both worlds (I hope).

 
Yeah it's really close between P-Series and Star Tips.  To me, some tracks sound better with either.  On other tracks, they are pretty much a draw.  Where the Complys shine is in isolation.  The Star Tips get an advantage in durability and ease of insertion.
 

  I'm not sure i would recommend se846 with dx90.I find se846 has great synergy  and musicality with sony players,the new a15 would be a good choice without breaking the bank or fiiox3,x5.I wasn't too impressed with the pairing with dx90 imo.

I own the DX90 and I am happy with the pairing.  The thing is, the DX90 required quite a bit of burn-in before it started to shine.  Using the supplied burn-in cables, I could hear a difference in sound almost every day.  Now that I have over 100h on the DAP, it sounds as amazing as it should.  They also listen to their customers (see the DX90 thread) and are implementing our various requests into the firmware.    It's things like thease that make me feel like my money was well-spent.
 
Back to the 8's, it never ceases to amaze me how well it reproduces sub-bass.  Sometimes when I hear a kick drum on the 8s it seems weird since I am half expecting a thump to happen on my chest, but it never happens.  

 

[AndrewH13]

Find DX90 and X5 both very good with the 846s. Use about equal time on each, slightly different flavour, but surprised anyone could dislike one and really like the other. Certainly not night and day differences. Much more difference in quality between each album played.

 

[danlevy]

The new Sony NW-ZX2 has wi-fi/Bluetooth and runs on Android, so Tidal is compatible...
 
Amazon U.S. is beginning to ship the NW-ZX2 (U.S. version) this week.  I ordered one a couple weeks ago and got an e-mail last night that I'll have it on Wednesday.
 
Here's the link: http://amzn.to/1BPSflS

 

[moedawg140]

 
The new Sony NW-ZX2 has wi-fi/Bluetooth and runs on Android, so Tidal is compatible...
 
Amazon U.S. is beginning to ship the NW-ZX2 (U.S. version) this week.  I ordered one a couple weeks ago and got an e-mail last night that I'll have it on Wednesday.
 
Here's the link: http://amzn.to/1BPSflS

 
Whew... Hopefully I'll be able to listen to that one at CanJam (Sony is an exhibitor so I see why not).  For that price, and functionality, it needs to sound amazing.

 

[e30ernest]

Find DX90 and X5 both very good with the 846s. Use about equal time on each, slightly different flavour, but surprised anyone could dislike one and really like the other. Certainly not night and day differences. Much more difference in quality between each album played.

 
Yeah I auditioned both in a store before making my choice.  They were very close indeed.  I could have gone for either of them but I chose the DX90 because I liked the hardware buttons.

 

[leebang]

My Fiio X5 with SE535 has ground noise, dunno how's perform with 846

 

[Caruryn]

   
Yeah it's really close between P-Series and Star Tips.  To me, some tracks sound better with either.  On other tracks, they are pretty much a draw.  Where the Complys shine is in isolation.  The Star Tips get an advantage in durability and ease of insertion.
 
I own the DX90 and I am happy with the pairing.  The thing is, the DX90 required quite a bit of burn-in before it started to shine.  Using the supplied burn-in cables, I could hear a difference in sound almost every day.  Now that I have over 100h on the DAP, it sounds as amazing as it should.  They also listen to their customers (see the DX90 thread) and are implementing our various requests into the firmware.    It's things like thease that make me feel like my money was well-spent.
 
Back to the 8's, it never ceases to amaze me how well it reproduces sub-bass.  Sometimes when I hear a kick drum on the 8s it seems weird since I am half expecting a thump to happen on my chest, but it never happens.  

I was one of the first to order the dx90 and have over 600hours on it.I know the capabilities of the dap.The pairing with the se846 is not the best as it sounds thin and not very musical and the bass lacks the subwoofer effect.The dx90 and ie800 is another matter entirely.I prefer se846 with sony,fiio daps.Had this discussion before,it's all about tonality and synergy at this point.