Leo888
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Have to wonder about that as there certainly was a difference between the 535 special and limited edition . But who cares as I do really enjoy what is in my ears now. Cheers.
Shure SE846 Impressions Thread
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Have to wonder about that as there certainly was a difference between the 535 special and limited edition . But who cares as I do really enjoy what is in my ears now. Cheers.
Leo888
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That seems to be the general consensus.
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I am not a big fan of Mr Guttenberg but I am not surprised by his comment after comparing the Shure to quite a few custom demos. That the first IEM that I occasionally grab when listening at home despite having the HE-6. I am not suggesting that it is better but it is damn good.
utdeep
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I would disagree with his assessment on detailing vs some of the other IEMs Guttenberg mentions, but he is absolutely right when it comes to openness. I've relied on better Amp/dac combos in the past to add some air to my IEMs, but I don't need it that much for the Shure 846. To me, that is a game changer.
Use the Shure 846 with a decent source and you have a less fatiguing, less claustrophobic experience than any other IEM with the same source. I am happy with it.
Use the Shure 846 with a decent source and you have a less fatiguing, less claustrophobic experience than any other IEM with the same source. I am happy with it.
vantagesc
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As I mentioned in the W60 thread, I find the SE846 remarkable in the sense that it does not have my preferred sound signature (lean and analytical), yet I love the sound. Your ears tend to focus on the midrange and the articulation / weight of the bass. There is definitely a lot of openness with these, but I don't necessarily think it's coming from upper HF extension, but rather that kickass midrange. Images and notes tend to be round and organic feeling, and make other more neutral earphones sound a little flat. I tend to use the white filters with the SE846s because I feel that the sound is more balanced that way, but these filters in no way transform the SE846 into a sparkly / lean sounding headphone like the Phonak PFE.
I kind of agree with Mr Guttenberg on his assessment on the Shure 846 capabilities but stop short of agreeing on the part that it outshine JH Audio, Ultimate Ears, Westone, 1964 Ears, and more.. Not that I think there are other IEM that outshine it but because I have not touch Custom IEM yet.
I think the SE 846 is one heck of an improved version of the Se535. The 846 is still stuck in my ear for the past few days and for some reason this kind of Lush sound is very very addicting. First off, the sound stage is phenomenon, the deepness and wideness is remarkable. It surely have those out of the head experience and it manifest itself like a huge sphere of sound all round me.. I thought that the AKG K3003 & Sony Ex1000 soundstage is one of the widest I have heard and the TG334 is one of the tallest & deepest – now combine them together, minus a few notches and this is what I think the SE 846 is comfortably residing. It’s not the widest/tallest or deepest but it has all this combination that the other IEM fall short and this make it very addicting.
Its imaging is superb, simply superb, vocal is dead center and all instrument placement are pin point accurate, I can sort of tell that the piano is at 10 o clock location and drums is at 1 o’clock, vocal is dead center and nearer than those instrument, bass man is sort of behind lead singer. I am impressed, the other IEM I find impressive is the K3003, it too has those qualities not sure which is better. I love both.
As for bass, I will say it’s one of the best out there. The only phone I think it’s better (IMO) is the TH900 & LCD3, But then these are full size headphone costing 2 times its price and many times heavier. I will place it 3rd in line of succession to the throne that’s really saying a lot for a UIEM. The bass is deep, very deep & rumble like a good subwoofer must do and yet subtle to the point that I will not look at it. One of the informal way of tuning the sub woofer is when one start to look at it, it’s too much already. I like to think it has to show itself like a gentlemen, yes gentle yet full of presence. Out of the heavier bass UIEM like the TG334 and IE800, I personally prefer the 846. One set back of the IE800 (IMO), is it’s very hard to shake the bass off when not needed, not for the 846, it’s not there when not needed .. meaning, it does not at all bleed into the mid range. (That is why I mention, they are very well tune in my previous post).
Now the treble, oh boy, this is a tough one for me. First, it’s not bright at all (even with white filter), just enough to let all the details in the music flow through. Yes I can hear every detail, nothing is loss here, its clarity is there, no doubt. However in comparison to K3003 timbre, its not at that level yet. To give an example, a trumpet has a brash timbre compared with the smoother timbre of say a saxophone, the K3003 can differentiate these to the point when one use no effort to tell them apart. I am not saying that the 846 can’t tell them apart, yes it can and no problem with that too.. just not to the level of K3003. This is probably due to the smooth treble of the 846. It does not have those 16Khz -20 Khz super extension quality of the Th900, It is also not as “shouty” as the K3003. It’s more like LCD-3 quality type of smooth treble, but the 846 is 2 notch brighter than the LCd-3 for sure. All in all, it’s far from calling it dark in my books. I would call the LCD-3, TG334 & HD650 dark (uh-oh slings and arrows comin). The 846 is brighter than this 3 phones for sure.. yes I am 99.9% sure.
Now the vocal, this is one of the best I have ever heard in any IEM and headphone, I will save time here, the vocal is (IMO) better than (few example below):
I will say SE846 is on the same league as LCD-3 and TG334 and I am laughing as I type, I finally got back the creamy, smooth, super Lush, Full body vocal that I missed very much in the TG334 and LCD-3 and now, it has treble too…Lol. And who beats the 846 in its vocal? The only phone I think “beat” or “punch” the 846 is the legendary & indisputable champion of the Stax 009 … wait one more here, it’s Audio technical W3000,. I don’t own these 2 phones but I have the opportunity to test them for 4 days. By better I meant, the real life sound of someone singing and speaking on stage. The Stax 009 is scary realistic in that aspect. Now the K3003 vocal is also very very good. The K3003 sound more of studio like quality while the Shure 846 is something I will hear on live performance. All the SSSss in the voice of Se846 is absolutely zero, nada, Ling and completely gone. Not a single cell of sibilance DNA is found in the 846. The IE800 is another IEM that I absolutely love the vocal, its brighter yet smooth quality is very addicting, I bought it entirely because of that, but then I realize I can’t shake off the bass without EQ and I don’t like EQ because I almost always ended up messing other frequency (I am poor at adjusting EQ).
The ergonomics are fantastic, I can keep it on for hours and hours without having the feeling of “I have enough of this stuck in my ear the whole day” I can continue to get stuck in my ear all the way to bed time. That is what I call comfort. It’s so easy to put on thanks to the swing cable motion connector, I slip in the nuts first then swing the cable across to hook, almost all other UIEM have to twist and twist to get the nuts in. But then, I hate the sticky rubbery cable, it’s like a dead worm ..sticky & lifeless, I would luv it to be more bouncy like Whiplash new TWAu cable… Shure really give you some crab cable and give you 2 hoping you will praise them for it or they think it will give way pretty quick, in that case I prefer the former reason.
In conclusion I agree with Steve G on almost every part except the “outshine” all other IEM. I will definitely keep the shure 846 for a very long time. I went to an audiologist today and make an impression silicone sleeve from Sensaphonics. It act like a glove for the shure 846. I will post more impression with and without silicon sleeve when it arrives and also Ted’s cable. For now, the Shure 846 has join the ranks of Tralucent 1p2 & K3003 as my favorite IEM of all time.
All the above are of course, my very own opinion & experience (Ok slings and arrows comin..zup Tzing..zing)
I think the SE 846 is one heck of an improved version of the Se535. The 846 is still stuck in my ear for the past few days and for some reason this kind of Lush sound is very very addicting. First off, the sound stage is phenomenon, the deepness and wideness is remarkable. It surely have those out of the head experience and it manifest itself like a huge sphere of sound all round me.. I thought that the AKG K3003 & Sony Ex1000 soundstage is one of the widest I have heard and the TG334 is one of the tallest & deepest – now combine them together, minus a few notches and this is what I think the SE 846 is comfortably residing. It’s not the widest/tallest or deepest but it has all this combination that the other IEM fall short and this make it very addicting.
Its imaging is superb, simply superb, vocal is dead center and all instrument placement are pin point accurate, I can sort of tell that the piano is at 10 o clock location and drums is at 1 o’clock, vocal is dead center and nearer than those instrument, bass man is sort of behind lead singer. I am impressed, the other IEM I find impressive is the K3003, it too has those qualities not sure which is better. I love both.
As for bass, I will say it’s one of the best out there. The only phone I think it’s better (IMO) is the TH900 & LCD3, But then these are full size headphone costing 2 times its price and many times heavier. I will place it 3rd in line of succession to the throne that’s really saying a lot for a UIEM. The bass is deep, very deep & rumble like a good subwoofer must do and yet subtle to the point that I will not look at it. One of the informal way of tuning the sub woofer is when one start to look at it, it’s too much already. I like to think it has to show itself like a gentlemen, yes gentle yet full of presence. Out of the heavier bass UIEM like the TG334 and IE800, I personally prefer the 846. One set back of the IE800 (IMO), is it’s very hard to shake the bass off when not needed, not for the 846, it’s not there when not needed .. meaning, it does not at all bleed into the mid range. (That is why I mention, they are very well tune in my previous post).
Now the treble, oh boy, this is a tough one for me. First, it’s not bright at all (even with white filter), just enough to let all the details in the music flow through. Yes I can hear every detail, nothing is loss here, its clarity is there, no doubt. However in comparison to K3003 timbre, its not at that level yet. To give an example, a trumpet has a brash timbre compared with the smoother timbre of say a saxophone, the K3003 can differentiate these to the point when one use no effort to tell them apart. I am not saying that the 846 can’t tell them apart, yes it can and no problem with that too.. just not to the level of K3003. This is probably due to the smooth treble of the 846. It does not have those 16Khz -20 Khz super extension quality of the Th900, It is also not as “shouty” as the K3003. It’s more like LCD-3 quality type of smooth treble, but the 846 is 2 notch brighter than the LCd-3 for sure. All in all, it’s far from calling it dark in my books. I would call the LCD-3, TG334 & HD650 dark (uh-oh slings and arrows comin). The 846 is brighter than this 3 phones for sure.. yes I am 99.9% sure.
Now the vocal, this is one of the best I have ever heard in any IEM and headphone, I will save time here, the vocal is (IMO) better than (few example below):
- TH900
- HD650
- K3003
- Ultrasone Signature Pro
- Ultrasone Ed 8
- LCD-2
- Tralucent 1p2
I will say SE846 is on the same league as LCD-3 and TG334 and I am laughing as I type, I finally got back the creamy, smooth, super Lush, Full body vocal that I missed very much in the TG334 and LCD-3 and now, it has treble too…Lol. And who beats the 846 in its vocal? The only phone I think “beat” or “punch” the 846 is the legendary & indisputable champion of the Stax 009 … wait one more here, it’s Audio technical W3000,. I don’t own these 2 phones but I have the opportunity to test them for 4 days. By better I meant, the real life sound of someone singing and speaking on stage. The Stax 009 is scary realistic in that aspect. Now the K3003 vocal is also very very good. The K3003 sound more of studio like quality while the Shure 846 is something I will hear on live performance. All the SSSss in the voice of Se846 is absolutely zero, nada, Ling and completely gone. Not a single cell of sibilance DNA is found in the 846. The IE800 is another IEM that I absolutely love the vocal, its brighter yet smooth quality is very addicting, I bought it entirely because of that, but then I realize I can’t shake off the bass without EQ and I don’t like EQ because I almost always ended up messing other frequency (I am poor at adjusting EQ).
The ergonomics are fantastic, I can keep it on for hours and hours without having the feeling of “I have enough of this stuck in my ear the whole day” I can continue to get stuck in my ear all the way to bed time. That is what I call comfort. It’s so easy to put on thanks to the swing cable motion connector, I slip in the nuts first then swing the cable across to hook, almost all other UIEM have to twist and twist to get the nuts in. But then, I hate the sticky rubbery cable, it’s like a dead worm ..sticky & lifeless, I would luv it to be more bouncy like Whiplash new TWAu cable… Shure really give you some crab cable and give you 2 hoping you will praise them for it or they think it will give way pretty quick, in that case I prefer the former reason.
In conclusion I agree with Steve G on almost every part except the “outshine” all other IEM. I will definitely keep the shure 846 for a very long time. I went to an audiologist today and make an impression silicone sleeve from Sensaphonics. It act like a glove for the shure 846. I will post more impression with and without silicon sleeve when it arrives and also Ted’s cable. For now, the Shure 846 has join the ranks of Tralucent 1p2 & K3003 as my favorite IEM of all time.
All the above are of course, my very own opinion & experience (Ok slings and arrows comin..zup Tzing..zing)
Roscoeiii
1000+ Head-Fier
Thanks so much for the detailed impressions. Please report back on the Sensaphonics impressions. I have custom earplugs from Sensaphonics that Iove for loud live shows. They are here in Chicago, so I may break down and try those custom sleeves (or try to adapt my earplugs...).
Anyone else tried the Sensaphonic sleeves with the 846?
caracara08
Headphoneus Supremus
@Audiowood , welp that seals it. I will get these to try out. my wallet is almost dead. I need to decide on what IEM I want!
ottotron
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Great review/impressions!!
I agree that the bass comes in when needed and does not interfere when it isn't. I also have not experienced any sibilance either. The treble is bright enough but not excessive so that it's fatiguing in any way. The memory wire was bothering me so I removed them. This made them so much more comfortable and they are very easy to put on and the twisting of the wires at the connectors is not an issue due to the rotating mmcx connectors.
Thanks folks for the kind words, I will keep up with another posting on the silicon sleeve. I am so curious as this will be my first "improvised" custom iem.. Wonder if sound quality will improve like what is mention on their website. Website also mention about wearing it for long hours and more comfortable.. Hmmm it's already very comfortable without the sleeve... Very interesting..
caracara08
Headphoneus Supremus
I was hoping to get more within my budget in the sub $500 range... Now what do I do?! I'll never be happy now if I dont try the SE846.
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If you have to be more like $500, then the Fischer Amps FA-4E is an awesome alternative. The only areas where there's any lagging are ultimate low bass extension, and maybe a very slight amount of midrange recession (which is honestly only even remotely noticeable in very attentive back-to-back with the SE846).
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I got mine here second-hand, but had been emailing Thomann.de prior. They seemed like great company to deal with.
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