[AndrewH13]

Shure will wonder why the sudden boost of people buying filters. Reckon they put a mole in this thread to start it all off and boost profits . £5 or $5 be a fairer price to help owners.

 

[Caruryn]

Shure will wonder why the sudden boost of people buying filters. Reckon they put a mole in this thread to start it all off and boost profits . £5 or $5 be a fairer price to help owners.

You think it was olddude?

 

[bflat]

  Thanks Chodi, Caruyn, 325xia, and others. 

 
 
 
 
Thanks, guys.  Was able to remove the 'dark grey' foam, and apparently lost the white foam removed from the other end! (Now you see why I didn't mod when I first read about it).  Highs are much clearer.  Not sure I hear the difference in the lower end, yet.  Guess I'm in the market for some of those super-expensive filter replacements Moedawg was telling us about.

I'm pretty sure the filter at the "bottom" is an earwax screen so should not affect sound.

 

[AndrewH13]

I'm pretty sure the filter at the "bottom" is an earwax screen so should not affect sound.

Possibly, but if so what would be the difference between modded blues and foam-free whites?

 

[Jazzi]

 
I'm pretty sure the filter at the "bottom" is an earwax screen so should not affect sound.

I was thinking the same thing, and as I'm using the SCS, I'm hoping they won't be as needed as if using regular tips.  

 

[AndrewH13]

You think it was olddude?

Could be, LOL. He deflected praise for the blue mod by claiming someone else mentioned it first! I'm watching pono thread to see if he comes up with further mods there that result in replacement parts being needed ☺

 

[spook76]

Having modded all of the filters because I have two sets, the screen on the bottom certainly effects the sound. I use the white filters and the difference between the white and "full afterburner" (no filter) is substantial. Logic would also agree as there is no other reason the have a screen on the blues or blacks on the bottom as any debris would be caught by the foam at the top yet all three filters have the screen on the bottom.

 

[moedawg140]

Could be, LOL. He deflected praise for the blue mod by claiming someone else mentioned it first! I'm watching pono thread to see if he comes up with further mods there that result in replacement parts being needed ☺

Pretty much everything in this thread (including everything I've posted) has been talked about by other people before. Olddude, as he said, was not the first one to suggest the mod, neither was I. I wasn't even the first one to post regarding the SCS. Before I started posting about it, there was Monty Burns and another person (I gave him props in my SCS review). This thread is so awesome and so in depth that topics do get discussed multiple times, and is probably not the first time anything has been discussed unless it has to do with something like comparisons to new IEMs on the market.

It's great that the SE846 is still holding its own after all of this time on the market!

 

[bflat]

Having modded all of the filters because I have two sets, the screen on the bottom certainly effects the sound. I use the white filters and the difference between the white and "full afterburner" (no filter) is substantial. Logic would also agree as there is no other reason the have a screen on the blues or blacks on the bottom as any debris would be caught by the foam at the top yet all three filters have the screen on the bottom.

Ah, good point. I was thinking the filters themselves were different thicknesses and operated much like tuning forks. Now that I think about it the AKG K3003 use what appears to be screens for sound filters.

 

[AndrewH13]

It's great that the SE846 is still holding its own after all of this time on the market!

Its longevity is obviously a credit to its design. And unlike some aggrieved Roxanne owners following Layla's release, owners have not had to see their product overtaken as the brands top dog. Not that that makes any existing product lesser in terms of sound quality but I understand their frustration.

 

[olddude]

Yep- not me who started it so no bows from this end.  I read about it, was afraid to try it, then bit the bullet and did it and loved it.  Just save the foams.  Someone also suggested trying other cotton material in there but I have not seen a reason to try that.  
 
My Sensaphonics should be here in 3-4 days, eagerly looking forward to trying them out.  Already ordered a bottle of hearing aid lube as mentioned by moedawg (NOT the other lube that is used for other reasons!) in his review.  Of course Amazon is now inundating me with hearing aid ads.  Damn interweb!
 
Hey you kids, get off my lawn!!!

 

[Chodi]

I think the fact that the 846 has enjoyed as long life is similar to the HD800 situation. Both Shure and Sennheiser are major companies with large r&d capabilities and custom ability that all the small boutique companies can't possibly match. I'm going to go way out on a limb here and say that I think you can buy different than the 846 but not better. Sound signatures may vary between brands and some do a few things better than others but on the whole the 846 is up there with the very top iems. It is not the best at everything but is is competitive with those boutique brands selling for much more. I've invested in some well known high end iems and tried several others and none of them are better than the 846 only different in their presentation. I am certain some will disagree but I keep coming back to the 846 and marvel at all it can do right.

 

[MadGTI]

Yep- not me who started it so no bows from this end.  I read about it, was afraid to try it, then bit the bullet and did it and loved it.  Just save the foams.  Someone also suggested trying other cotton material in there but I have not seen a reason to try that.  

My Sensaphonics should be here in 3-4 days, eagerly looking forward to trying them out.  Already ordered a bottle of hearing aid lube as mentioned by moedawg (NOT the other lube that is used for other reasons!) in his review.  Of course Amazon is now inundating me with hearing aid ads.  Damn interweb!

Hey you kids, get off my lawn!!!
[/quote

Are you playing golf at your lawn?

I will modify my blue filter after the foam is clogged.

 

[olddude]

No golf, no plaid shorts, no white belts.  

 

[hockey_magnet]

Just an up date and clarification - the price I finally got from SHURE Canada for just 1 pair of blues was $40 - Makes me wonder why the price is more than double the U.S. SHURE price when the other items sold on the 2 sites are just the U.S. $ differential (20% give or take). 
 
As far as the filters go, this is from the SHURE site: "Inside the stainless steel nozzle of the SE846 is the "nozzle insert" which contains multiple levels of acoustic filtering material which shapes the sound of the high mid frequencies. This filtering material is delicate, and could be damaged or destroyed by using the nozzle cleaning tool. If this were to happen, the sound of the earphone would change, requiring replacement of the nozzle insert. Replacing the nozzle insert isn't a difficult process, but it would mean having to order replacement parts. We chose to not include a tool that could damage the product, especially since the nozzle is removable and can be fully disassembled for cleaning."
 
Clearly the material at the earphone end of the nozzle is not just a wax guard, etc. Speaking from my own experience there is no doubt that that 'white stuff" is also a functional filter. My modded blues, now known as the "'open tube blues" 

 are definitely not as smooth as the whites which have no foam but DO have the material at the earphone end. While they are not quite as harsh as no filters and sound super clear and open, it is not a very nice listening experience IMHO. 
 
If anyone's interested, here are part numbers for some of these components. Note that SHURE calls the plastic inserts "nozzles" but they also call the metal tubes 'nozzles' as well. Where it says "nozzle inserts" they are referring to the entire plastic insert including the foam ,etc.:
 
RPE846NSRTS nozzle inserts (3 pairs)

RPE846NZLNSRT-WRM 2 nozzle black (warm)
RPE846NZLNSRT-BRT 2 nozzle white (bright)
RPE846NZLNSRT-bal 2 nozzle blue (balanced)

We also sell the tool if you lost it,

RPE846NZLTOOL

And the nozzle itself + threaded collar.

RPE846NZL