Shure SE846 Impressions Thread
Nov 11, 2015 at 1:45 AM Post #13,216 of 22,898
I am using fiio x5 gen 2 as source. What protobal amp do you recommend up to 250 usd.
I am thinking about fiio E12A but I am open.

I have a first Gen X5 that I used for quite a while on it's own. Then I paired it up with the E12DIY and that was that. I enjoyed the X5 on it's own but it sounds pretty lifeless and dull compared to how it sounds through the E12DIY. I am now thinking Mojo as well.
 
Nov 11, 2015 at 1:48 AM Post #13,217 of 22,898
  I've had my Shure SE215 for a year now and love them, should I upgrade to this? Is there like a massive gap between them? Worth the money?

I went from the 535's to the 846 and the difference is night and day. Well worth the money.
 
Nov 11, 2015 at 2:15 AM Post #13,218 of 22,898
Aagen, you never use the bass boost?
 
Nov 11, 2015 at 9:15 AM Post #13,219 of 22,898
  I went from the 535's to the 846 and the difference is night and day. Well worth the money.

 
I have both SE535 and SE846 and i find that statement a gross exaggeration. It's not 8pm to 8 am difference. More like a 4pm to 9pm leap.
 
SE846 is better on almost all fronts (subbass in particular) but SE535 is no slouch. Actually for relaxed listening sessions i tend to reach for the SE535.
 
Nov 11, 2015 at 9:18 AM Post #13,220 of 22,898
So based on subjective opinion, there is only a 7 hour difference between the two?    
 
Got it.   :)   
 
Nov 11, 2015 at 10:09 AM Post #13,221 of 22,898
Well 4pm to 9pm could be night and day :p
 
 
The SE846 is a very good iem however I wouldn't say it is considerably better than previous flagship iem's from 5 years ago or so. The diminishing gains hits you real hard at this price range and it's hard to determine whether that is worth it for someone else. The one thing is to not buy the SE846 at retail since you can easily get it in the FS forums or even ebay for much less. 25% off retail should not be that hard to find even new. At that price, the SE846 is much better than the 1k retail and should make the price difference a bit easier between something such as the SE535. 
 
Nov 11, 2015 at 10:14 AM Post #13,222 of 22,898
Ditto here.  I went from the SE315 to the SE535 and promptly sold the SE315.  I got the SE846 about a week and a half ago and have used them exclusively since.  Last night, I had a session with the SE535 and still find them quite listenable and enjoyable.  Granted, the SE846 does everything better than the SE535 but the SE535 is no slouch.  There was a huge difference going from the SE315 to SE535 and not nearly as big going from the SE535 to the SE846.  I'm enjoying and keeping them both.
 
Quote:
  I have both SE535 and SE846 and i find that statement a gross exaggeration. 

 
Nov 11, 2015 at 1:58 PM Post #13,223 of 22,898
  I've had my Shure SE215 for a year now and love them, should I upgrade to this? Is there like a massive gap between them? Worth the money?


I just wanted to chime in with my $0.02 worth on this, as I used to own the SE215. The SE215 is a great value-for-money IEM. It has a frequency response which is fairly similar to that of the SE846 with stock blue filters. Its low-end is quite impressive with only the smallest roll-off in the sub-bass. The upper end tends to roll off fractionally faster than that of the SE846 (with stock blue filters). Both these FR differences are small, BUT the SE846 FR can be improved (for my taste) by using modded black or modded blue filters. The other major issue for me was that the overall clarity of the SE215 just wasn't at the same level as that of the SE846. In comparison, the SE215 sounds a little coarse or grainy.  It's one of those things where you might be perfectly happy with the SE215, but once you hear something better it would be difficult to stick with the SE215s, as you'd always know what you were missing.
 
Nov 11, 2015 at 2:44 PM Post #13,224 of 22,898
The Shure SE846 is night and day better than the Shure SE535. The biggest problem I had with the Shure SE535 is the thin sounding mids and it sounds very small next to full sized headphones.

Those coloured mids of the Shure SE535 do something special with vocals though.
 
Nov 11, 2015 at 2:56 PM Post #13,225 of 22,898
 
I just wanted to chime in with my $0.02 worth on this, as I used to own the SE215. The SE215 is a great value-for-money IEM. It has a frequency response which is fairly similar to that of the SE846 with stock blue filters. Its low-end is quite impressive with only the smallest roll-off in the sub-bass. The upper end tends to roll off fractionally faster than that of the SE846 (with stock blue filters). Both these FR differences are small, BUT the SE846 FR can be improved (for my taste) by using modded black or modded blue filters. The other major issue for me was that the overall clarity of the SE215 just wasn't at the same level as that of the SE846. In comparison, the SE215 sounds a little coarse or grainy.  It's one of those things where you might be perfectly happy with the SE215, but once you hear something better it would be difficult to stick with the SE215s, as you'd always know what you were missing.


I thought that the Shure SE215 actually had more treble extension when I last listened to them. But I agree that the Shure SE215 sounds grainy.
 
Best is never listen to the Shure SE846 and be happy with the Shure SE215 
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Nov 11, 2015 at 3:12 PM Post #13,227 of 22,898
 
I thought that the Shure SE215 actually had more treble extension when I last listened to them. But I agree that the Shure SE215 sounds grainy.
 
Best is never listen to the Shure SE846 and be happy with the Shure SE215 
biggrin.gif
 

 
The Shure SE846 is night and day better than the Shure SE535. The biggest problem I had with the Shure SE535 is the thin sounding mids and it sounds very small next to full sized headphones.

Those coloured mids of the Shure SE535 do something special with vocals though.

Do you meant that SE535's Mids (Vocals) are coloured to be more thin (and less lush) than SE846 ?
 
Nov 11, 2015 at 4:01 PM Post #13,228 of 22,898
   
Do you meant that SE535's Mids (Vocals) are coloured to be more thin (and less lush) than SE846 ?

The se846 mids(blue filter) are more neutral than the sweeter,lusher mids of se535 but they lack in clarity vs se846.The sound as a whole is more congested and smaller in scale with the se535,the se846 is much more 3d and expansive. 
 
Nov 11, 2015 at 4:08 PM Post #13,230 of 22,898
The 535 struck me as mid-centric. Their coloured but very good sounding mids will pull you in on first listen. But the treble roll-off is too early in my opinion.

The 846 keeps the mids but is better balanced with the bass and treble. Not one particular aspect stands out if you use modded blue filter. It's very coherent, balanced and most of all enjoyable.
 

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