[SomeGuyDude]

  After reading your post... i went to look at my 846...
to my horror... both sides of my 846 has the same bridged soldering...
is it supposed to be bridged or this is a manufacturing error?

 
So do both of mine. I also dug around and it looks like that soldering is on every image as far as I can tell. If anything, the error might be that the soldering popped off on this one, or equally possible is that it has less to do with the sound than we think. It's not like we know exactly how these things function.

 

[PChoon]

   
So do both of mine. I also dug around and it looks like that soldering is on every image as far as I can tell. If anything, the error might be that the soldering popped off on this one, or equally possible is that it has less to do with the sound than we think. It's not like we know exactly how these things function.

 
@SomeGuyDude i get wat you are trying to say.
i do hope its not a manufacturing error. *fingers crossed*
 
with my day to day contact with mobile phones and computer mother boards if those 3 components are meant to be jointed together.
It should be joint on the pcb tracks not bridging just like tat with solder. well i maybe wrong.
its just tat to me its really uncommon to find components joint like tat.

 

[HiFiChris]

My SE846 has the same bridge solderingon both earpieces and I guess that's the norm.
 
Are there any Shure employees on Head-Fi?

 

[PChoon]

  My SE846 has the same bridge solderingon both earpieces and I guess that's the norm.
 
Are there any Shure employees on Head-Fi?

 
i'm hoping its the norm.
and i'm not blowing this out of proportions.
after replying just now i went to google the images of SE846 i see the joint is not consistent. some are joint some are not.
i have emailed shure and let's see wat they say.

 

[Mitchell4500]

All your responses are interesting. Here is what I can say about the difference in my IEMs...
 
My first two (Left and right) that came out of the box, neither had the soldering bridge. I remember explicitly they did not because I remember looking at the crossover when I first got them and admiring how everything was soldered so well. I think I might even have some pictures. Ill look.
 
This set I have now, one is bridge and one is not. There is a noticeable change in tone. I most noticed the difference in tone with the tone generator I used on-line: http://plasticity.szynalski.com/tone-generator.htm  The left side seemed to reproduce the tone just as the right did but with an added high pitch tone in the background. Kinda sounded off the the side, only slightly noticeable.
 
I also heard fuzziness and very light static/pink noise in the back ground in the bass/ intro sounds of this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqeW9_5kURI
To be specific about the song I mean the very first few seconds where it is quiet and the is the clicking. If you have the issue in the background I noticed a fuzziness of the bass/low mids.
 
I first started suspecting the trouble when I was watching the sopranos. I kept hearing the fuzz in the left channel when people were speaking. I thought it might just be the TV show, but then I tried other sources and the test only to confirm it was different.
 
 
I know for sure my left side sounds different. I dont know if it is because of the solder joint or not, but it is the only visible flaw I could find in the IEM, so I highly suspect that is the reasoning.

 

[Mitchell4500]

Here are some images of crossovers I have found.
 

 

 

 

 
 
Here are my old ones. The best photos I could find of the bottom:
 
 

 

 
its hard to tell in the bottom one if it were bridge. I highly suspect it was not. That was also my right side where my left side is the one acting up now.
 
 
Perhaps the solder joint does not matter. The black chip could be connected to the other piece anyway via the PCB. All I know is I am definitely hearing a defect in my left IEM.

 

[Mitchell4500]

Sorry for so many responses at once guys.
 
I am also noticing that my Left IEM is wired differently. Most particularly one of the red wires from the drivers going directly too the base of one of the resistors and not a pad. There appears to be a pad un-used.
 
For comparison look at some of the photos I posted.
 
 

 
its very hard to see where the actual traces go.

 

[heavenhated]

I just got a new pair a week back and can confirm the soldering to be exactly the same way posted here on both hears. My X5 is on the way and hoping to hear a difference from my currently source of a mobile phone. Lost my X1 player and now have to contend with S5. Not great though but manageable.

 

[Mitchell4500]

Just got off the phone with shure. Doing a 1 day exchange on the left earphone. They supplied the shipping label and such. Which is nice.
 
Talked to Anthony. 
 

 

[AndrewH13]

Just got off the phone with shure. Doing a 1 day exchange on the left earphone. They supplied the shipping label and such. Which is nice.

Talked to Anthony. 

Did they confirm a wiring problem?

Glad you sorted so quickly.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

I think people need to stop scrutinizing these things considering we're looking an absurdly intricate piece of technology fully-formed from the outside of it. If there's a flaw in the audio, there's a flaw in the audio. I sent mine back a few months ago because one earpiece was acting up and they actually gave me a whole new pair. Sitting around with a flashlight analyzing solder points and circuitry for inconsistencies that none of us can even accurately determine is a surefire way to have everyone paranoid that there are flaws that aren't actually present.
 
I love the look of these, but I do wonder if maybe it would have been more prudent for Shure to go the route of Westone/Heir/Noble and make the shells opaque. I really hope people don't start suddenly "hearing differences" in theirs after seeing this or that and believing it's a manufacturing defect.

 

[pacman46]

I think people need to stop scrutinizing these things considering we're looking an absurdly intricate piece of technology fully-formed from the outside of it. If there's a flaw in the audio, there's a flaw in the audio. I sent mine back a few months ago because one earpiece was acting up and they actually gave me a whole new pair. Sitting around with a flashlight analyzing solder points and circuitry for inconsistencies that none of us can even accurately determine is a surefire way to have everyone paranoid that there are flaws that aren't actually present.

I love the look of these, but I do wonder if maybe it would have been more prudent for Shure to go the route of Westone/Heir/Noble and make the shells opaque. I really hope people don't start suddenly "hearing differences" in theirs after seeing this or that and believing it's a manufacturing defect.

+1 very well said

 

[Mitchell4500]

Inconsistencies are inconsistencies. Especially when it effects the sound. And for $1000 dollar headphones that's unacceptable.

I wouldn't have found the solder or even the wire if the left side functioned correctly.

Long time shure customer. Owning several of their microphones I've never had a problem with any of there stuff except for the 846, given the premium I paid because of the faith in their brand I expect the best.

Good on them tho for helping me out.

The Rep did not confirm that the solder was a defect or not. But he did seem to think that it was possible the wire or solder could have caused issue.

Frankly I believe the solder wouldn't be a problem because I've seen several 846 with this and several members have said their items have this too but reported no problem.

I would be more suspect of the wire if anything. I couldn't find any pictures of the 846 left side or right with the wire in that place. But who knows.

 

[threephi]

 

  Wow, great job zeroing in very quickly on exactly what the problem was, as well as the underlying cause.  It's a bit disturbing that this kind of sloppy manufacturing error 1) occurred in the first place and 2) there was no QC procedure to catch it.

I hope Shure are appropriately grateful that you brought this to their attention, and that you finally get a working set of monitors soon!

 
Oh come on. These are insanely intricate pieces of hardware, at least one portion of which is hand-made by a single man in Japan. To expect there never to be an error is to somehow believe that no manufactured products have faults in them. 

I would call these "intricate" but not "insanely intricate" by a long shot, after all we're not talking about a Mars rover or a chip fab here.  Soldering exterior connections is the kind of automated manufacturing step which can be performed with very high precision these days, and in the case under consideration, inspected visually without too much trouble, so I stand by what I wrote.  Or is there just the one guy doing all the soldering and QC by hand?

I'm also curious where I said anything about errors never occurring?  My point was about preventing and catching them.

 

[interpolate]

Mars Rover comment is the best one this week.