[Tony1110]

With high output impedance, these earphones are not good. You get a large dip in the high mids/highs. Try and find my post in this thread, I made a graph to show the effect of different impedances. Sorry... On my phone and too lazy to do it myself

The beauty of this is that you can pick up a DAP like DX90 or Fiio X5 for a reasonable price knowing that you're going to get 98% of the SE846 performance. They may be a bit picky with regards to output impedance but they don't need loads of power or a top class DAC to sound great.

On a budget I dare say you could buy one of those iFi impedance things and get good performance from a smartphone.

 

[Gosod]

With high output impedance, these earphones are not good. You get a large dip in the high mids/highs. Try and find my post in this thread, I made a graph to show the effect of different impedances. Sorry... On my phone and too lazy to do it myself

buy a computer.
it will make "searching" easier for you.

 

[Imperfectionist]

I'm thinking of getting x5 3rd gen to pair with 846, but fiio has indicated as much that super sensitive iems will hiss. Kinda sad.

 

[csglinux]

I'm thinking of getting x5 3rd gen to pair with 846, but fiio has indicated as much that super sensitive iems will hiss. Kinda sad.

I'm curious to find that out. X5ii background is perfectly black, but all the X7 amps (apart from am2) hiss with the SE846 (even am1, which was supposedly designed for IEMs). I've not yet heard any reports of the SE846 with the X5iii.

Can somebody who knows about amp circuits explain why it's so hard to make amps that don't hiss?

 

[thefitz]

I'm thinking of getting x5 3rd gen to pair with 846, but fiio has indicated as much that super sensitive iems will hiss. Kinda sad.

Why not pair it with an E12A?

 

[Skyyyeman]

This is a copy of my reply about the 846 that I just posted in the Mojo thread, in response to the comments by pfurey89 shown below. I also thought it would be useful in this thread:

 

 

The 846 is extremely underwhelming.

I would try or look into,

Campfire Audio Andromeda or Vega
64 Audio U8, U10, or U12
Noble K10
Fitear 334

All can be had for a grand or so used. Will outperform 846 all day.

 

​My reply:
As SP Wild mentioned above, this is all very subjective.

​I had the K10U and Fitear 334U for awhile and was able to compare them directly with my 846 (which had SpinFits and Headphone Lounge Reference Silver Liitz cable -- which took the 846 to another level,)
 
Using the Mojo, to me the 846 was preferable overall. The K10 and Fitear 334 were superior in some ways to the 846 but inferior in others. The K10 and 334 had more detail, were faster and cleaner and had more treble (too much imo, which I did not like.) Bass was very good, especially in the K10, which I felt also had a bit more of everything versus the Fitear. But to me the Shure had a richer, warmer, more musical, more powerful dynamic sound that was more enjoyable and more "fun", especially with contemporary music. Even with jazz and classical the richness and bass of the 846 provided a firmer more gounded "foundation" to the music that added substance and gravitas. The others sounded thinner by comparison, especially the 334.  Yet, the Shure still had plenty of detail. In terms of personal usage, I also tried all three outdoors in a small park near a busy avenue in Manhattan where there was lots of car noise. The Shure was the only one to carry through the noise adequately because of the above characteristics. If I could find an IEM with the characteristics of the Shure coupled with some additional detail as with the K10, that would be ideal for me. Until then the SE846 is the one for me.

​

 

[Imperfectionist]

Why not pair it with an E12A?

I'm not interested in e12a. I would like something portable that can function as DAC amp and preferably with small form factor.
Mojo is too thick.

 

[thefitz]

I'm not interested in e12a. I would like something portable that can function as DAC amp and preferably with small form factor.
Mojo is too thick.

I haven't had a problem with my X5ii without the E12A. However, it's not as fancy as the 3rd gen.

 

[Imperfectionist]

I haven't had a problem with my X5ii without the E12A. However, it's not as fancy as the 3rd gen.

Some users of x5 2nd gen has stated that its pitch black with super sensitive iems. But x5 III is more attractive.
If x5 III turns out to be incompatible with se846, I will give it a miss then

 

[twice tzuyu]

Does the Sony zx2 pair well with the se846?

 

[325xia]

I just noticed my right side IEM on the 846 is loose. I can move the nozzle and see it moving inside the clear area. The left one is intact. Doesn't seem to affect the SQ at all. Just a loose housing. I tightened everything with the supplied Nozzle Tool. Still moves. Anything to worry about? Thx bought it new a couple of years ago. Probably out of Warranty.

 

[thefitz]

I just noticed my right side IEM on the 846 is loose. I can move the nozzle and see it moving inside the clear area. The left one is intact. Doesn't seem to affect the SQ at all. Just a loose housing. I tightened everything with the supplied Nozzle Tool. Still moves. Anything to worry about? Thx bought it new a couple of years ago. Probably out of Warranty.

I bet the nozzle itself isn't seated properly. Try taking it out, reseating it, and putting it back on

 

[325xia]

I bet the nozzle itself isn't seated properly. Try taking it out, reseating it, and putting it back on

It is seated properly. If you hold the housing, (the plastic part), and move the Nozzle you can see all the components inside move along with Nozzle as the housing stays stationary. Just one IEM does this. They still work/sound fine. Just something I noticed this evening. Thanks for the reply. I should also note that it is a very slight movement. Not like it's going to fall apart I believe.

 

[killbill]

Hey folks. I'm close to pulling the trigger on the 846s Iv read a few posts on this thread about manufacturing dates. Is it pretty easy to check when your IEMs where manufactured?
Thanks.

 

[Kramer01]

I'm thinking of getting x5 3rd gen to pair with 846, but fiio has indicated as much that super sensitive iems will hiss. Kinda sad.

Buy a dragonfly Red and the dragontail if you are on Android or CCK if you use iOS.  Less than 1 ohm output impedance and now supports MQA as well. I think this setup should work for you.