[Gudedomo]

As an owner of the SE846's since they launched several years ago, I'm 100% positive the only version that came out in the beginning was clear. The blue/black/bronze colors weren't available till like a year or two later.

 

[joefig44]

How would the sound on the Sennheiser HD1 compare to the Shure SE846?

I would be driving it from an iPhone and from a MacBook Pro (no amp or DAC).

My listening is 90% classic rock/alt rock/progressive rock/modern rock

 

[tjl5709]

How would the sound on the Sennheiser HD1 compare to the Shure SE846?

I would be driving it from an iPhone and from a MacBook Pro (no amp or DAC).

My listening is 90% classic rock/alt rock/progressive rock/modern rock

It depends on the files you are feeding it. If you are going to be feeding low quality lossy files, I would not spend the money. If you have 320 kb MP3 or better yet, FLAC files, it will be much improved. You are asking to compare a single driver bluetooth HP to a wired multidriver audiophile HP. There is no comparison really.

 

[csglinux]

How would the sound on the Sennheiser HD1 compare to the Shure SE846?

I would be driving it from an iPhone and from a MacBook Pro (no amp or DAC).

My listening is 90% classic rock/alt rock/progressive rock/modern rock

First off, congrats on listening to absolutely the right genre of music!

As much as I love the SE846, I'm also a bit cautious about recommending them to you. Depending on whether you have a newer or older iPhone, you'll have either 1) silly dongles with a somewhat reduced dynamic range that connect to a proprietary digital port that doesn't always play nice with external USB devices, or 2) a HO impedance of about 5 Ohm, which is starting to get a bit high for the SE846. The SE846 has significant impedance swings with frequency, but is around 8 Ohm at 1 kHz. The iPhone can make it sound a little bass-heavy. (You may or may not like that.) But the MacBook is more of a problem. The SE846 easily shows up its noise floor (hiss).

I also have a MacBook and an iPad (I stopped buying iPhones when they ditched the headphone jack) and I understand how difficult it is once you're trapped in Apple's ecosystem. It's like smoking - just as insidious, just as bad for you and everyone around you, and equally difficult to quit. I don't think I'd recommend the SE846 unless you were also prepared to also buy something like a Dragonfly Red (or Black) or some other good-quality DAC that you could use with both your Apple devices. (The MacBook will be the bigger problem with the SE846.) But you've said you don't want to use an amp or DAC - in which case, you might just be better off buying a higher-impedance IEM I would check out the excellent FLC8S (or the newer models FLC8N, FLC8D or Celeste that are coming out next month).

Good luck!

 

[joefig44]

First off, congrats on listening to absolutely the right genre of music!

As much as I love the SE846, I'm also a bit cautious about recommending them to you. Depending on whether you have a newer or older iPhone, you'll have either 1) silly dongles with a somewhat reduced dynamic range that connect to a proprietary digital port that doesn't always play nice with external USB devices, or 2) a HO impedance of about 5 Ohm, which is starting to get a bit high for the SE846. The SE846 has significant impedance swings with frequency, but is around 8 Ohm at 1 kHz. The iPhone can make it sound a little bass-heavy. (You may or may not like that.) But the MacBook is more of a problem. The SE846 easily shows up its noise floor (hiss).

I also have a MacBook and an iPad (I stopped buying iPhones when they ditched the headphone jack) and I understand how difficult it is once you're trapped in Apple's ecosystem. It's like smoking - just as insidious, just as bad for you and everyone around you, and equally difficult to quit. I don't think I'd recommend the SE846 unless you were also prepared to also buy something like a Dragonfly Red (or Black) or some other good-quality DAC that you could use with both your Apple devices. (The MacBook will be the bigger problem with the SE846.) But you've said you don't want to use an amp or DAC - in which case, you might just be better off buying a higher-impedance IEM I would check out the excellent FLC8S (or the newer models FLC8N, FLC8D or Celeste that are coming out next month).

Good luck!

Thanks, it's the only genre for me. The advice sounds good on the SE846 paired with my iPhone/Mac. Would you say the FLC8S matches it in sound quality (just different signature)? How would you describe the difference between the SE846 and the FLC8S?

Finally, any other IEMs (or even CIEMSs) that would be good options for me (i.e. no DAC, etc.).

While I'll listen to them wired most of the time, when I'm commuting I'll likely invest in some bluetooth strap for them so I'm not tethered to my phone. Any suggestions on a good bluetooth strap also?

Background:

I've had ATH-M50 for 5-6 years and they are ok, but I'm looking to make the jump to much better sound. I also own a pair of Jaybird X2 (wireless), so I would imagine either the FLC8S or whatever you suggest would blow either of those out of the water acoustically?

 

[sha007]

Is se846's mmcx connectors are different than the standard mccx connector? Bought a Brainwavz Candy Cane balanced cable. I can hear the "click" sound when I connect the earpiece with the mmcx connector. But it is not well secured as the original one. It's quite loose and when I move my head while listening music, sometimes the signal looses connection. What should I do now? BTW, my earpiece in the last photo.

Edit : One man is explaining that normal mmcx connectors will not work with se846.

 

[moedawg140]

Is se846's mmcx connectors are different than the standard mccx connector? Bought a Brainwavz Candy Cane balanced cable. I can hear the "click" sound when I connect the earpiece with the mmcx connector. But it is not well secured as the original one. It's quite loose and when I move my head while listening music, sometimes the signal looses connection. What should I do now? BTW, my earpiece in the last photo.

Edit : One man is explaining that normal mmcx connectors will not work with se846.

How I would combat your issue is that I would contact Ted Allen at tedallen0220@gmail.com, and have him reterminate the Candy Cane connectors with his SE846-compatible connectors.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

 

[sha007]

How I would combat your issue is that I would contact Ted Allen at tedallen0220@gmail.com, and have him reterminate the Candy Cane connectors with his SE846-compatible connectors.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Never mind, I was not pushing the connectors hard enough before. Before, I stopped pushing when I heard a "click" sound. But It's suppose to be 2 "click" sound (last one when rotating the connector a bit while pushing). Shure manual sucks.

Anyways thanks for the reply.

 

[moedawg140]

Never mind, I was not pushing the connectors hard enough before. Before, I stopped pushing when I heard a "click" sound. But It's suppose to be 2 "click" sound (last one when rotating the connector a bit while pushing). Shure manual sucks.

Anyways thanks for the reply.

Glad you got it working for you!

 

[Djwuk]

You used to be able to check if your Shure headphones are fake or not by entering the headphone code here http://english.t3315.com/default.aspx

 

[ZappaMan]

You used to be able to check if your Shure headphones are fake or not by entering the headphone code here http://english.t3315.com/default.aspx

I don’t have a cc code - I have a serial number which looks similar.

I suppose the counterfeiters could just copy a valid code and replicate it on the counterfeit items?

 

[ropie]

I don’t have a cc code - I have a serial number which looks similar.

I suppose the counterfeiters could just copy a valid code and replicate it on the counterfeit items?

You should be able to hear the difference between genuine and fakes

If you dont hear it, you might as well buy fakes

 

[ZappaMan]

You should be able to hear the difference between genuine and fakes

If you dont hear it, you might as well buy fakes

A very philosophical point. But if you’d never heard the real, and perhaps some cheaper se535 or something had been used instead.

Earlier a guy posted saying his were fakes but sounded fantastic.

It’s a mine field - philosophically !

 

[csglinux]

A very philosophical point. But if you’d never heard the real, and perhaps some cheaper se535 or something had been used instead.

Earlier a guy posted saying his were fakes but sounded fantastic.

It’s a mine field - philosophically !

Very true. Some IEMs (in particular, the IE800) have been flattered with some very authentic looking/sounding imitations. Some of the fakes are so good, you'd never be able to tell the difference unless you also had the genuine article available for a careful A/B.

P.S. On careful listening, you'll usually find the fakes do a poorer job of the treble, with resonance peaks lower in the frequency spectrum.

 

[ropie]

A very philosophical point. But if you’d never heard the real, and perhaps some cheaper se535 or something had been used instead.

Earlier a guy posted saying his were fakes but sounded fantastic.

It’s a mine field - philosophically !

Interesting point of view

But I reckon that for most (if not all) of us people who spend this kind of money on on audio gear, the 846 is not their first pair of headhones or IEM's
One picks up the audio virus on the way, starting with cheaper and or lesser quality gear (at least, that's how it went for me)
Stepping up a level or two in sound quality every once and a while,

Following that route in audio desease/addiction, philosophically speaking, there is no genuine or fake; if it sounds good, it sounds good.
So just trust your ears
And in the case of the 846 even better, They should not sound good; they sound sweeeet!