So in short, if my se846's appear to be lacking in the bass department, then something's wrong?
When I saw you initial post, I thought it was April Flool’s Day, except we are way past that date.
If your SE846 has less”bas” than your iPod ear pieces, then something is DEFINITELY wrong. But, do not panick!
1. Check the fit of the tips. The large size is no guaranty of good fit—as it was mentioned before, the tips can fold and cause leaks. Try different sizes and different types (foam and silicon) to ensure perfect. If you stick your fingers into your ear canals and hold them tightly, you should get a good seal. Then you hear this funny sound which is the sound of silence. You should hear the same thing with well-fitted tips. If you don’t, you found your problem.
2. If you succeeded in step 1and still get no bass, still do not pay nick...yet. Take the little gadget for filter replacement and use it to tighten the sound tubes to get a tight seal with the body of the earpieces—you have to remove the tips first, of course. If you used the foam tips, that may take some encouragement as the friction is strong against the external walls of the tubes. Hint: if you plan on changing the tips again later, use a little clean water to lubricate the outside of the tubes and ease the removal and insertion of the tips later.
3. If both steps failed to get you a good bass, them you definitely have a problem. You may have a defective pair of SE846, or a very bad counterfeit. If you bought the IEM from an authorized dealer, then I think is likely the former case. Return the pair for a new one. If you bought it very cheap from an unauthorized dealer or second-hand from an individual, then it could still be defective but it is more likely a fake. Externally, it is very hard to tell the difference—I have the same problems with mechanical watches that I collect. Externally, the clones look virtually identical to the real thing, even to professional eyes. I have to open the watches and look at the movements inside, the heart of the watch, then I can easily tell the difference. In the case of the SE846, The proof is in the sound of course.
Unfortunately, iit appears that you may not have a reference sound for comparison. So it may be hard for you to tell. Maybe you could find a friend with a good pair of SE846, or a person in this Forum living near you, or an authorized Shure dealer to help you do the comparison. A real pair of SE846; should give you the so-called sub-bass (between 20 to 40 Hz or so, like the lowest organ sound, which many can mostly feel rather than hear), good bass (about 80 to about 40 to 60 Hz, the deep sound of bass guitar) and good upper bass (about 60 to 200 Hz or so, the sounds of many bass guitars and big drums) because the 846 are somewhat boosted in these areas. At any event, the sub-bass, mid-bass and to a lesser extent the upper-bass should be way more audible than with your iPod ear pieces. BTW, what are you using for player/amplifier with the SE846?
In short, if the fit of the ear tips and the seating of the sound tubes are fine and still you get no bass, your SE846 is either defective or a fake. For help figuring out fakes, please read the many earlier posts in this thread dealing with this area.