[waveSounds]

My pet hate is when people use "looser" for "loser"

 

[FactoryStock]

ah so since were on the topic of pet peeves allow me to chime in too and that is typing as though all punctuation marks dont exist and resulting in run on sentences such as this verbal diarrhoea here and not to mention wrong usage of "too" and "to" but the best one I've seen so. Far though is the wrong positioning of full. Stops

Phew. Not funny when it happens you now, doesn't it?

 

[John Culter]

There is a huge issue on headfi with people pluaralising words. The plural of treble is TREBLE.
There's also this very informative review by Lord Victor Halgaard which indicates he hears the 846 to be very neutral. His other reviews are excellent as well.

Yes, this reviewer is quite right. SE846 are very neutral with elevated bass. Their FR measurement is almost identical to 'neutrality king' Prophile 8 with bass switch ON. There is no such a thing as 'high freq roll off" stated by many. They perhaps like more harsh or V shaped elevated high frequencies. But it is just their taste, not the fault of the earphone being rolled off in the high region SE846 are remarkable piece, despite they are quite some time on the market already.

 

[waveSounds]

New favourite tips on the 846, the RHA silicons:

 

[Mej35]

Has anyone tried a pure silver cable with the se846's? Any changes in their signature?

 

[zolom]

I did, a long while ago. Compared with the original Shure cables that came with the SE846, the sound became slightly more airy. The improvement was (as far as I remember) in the upper treble area. Though, it was not too significant (for me).

 

[plakat]

Yes, this reviewer is quite right. SE846 are very neutral with elevated bass. Their FR measurement is almost identical to 'neutrality king' Prophile 8 with bass switch ON. There is no such a thing as 'high freq roll off" stated by many. They perhaps like more harsh or V shaped elevated high frequencies. But it is just their taste, not the fault of the earphone being rolled off in the high region SE846 are remarkable piece, despite they are quite some time on the market already.

I came to the same conclusion, having them for what is now about 3 years, using them on and off. Right now they are my main mobile in-ear because I switched them to the Shure Bluetooth cable (I just love this, a wireless... cable) and can now use them with what is my main mobile source of music: an iPhone.

Some months after I initially got them, I switched to something else and always remembered them as 'too warm, not enough treble'. I do like airy, sparkling treble... but after getting used to the SE846 (again) I don't miss anything in that regard. It never bites, but its detailed and present in just the right amount. Yes, the low end is a bit north of neutral, but I appreciate that. Especially on the go. Plus they isolate so well (with standard Shure foam tips) that I don't miss ANC even a bit. They are now one of my oldest sets, which I consider quite an accomplishment given how many went through my hands in the last few years (both headphones and in-ears). Really well done.

 

[michnix]

How does the bluetooth connection compare to a regular cabled one, soundwise?

 

[plakat]

How does the bluetooth connection compare to a regular cabled one, soundwise?

Since changing connection takes much too long (pulling them out, switching cable, adjusting volume, putting them back in) for comparing details, I did not do that comparison. For me it works fine, sounds good and solves my problem.
For a comparison I'd have to switch to my AK380, but the Shure cable does not support aptX (it does support AAC though). Getting both cable and bluetooth to exact the same level seems unrealistic when trying to switch around and I don't have the means to measure volume.

Judging from what the SE846 is capable of, I think the rather simple Bluetooth cable does not do them justice (i.e. they would sound even better cabled out of a good DAP). But I prefer this solution to the Apple Lightning dongle (or any other such dongle) when listening on the go.

 

[csglinux]

Bluetooth is good only for convenience, IMHO. All the BT cables I've tried suck for sound quality and have nasty noise floors with the SE846. The best portable BT receiver I've used is the Shanling M0. It's an awesome little device that's also a DAP. It can act as a BT LDAC receiver (very close to wired SQ) and has a perfectly black background with the SE846. This isn't going to help iPhone users though, because iPhones don't support any BT codecs better than AAC (and aren't ever likely to either, because Apple likes the royalty $$$$s to flow only one way).

As for silver cables, I made some measurements a while ago with the SE846:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/shure-se846-impressions-thread.675219/page-1207#post-13644650

I have a theory (which may be wrong, it's just a theory) that the FR will have an asymptotic limit when the material and/or cable thickness is sufficient that the impedance, to all intents and purposes, goes to zero. In other words, if you have a very thick-gauge wire, going thicker still, (or switching to a better conductor, like Ag) won't make much/any difference. I'd be interested to know if anybody has any experience to the contrary?

 

[SubMash]

How does the bluetooth connection compare to a regular cabled one, soundwise?

I tested a lot of BT devices with 846 - Radsone Earstudio ES100 is by far the best and it's below 100$.
It has an output impedance of 0.5Ohm on balanced and unbalanced outputs which is what you need to deal with such low impedance earplugs.

Check the thread - with LDAC, APTX-HD and AAC support and tons of features on the app - there is no competition for now.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/radsone-earstudio.867366/

Shure BT cable is crap.

P.S. AAC is very good BT codec, don't listen to anyone who says the opposite.

 

[SubMash]

I have a theory (which may be wrong, it's just a theory) that the FR will have an asymptotic limit when the material and/or cable thickness is sufficient that the impedance, to all intents and purposes, goes to zero. In other words, if you have a very thick-gauge wire, going thicker still, (or switching to a better conductor, like Ag) won't make much/any difference. I'd be interested to know if anybody has any experience to the contrary?

You want to have a total impedance of cable + output impedance at least 8 times lower than an impedance of headphones. 846 lowest point is 5Ohm. ES100 BT, for example, is 0.5Ohm. You want your cable below 0.125Ohm then. Stock 846 cable is 0.100 Ohm. Keep it like that with any new cables and material of cable doesn't matter. Many DAC/DAP nowadays have stupid high output impedance, so they inevitably would shift FR from what it's supposed to be.

You certainly don't want too much of cable material since that would make excessive capacitance and that would color sound as a simple filter.
So using copper is always a good choice. Silver can decrease demand for gauge 5% while cost increases 5 times. Doesn't worth it.

For balanced connect it makes sense to use twisted wire of positive twisting around negative. Twisting just one side does nothing at all.

 

[rlyely]

Hi all,

Is there a all around balanced cable people recommend? I'm running the S215 cable, would it be a major upgrade?

Thanks

 

[michnix]

Earstudio ES100

Thanks for you tip.

It seems like it is not possible to order this thing to Norway, though...

 

[davidcotton]

Thanks for you tip.

It seems like it is not possible to order this thing to Norway, though...

Think amazon uk would ship to norway wouldn't they? In stock there.