I just got one of these. The SE846 sound amazing to my ears however a bit congested. I wish there was a filter that was something between blue and white. Since I got mine used, upon opening them I saw that the outer gasket (Oring? It looks like it seats in a channel) was damaged. I measured it under a magnifying glass and as far as I can tell its 6mm ID x 0.5mm CS Silicone O-ring which has been flattened by the threaded ring. I'm betting that Shure did not mean this to be a user serviceable item. I did some research and found a seller on amazon that carries this size. I would like to specify that I have no affiliation with the seller whatsoever and have yet to receive the product to see if it actually fits, but if they send what they advertise it should be a perfect fit. Its even black and of the right material.
Which filter do you prefer? I'm also kinda new to them and I always oscillate between blue and white. I haven't even tried black as the treble is already too rolled off with blue for me. They're great anyways, nothing compares to 846 for when I need some raw, visceral power, impact. Metal goes great on these.
I just got one of these. The SE846 sound amazing to my ears however a bit congested. I wish there was a filter that was something between blue and white.
Look up "Blue filter mod", it's the closet to what you're wanting to do (a sound signature between blue and white filters). The "mod" is simply removing one of the two foam pieces out of each blue filter. This opens up the treble slightly. It was a valuable improvement for many folks (including myself).
Which filter do you prefer? I'm also kinda new to them and I always oscillate between blue and white. I haven't even tried black as the treble is already too rolled off with blue for me. They're great anyways, nothing compares to 846 for when I need some raw, visceral power, impact. Metal goes great on these.
I don't know if this question was directed at me at all, but I got mine used so they came only with the blue filters. I read though that many think that the white filters have too much sibilance. Today I actually tried something different. I took the filters out completely and cut a small foam strip to put into each nozzle 3mm x 3mm x 7mm. I rolled it up and put it in each nozzle, flush with the outer opening. The foam is not dense at all, its the stuff that shoulder pads in jackets are filled with. Anyway, its definitely brighter than the blue filter but not so much that high notes are unpleasant. I think the sound waves actually bouncing off metal components, and not a plastic tube, compensates for the warming effect of the foam. The cymbals are no longer way in the background.
Look up "Blue filter mod", it's the closet to what you're wanting to do (a sound signature between blue and white filters). The "mod" is simply removing one of the two foam pieces out of each blue filter. This opens up the treble slightly. It was a valuable improvement for many folks (including myself).
Yes, I read about this mod and was actually attempting it until I realized I had accidentally pulled off one of the red o-rings from the filters. I spent the next hour looking everywhere for it but did not find it. So now I had a good filter and one without an o-ring. It was a face-palm moment. That's when I started experimenting with various lengths of foam inserts I cut from a shoulder pad out of a jacket. I still would like to buy a kit that has all 3 original filters though. Perhaps someone has a part number from Shure... or would like to sell me the ones they no longer use?
Got a pair late last year and was sort of meh on the using a Dragonfly Red and the white filters. I switched to the black filters and found the sound much more to my liking. I also have been using them at home with an Aune X7s stack and they sound even better, I really am liking this combo.
I found out today that the outside seal / o-ring is available directly from Shure. The part number is 66A20142. Hopefully this helps someone who like me started looking for aftermarket options.
Got a used set of SE846 from Chodi here on the forum and I think I‘m ready to post some impressions...
What I found out after playing with them for a few days, is - they are very critical in terms of finding matching tips. And it‘s not only about a good seal. I had many tips that gave me good seal, but the sound was off, too much bass, dark...
Only the tips allowing for a very deep insertion work for me, creating a very balanced and transparent sound.
So, now I understand why some people might find those earphones dark or too bass heavy. It’s definitively not a case for me with deep insertion. Best work triple flanges. If I take double flanges (triple shortened by the last segment), they provide exactly the same seal, but the sound is off. It also too dark with foam olives...
So, if you find that SE846 doesn’t deliver on treble - try triple flanges...
UPDATE: This gives you a very clear but warm sound. For a flat EQ setup using these filters scroll down to my next post with a picture.
So, the last couple of weeks I've explored different setups with the black filter. I came to the conclusion that the black filter with one foam far from the attenuator makes it useable. Today I was looking at the white filter and thought to myself: "Everyone is always removing foams, what would you sound like with 2 foams pushed against the attenuator?" ......It sounded ok. But for some reason snare drums sounded unnaturally loud with this setup, something I noticed across different songs.... So I added a third piece of foam expecting to get something way too muffled and dark...and I couldn't believe my ears. The snare drums went back in their place. The sound was full but it was neither bassy nor dark... and the sparkle of the high notes was still there. The low-mids were no longer overpowering everything. The high-mids and low-mids are the same volume with this setup.
The white filters with 3 foams sound clear, full, and never harsh! This is what it looks like:
The foams I used were the ones in the stock blues and 2 of the ones from the blacks. I just ordered the pillbox with all the filters from Shure to experiment. I did notice that the foams included in the new set of filters were slightly longer but that was due to the cut not being 100% perpendicular. When comparing the length of the section that seals against the inner wall of the tube, they are about the same.
A bigger issue I had with these filters (ordered directly from Shure) was that with the black set 1 of them had 1 foam and the other had 2.
Going back to this mod, its essentially the Trishd mod done with the white filters and with the addition of a third foam.
This morning I revisited the white filter and simply recreated the configuration of a stock blue but with the white one instead. I suggest this setup over the previous posted one. To me this is what the blue filters should have been. The first foam is pushed tight against the attenuator. The second is flush with the opening of the tube. I would describe the perceived equalizer as VERY flat. This mod makes the SE846 into an excellent uncolored monitor (my opinion of course). Its also the one that sounds best to me when listening at low volumes.
I simply used the the foams from the blue filters. Here is what this mod looks like:
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