Shure SE846 Impressions Thread
Aug 22, 2020 at 7:20 AM Post #20,987 of 22,899
I am considering the SE846 and will be using it with a DAC/ Amp with 16-600 Ohm output impedance.
What would that mean plugging in the SE846 which has an impedance of 9 Ohm?
Will work? Or the sound is not optimzed?

Also how much should i be paying for a SE846 today, where I am, it is going for more than 1KUSD.

I'm quite sure they state the range of headphone impedance the amp can drive, not it's output impedance.
while I once had the A8 myself, I never tried the SE846 with it... I don't remember fits actual output impedance either, but that should be available somewhere (think Fostex support).

yes, the SE846 is picky in that regard...
 
Aug 23, 2020 at 9:14 AM Post #20,988 of 22,899
I am considering the SE846 and will be using it with a DAC/ Amp with 16-600 Ohm output impedance.
What would that mean plugging in the SE846 which has an impedance of 9 Ohm?
Will work? Or the sound is not optimzed?

Also how much should i be paying for a SE846 today, where I am, it is going for more than 1KUSD.
the lowest impedance on the curve of the SE846 is around 4 Ohms for some frequencies (going by memory). I would not use anything with an output impedance higher than 0.5 Ohms (although I am using them with an Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt DAC that has an Output Impedance of approximately 0.65 Ohms - (thanks @IEMusic for reminding me to point this out!) - and they sound excellent).

What I always recommend is, if you have the possibility, try and audition the exact pairing you intend to make to be sure you are not going to be stung, especially for these prices.

AS for pricing, I cannot say. I purchased them for 800 Euro on Amazon less than a year ago.
 
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Aug 23, 2020 at 12:06 PM Post #20,989 of 22,899
I would note use anything with an output impedance higher than 0.5 Ohms.
You definitely want to keep it less than 1, and as close to zero as possible. FWIW, the Dragonfly Cobalt has an OI of 0.65 Ohms, and the se846 sounds really nice on it.
 
Aug 23, 2020 at 3:06 PM Post #20,991 of 22,899
"FWIW, the Dragonfly Cobalt has an OI of 0.65 Ohms, and the se846 sounds really nice on it"

I also use the same DFC/SE846 set-up sometimes and researched it prior to purchasing the SE846s as I knew they had a low impedance and specifically wanted to partner them with the DFC. I decided to run with it regardless, although at the time I didn't know that the impedance could drop as low as it does (approximately 4-5 Ohms in some frequencies).

And I fully agree that they combination sounds very sweet indeed.
 
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Aug 24, 2020 at 8:14 AM Post #20,993 of 22,899
I am considering the SE846 and will be using it with a DAC/ Amp with 16-600 Ohm output impedance.
What would that mean plugging in the SE846 which has an impedance of 9 Ohm?
Will work? Or the sound is not optimzed?

Also how much should i be paying for a SE846 today, where I am, it is going for more than 1KUSD.
Re. price: I've personally found that the SE846 goes on sale much more often than other IEMs. I bought my pair for 1/2 the price some time ago
 
Aug 24, 2020 at 8:15 AM Post #20,994 of 22,899
So true, I tried several IEMs in the past 5 years, and I never bought any, just kept the SE846 as the only IEM I have.

It is a Gem, to my ears!
I agree! I've been trying out different IEMs but have noticed that this is the IEM that I always keep around while the others eventually get swapped out or sold
 
Aug 25, 2020 at 12:56 AM Post #20,995 of 22,899
Is it possible that the 846 is hard to drive? I’m noticing that they don’t sound nearly as good with my HiBy R5 DAP (bal power output 576mw) as they do with my Sony TAZ1HES Desktop amp/DAC (1200mw).
 
Aug 25, 2020 at 2:02 AM Post #20,996 of 22,899
Is it possible that the 846 is hard to drive? I’m noticing that they don’t sound nearly as good with my HiBy R5 DAP (bal power output 576mw) as they do with my Sony TAZ1HES Desktop amp/DAC (1200mw).

Sounds like an impedance mismatch. I think those DAPs have a pretty high output impedance (don't have either of those two but a quick Google search seems to indicate the output impedance of the R5 may be too high for the SE846). As people have been discussing in recent posts, the SE846 can be picky and you should try to pair it with something with an output impedance of < 1 ohm.

I use them with the Dragonfly Cobalt most of the time but they worked straight out of my phone when I used to commute pre-COVID lockdown and used them directly out of my Samsung Galaxy S9 so I would not say they are hard to drive...

I also dont use a balanced cable with the SE846 as my understanding is that it doubles impedance (someone please correct me if I am wrong) and the SE846 really dont need a ton of power. When I use the DFC/SE846 on my Windows desktop, I have the volume slider at 1 or 2 max (out of 100).
 
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Aug 25, 2020 at 5:47 AM Post #20,997 of 22,899
Is it possible that the 846 is hard to drive? I’m noticing that they don’t sound nearly as good with my HiBy R5 DAP (bal power output 576mw) as they do with my Sony TAZ1HES Desktop amp/DAC (1200mw).

As @TK33 said, it’s most certainly not a power issue, but a problem with high output impedance, which the SE846 is very sensitive to: due to its wild swings in impedance over frequency with a nominal impedance of just 9ohm and dips to about 4ohm an amp with a high output impedance Alters the frequency response quite a bit and can make them sound very dull.

not related: I‘ve recently received the RMCE-TW1 for my SE846, a perfect accessory. Sound is very good given its wireless, comfortable and well worth the money
 
Aug 25, 2020 at 7:50 AM Post #20,998 of 22,899
As @TK33
not related: I‘ve recently received the RMCE-TW1 for my SE846, a perfect accessory. Sound is very good given its wireless, comfortable and well worth the money
How are you finding the RMCE-TW1 connect/disconnect with the IEMs themselves? is frequent swapping with the cable causing damage or issues as I have heard the one main problem of the SE846s is the relative fragility of the MMCX connectors but would definitely be interested in buying myself.
 
Aug 25, 2020 at 3:23 PM Post #20,999 of 22,899
How are you finding the RMCE-TW1 connect/disconnect with the IEMs themselves? is frequent swapping with the cable causing damage or issues as I have heard the one main problem of the SE846s is the relative fragility of the MMCX connectors but would definitely be interested in buying myself.
Personally I don’t have much confidence in MMCX either, but fortunately I did not have any problems so far. But I don’t change too often, since I don’t use them wired anymore... I‘m very happy with the RMCE-TW1 I recently acquired, so they’ll stay in that configuration for a while I guess.
 

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