[waveSounds]

At the end of 2020 I had the opportunity to test the Aonic4, including the Aonic5, via the German Hifi Forum. Also the SE846 - it was a great promotion from Shure! In terms of sound, I did NOT like all of the Shure. My Ultrasone IQ is almost 10 years old and sounds better - although this is only a two way hybrid.
Even the resolution of the Single BA in the IQ is better than in the Multi BA SE846.
The dynamic bass is just as fast as the SE846 but more musical. Although I'm also a fan of BA Bass. But the tight IQ bass is a mix of BA and DD. Some sell the IQ because of the problems with the eartips ... the simple solution is triple ear tips from Shure or Etymotic.

Serious question; would you trade your Ultrasone IQ for the HE-1?

 

[Jenz]

Serious question; would you trade your Ultrasone IQ for the HE-1?

Let me think about it for a while

 

[waveSounds]

Ha! It's great you've found (what sounds like) your endgame and remain content with them. A pretty rare tale amongst the majority here, where newer automatically seems to mean better. I'd actually be tempted to give them a go, but can't get help but be put off by the square, metal shells. Doesn't appear to be the most comfortable shape for nestling into a sensitive ear.

 

[Jenz]

Is it an endgame ?! Who can guarantee that ?! However, I've never been so satisfied with an IE.
Here is an example of the Ultrasone advertising photos from that time. (I think that was straight from Ultrasone).
Image source:
audio.deals

I was also concerned about the shape of the case of the IQ. I can't find a hold with the attached attachments - like many (almost all) people who wrote about the IQ. but with the triple eartips it is one of the most comfortable in ear designs. If the Shure or Etymotic eartips are too long for you - they can also be shortened.
For me, the frequency response shown and the problems described were not compatible with the highs of the IQ - something had to be wrong, so I bought a used one to find out what the problem was ... the result is: There is only one tiny problem ... just buy triple eartips (for me).
For others, double eartips may help ... but I have deep ear canals.

The Shure IEMs aren't bad, but a little overpriced for me (concerning sound quality).
The design of the AONIC series is excellent with the thin nozzles - comparable to the Ultrasone IQ. Unfortunately, most manufacturers rely on thick nozzles ...

 

[fablestruck]

So how about aonic 4 vs 846? Frequency graphs are similar. What are the big differences in sound?

I placed an order for the aonic 4s tonight after I noticed that Amazon has them on discount. I had an itch about these which this recent discussion exacerbated!
So... I'll let you know in an few days.

 

[Garreth83]

I placed an order for the aonic 4s tonight after I noticed that Amazon has them on discount. I had an itch about these which this recent discussion exacerbated!
So... I'll let you know in an few days.

Great! I did the opposite and ordered some se846’s… the price is crazy but I just need to know. Is this the holy grail?

 

[fablestruck]

Great! I did the opposite and ordered some se846’s… the price is crazy but I just need to know. Is this the holy grail?

I've owned the se846 for 3 years and I've always thought that they were overpriced.
Recently I bought a Chord Mojo and I realized how important the source is. They truly shine but still I believe the 800euros asking price is still a bit much.

 

[Chupi383]

Great! I did the opposite and ordered some se846’s… the price is crazy but I just need to know. Is this the holy grail?

I have to agree with the other people -- SE846 sounds incredible, but the price is high for the sound quality compared to modern chifi. I do think the price is justified for the full package though. I find the fit, comfort and isolation are leagues beyond any chifi alternatives I've tried. And given how long my old SE425s lasted, I have high hopes for their durability.

Source is important too. It sounds fine if you connect it to a phone, but it scales a lot if you get a decent source. The best source I've tried it on is Qudelix 5K. I'd like to try higher end sources, but I'd really want to hear from others or find a place where I can audition some. I don't want to spend hundreds only to find I've bought very nearly the same sound quality in a bulkier package for many times the price.

One downside is treble extension. It's not great. You can get things sounding quite crisp and airy if you raise the 16 kHz slider on an equalizer quite a bit.

 

[fablestruck]

I have to agree with the other people -- SE846 sounds incredible, but the price is high for the sound quality compared to modern chifi. I do think the price is justified for the full package though. I find the fit, comfort and isolation are leagues beyond any chifi alternatives I've tried. And given how long my old SE425s lasted, I have high hopes for their durability.

Source is important too. It sounds fine if you connect it to a phone, but it scales a lot if you get a decent source. The best source I've tried it on is Qudelix 5K. I'd like to try higher end sources, but I'd really want to hear from others or find a place where I can audition some. I don't want to spend hundreds only to find I've bought very nearly the same sound quality in a bulkier package for many times the price.

One downside is treble extension. It's not great. You can get things sounding quite crisp and airy if you raise the 16 kHz slider on an equalizer quite a bit.

Indeed

 

[nicholas1213]

I have to agree with the other people -- SE846 sounds incredible, but the price is high for the sound quality compared to modern chifi. I do think the price is justified for the full package though. I find the fit, comfort and isolation are leagues beyond any chifi alternatives I've tried. And given how long my old SE425s lasted, I have high hopes for their durability.

Source is important too. It sounds fine if you connect it to a phone, but it scales a lot if you get a decent source. The best source I've tried it on is Qudelix 5K. I'd like to try higher end sources, but I'd really want to hear from others or find a place where I can audition some. I don't want to spend hundreds only to find I've bought very nearly the same sound quality in a bulkier package for many times the price.

One downside is treble extension. It's not great. You can get things sounding quite crisp and airy if you raise the 16 kHz slider on an equalizer quite a bit.

Hmm now you mention about the scalability (I didnt have any urge to do this before as I enjoy it out of my Lg V30 very much, at the same time keeping my portable setup to bare minimum), conveniently I plug the se846 into hugo2 that use as my desktop setup. Hmm talk about scalability

I didnt really do critical listening comparing both, but yes indeed they sounded better out from a better source / amp. Probably will even try it out from a tube amp for fun.

 

[plakat]

I've owned the se846 for 3 years and I've always thought that they were overpriced.
Recently I bought a Chord Mojo and I realized how important the source is. They truly shine but still I believe the 800euros asking price is still a bit much.

They are not quite cheap, but if I consider how long I’ve already used them together with the updates like TW1/TW2 Bluetooth receivers the.my are much cheaper than many other sets I‘ve had over time…

 

[TK33]

I have to agree with the other people -- SE846 sounds incredible, but the price is high for the sound quality compared to modern chifi. I do think the price is justified for the full package though. I find the fit, comfort and isolation are leagues beyond any chifi alternatives I've tried. And given how long my old SE425s lasted, I have high hopes for their durability.

Source is important too. It sounds fine if you connect it to a phone, but it scales a lot if you get a decent source. The best source I've tried it on is Qudelix 5K. I'd like to try higher end sources, but I'd really want to hear from others or find a place where I can audition some. I don't want to spend hundreds only to find I've bought very nearly the same sound quality in a bulkier package for many times the price.

One downside is treble extension. It's not great. You can get things sounding quite crisp and airy if you raise the 16 kHz slider on an equalizer quite a bit.

I find the SE846 to be a very picky IEM and your amp really does matter. However, nothing can change the fact that the treble rolls off pretty quickly (which I like) and if this sound signature is not one that the person likes, no amount of money spent on a DAC or amp is going to fix that and they are probably better off getting a different IEM.

I have the V60, which I got because I wanted to keep using the SE846 wired but have never really used the headphone jack. Also have a Qjdelix 5K and now using the SE846 with a TW2 (mostly for convenience and because I wanted to try out their new true wireless adapter). I found the most noticeable differences to be in the soundstage and bass response. I found I preferred the sound of the SE846 with the Dragonfly Cobalt (i keep this in the SE846 case) and even better with the Aurender FLOW. Ended up getting a RME ADI-2 DAC FS because I didnt like the Aurender FLOW with my Aeon 2 Noire. The RME ADI-2 DAC FS drives both my Aeon 2 Noire and Shure SE846 very well and I am definitely very happy with it.

SE846 is perfect for my preferences and they are super comfortable for me. As I mentioned above, I put it on the RMCE-TW2 to give it more love (found myself using more TWS when out these days due to mask wearing) and out of curiosity but it does sound better wired. Trying to tell myself the smart thing would be to wait for Shure to release and Aonic 8/Aonic 846/whatever the successor (if there ever is one) is called. The other part of me says I could use a clear SE846 to complement my black SE846 that I am now using with the TW2. Yes I like these that much but will acknowledge that I dont think they are for everyone.

Edit: forgot to add whatever amp you choose, make sure the output impedance is as low as possible and definitely < 1ohm. Many DAC/amps and DAPs have OI > 1ohm so price isnt everything.

 

[Garreth83]

Today I had the chance to compare them to the aonic 4. Very different animals.

Aonic 4 has more treble and a more grainy sound. Soundstage feels slightly wider but not as deep. Articulation between different instrument is less than on the 846. The aonic 4 sounds more aggressive and less laid back.

846 has more of a holographic feel with greater separation between instruments. Instruments also have finer detail and texture. As others have noticed, treble is a bit laid back making for a very relaxing non fatiguing sound. Absence of grain in the mids and treble also greatly contributes to the smooth mellow feeling.

Bass. Aonic 4, more punchy. 846 more rumble. The 846’s bass Is like a fat layer that never interferes with clarity in any of the other frequency’s.

Transition between different frequency’s feels less refined on the aonic 4. I can mentally pinpoint were the dynamic drivers range ends and the balance armature takes over.

All in all both are great. But if I were to choose one it would be the 846. I feel I could listen to anything on it and not be feeling like anything is missing or unnatural. Have yet to try swapping the filters. I feel like i miss maybe 2% more treble than I’d like.

 

[fablestruck]

Today I had the chance to compare them to the aonic 4. Very different animals.

Aonic 4 has more treble and a more grainy sound. Soundstage feels slightly wider but not as deep. Articulation between different instrument is less than on the 846. The aonic 4 sounds more aggressive and less laid back.

846 has more of a holographic feel with greater separation between instruments. Instruments also have finer detail and texture. As others have noticed, treble is a bit laid back making for a very relaxing non fatiguing sound. Absence of grain in the mids and treble also greatly contributes to the smooth mellow feeling.

Bass. Aonic 4, more punchy. 846 more rumble. The 846’s bass Is like a fat layer that never interferes with clarity in any of the other frequency’s.

Transition between different frequency’s feels less refined on the aonic 4. I can mentally pinpoint were the dynamic drivers range ends and the balance armature takes over.

All in all both are great. But if I were to choose one it would be the 846. I feel I could listen to anything on it and not be feeling like anything is missing or unnatural. Have yet to try swapping the filters. I feel like i miss maybe 2% more treble than I’d like.

Suspending judgement on audio impressions after I give them a fair listen.
Still, prima facie, the difference in resolution is striking in favour of the se846 (of course).

 

[fablestruck]

Suspending judgement on audio impressions after I give them a fair listen.
Still, prima facie, the difference in resolution is striking in favour of the se846 (of course).

Let me start with some preliminary remarks.

I am a se846 user for more than 2,5 years and after having tried different portable source pairings (e.g. LG V30, Fiio M11, Nextdrive Spectra) I ended up having them on a Shure BT2 adapter. The performance was very good but not what I expected from 800 euro IEM. I recently put them on sale with the thought of trying an CA Andromeda or a Solaris instead.
Two months ago I bought a Chord Mojo and plugged them in after I've made the blue filter mod. That completely changed my opinion about them, even though the high treble roll-off was still a minor issue, the resolution and musicality of the rest of the range just blew me away. This combination gave that 15% boost in performance that makes these babies truly shine. I should've known better.

So it is upon this critical background that I came to be listening to the Aonic 4 these last few days and it is understandably an unfair comparison.

Starting from an interchanging A/B session using the twin outputs of the Mojo (see picture- plugged to a laptop with Audirvana studio) one is stricken from a notable difference in the clarity of the midrange and high frequencies. Compared to the sheer presence of the different acoustic items in the headspace in the case of the se846s, the Aonic 4s have a veiled, lay-back presentation.

Regardless of the frequency graphs which represent similar sub-bass amount for the two (well the se846 are represented to have a bit steeper ascent in that area -https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/shure-aonic-4/ , https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/shure-se846/) and a 1-2db boost in the high-treble, the Aonic 4s have a mid-bass expression and the highs sound over all distant and quite muffled in comparison. That is something that I actually did not expect especially for the highs. It would seem to someone that the mids would be recessed due to the difference in technicalities but at least the treble would be clear enough with at least some amount of shimmer.

But this is not the case. For example, Baby Interface from the album Microgravity by Biosphere (https://tidal.com/browse/track/4167371) is an electronica track that covers in a distinct fashion all the FR and which I often use for testing headphones. With the se846, the bass is clear and sturdy, the midrange items clean and attacking holographically around your headspace. The treble is pristine and unfatiguing (while my Sennheisers Ie400pro have even richer highs but while quite controlled they sometimes do get tiring).

Changing now to the Aonic 4s, the bass is good but midbass-centered and less in amount, the sub-bass is effectively produced when present in the production (listen to the subtle change towards the sub-region at 1:51 of the track mentioned above). The mids sound as if coming from some distance, and the highs veiled and discernibly less in resolution. This is the case with other genres I tested them with. Even though they have 7ohm impedance the Aonic are less loud. Turning the loudness dial up does not bring those midrange elements in the fore but an annoying midbass peak instead.

I have to disagree with Garreth83 about the aggressiveness of Aonic 4s. They actually sound quite laid-back to me, at least comparing to the se846s. They have an even presentation and they don't attempt to impress with any frequency region. The soundstage is not more extended than se846 and certainly not an expansive one as others have claimed. They offer a decent rendering of different genres, they are unfatiguing if not a bit dull.

As I mentioned above it is unfair to compare them to the top dog of the SE line. The se846 beat them in almost every respect. But I have to give them the credit for not allowing them much burn-in (either objective or brain-wise) that is why I now have them plugged on the Shure BT2 adapter for some more long-term casual listen. They actually are not a bad IEM. They are good sounding, great looking and ultra-comfortable. But in the end of the day I am considering returning them to amazon if a few days' listen does not change my mind.