[mblsd8]

How many Bluetooth cables has Shure released so far? Is it true because of the new Bluetooth 5.0 and the inbuild dac within the headband, no sound is lost compared to the conventional cable

Cable will always sound better. But the wireless set up is cool and provides so much comfort. I have the TW2 and I love it. I have tried plenty of other wireless headphones from sennheisser, master and dynamics, bang and Olufsen, AirPods Pro, to name a few and I prefer the TW2 with the 846. I had my daughter listen try them once and she was like wow these sounds like I'm at the actual concert.

 

[Fungus]

Bluetooth connections are always somewhat lossy (despite what Qualcomm wants to make you believe), but especially on the go the maybe present minor degradation in sound quality is more than made up by the added flexibility I think.

The newest TW2 adapters are really good btw. I only use my SE846 with those now.

So with either the br2 or true wirelsss, they have an inbuilt dac which means it should always sound the same regardless if I listening from different sources like my phone or laptop?
Did a bit of research it it looks like shure released 4 Bluetooth cables, the which are the around the neck style and two being the true witless type. So they all share the same Bluetooth technology?

Also is there a proper way to remove the cable instead of just yanking it off with brute strength?

 

[Fungus]

Cable will always sound better. But the wireless set up is cool and provides so much comfort. I have the TW2 and I love it. I have tried plenty of other wireless headphones from sennheisser, master and dynamics, bang and Olufsen, AirPods Pro, to name a few and I prefer the TW2 with the 846. I had my daughter listen try them once and she was like wow these sounds like I'm at the actual concert.

well I'd be shocked if they didn't sound any better. The TW2 paired with the se846 cost nearly 2k Aud in Australia.

 

[TK33]

So with either the br2 or true wirelsss, they have an inbuilt dac which means it should always sound the same regardless if I listening from different sources like my phone or laptop?
Did a bit of research it it looks like shure released 4 Bluetooth cables, the which are the around the neck style and two being the true witless type. So they all share the same Bluetooth technology?

Also is there a proper way to remove the cable instead of just yanking it off with brute strength?

They are all Bluetooth but not the same. I have the RMCE BT2 cable and the TW2, although I have not used the BT2 (neckband style) in over 2 years. Obviously, form factor is very different (true wireless vs. neckband). TW2 is way more convenient, has been very reliable and has a great ambient mode so it gets my vote.

BT2 supports more higher bitrate (aptX HD) or lower latency (aptX LL) codecs if your source device also supports it (e.g. phone also needs to support aptX HD to use aptX HD). If I recall correctly, it also supports multi-point (can stay connected to two devices at the same time). I don't think the neckband adapters have an app. No ambient mode either and, on the BT2, you have to deal with that pendant thing hanging from your neck, which I found very annoying.

TW2 does not have aptX HD, aptX LL or multipoint (still very easy to switch devices) but I still think it sounds great (have used with SE846 and SE535) and is much more convenient than the neckband style BT2 cable. It has a fantastic app (with hardware EQ that is stored on the device) and an excellent ambient mode. All buttons/functions are also customizable and many users in the true wireless thread would probably agree that it offers a fantastic user experience. There has been much discussion related to the TW2 adapter on that true wireless thread if you are interested.

I would stay away from the v1 neckband cable as I recall seeing many negative reviews. Also, I would not recommend getting the first version of the true wireless adapter as it seems Shure addressed many of the complaints people had with the TW1 in the newer TW2 adapter.

As for removing the cable, I usually hold the IEM between my index finger and thumb (with cable end facing outward/down) and pinch/squeeze the space between the cable and IEM with my nails on those two fingers. The cable will usually just pop out. Yanking the cable will likely damage the cable or the MMCX connector, or both, in the long run.

 

[Fungus]

They are all Bluetooth but not the same. I have the RMCE BT2 cable and the TW2, although I have not used the BT2 (neckband style) in over 2 years. Obviously, form factor is very different (true wireless vs. neckband). TW2 is way more convenient, has been very reliable and has a great ambient mode so it gets my vote.

BT2 supports more higher bitrate (aptX HD) or lower latency (aptX LL) codecs if your source device also supports it (e.g. phone also needs to support aptX HD to use aptX HD). If I recall correctly, it also supports multi-point (can stay connected to two devices at the same time). I don't think the neckband adapters have an app. No ambient mode either and, on the BT2, you have to deal with that pendant thing hanging from your neck, which I found very annoying.

TW2 does not have aptX HD, aptX LL or multipoint (still very easy to switch devices) but I still think it sounds great (have used with SE846 and SE535) and is much more convenient than the neckband style BT2 cable. It has a fantastic app (with hardware EQ that is stored on the device) and an excellent ambient mode. All buttons/functions are also customizable and many users in the true wireless thread would probably agree that it offers a fantastic user experience. There has been much discussion related to the TW2 adapter on that true wireless thread if you are interested.

I would stay away from the v1 neckband cable as I recall seeing many negative reviews. Also, I would not recommend getting the first version of the true wireless adapter as it seems Shure addressed many of the complaints people had with the TW1 in the newer TW2 adapter.

As for removing the cable, I usually hold the IEM between my index finger and thumb (with cable end facing outward/down) and pinch/squeeze the space between the cable and IEM with my nails on those two fingers. The cable will usually just pop out. Yanking the cable will likely damage the cable or the MMCX connector, or both, in the long run.

So basically if sound quality is important, the btw is better than the tw2 despite costing double the price? I have the bt1 cable. Does it also have support for higher bitrate (aptX HD) or lower latency (aptX LL) codecs you mentioned? Finally do all the neck style and true wireless have an inbuilt dac?

 

[fablestruck]

So basically if sound quality is important, the btw is better than the tw2 despite costing double the price? I have the bt1 cable. Does it also have support for higher bitrate (aptX HD) or lower latency (aptX LL) codecs you mentioned? Finally do all the neck style and true wireless have an inbuilt dac?

The BT2 supports aptx-hd and has an amazing battery life but it has a little awkward form. I think it depends on what wireless use suits you. Personally I prefer the BT2 because I am used to carry my earphones bound together through their bt wire. I returned the TW1 because I was afraid I was going to loose one of the adapters along with the IEM attached by having to put them in and out of my pocket all the time. On the other hand the TW choice is the best for Gym, running etc.

 

[tjl5709]

So basically if sound quality is important, the btw is better than the tw2 despite costing double the price? I have the bt1 cable. Does it also have support for higher bitrate (aptX HD) or lower latency (aptX LL) codecs you mentioned? Finally do all the neck style and true wireless have an inbuilt dac?

If you are using bluetooth to transmit to a receiver. All bluetooth receivers have a DAC chip in it of some kind as the bluetooth signal is digital. You are relying on the quality of the DAC and AMP within the bluetooth receiver. I get quite a chuckle when I see people talk about the high dollar, dual DAC'd, high powered amp DAP that has the latest bluetooth codec and they use them bluetooth only. Talk about p@ssing away money.................

 

[Garreth83]

Interesting results after trying 5 pairs of Shure se846:

First of all, frequency response varies between different pairs. I’ve kept 3. One is brighter, the other darker the other one sort of in between.

Out of those 3. One had a left/right balance issue. I fixed this by exchanging the nozzle pillar for a genuine spare shure nozzle from shure. The faulty one had lips that were of slightly different length. My ideas is that this didn’t allow the red seal on the filter to seal correctly.

Out of the 5 tested 2 had l/r balance issues. One was returned, one was fixed by me as stated above.

The other 1 had a real defect. Bass was warbly and distorted in the left earpeace.

My takeaway from all of this, product consistency is a bit lower than I was expecting at this price.

Other stuff i noticed. When looking at the production dates. The 2020 one has different rubber gaskets, a bit thicker flatter (spilling over the edge) and more substantial. The 2021 ones have gaskets that are more recessed and barely there. The 2021 ones seem to have a bit more bass slam and a little darker tonality.

I’ve checked all the filters and installed identical blue filters with the foam in the same location. (The 2020 one was thrishd’d from the factory!) since this one was already brighter than the 2021 ones I reversed this thrishing.

Now for the main question. Why in the name of sanity would someone want 3 pairs of the same headphone? The answer is simple. OCD, obsessiveness. And the desire to have a pair for each music device I use. Also after many years of audio hobby, I find this iem to hit a real sweetspot between analytical and laidback. A real gem.

The journey was expensive. Silly, but I learned a lot. I now have a gym pair, a work pair and a home Dap pair.

So in summary

Two 2020 pairs, different rubber gasket.
Unbalance in both. Returned one, fixed one by replacing a nozzle.

3 2021 pairs. Darker, more slam. One was defect on arrival and has been returned.

Any insights in this from this community are welcome. I wish I had something to measure them. But I don’t have that yet. Might be fun to build a little rig.

 

[Fungus]

I’m again reminded how big diminishing returns plays a part especially comparing two earphones of the same sound signature at two completely different price bracket. I though my 846 sounds great nearly enough to justify the price until I compared it with my 215 that I just received in the mail. Both they sound virtually identical. Strong base, clear forward mids and rolled off highs. Fortunately I didn’t spend near the msrp for either. In a nutshell the 215 are a bargain in the used marketplace. Just buy then and be done. Save your money

 

[rusbekia]

I really love the 215 for what they are, however tbh, if you really think they sound identical to the 846, it might be that critical listening just isn‘t for you.

 

[fablestruck]

I’m again reminded how big diminishing returns plays a part especially comparing two earphones of the same sound signature at two completely different price bracket. I though my 846 sounds great nearly enough to justify the price until I compared it with my 215 that I just received in the mail. Both they sound virtually identical. Strong base, clear forward mids and rolled off highs. Fortunately I didn’t spend near the msrp for either. In a nutshell the 215 are a bargain in the used marketplace. Just buy then and be done. Save your money

Sorry but the se215 do NOT sound identical to se846.

 

[waveSounds]

Yup, I have both. They sound identical.

If I have no wires connected.

 

[Fungus]

Yup, I have both. They sound identical.

If I have no wires connected.

Actually my testing was done via the Bluetooth bt1 cable with the 215 and wired with the 846 so if anything the 215 may actually sound better if wired

 

[Fungus]

I’m not saying they’re sound exact exactly the same, the 846 is more cleaner in the vocals and less distortion when in high volumes but it’s not night and day.

 

[waveSounds]

I'm not big on audiophile hyperbole, but I think this is one time where night and day might actually be applicable. It's not even close