[arnaud]

Anakchan, my thumb still hurts from it but you should try and switch the foam tip with olive one. I believe the foam tip kills the highs and the shure isn't shoving the treble in your face to start with in the balanced filter setting / silicone tip so I don't think the foam would do for me (and especially not for you).

For the burnin, I also recommend to give it a go as I swear the thing is sounding a bit different as I log hours in. A balanced armature is a flexing mechanical part so I guess it it takes time to settle (else my brain does ).

On my side, I have been quiet puzzled. I switched back and forth between the iphone 5 (>3Ohm zout) and new ipad (<1ohm zout, so similar to your invicta) and, as expected, I heard two very distinct sound signatures but, less expected, I did not necessarily prefer the low z out device at first (that is first hours of use). In particular, the bass was reduced in quantity from the ipad but seemed to not go as low. The mids lost the warms I experienced until now with the iphone 5 so it was cleaner but less seducing. Finally, and that is a dac thing I guess, the low level information/soundstage depth seemed much more realistic on the iphone. On the other hand, as I felt in all the demos, the bass output was clearly too high for my tastes with the iphone 5, it's nice for a while but keeps jumping at you and gets old.

Fast forward 15hours of burn in and it seems the bass level has reduced from the iphone 5 while the sound out of the new ipad is much fuller, my favorite now...

So, I think I am going to give it some time before I make further comments as either than iem or my brain aren't settled at all...

PS: for the previous poster who thinks the 846 is shrill / bright: you either have a defective part or need to pay attention to your hearing. You may suffer from hyperacousis due to overexposure to loud sounds in the past. I would have a visit to the audiologist to check your hearing, you don't want to mess with this.

 

[AnakChan]

Arnaud. Cheers on the suggestion on tip rolling. I'll swap for the olive today and will give it a shot again.

Great initial thoughts! I didn't try comparing different zout for the first 10hrs so for me when I did recently it was as expected.

 

[spook76]

Arnaud,

Did you ever hear the expression "ignorance is bliss"? I was enjoying my SE846s out of my iPhone 5 with the RSA Protector amp and balanced silver cables.

I then read your post about the differences of between the iPhone 5 and the new iPad (3rd generation). I knew of the impedance issue of the 846s but hoped the Protector would mitigate it. You are spot on with the differences. I would go further and say with older (70's recordings) or uncompressed remasters my iPhone 5 sounds warmer and more musical and is my preferred set up. However with more modern recordings 90s and 00s the balanced more analytical sound out of the new iPad is better. The bass tightens up and the overall sound is fuller as you stated.

A picture of my Arnaud inspired set up. Should we say semi-portable.

 

[arnaud]

Do you mean you're perceiving the same differences between the ipad 3 and iphone 5 even when placing a protector in between?

That would mean it's a dac/output stage thing rather than impedance matching issue as you're then not using the phone output of the idevice to drive the 846 but the protector.

The ipad and iphone use different dac as I recall but I don't expect their line out to sound that dramatically different though so I am surprised by your finding.

If you were using the phone out, then nevermind and glad we found the same result .

 

[spook76]

As my picture illustrates, I am using the Protector to drive the 846s. The differences are not dramatic but it is noticeable. Also note when I use my iPhone 5 I use the lightning to 30 pin adapter from Apple then my LOD into the Protector. The adapter uses a Wolfson DAC and but the iPhone 5 does not.

 

[jelt2359]

As my picture illustrates, I am using the Protector to drive the 846s. The differences are not dramatic but it is noticeable. Also note when I use my iPhone 5 I use the lightning to 30 pin adapter from Apple then my LOD into the Protector. The adapter uses a Wolfson DAC and but the iPhone 5 does not.

 
Interesting- there is a wolfson DAC built into the adaptor?
 
With that kind of setup though (size not a problem), many other DAPs/AMPs combos become realistic options, lol.
 
BTW, about your other problem- align the red paint first, then screw it in. The first few times I changed the filter I had the same problem, until I realised that the red paint was on both Left and Right nozzles (and wasn't there to differentiate left and right).

 

[spook76]

Jelt,

Thank you for the advice. As for the lightning connector, yes it has a Wolfson DAC chip built into it whereas the iPhone 5 was the first iPhone not to have a Wolfson chip.

As for my portable rig, I am currently looking at a new DAP to complement my Protector and SE846 any suggestions?

 

[jelt2359]

My favourite is the hifiman hm901 with an OPA627 card attached (most prefer the balanced card for its versatility), but in Single-Ended mode. It's not a dark/ warm signature- rather a clear, mid-centric sound with punchy bass.

I don't have the dx100/50 or ak100/120 or Tera to compare to however. I do have the hm801, which I also love, which has slightly better mids but has a less clean sound with less extension, details and clarity.

 

[KevinWolf]

Jelt,

Thank you for the advice. As for the lightning connector, yes it has a Wolfson DAC chip built into it whereas the iPhone 5 was the first iPhone not to have a Wolfson chip.

As for my portable rig, I am currently looking at a new DAP to complement my Protector and SE846 any suggestions?

 
If I'm not wrong, iPhones never had Wolfson DACs, at least neither the 4 nor the 4s have Wolfson (they are using Cirrus Logic).

 

[spook76]

I thought the iPhone 5 was the first without a Wolfson chip. I stand corrected. I do know the lightning to 30 pin adapter does have a Wolfson DAC chip.

 

[bunchi99]

Hi,
May I ask what cable you all are using with the 846? I am looking for one, any recommendation? Thx!

 

[spook76]

Hi,
May I ask what cable you all are using with the 846? I am looking for one, any recommendation? Thx!

I would recommend OCC silver or silver coated copper cables from Ted Allen at Headphone Lounge. Great craftsman and probably the mot competitive prices out there. He has a thread here at Head-Fi.

 

[AnakChan]

I would recommend OCC silver or silver coated copper cables from Ted Allen at Headphone Lounge. Great craftsman and probably the mot competitive prices out there. He has a thread here at Head-Fi.

 
Have you tried either with the SE846? How do they vary from the original Shures cable?

 

[spook76]

Have you tried either with the SE846? How do they vary from the original Shures cable?

I honestly only tried the stock cables for about 15 minutes when I received my 846s. The fit of the Headphone Lounge cables is far better. As for the sound the silver brings materially better clarity and overall tightness to the sound that is lost with the stock cables. Some people interpret silver cables as being brighter but I believe it is the clarity not brightness that the silvers bring. Please look at my avatar picture those are Headphone Lounge OCC silver balanced cables with my 846s. I also have a single out silver cables from Headphone Lounge. I have posted pictures of all three cables over at the Headphone Lounge appreciation thread.

 

[bunchi99]

Though I

I honestly only tried the stock cables for about 15 minutes when I received my 846s. The fit of the Headphone Lounge cables is far better. As for the sound the silver brings materially better clarity and overall tightness to the sound that is lost with the stock cables. Some people interpret silver cables as being brighter but I believe it is the clarity not brightness that the silvers bring. Please look at my avatar picture those are Headphone Lounge OCC silver balanced cables with my 846s. I also have a single out silver cables from Headphone Lounge. I have posted pictures of all three cables over at the Headphone Lounge appreciation thread.

Though I only tried the stock cable, I already agree with you that a "brighter" or higher "clarity" cable will make the 846 shine! I just got it yesterday and having listened to it a few hours, its mid and treble are a bit overwhelmed by the bass even I am only using the blue filter. Unlike the 1p2 I have, which I found the uber cable heighten the quality of the bass, the 846 needs its treble n mid heightened.
My friend just tried the Whiplash 8 conductor V3 TWag on the 846 n he said they match so well!!!