If you are sensitive to sharp treble, why do you even have a pair of HD800??? Comparing to the HD800, the Encore are dull sounding!
To me, the SE846 are a little bit bass heavy with the white filter, with the blue filter (and olive tips), they sound more balanced to my ears. I used to think the 846 sub bass was so amazing and subwoofer like until I got my K10U (the older black version), the sub bass goes much deeper than the 846. The new Encore I got now have a very similar sound signature to my old K10U with slightly more details or high extensions I think, but the difference is really small, probably wasn't really worth the upgrade for me but they do look much nicer.
Compare to the SE846, the Encore are definitely brighter sounding, or some would call that more detail sounding, but nowhere near as painful sounding as the HD800. Personally, I much prefer the Encore's sound signature, which to me is very balanced and flat sounding, more so than Katana's which I find a little bass light.
I do agree with you about how one can put the 846 on and they can disappear in the ear for the entire day, but for me, that is also the fault of the 846 too as they don't reveal problems in a mix as much as the Encore, like how a song that's mixed too bright would still sound fine with the 846.
I guess $1800 is kind of hard to justify for a pair of IEMs, but I definitely would have preferred to pay that for the Encore than $1400 for my HD800 which I barely used.
Quote:
Don't worry about him. 846 are not the 'best' out there per say but if you compare with how people price the 846 vs encores, you will be very hard pressed to find the encores for less than $1300 as a universal. You will notice that the 846 aren't as detailed as the encores but depending on the type of music you listen to you may sometimes prefer the 846 sound. For me, I put the 846 on and they can disappear in my ear for the entire day.
Im super sensitive to sharp treble. Sparkly treble will give me some fatigue after like 30 min to 1 hour. Never have I felt fatigued by the treble on the 846. I just cant find myself attracted to paying 1800+ for the encores. Maybe used but 1300 is still a lot to drop down for something that doesn't have any more warranty because I bought it second hand. Maybe at like 1200 new I might but a pair of encores are twice the cost of my HD800. Feels to me like I'm being milked for cash to pay that kind of price. This is coming from someone who has more headphones than I know what to do with.