[baskingshark]

Isolation is sooooo good with the 846, that’s why it’s my stage monitor. I prefer it over my CIEM.

Some of my band friends do use the Shure SE846 for monitoring purposes. Any idea how it stack against some recent CHIFI releases? Is it still competitive?

Asking cause some of my midfi Westones that I use for monitoring have been outclassed by some 2019 CHIFI releases which are just 10% of the price!

 

[IEMusic]

Some of my band friends do use the Shure SE846 for monitoring purposes. Any idea how it stack against some recent CHIFI releases? Is it still competitive?

Asking cause some of my midfi Westones that I use for monitoring have been outclassed by some 2019 CHIFI releases which are just 10% of the price!

I would say that it depends on what you’re looking for. In some ways, the $30 BL03 outclasses it. As far as an all BA IEM, in a lot of ways, the Fearless S6 and S8 meets or exceeds the capabilities of the 846. That being said, I really like the tuning of the se846, and it’s still my favorite IEM for midrange. I just think that it should be priced no more than $700 for an all inclusive package. I didn’t pay full MSRP for mine, when I got it.

 

[baskingshark]

I would say that it depends on what you’re looking for. In some ways, the $30 BL03 outclasses it. As far as an all BA IEM, in a lot of ways, the Fearless S6 and S8 meets or exceeds the capabilities of the 846. That being said, I really like the tuning of the se846, and it’s still my favorite IEM for midrange. I just think that it should be priced no more than $700 for an all inclusive package. I didn’t pay full MSRP for mine, when I got it.

Thanks for your info on the SHURE SE846. Yeah I have a feeling this year will be a tough year for the western and boutique audio brands, with a likely recession coming due to Covid. People will go for price to performance ratio, which generally lies in the CHIFI realm.

I see u have the Shozy 1.1, BLON BL-05 and Audio Legacy 3 coming, let us know how they sound. Look forward to it!

 

[Galeonero]

Haven't tried that model, but if u get it, I would definitely be interested in your opinions, especially on the sound quality and isolation.

Well I have decided to return my sony wh 1000xm3 and purchase the FiiO FA1, when they arrive I will tell you my impressions especially in isolation which is what interests me the most.

 

[davidcotton]

Some of my band friends do use the Shure SE846 for monitoring purposes. Any idea how it stack against some recent CHIFI releases? Is it still competitive?

Asking cause some of my midfi Westones that I use for monitoring have been outclassed by some 2019 CHIFI releases which are just 10% of the price!

How about on comfort and on tuning?

 

[baskingshark]

How about on comfort and on tuning?

For Westones, they are superbly comfortable due to the small bean shaped design (which is unvented), that's definitely one area Westone is unrivaled compared to other monitoring IEMs that ain't customs. Comfort and fit is quite important for long usages for sure.
For sound quality wise, I personally feel Westones aren't the best actually for the price asked, especially compared to what recent CHIFI gear can bring to the table. I have a few cheaper CHIFI that can hit or surpass some of my midfi Westones in terms of clarity, instrument separation, details, imaging. QC of Westones also ain't the best, I had 2 of them die on me at the cable in the past (and one had an non detachable cable, so it was rendered a white elephant).

 

[ZappaMan]

The best I’ve found for me are IEMs with narrow nozzles, that can fit Shure tips, such as Etymotic and Westone. I use the triple flange Shure tips, but cut off the third flange. It makes them quite a bit more comfortable, helps them not suppress the highs as much, and isolates just about as well, subjectively, as Etymotics with their triple flange tips. This is the combo I use currently for drumming live (in a fully enclosed cage/room...so VERY loud).

The absolute best isolation is by using the Shure multi flange tips, then directly placing Dekoni Bulletz Mercury 4.9mm tips over the stem/base of the Shure tips. It creates a multi-flange hybrid silicone and foam tip, and no modding is needed. I don’t use these tips for drumming, b/c as loud as it is, these actually block out too much of the direct sound from the drums.


...and on Etymotic IEMs


Just compress/roll the foam, insert, then ....no sound, until you press play.

can i see the foam tip without the flange on it ?

 

[Toastybob]

If anyone has both the mee pinnacle PX or P1 and the Dunu DM480, could you compare the level of isolation between them?

The highest isolation I have found is with the Mee Pinnacle PX. Despite the vent, it has higher isolation in my ears than the unvented all BA models I have. The angle of the nozzle is also a good match with the generic AliExpress triple flange tips I have, but even with the use of westone oto-ease to make them more comfortable the triple flange tips are still too uncomfortable to use for more than a short time. Even the best foam tips have the same issue, so I usually have to return to single flange tips.

To increase isolation further I wear noise cancelling headphones on top of IEMs. Hearing protection earmuffs might work even better, but I don't have some to try. This does require getting a different cable with angled mmcx connectors for the PX, since the mmcx port protrudes a lot.

I also agree with previous comments that spinfit cp240 are not worthwhile. The isolation is higher than other two flange tips, but not as high as triple flange tips, and they are more painful.

 

[IEMusic]

I guess I’m in the mood to dig up older threads today....anyways....

I’ve been testing the Legacy 3 with regards to isolation. I used them as a stage monitor for drumming in a fully enclosed cage (very loud environment). With foam tips, and a bit deeper insertion than how I use them with the silicone tips, I can get the isolation quite close to the levels I get with my Etymotics with triple flange tips, my Shure with multi-flange tips, and my CIEM. It’s really quite impressive. The isolation seems a little better than the Shure with the olives/foam tips.

I did realize something recently though. My primary stage IEM is the Shure with multi-flange tips. My back-up is one of the Etymotics with triple flange tips. I prefer both of those options to my CIEM, suprisingly. I also prefer the multi flange tips to the Shure olives and other foam tips. I thought that I preferred the se846 to the UE6 due to tuning, and thought that I preferred multi-flange tips to foam tips due to better isolation. What I just now realized was that the reason for my preferences likely wasn’t the tuning or the degree of isolation, but rather the frequencies that are blocked out. With my multi-flange tips, it seems like the frequencies are quite uniformly attenuated, so the direct sound of my drums is natural. With the CIEM and the foam tips, the highs and mids are quieted, but the lower frequencies are not as much. Cymbals and snare, the painful sounding instruments are well blocked, but the bass drum and floor toms are not so much. The uneven sound balance was really annoying me, and I didn’t know why until now. I kept messing with my mix a bunch, but that of course didn’t solve anything.

Just found this interesting.

 

[chickenmoon]

The Kennerton Ikiz has excellent isolation, possibly the best of all I've got.

 

[IEMusic]

The Kennerton Ikiz has excellent isolation, possibly the best of all I've got.

Huh, never heard of that IEM before. It’s quite fascinating. There’s a lot of potential with multi DD arrays. Do you use the multi-flange tips for isolation?

 

[chickenmoon]

Huh, never heard of that IEM before. It’s quite fascinating. There’s a lot of potential with multi DD arrays. Do you use the multi-flange tips for isolation?

No, just using the default silicon tips bundled with them. I'm not sure why they isolate so well, perhaps it's the combination of a close design with a stainless steel shell that does it.

 

[Toastybob]

I posted my impressions of the Thieaudio Legacy 3 over in it's thread, including isolation.

Spoiler: Impressions

Spoiler: Photos

I decided to get the Thieaudio Legacy 3 and I've been testing it for about a week. My unit is the clockworks version from Amazon and has the serial number 902. The switches don't protrude from the back and the QDC connectors are tight with the stock cable and my 2.5mm cable with TFZ/NX7 connectors. Driver flex is present but not nearly as bad as the BLON BL03.

On @antdroid's test tones, 3 and 4khz sound equally loud, and both are significantly louder than 4.5khz, but I don't think it's twice as loud. Based on this I believe this unit has the new/better/correct tuning.


Isolation
-------

In my ears the isolation is moderate, as is the insertion depth. A bit more isolation than the Moondrop Kanas, and less than KZ ZS3, both of which fit deeper. Significantly less isolation than Mee Pinnacle PX, which also fit deeper. The L3 has less isolation than I hoped, but it's enough for many situations at home. Comfort is good with Spinfit CP360 S or Azla Xelastec MS.


Sound
-------

I didn't spend much time comparing the switch configurations because I couldn't tell if there was any difference, which seems to be normal judging by Crinacle's graph. I mostly used 00 and 10.

The L3 seems to me to have some elevation somewhere in the upper mids and treble. Electric guitars seem a bit harsh, and some vocals seemed a bit unnatural. EQ seemed to alleviate this somewhat. Treble extension seems good to me, audible until 16khz.

The sub bass seems to have good but not great extension, and I find the sense of impact/slam/rumble/etc lacking, and I wasn't able to improve that noticeably with EQ. It's clearly better than the balanced armature models I've heard; it's just not as good as some other (cheaper) dynamic models I have. I tested extension by checking for the lowest frequency I could hear using an Android app called Frequency Sound Generator.

L3: 27hz
PX(+EQ): 30hz
BL03: 22hz
Kanas: 17hz
Planamic: 22hz

It seems very unlikely that the dynamic driver on mine is defective like I read someone experienced with theirs. I have experienced a defective on arrival dynamic driver in a similar resin filled hybrid model, the Hisenior H6, and the complete lack of any bass in the defective H6 side was extremely noticeable. (Unfortunately I no longer have the H6 to compare, since when I paid ~15$ to send it back to China for repair via USPS it never arrived, and I was only able to get a refund of 44$ of the original 139$. I won't be ordering something that expensive from AliExpress again.)

The overall level of detail sounds about as good as my two favorite earphones, the Mee Planamic with EQ intended to mimic the BL03 frequency response, and the BL03 with the nozzle filters replaced with rolled pieces of hiegi earbud foams. However, to my ears both of these have better sub bass extension and impact as well as more natural mids and treble. I wonder if this preference is due to some property of balanced armature drivers, but I don't have much evidence for that beyond not liking the balanced armature models I've heard as much as dynamics or planars.

Overall, the Legacy 3 is mostly good but it doesn't exceed my current favorites in any particular aspect or as a whole.


Notes
------

All testing done on Radsone Earstidio ES100 over LDAC, except for the BL03 which was connected to BQEYZ Z3 Bluetooth cable over aptx-hd. I used single flange tips on every earphone.

Primary test tracks:
• Radiohead - Electioneering
• Radiohead - The Tourist
• Hundred Waters - Currency
• LVL UP - The Closing Door
• Japandroids - Lucifer's Symphony
• Men I Trust - Porcelain

----------

I'm probably going to return these because I prefer the sound of other models and the level of isolation isn't much higher than those, or even close to the PX.

I think I must have a lucky match between my ears and the shape of the PX. I wish Mee had reused that shell for the Planamic. Maybe I'll try covering the PX in tegaderm film to reduce the skin irritation from the metal. It's unfortunate that there isn't any way to test isolation and fit before buying. I'm also considering the ER2XR, now that they're 100$...

 

[assassin10000]

For Westones, they are superbly comfortable due to the small bean shaped design (which is unvented), that's definitely one area Westone is unrivaled compared to other monitoring IEMs that ain't customs. Comfort and fit is quite important for long usages for sure.
For sound quality wise, I personally feel Westones aren't the best actually for the price asked, especially compared to what recent CHIFI gear can bring to the table. I have a few cheaper CHIFI that can hit or surpass some of my midfi Westones in terms of clarity, instrument separation, details, imaging. QC of Westones also ain't the best, I had 2 of them die on me at the cable in the past (and one had an non detachable cable, so it was rendered a white elephant).

Have you tried different dampers on your Westones? Made my UM Pro 20's go from a dark bassy signature to a much more balanced almost forward one.


As far as isolation w/ANC I haven't heard anything better than the Sony WF-1000XM3. It actually sounds better w/ANC and EQ on. Even if the EQ is flat/unaltered, as it enables the on board DSP.

 

[baskingshark]

Have you tried different dampers on your Westones? Made my UM Pro 20's go from a dark bassy signature to a much more balanced almost forward one.


As far as isolation w/ANC I haven't heard anything better than the Sony WF-1000XM3. It actually sounds better w/ANC and EQ on. Even if the EQ is flat/unaltered, as it enables the on board DSP.

Haven't tried dampers on the Westones, but that's a great suggestion. Should try it one day. Though, lately the Westones have been in the drawer, cause for the price and sound quality/technical aspects, I managed to find some cheaper CHIFI that can meet or even exceed them in sound quality.