Also thanks for the great info! I guess I can also see from your post that you have 8-9 year old SE535s without any driver failure so that's certainly a good sign there!

I mean it's only the left side that needs replacing, so I'm definitely leaning in that direction. I guess there's just a question in my mind about the usual longevity of these types of multi-driver IEMS. Like is 7-10 years a normal time for a driver to fail, or was that really just a bit of bad...

Hello all! My trusty Shure SE846 have finally decided that enough is enough after 7 years of fantastic service. I think what happened is the midrange driver in the left ear piece failed (quite certain actually). I've tried with a few different cables and yeah, that's what I've deduced from test...

Hello all! My trusty Shure SE846 have finally decided that enough is enough after 7 years of fantastic service, being left in the rain overnight, and even one spin through the washer and dryer (About three years ago! They didn't even break a sweat ;P). I think what happened is the midrange...

Ok that's a bit extreme now. Well it's certainly unfortunate aptx has been left out, there's no point in scaring people away for no good reason. I'd love to see some truly blind tests done on non aptx vs aptx, especially on the go (where these will usually be used. No need to scare people with...

Thanks spook, much appreciated! I'll pm you if I have any more questions.

So, I've decided to take the AK100 II back, it just wasn't worth it for me..... Really a shame considering how amazing it looks/feels and how generally polished of a product it is. I was really hoping it could be a good end game portable solution for me. *sigh* I'm still thinking that I might...

Just a couple pages back on this thread, I posted a fairly in depth comparison of my iPhone 5s to the AK100 II ($900 dap). Obviously, those are just my findings and there would/will be other people who feel very different than me, but I thought it was very interesting what I found. IMO, the 846s...

I just posted this over in the AK100 II/120 II but I thought I might reach a larger audience over on this thread. Ok, sooooooo, a couple days ago, I was at the headphone bar (vancouver) trying out a couple different daps to use with my shure se846. I tried the Fiio X5, ak100 II and the...

Blind vs not Blind tests are a bit of a pet peeve of mine. I feel that if it's possible to do the test blind, then it should be done blind, it just removes one of the factors that could skew the results.

All the files were from the same source, whether that was a CD or HD download, so the same mastering, and all the files were in CD quality, except for a couple tracks which were in 96k sample rate on the AK (and Billie jean which was in DSD) but those tracks in particular didn't seemed to be any...

Actually, I'm the only member of the family who uses an iPhone, so no bias there, also the iPhone had ALAC files on it, no mp3s. You have to remember that these tests were also done completely blind, so there was no way of them knowing which device was which until after they were done all the...

The goal in the blond tests was to pick out the *better* sounding device, and the people listening did not always agree on which was better, but they all distinguished the same attributes between the two devices consistently. As for the music that was used for testing, (all in flac/alac) was...

Ok, sooooooo, a couple days ago, I was at the headphone bar (vancouver) trying out a couple different daps to use with my shure se846. I tried the Fiio X5, ak100 II and the beyerdynamic a200p (just for the heck of it), although I quite liked the a200p and found that it added large amounts of...

After switching around between a couple different ear tips as well as the different filters, I'd be very curious to hear what filters you folks are all using (and in tandem with what ear tips). Personally, I like both the blue and white filters with the yellow foams, but if I'm using the westone...

Just to clarify, the amplifier I'm using is the Arcam A85 not the Alpha 9, the Alpha 9 I'd my CD player. It beats me why they gave both their amp and their CD player the same name. You are still right though about the output imprudence with the amp, it definitely colours the sound. It really...

Decided I'd try a couple different sources with my 846s today. As I'm sitting here right now AB'ing between my iPhone 5s and my arcam a85 amp/alpha9 CD player, with my iPhone playing the same music ripped on to iTunes in Apple lossless..... The difference is more than apparent. The music sounds...

About the SCS, I know I know..... I don't actually really mind anything about them, my mind is probably just forming reasons to stop myself from purchasing more new things when possible. :D as I said though, I very well may go custom later, lots of time for that. As for gender assumptions...

I was just testing my dragonfly with my se846s as I was curious now. Although I did notice a moderately faint hissing when no music was playing, it was faint enough that I could ignore it for the most part. Also, I found the dragonfly to have a better sense of space and more "air" to the sound...

^ Haha! I know you mean though....... it's a lot to spend on ear tips. It crossed my mind getting custom molded ear tips, but a couple things swayed me towards the foamies. I was familiar with them, and quite liked them (not that I have any doubt about how good the SCS sound). It may sound very...

^ I did find that I got a fair bit stronger bass response with either the Shure Silicone tips (which I really didn't like all that much) and the Westone Star tips...... whether that is a good thing is ultimately up to you, for me, I didn't really think so.

On the topic of ear tips, I spent the last week or so trying as many as I could get my hands on. Although I agree with many of you that the westone start tips are excellent I still find that for me, the shure yellow foamies still edge ahead slightly in terms of comfort, isolation and sound...

Thanks for your thoughts, I do like the idea of the balanced cable with the adapter.... Hmm. I'll shoot Ted an email tomorrow.

A quick question, if I order a cable (silver litz reference) from Ted Allen for my se846, and I choose the non balanced cable, but 6 months or a year down the road I maybe decide that I want to switch to using just a balanced setup, would it be possible to get the cable changed to balanced? If...

After giving it some thought, I've decided that I'll probably purchase the Fiio X5 to go with my se846. There is a local store that I can demo it at later this week to make sure I like the sound of it. My thoughts are that it should offer a fairly nice SQ upgrade over my phone without breaking...