Will a Bluetooth receiver drive the Shure SE846?

On power, yes — all of them. Every one of the 13 Bluetooth receivers in this database reaches 100 dB SPL on the Shure SE846, which needs 0.04 mW at its 9Ω.

Power is one of three questions and the one that goes wrong least often. The other two — whether the source’s output impedance leaves the frequency response alone, and whether you will hear its noise floor — are answered further down, separately, because a source can pass one and fail another.

Whether it gets loud enough

The cheapest one that does reach it is the FiiO BTR11 at $36, which delivers 25 mW into 9Ω — 28 dB of headroom over the 0.04 mW this headphone needs for 100 dB SPL.

100 dB SPL is a peak level, not a listening level. If you listen at 85 dB the same headphone needs 0.00 mW, which is 15 dB less, and the answer above changes for most of the category. The model page has the full ladder.

Whether it changes how they sound

Under the one-eighth rule the Shure SE846 wants a source below 1.12Ω. Of the 7 Bluetooth receivers here that publish an output impedance, 6 are under it and 1 are not.

The furthest over is the FiiO BTR7 at 1.2Ω, which is 1× the ceiling. Above that threshold the source stops being a volume control and starts being part of the frequency response. The simulator shows what that looks like.

The other 6 publish nothing at all on this, so they are not on either side of that count. This site leaves them blank rather than assuming a figure.

Whether you will hear it between tracks

Hiss depends on the source’s own noise floor and on how sensitive the headphone is. At 114.0 dB/mW and 9Ω, the Shure SE846 turns one microvolt of source noise into about 14 dB SPL — and the threshold where that stops being noticeable in a quiet room is around 20 dB SPL.

Of the 6 Bluetooth receivers here that publish a noise figure, 1 stay below that threshold with this headphone and 5 cross it.

The worst of them is the FiiO BTR11, whose published 8 µV works out to 33 dB SPL of hiss in these. The hiss calculator takes your own figures.

The remaining 7 publish no noise figure, so they cannot be placed on either side.

The 12 best matches in this category

SourcePriceInto 9ΩOutput impedanceHiss in thesePower verdict
Fosi Audio N3$5039 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
FiiO BTR13$5967 mW0.6 Ω14 dB SPLComfortable
EarStudio ES100 MK2$9017 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
HiBy W5$10923 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Qudelix 5K$10935 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Shanling UP5$17932 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
Shanling UP6$199176 mWnot publishednot publishedComfortable
iFi GO blu$21946 mW1 Ωnot publishedComfortable
FiiO BTR11$3625 mW0.5 Ω33 dB SPLComfortable
FiiO BTR15$10993 mW1 Ω20 dB SPLComfortable
FiiO BTR5 2021$10951 mW1 Ω20 dB SPLComfortable
FiiO BTR17$199186 mW1 Ω24 dB SPLComfortable

Sorted by how many of the three questions the source answers well, then by price. A blank in a column is a blank in the manufacturer’s own documentation, not a zero.

The same headphone, other kinds of source

The Shure SE846 on other categories: USB dongles · portable players · portable amplifiers · desktop amplifiers · desktop DAC/amps · audio interfaces.

The Shure SE846 page has every source in the database against this headphone, and the matcher takes your own numbers.