Shure SRH 440 Professional Studio Headphones

BACKGROUND

It was my birthday a few months back and it was Christmas time back then. I decided I needed a gift for myself. Something new. Something interesting. And the only luxury (if you call it that) that really makes me happy is music gear. I never had a studio monitor before. And I thought, since they are branded as “professional” gear, they should sound great, right? Or at least they should sound the part. And more importantly, I never had a Shure before. In the world of professional studio gear, I cannot think of a single name more respected than the others, from mics to IEMs, to recent full-size over-ear monitors, Shure is the name. So I browsed through my favorite online store for an authorized seller and pulled the trigger. Was it a happy birthday and merry Christmas rolled into one? Read on to find out.


ABOUT ME

I listen to almost all genres of music but my favorites are rock, blues, and jazz.

I am a music lover, not an audiophile. I need to veer away from the audiophile persona from now on. I love music more than the equipment to play music with. I recognize that decent equipment is important but decent is good enough. Expensive is not necessary. I’m not willing to go past the $100 mark for any reason. I firmly believe in the law of diminishing returns.

I believe in burn-in but it depends on the headphones. Some do not need much. Some do not need any at all.

I believe in measurements but I never relied on them. I solely rely on my ears.

I believe that blind test is the only real test, without any visual influence or biases, without placebo.

Audio nirvana for me is a state of mind, not a state of equipment.

Regardless of my beliefs, I respect all audiophiles and music lovers for their passion and dedication.


PACKAGING

Finally, a professional-grade packaging for me. You know how I felt about the Grado SR80e. I love it. It’s vintage. But it’s nowhere near a packaging I’d consider luxurious. This one, though not luxurious, looks and feels very professional:




SPECS AND FEATURES

For complete specs and features, please check here - https://www.shureasia.com/products/headphones/srh440


BUILD QUALITY, DESIGN, AND COMFORT

Build quality is exceptional. All the materials are high quality and it has some heft to it. I do not mind some weight on my headphones as long as they reflect the quality of materials used on them. The coiled wire looks heavy-duty. The ear pads are thick enough for me and feels like good-quality pleather. The overall feel is utilitarian, as expected of professional gear. This headphone should last someone a lifetime (except for the ear pads), unless you’re too harsh on your gear. It feels very durable.

Comfort is average for this over-ear. The ear pads are thick enough so my ears are not uncomfortably touching the driver grills. The one-sided cable doesn’t weigh the headphones too much. The headband padding could be thicker but the cups are angled slightly so that if you’re wearing them, the headbands are slightly forward and not touching the very top of your head. It touches the flatter, more comfortable part. One downside to comfort is the headband can still press on your head after longer listening sessions. This can be fixed by adding aftermarket headband cushions. This is really optional as it didn’t bother me much. I once used the headphones for a 5-hour bus trip, taking them off on stops, so it’s a total of 3 hours minimum and still find them reasonably comfortable.

Design is simply utilitarian. No frills. No flashy stuff. Do I find them attractive? By their own merits, yes! I find the professional styling appealing, though I’m not a professional. I’m not sure how they did it, but isolation on these over-ears are impressive. It’s almost like wearing a decent IEM, without the vacuum effect (you can hear yourself swallowing, etc.). Is it with the earcup design, the ear pads material, I’m really not sure but you can safely use it for a long commute if you’re into that. It folds so it should be portable. If I have to nitpick, I’d say the wires protruding to connect the drivers could be a concern to others. The Audio Technica M40x and the Takstar Pro 82 are “cleaner” in that regard as the wires are hidden in the headband. They also have the option to fold “flat” as opposed to just a “ball” like the SRH440. By sheer looks though, I’m biased towards the Shure. I’d rather display “Shure” outside than any other studio brand but that’s just me.


SOUND

Burn-in: They sound great out of the box. No glaring changes after 100 hours.

SET-UP USED:

• Lenovo K4 Note Smartphone (with Wolfson WM8281)
• Dolby Atmos engaged at Music mode where EQ is flat
• Stellio music player EQ is flat with Replay Gain engaged
• Also tested with Fiio A3 in low gain and bass boost on

These headphones are clear, very clear. I even came up with a marketing line for them – “Pristine clarity? Shure. Why not?”

Bass is fast, really fast. It’s there when it needs to, it’s not there when it doesn’t. I find that it’s more of a sub-bass rumble I’m hearing more than mid-bass. Its mid-bass is not elevated at all. I find that this type of bass is the “correct” bass. You don’t actually “hear” bass all the time in a live concert. It’s at the back and shocks when it’s intended to shock but it’s not always present. It gives music it’s needed warmth and immediacy when called upon. Very good bass quality but quantity will be lacking for some. The bass boost on the A3 gave it a nice needed bump. The Grado SR80e is a touch bassier. The JVC HA-RX700 is even bassier and I use that more if I just want to rumble.

Mids are watery. Yes, “watery”. You read it here first. Usually, the term used is “buttery” or “buttery smooth”. But it’s not. It just…flows. It’s like nothing is holding the mids back. It flows, like gushing stream to a waterfall, it flows ever so freely. I love it! The AKG K550 or K553 has buttery mids. The JVC HA-RX700 has buttery mids, albeit a little recessed. The Grado SR80e has sharp, engaging mids so that’s quite a contrast. There is no other way I could describe the mids. They are as effortless as they go.

Highs are shimmery and complement the rest of the spectrum quite perfectly. I find that highs on the 440 are also “correct”. They’re not overly sharp or metallic but very detailed and extend pretty well.

Now onto soundstage. As these are tuned flat for accuracy, and no frequency or instrument is overpowering the other, soundstage is exceptional. It is very wide, like easily more than a foot away outside of my head from either side. Because of this, imaging is great too as you have space to pin-point instrument placement. It is wider than the Grado SR80e and I daresay even the JVC-HARX700. It is definitely wider than the Audio Technica M40x (although I’ve never been impressed by the soundstage of AT’s monitors).

Tonally, the Grado SR80e is more lifelike-sounding. But I find the SRH440 to be more detailed. Being more detailed than a Grado is quite a big feat. It could be due to its monitoring nature that it’s able to pick up every minute detail but what impresses me more is how clear every detail is. It’s very very easy to pick up “hidden” sounds, like someone adjusting the mic in a live concert recording. I could easily pick it up, not even straining to listen to it. Clarity is just impressive.


CONCLUSION

The Shure SRH440 is an amazing value. Pristine clarity, fast bass, flowing mids and shimmery highs, combined with an exceptional soundstage, I could not ask for more from a closed back set. Well maybe a little more bass but that’s just nitpicking. It’s a studio monitor in the first place.

I feel that the only way to upgrade it is to buy a more capable Shure (like the Shure SRH840 or the venerable Shure SRH1540 as closed-back options). Either way, you’d be sure with Shure. Haha!

Happy listening, everyone!

I bought these headphones while on the road to a field record because I had left mine in a hotel room a few hundred miles away. These were the best a local music store carried and to my surprise they far exceeded my expectation.
 
I had been using SONY headphones almost exclusively up until I picked these up and although there is a small learning curve to the way they sound, I feel like they are some of the best headphones available when listening to single sound sources like just vocals or particularly in sound design. The isolation provided by wearing them is a remarkable step above most headphones I've used in this price range, providing comfortable isolation to outside sounds as well as not making you completely deaf to the rest of the world. The removable and swap-able cable makes switching from a studio environment to a field environment a pleasure with both long straight and curly cords available, and in general the gauge of the cord is nice and beefy in comparison to some even higher end models. 
 
These have become a go-to headphone for whenever I am out in the field or on a sound stage trying to capture sound that I can tell will be useful in the studio later.
 
I ended up wrapping the headband in grip tape to prevent further deterioration and flaking.
 
I would 100% recommend these to anyone in this price range and I have put SHURE down as a company to watch for headphones in the future.

Hello everyone,
 
First of all I would like to say that this is my first review of a headphone and I am also really new to audio-loving, but I'll try my best
 
 
Features:
The Shure SRH 440 comes with a detachable 3 meter coiled cable, a 3.5 mm to 6.3 mm adapter and a carrying pouch.
 
Sound:
I got these cans as a birthday gift and I really like them. They are well balanced, but lean a little to the bright side, which isn't always bad in this case.
When I listened to the Mr. Nobody soundtrack I was able to hear a nice amount of detail and it sounded very bright. Sometimes even a little too bright.
After listening to some music with a little more bass, I noticed that the bass is nice and a little punchy, maybe not as punchy as some people want, but it is defenitly enjoyable.
 
Another thing I noticed was that this headphone has a nice soundstage for a closed-back headphone in this price-range. Certainly bigger than the ATH-M40X I compared them too.
Of course it's soundstage isn't as big as that of an open headphone, but you can't really expect that.
 
Comfort:
This is where these cans start to shine a little less. The earpads are nice when you get this headphone out the box, but they degrade rapidly. I have this headphone for a month and already the earcushions
are starting to dry out, but this could be because I don't properly maintain my headphones. 
The Shure SRH 440, sits decently comfortably on my head and it isn't too heavy. 
One thing I noticed is that this headphone slides off my head when I look up or lie down.
 
Conclusion:
These cans are nice for beginning audiolovers (like me), they sound nice, but aren't extremely comfortable. They are fit for portable listening and isolate enough sound to ride a bus with.
I would recommend the Shure for people who like to listen to classical and jazz, but they do well with any genre.