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Are the Shure SRH840 headphones comfortable enough?

post #1 of 8
2/7/11 at 6:18am
Thread Starter 

 

I need a pair of closed headphones in the office as my Shure SE530s are too cumbersome to remove and put back if someone approches me, and my open Grado SR60s are obviously too loud in this environment.
 
I decided to order the Shure SRH840 headphones as I am quite happy with my current Shures and I can see that the SRH840s are quite popular here, so I am hoping I will like them too. They are quite pricey in Switzerland at around $300 but that's okay.
 
My biggest concern: are they comfortable enough for several hours of listening? (Short hair, no glasses. I may have a little bigger than average sized ears and head but nothing special.)
 
Or maybe I should get some other headphones, not the SRH840. Why? I usually listen to Jazz, Electronic, Rock, Classical. As music source I use my iPad or iPhone, currently without amp.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Shure SRH840
post #2 of 8
2/7/11 at 6:50am

Unfortunately comfort is a subjective thing. We all have different shapes and sizes for our heads, not to mention other factors like hair or glasses. For example: I find the AKG K701 to be one of the most comfortable headphones ever. But many people find them extremely uncomfortable for various reasons. The only thing you can really do is try them for yourself.

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post #3 of 8
2/7/11 at 7:45am

I just picked up a pair of 840's as well. They haven't arrived yet but comfort is my big question as well.  As 'project86' says though, comfort is a very individual thing. Research any headphone out there and you'll likely find that there are widely differing opinions.  The Absolute Sound review for example praised the 840 for being comfortable, but another review I found online gave it a 5/10 on comfort and said that it was by far the biggest negative attribute.

 

It's not a particularly satisfying answer, especially if you have to shell out full price for the phones and then don't have a good secondary market to resell if you don't like them. I think this is actually one of the things that makes this community so active - it's really easy to buy/sell used headphones here in the US through head-fi, so the risk of trying something new is very low.

 

FWIW, as far as I can tell the Fischer FA-003 would be the obvious alternative if you decide the Shures aren't right. I haven't heard either set, but they seem to be described as having sound signatures that are in the same ballpark as the 840's, and most folks seem to report that they're comfortable as well. They may be a bit tough to come by though since distribution is a bit limited.

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post #4 of 8
2/7/11 at 8:05am
Thread Starter 

It would be much easier to just order them but I will try to find a shop here in Zurich where I could try on the SRH840s.

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post #5 of 8
2/7/11 at 8:48am

I guess it depends on the shape of your head but I'd also give them a 5/10. Most annoying were the coiled cable and loose feeling on my head.

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post #6 of 8
2/7/11 at 9:50pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks for the answers!

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post #7 of 8
2/11/11 at 2:22am
Thread Starter 

So yesterday I went to Jackpoint in Zürich http://www.jackpoint.ch/ and this very nice guy let me try out several headphones.

 

I liked the Shure SRH840 the most, and bought them, although they were not comfortable at all. I mean, it's fine, they fit my head, I can move my head around, but it is pushing against my head, and when I am drinking from a bottle, they want to fall from my head. Here's hoping that they get comfortable after while. It's not critical, I can have them on for several hours, but it's definitely far from comfortable. As xnor wrote it is about 5/10. Sound isolation is also not perfect for an office as you can still hear people around you if you are listening to some finer music is but it's okay.

 

The sound that is coming from the headphones, that's another story. That's why I could not leave them in the store. Currently I am going through my favorite music, and it's impressive. I am very satisfied. For example, how the music of Arvo Pärt sounds is really astonishing. I wonder what difference a break-in time will bring.

 

I will need an amp though. The iPad seems to be strong enough for most music, but I need an amp for Bach passions or Pärt's delicate music.


Edited by lenardgabor - 2/18/11 at 4:00pm
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post #8 of 8
3/3/11 at 12:46am

They get better (more comfy) over time, mine I can leave on for a few hours after a few days of intermittant listening and playing in... But long ears are gonna get pinched for a while...

 

The sound yup... the sound is way nice... funny the Iphone 3G with lossless drove them very well, Archos 405... with 320kbps very politely, not so dynamic and bass a little less, but yes the bass ain't that clear... without the juice... Best result by a long while was my audio interface pumping and my DAC playing... completely different and much better.

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

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