srh 940 vs pro 900 for portable full-sized headphones?

Cards on the table, I own the Pro 900, SRH-940, and E7, and have briefly auditioned the K702 (more or less identical to the K701) and AD900.  The Pro 900 is certainly a radical departure from the others.  About the only thing similar is the brightness and large soundstage (though not as large as either of yours).  Compared to them it won't have prominent mids, and instead will have extremely powerful bass.  The Pro 900s are fairly neutral in comfort.  I've been able to wear them nearly all day and it doesn't bother me, but they don't feel as nice as headphones that are actually known for comfort.  A few people find that they can get a little bit hot and have a moderate amount of clamping force. 

The SRH-940s are fairly close to the closed equivalent of the AD900 and K701.  Fairly similar overall sound signatures and levels of bass, mids, and treble, though being closed, the soundstage is smaller.  When I was considering a phone for this sort of sound signature and purpose, my other top considerations were the A900 and the K550.  While not having heard those two, my main concern with the A900 was the lack of detail and overall sound quality.  With the K-550, among other items I've heard too many conflicting reports about how portable it is and whether it can be driven properly from a portable device. 

The SRH-940 is ok in comfort.  Some people find that the headband can dig in a bit, and I've experienced this as well, but a minor adjustment on your head every once in a awhile takes care of this.  The SRH-940 will drive just fine from a portable source.  The Pro 900 is acceptable from one, but improves noticeably more from amping (even from just the E7) than does the SRH-940.  And yes, the E7 doesn't work as a DAC unless plugged in with a USB cord or in the base of the E9. 

I bought both the SRH940 and the PRO900 in order to find out with one is better (for me). The result? Shure SRH940.

I found that the PRO900 had a few fatal flaws. Chief amongst them:

-bass is overdone

-sound is very harsh even after lots of burn-in

-female vocals are extremely piercing

-s-logic sounds artificial at times and creates weird problems for people with asymmetrical ears (which is extremely common)

The SRH940 has a few faults of its own:

-can be uncomfortable

-bass is somewhat unnatural sounding due to a dip in the mid-bass

With this said, I found the SRH940 to be far better in overall SQ. The detail is truly second to none below the 1k level. Through bright, the SRH940 is not fatiguing. The bass can be fixed with EQ if needed. 

The PRO900 beats the SRH940 in build quality, comfort and if you're a basshead, the bass is also way better than SRH940. The Shure beats the PRO900 in every other category that counts though. Its just a better can, IMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by arch9443 

My current favorite pair of headphones are the AKG K701s.

If you liked the k701, then according to lot of review the srh940 sounds similar. I've even seen someone open a thread, because he couldn't decide which sound better.
If you decide to go with the srh940, please check my review, I  suggest an interesting mod in the last part.

They are harsher than either the K701 or the AD900. Maybe Ultrasone tried to make up for the huge bass... the upped mids and treble is hugely amplified on the PRO900. Kinda like Beyerdynamic does with the DT990. The difference is that the DT990 has a smoother frequency curve and only spikes the treble in specific places (gives them that smooth and sparkly Beyer sound). The PRO900 on the other hand heavy-handedly amplifies everything above about 3khz. There is then a dip at 10khz and then it goes back to amplifying everything. 
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by arch9443 

how the highs on the pro 900 would compare to the K701 or the AD900.

 

Unless you listen to techno, drum&bass , on anything relying a lot on bass, there's no reason to get the pro900.
I've seen someone kidding and say he wouldn't listen some harp on the pro900.

Then you'd have to listen to something different.

I  think that the srh940 are picky with the source, and I'm not sure using them with an iphone is a good idea.
Revealing/crisp/sharp high + emphasis on high , this isn't  forgiving. But their sharpness is more or less obvious depending on the source.
I'm convinced they have more to deliver , once you mod them.
 

Heya,

Here's your new headphone.

Very best,

Quote:

Originally Posted by jupitreas 

They are harsher than either the K701 or the AD900.

Ha  ha, I  remind when I  was suggesting that the srh940 were harsh , at least when compared to my hd595, and everyone was strongly disagreeing.

At the end I  found the consensus "they put emphasis on every transients, and this can be unpleasant". I  changed my mind later (explained in my review).