A Shure Shootout! SRH-940 vs SRH-1440 vs SRH-1840 - Page 2

I wanted to wait until I finished my review of the 1440 before I made any comments about the differences between the models but Beagle has pretty much guessed the difference between the 1440 and 1840. The 1840 is more like a traditional open headphone. The good news is the 1840 is in a similar price range as HP's like the HD650 but delivers performance more on par with HP's like the T1.

But I do think the SRH-1440 has managed to bridge the gap between the 940 and 1840 sonically speaking offering the best aspects of both. I am not sure if they will catch on or not but personally I think they may my preferred headphone except when I need or want isolation. Who knows, if they don't catch on right away maybe their price will drop closer to the 940 which will definitely give more people a reason to try them out.

Expect the 1440 review by sometime midweek...

While I am comfortable that the 1840 is technically better than the HD600 and 650 I can see a lot of people who would like them more if they like the signature of those headphones or genres that those phones excel at. I can also see people owning both .

Final review of the 1440 is now up. Personally I really do think it is the sweet spot in the Shure lineup. But it really will depend on what you listen to and want in a headphone. I will start to add comparison breakdowns now, siting specific songs and see if I draw up a chart somehow.

Edited by dweaver - 4/25/12 at 6:00pm

Yup and I was thinking they had a Grado like quality to them too :) Gradheiser is a PERFECT DESCRIPTION LOL. Now that I am done this, in another week or so I may decide to only keep one of the two Shures I own as I kinda went nuts buying them both LOL. But I have enjoyed trying all three and will continue to write up comparative notes as long as I can.

Just added a chart to my last reserved post...

 

Also I was listening to the 1440 and hit my first song where their more forward sound just was to much. I was listening to Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue's "What a Shame" and the cymbals in that song became just to jarring on the 1440, so I tried switching over to the 1840's and the cymbals became much less annoying. I don't have time now but will try the 940's tomorrow to see how they handle the song. BTW this point out one area in my chart I need to adjust as it would appear the 1440's lower treble is actually louder than the 1840 by a smiidge as this is where I believe the cymbols initial crash would lie. It also shows why I say my scoring doesn't reflect "better" in all cases.

 

Anyway, I have to hit the sack as morning comes early around my house :-).

Edited by dweaver - 4/25/12 at 10:10pm

I would say none of these have much in the way of sibilance really. It's just a matter of very slight changes in the emphasis is treble. The 1440 is slightly hotter or aggressive sounding in this one area. But I have to I have only had 1 song where it actually bothered me and that same singer is a favorite of mine and I like everything else I have lisyened by her so far, so I think it might be as much the song as anything. In many ways thats why they are Gradheisers as they have the top end of a Grado while having the smoothness of the a Sennheiser.

 

Damn I need to win the lottery then I would just buy the 1840 and keep all 3!!! Well if I won the lottery I might also grab an HD800 and maybe a STAX system LOL as well as these. But then being rich would have that effect on me LOL.

Sorry, forgot to answer your question about burn-in. I have to say more than any other headphone I have owned the Shure products seem to to be the least affected by burnin. Any changes I have noticed have been very minimal so far.

It would be a tough call between the 940 and the 1440. I like the 940 because it's noise isolating and has extreme detail and think the smoothest sound. But I like the added bass and sligtly warmer mids of the 1440. To be honest I may decide to only keep one, but I am not sure which quite yet...