Shure SRH 840 vs Sennheiser HD 598

razordogdeals.com has:

hd598 $190 shipped

hd600 $299 shipped

Quote:

Originally Posted by K-jack 

All right, I'll go for the HD 598. Thanks for the info!
Unfortunately the HD 600 is not available here either. Belgium is not a good place for headphones.

Hi K-jack,

I live in Belgium, too! I was wondering what store you were referring to, since I'm also looking to buy either a SRH840 or an HD598, and well, discounts are good :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by K-jack 

Hey Lander,

 

The first store I was referring to was http://www.hoofdtelefoonstore.be (which can also be visited in Antwerp). They have the HD 598 as well as the SRH840 for sale there for €189.  
But then I found this site: http://www.bax-shop.nl, where they sell both for less. The site is apparently very thrustworthy (haven't actually ordered anything yet), but their store is located in the Netherlands, just in case this would be a problem.
If you can't order online for any reason, I'd go with the first site.

Thanks! Just so you know, Key Music (http://www.keymusic.com, stores in Bruges, Brussels, Ghent, Liège, Mechelen, Herentals, Roeselare and Sint-Niklaas) has the SRH840 for €155!

EDIT: They now ask €195 for it. Quite odd, I am almost certain it was 155 the other day, so that's quite a steep raise...

Funny, I was in that same store yesterday :p Indeed, the price in the store itself is still 155. I listened to the Shure SRH840, AKG K 271 MkII and the KRK KNS 8400, all of which are around the 150 pricepoint, all closed and all (fairly) neutral. I decided to go with closed ones, that way I can use them for live sound as well (I do some sound enigneer work in my free time). In the end I had a hard time deciding between the AKG's and the Shure's. I went with the AKG's, because they come with both pleather and velour pads, and two different cables, and according to the guy the warranty on them was better, Shure won't do repairs if there is a possibility you broke it on purpose. Sound-wise I found them quite comparable. I tested them unamped, straight from my iPod. The AKG's do have a slightly higher impedance (55 ohms vs 44 ohms), and for me the difference in volume was noticable. The AKG's do reach an acceptable volume straight from my iPod, for me at least. I found both very comfortable, but the SRH840 felt somewhat heavier and comes only with pleather pads by default, so that might be an issue for long listening sessions.

Either one would be a great choice imho.

I can't comment on the sound of the K240, but since I bought the K271 yesterday (which are a step up from the K240, but I would go for these if you can swing the extra cash), I can share some experiences with those. Mind you, they are not fully burnt in yet, so things might improve still. I mainly bought them for post-rock, ambient stuff, but I find them quite versatile. They definitely do not sound bad with rock, but for Foo Fighters you might want a bit more bass. Again it's certainly not bad, and with a bit of EQ it would be quite good I think. A decent burn-in would help as well. Also, according to the impedance chart on headphone.com, the impedance peaks at around 100 ohm around 100 Hz, so it would probably improve with decent amping. I listened to an acoustic song by them as well, which sounded excellent. (Listened to Bridge Burning, Everlong, Friend of a Friend and Hey, Johnny Park!, Bri;ge Burning  320 mp3, the others were old rips, in lesser quality, I don't listen to Foo Fighters all that much so I never bothered to replace them). If this genre is the main music you listen to, there are probably better cans at this price.

I can't comment on pop, since I have none whatsoever in my collection. As for electro, I don't really have that either, only some obscure stuff :p Jazz sounds supreme though!

Hi K-jack,

The AKG 550's are really good for rock and pop and most stuff I throw at them.  They sound great even un-amped listening to Apple Lossless from an iPad but they really shine with a good dac/amp.  The true bass heads seem to think these cans lack bass but I would disagree.  I think it all depends on your head shape and if you get a good seal.  The bass extension is nice and it's not muddy at all.  I was looking for something to improve the impact and bass on my K701's when I found the 550's.  They have the clarity and musical separation of the K701's with better bass and a lot more impact.  They also are more forgiving of treble spiking than the 701's.

I also like the 598's and I bought them for a friend of mine who is a sound guy - he loves them.  I recently bought my wife the 840's which she too loves.  Both sound really good in the mid range sweet spot for guitar/singer songwriter stuff and rock like Tom Petty. I don't think you can go wrong with any of these cans for those types of music but I think the 550's are the most bang for the buck sonically and looks/build quality.  They are a step up from the other two.   

I enjoy listening to NIN on the 550's but don't have a frame of reference for dub-step.  It's really difficult to find a pair of headphones that will be all things to all people so I would think about adding something known for deep and accurate bass for some of your musical tastes.  That being said, you might find the AKG 550's to be a good all a rounder and not need to solve a problem that doesn't exist.