[feverfive]

I was really looking at the 1840 as my upgrade from the 940s which I love a lot. Just hated that it gets too bright with some songs. Tried the 1840 in Hong Kong as it was available there for demo and I loved it. I love everything about it apart from the lack of visceral impact on the lows. Finally settled and got the he500. Wanted something with nice mids. Both the 1840 and he500 has nice mids. 1840 wins on comfort but the he500 wins on bass impact and extension.

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Yep. IMO if the 1840 had more sub bass impact I could've seen myself being very happy with that for quite some time. I don't consider myself a basshead, but lack of bass impact always leaves me dissatisfied. The 1540 has issues, but for me, with a new cable on the way, it's good enough for now

 

[antikryst]

I was really looking at the 1840 as my upgrade from the 940s which I love a lot. Just hated that it gets too bright with some songs. Tried the 1840 in Hong Kong as it was available there for demo and I loved it. I love everything about it apart from the lack of visceral impact on the lows. Finally settled and got the he500. Wanted something with nice mids. Both the 1840 and he500 has nice mids. 1840 wins on comfort but the he500 wins on bass impact and extension.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Yep. IMO if the 1840 had more sub bass impact I could've seen myself being very happy with that for quite some time. I don't consider myself a basshead, but lack of bass impact always leaves me dissatisfied. The 1540 has issues, but for me, with a new cable on the way, it's good enough for now

I would have been really happy with just bass extension. I'm fine with decent impact. But for the price it lacks extension.. Bass just rolls off too early.

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[Cimmerian58]

Hi, first post here.I wanted to demo a SHR 1440 with the type of music I like-mostly classic film scores and powerful symphonic music so I called the local Shure rep- Mike C. and he sent the 1440 and the 1540 to a Guitar Center for me to test them out. I own a pair of Sennheiser HD 580 and Grado 225i and I wanted to hear something more clear and revealing and the 1440 really was very very good at bringing out details in the music that I can barely hear on my other headphones, mostly in the midrange and upper treble areas. The bass was tight and clear but not very loud and punchy. So I asked that I could switch the ear pads with the 1540 pads. HELLO! Amazing difference. The dynamics of the music became charged with impact-everything was just way louder and the bass was awesome! Punchy,kicking and tight. And there was sub bass that you could hear well-low organ notes etc. The mids became smoother and the highs were not as bright-more liquid sounding. All the detail and clarity was there-so a big win all around. So if you are thinking of getting 1440 order a pair of the 1540 ear pads and you will have a great sound pair of headphones. This was tested on an apple Mac Pro computer-not the best way to hear these. I am going to to buy some 1440's and 1540 pads next week and see how they sound with my new iFi iCan micro heaphone amp.

 

[Soundsgoodtome]

Where are you getting the 1540 earpads?
 

   So I asked that I could switch the ear pads with the 1540 pads. HELLO! Amazing difference. The dynamics of the music became charged with impact-everything was just way louder and the bass was awesome! Punchy,kicking and tight. And there was sub bass that you could hear well-low organ notes etc. The mids became smoother and the highs were not as bright-more liquid sounding. All the detail and clarity was there-so a big win all around. So if you are thinking of getting 1440 order a pair of the 1540 ear pads and you will have a great sound pair of headphones. This was tested on an apple Mac Pro computer-not the best way to hear these. I am going to to buy some 1440's and 1540 pads next week and see how they sound with my new iFi iCan micro heaphone amp.

 

[gelocks]

http://www.amazon.com/Shure-HPAEC1540-Replacement-Alcantara-Headphones/dp/B00HXAV0UY
 
out of stock but search for part on google and check availability...

 

[LincolnNE]

Do you know where or who is selling a pair of the 1540 pads?

 

[rovopio]

The 940 is more aggressive and sharper in the upper mids and treble than than the 1840. So if you want those qualities the 1840 won't do the trick. But if you find those areas to be problematic or tiring if elevated then the 1840 is a definite improvement. Build wise the 1840 is miles ahead of the 940 and 1440.

 
hi great review dweaver, thank you for making it... so im going to buy my first headphones, im mainly going to use it for folk pop / rock, accoustic, female vocals kind of songs...
 
i'd like to ask which headphones did you keep in the end? the 940 or the 1440?
 
also... i've been using grado sr60 for many years now... i tried to find 940 demo unit where i live but i cant find it locally to hear how it sounds, and where i live there is no return policy so i can't buy / try / return...
 
my second question is... does "more aggressive and sharper in the upper mids and treble" means it's similar to how grado sr60 / sr80 forward sound?
also does your shure 940 cracks easily?
 
cheers

 

[dweaver]

I actually ended up selling both. The 940 was probably nicer for sonically but they broke on me just from regular use, so after I got them replaced I ended up selling them. I then ended up selling the 1440 later on as I found my signature tastes had shifted.

Today I actually own a pair of the SRH1540 which I am enjoying quite a bit but it does match my current sonic signature which is a bit V shaped (strong bass and treble). The 1540 is also built much much better than either the 940 or 1440 and is much lighter.

While I find the Shure sound to be upper midrange/treble happy I have never found it as strong to sharp as the Grados I have heard.

 

[rovopio]

I actually ended up selling both. The 940 was probably nicer for sonically but they broke on me just from regular use, so after I got them replaced I ended up selling them. I then ended up selling the 1440 later on as I found my signature tastes had shifted.

Today I actually own a pair of the SRH1540 which I am enjoying quite a bit but it does match my current sonic signature which is a bit V shaped (strong bass and treble). The 1540 is also built much much better than either the 940 or 1440 and is much lighter.

While I find the Shure sound to be upper midrange/treble happy I have never found it as strong to sharp as the Grados I have heard.

 locally, similarly priced headphones that are available to me are hd 598 / shure 940 / sony mdr 1r / audio technica es10 / audio technica esw9 / hifiman he-400 / akg k550...
where i live... this is all cost almost the same with $20~40 price differences between them (starting from $380 to $420)
 
most of my songs collections are genres with female vocals / guitars / indie pop / folk rock... like frightened rabbit or slow club...
 
initially after reading many reviews i was set on shure 940, but i don't want to get OCD over being afraid that it will crack and broke....
among the above, which ones do you think is good for my music collection?
 
is it a bad idea to get shure srh 940 expecting i can use it for many years?
my grado sr60 has been going strong for more than half a decade now...
 
(i've read all the above headphones reviews except akg and audio technica yet...)
 
=====
ps: also, while i'd love to get the shure 1540 not only that it's not available locally yet, my initial budget was only $150, i was about to get alessandro ms1i initially and be done with it, but after reading posts and threads saying grado sr60 with L cush pads will yield 90~95% of upper tier grado sound signature, i was thinking it'd be a waste if i buy a $150 headphones considering i already hv sr60... (because price of everything is inflated so $150 doesn't worth), e.g amazon price of $220 on hd 598, here cost $379 .
 
so because of that... i'm stretching my budget to $380~$420... and the above listed are all the maximum headphones i can get... (and / or any model lower than that in US prices)
 
i was really sold on shure 940...,, is there any headphones brands / models out there that is as good / just slightly worse than shure 940 for my genres....?
btw all my sources are 320kbps...
 
 
ps no.2: while i can't buy from amazon directly to ship it where i live, since i live in asia ATM, there are 3rd party forwarder services that'll allow me to order from amazon => them => my place...
 
currently shure 1440 is $300 on amazon and door-to-door shipment to where i live will cost me ~$450 if the package is 1~2kg, and $25 per kg after that (idk how heavy the shure package is). *i could still justify that, though i'd have to wait 2 months for the shipment from them.
 
i'm really tempted on buying the shure 1540, but i dont think im at a point in live where i can justify buying a ~$700 and neglecting responsiblities, including not eating for 4 months )
 
=====
 
what do you think?
should i starve myself to death and buy 1540? is 1440 enough for my genre? or can 940 live for at least 4 years or more with "proper" care?

 

[dweaver]

The 1440 is better built than the 940 and has a similar signature. Enough so that I would say go for it over the 940. The 1540 is good enough that if you could pick up a used pair for a reasonable price I think it would be worth it. But I won't recommend it at full price if you can't afford it.

 

[rovopio]

The 1440 is better built than the 940 and has a similar signature. Enough so that I would say go for it over the 940. The 1540 is good enough that if you could pick up a used pair for a reasonable price I think it would be worth it. But I won't recommend it at full price if you can't afford it.

 
thank you thank you very much for the concise and quick answer...
 
last question about the value-for-money...
 
for many reasons, my situations will only allow me to have 1 pair of headphones for the foreseeable future. so this 1 headphone, i'm going to use for a very long time. at the very minimum 3 and a half years, bordering 4 years. so my consideration only comes to 2 things, A) it has to be an upgrade in sound compared to my grado sr60
B) it have to last long (which i initially thought was a non-issue cuz of my daily-beaten grado)
 
that's why i was stretching my initial $150 budget to $400 due to the price inflation, and $150 won't gain me anything good enough (when i bought my grado the price was fair, and i was living in a different country). but even grado sr60i now cost $115 so i'll get nothing with $150. well there's alessandro ms1i but yeah.
 
so i'd have to ask... i'm barely at my ends with spending $380~$400, and the 1440 will cost $450~$475 more depends on the package weight. (if it's 3kg it'd be $375)
compare to shure 940 which i can get for $405.
 
how far is the 1440 value and durability compared to 940 for the amount of money i spent?
is it a far safer bet to get 1440 instead?
 
===
btw, on an unrelated note, is there any headphones from the above lists / any models that are cheaper in US price that can compete with shure 940 / 1440 for my genres...?
beyerdynamic dt880 / hifiman he-400 perhaps? both cost $400.
 
btw does sennheiser hd 598 price tag of $380 overpriced...? that was my 2nd choice from reading reviews, but looking at US street price differences and the fact there are many 598 knockoffs where i live, it's sort of makes me think twice on making hd 598 my 2nd choice...

 

[dweaver]

I have not heard the Beyerdynamic models you have listed can not comment. But I do think they will be an upgrade from the model of Grado you have as would the HE400.

If you have access to AKG the Q701 is an awesome open headphone. Or if you want closed the K545 or K550 are both very good. All of the above should be within your budget.

 

[Hapster]

Which do you think would be best for EDM?

 

[kalki11]

anyone know how the shure 1440 compare to the grado rs1i ?
 
they are both mid centric and aggressive( from what i read ) 

 

[raphaem]

They Shure do.