[cyberalpha11]

Please explain why ...... :rolleyes:

And also please go into detail about the difference between all 3 headphones .... that is assuming you have heard all 3 .....?

I have listened to them to a similar song that I familiar. I found ATH -M50 is the best especially the separation, bass and high comparing to the other two.
Anyway this is just my opinion .

 

[eric0531]

I have never heard the 440s but have owned both the 840s and M50s. I sold the M50s after I got the Shures.

Isolation on both is good but not to IEM levels. Comfort is pretty similar as well IMO.

For me I just prefer the overall sound signature of the 840s - the mids are "just right" to my ears. Bass is a little more emphasized on the M50s but I found the highs to be brittle and artificial sounding.

The Shures are fine right out of my iPhone, as were the M50s.

As a reference point I listen to mostly jazz, rock and fusion.

 

[ilikedonkeys39]

thanks for everyones opinion! it looks like its the m50 vs 840

 

[DxBecks]

To be fair: I have yet to hear the Audio-Technica ATH-M50, but I do have the Shure SRH-840 and went through a lot of debate between the two of them myself. I really believe that your choice between the two will come down to what fits your needs better as I'm sure you will honestly be happy with one or the other. If portability is an issue, and you really want a more portable headphone, I would say you should look more towards the ATH-M50 as they are close to 100g lighter than the SRH-840, and are much more flexible; so you could comfortably wear them on your neck and rest the ear-cups on your chest when not in use on the go. The SRH-840 does have some benefits over the ATH-M50, such as the detachable cord, so if your cord breaks, or you want to switch between a coiled and non-coiled cord depending on your situation, you can. As far as sound goes, I absolutely love the SRH-840's, I listen to my music mainly on Vinyl and CD, and they sound wonderful. People will say that the bass in the SRH-840 is lacking but I would have to disagree with that. The first album I ever listened to with them was Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and the bass response with the 840's was insane, it isn't bloated or boom but tight and impactful bass. The mid-range is excellent, as is the high-end, there is a lot of definition and colour to symbols, listening to Nirvana with the 840's really sounded amazing because of this. Now while the 840's can be driven rather easily by most devices, they do have a higher impedance than the M50, and while an amp is not needed to get great sound out of them, they will benefit from having one. As far as comfort goes, I find the 840's extremely comfortable and can wear them for hours, even with the oddly designed headband. 
 
I won't vote since I haven't heard all headphones in this debate, but I still thought I would give my two cents.

 

[ilikedonkeys39]

Quote:

To be fair: I have yet to hear the Audio-Technica ATH-M50, but I do have the Shure SRH-840 and went through a lot of debate between the two of them myself. I really believe that your choice between the two will come down to what fits your needs better as I'm sure you will honestly be happy with one or the other. If portability is an issue, and you really want a more portable headphone, I would say you should look more towards the ATH-M50 as they are close to 100g lighter than the SRH-840, and are much more flexible; so you could comfortably wear them on your neck and rest the ear-cups on your chest when not in use on the go. The SRH-840 does have some benefits over the ATH-M50, such as the detachable cord, so if your cord breaks, or you want to switch between a coiled and non-coiled cord depending on your situation, you can. As far as sound goes, I absolutely love the SRH-840's, I listen to my music mainly on Vinyl and CD, and they sound wonderful. People will say that the bass in the SRH-840 is lacking but I would have to disagree with that. The first album I ever listened to with them was Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and the bass response with the 840's was insane, it isn't bloated or boom but tight and impactful bass. The mid-range is excellent, as is the high-end, there is a lot of definition and colour to symbols, listening to Nirvana with the 840's really sounded amazing because of this. Now while the 840's can be driven rather easily by most devices, they do have a higher impedance than the M50, and while an amp is not needed to get great sound out of them, they will benefit from having one. As far as comfort goes, I find the 840's extremely comfortable and can wear them for hours, even with the oddly designed headband. 
 
I won't vote since I haven't heard all headphones in this debate, but I still thought I would give my two cents.

im leaning towards the shures... Do you know if you could buy a aftermarket cable that is more managable and has the play pause control? And thanks a ton for the info!! :O 

 

[DxBecks]

Quote:

im leaning towards the shures... Do you know if you could buy a aftermarket cable that is more managable and has the play pause control? And thanks a ton for the info!! :O 

That I do not know, the Shure cable has a proprietary locking mechanism to avoid the cable be disconnected from the headphones when in use, and the audio jack that connects to the headphones is a standard 2.5mm jack. So theoretically you might be able to find one, but the cord will likely not be able to lock into place. Also the SRH-440's and SRH-840's use the same cord, so if you ever need a replacement cord or see a cord labeled for a 440, it will work with the 840 as well. 

 

[ilikedonkeys39]

Quote:

That I do not know, the Shure cable has a proprietary locking mechanism to avoid the cable be disconnected from the headphones when in use, and the audio jack that connects to the headphones is a standard 2.5mm jack. So theoretically you might be able to find one, but the cord will likely not be able to lock into place. Also the SRH-440's and SRH-840's use the same cord, so if you ever need a replacement cord or see a cord labeled for a 440, it will work with the 840 as well. 

yeah thats what i was thinking and the 440 and 840 seem very similar

 

[Swatcsi]

I've heard all 3 and I strongly prefer the 840, and still use it often, even though I have much better speakers + headphones. It depends on what you like to listen to the most, but did find the 840's to be quite detailed for their price range, and do well in all areas, highs, mids, lows, transparency etc. basically a jack of all trades headphone, and like it for that.

 

[ilikedonkeys39]

i think ill get the srh 840
 
one last thing i like to be able to focus on any part of the song like i could focus on the low beat or the high claps. Is that possible with the shures?  It dosnt matter that much

 

[ilikedonkeys39]

wait! do you guys think the v-moda v-80 or lp2  would be a better choice then any of these?

 

[Dyaems]

i prefer the 840 or m50 over the vmoda if were not talking about the looks

 

[ilikedonkeys39]

Quote:

i prefer the 840 or m50 over the vmoda if were not talking about the looks

yeah i dont care about looks that much and cool the 840 seem pretty good

 

[fizban007]

Hopefully I'm not too late to throw in my two cents and a couple of real-life stories.
 
I've been using the 840s for near 3 years now, and it's part of my office rig. I like its sound signature, with forward and very smooth mids, and not too much bass. This, of course, ties to my music preference, as I mostly listen to female vocals and pop songs. For classical music I use my home rig which is HD600 + Nuforce HDP (recently upgraded to HE-500). But I sometimes still like the vocals from the 840 better, although the HD600s beats them on any other aspect.
 
About a year ago I convinced one of my friends to join the audiophile world, and he came to head-fi for suggestions on his first serious headphone. He was greeted with an overwhelming recommendation of the ATH-M50, so he just rushed to amazon and grabbed a pair of those. Then he came to my office and we spent an hour ABing the M50 with my 840. Although he had almost no experience with high quality headphones, we easily came to agreement that M50 has better bass than the 840, both in quantity and in quality. However, my 840 destroys his M50 at midrange and highs with silk-smooth vocals and no sibilance at all. Soundstage was quite similar, though. Admitted, his M50 was not burnt-in yet, whereas my 840 had about 2 years on them already, but the difference was much bigger than burn-in effect alone. After the comparison he became quite disappointed with the M50, because his music preference was quite similar to mine.
 
Not long ago, another of my friend was also picking up his first pair of headphone. We went to H&R and auditioned M50 and V-Moda LP2. He's a basshead and really likes a lot of bass. And after some side-to-side comparison, he said the lp2 beats M50 on bass hands down. But my impression was that the M50 had some better instrument separation. However the bad thing about H&R is that we had to use their source and music, so I wasn't able to compare a lot of other aspects. He went ahead and purchased the lp2 later.
 
I don't have the 440s, so I wouldn't comment on them. Hope the above helps with your decision.

 

[ilikedonkeys39]

Quote:

Hopefully I'm not too late to throw in my two cents and a couple of real-life stories.
 
I've been using the 840s for near 3 years now, and it's part of my office rig. I like its sound signature, with forward and very smooth mids, and not too much bass. This, of course, ties to my music preference, as I mostly listen to female vocals and pop songs. For classical music I use my home rig which is HD600 + Nuforce HDP (recently upgraded to HE-500). But I sometimes still like the vocals from the 840 better, although the HD600s beats them on any other aspect.
 
About a year ago I convinced one of my friends to join the audiophile world, and he came to head-fi for suggestions on his first serious headphone. He was greeted with an overwhelming recommendation of the ATH-M50, so he just rushed to amazon and grabbed a pair of those. Then he came to my office and we spent an hour ABing the M50 with my 840. Although he had almost no experience with high quality headphones, we easily came to agreement that M50 has better bass than the 840, both in quantity and in quality. However, my 840 destroys his M50 at midrange and highs with silk-smooth vocals and no sibilance at all. Soundstage was quite similar, though. Admitted, his M50 was not burnt-in yet, whereas my 840 had about 2 years on them already, but the difference was much bigger than burn-in effect alone. After the comparison he became quite disappointed with the M50, because his music preference was quite similar to mine.
 
Not long ago, another of my friend was also picking up his first pair of headphone. We went to H&R and auditioned M50 and V-Moda LP2. He's a basshead and really likes a lot of bass. And after some side-to-side comparison, he said the lp2 beats M50 on bass hands down. But my impression was that the M50 had some better instrument separation. However the bad thing about H&R is that we had to use their source and music, so I wasn't able to compare a lot of other aspects. He went ahead and purchased the lp2 later.
 
I don't have the 440s, so I wouldn't comment on them. Hope the above helps with your decision.

hmmm it seems the 840are what im looking for