[Minstrel59]

How do these 3 headphones seem to respond to the challenge of:

Portray convincingly real female voice and piano?

Warm with a soft treble?

Shure SRH1540
Shure SRH940
Beyer DT 770 250 ohm

Please suggest any other headphones that might be better suited for the:

Low volume needed playing situation
Direct from iPod or TV.

Thanks
Minstrel

 

[nicholars]

How do these 3 headphones seem to respond to the challenge of:

Portray convincingly real female voice and piano?

Warm with a soft treble?

Shure SRH1540 < This one
Shure SRH940
Beyer DT 770 250 ohm

Please suggest any other headphones that might be better suited for the:

Low volume needed playing situation
Direct from iPod or TV.

Thanks
Minstrel

 

[Jackson9696]

+1
The shure is fantastic for your music preferences, plus they sound best at lower listening volumes. Warm with a soft treble, but at the same time full of detail.

 

[nicholars]

+1
The shure is fantastic for your music preferences, plus they sound best at lower listening volumes. Warm with a soft treble, but at the same time full of detail.

 
They sound great at high volumes as well with the right dac / amp / EQ

 

[Ra97oR]

Shure SRH940 can sound cold and bright at times, and running off a TV would not help with those ads blasting at you.

Beyer DT 770 is the bassist here out of the 3. It is really out classed by both the Shure in terms of details but certainly most forgiving. 250Ohm MIGHT work out of an iPod, but not ideal without amping. There is the 80Ohm version for that.

Shure SRH1540 is overall best sounding here, and the most expensive. It does justify it's price tag with the overall improvement though.

I say forget the SRH940 and maybe get an SRH840 if you want to go budget, or just go all the way to the SRH1540. Note the SRH840 is heavy and the least comfortable out of anything I mentioned.

 

[nicholars]

Also the DT770 is rather sibilant and the bass is not very good quality, they are good for £120 but they obviously cannot compete with headphones 3x the price, when I listen to some beyerdynamic headphones eg DT990 literally all I can hear is sibilance and bass, beyers do not have soft treble, they are pro headphones designed to show up nasties in the treble.

 

[Minstrel59]

How about at 'tickover' or 'just above tickover' i.e. just audible plus 1 notch on the volume say?

The appeal of the 770 seems to be emphasised bass (to complement ultra low volume listening).

Sparkly top end (to complement same).

Good isolation.

I WANT a neutral sound really though. Its a huge compromise I need to make (because of my condition) just to listen at all without pain.

So I NEED (rather than WANT I mean):

Good resolution
Transparency
Soft treble
Warm lush sound
(all of the above so I can listen without pain to the ears even at 'just higher than zero' volumes)
Much better isolation than the 940 gives

Up to £250...or the 1540 which is quite a bit more; but it would have to be spot on. There seem to be mixed feelings on this headphone. Mostly positive though.

I've tried the 940. Very clear. Not enough isolation for me. Highs probably too hot for me.

After a headphone listen has induced pain it could be because of:
Time of exposure
Volume level
Frequency
Distortion/sibilance whatever

(but probably a combination of them...)

Just like sunburn!

 

[Cakensaur]

Have you looked into the W1000x from AT?
MSRP way over your mark but I'm pretty sure you can easily pick them up for less.

 

[nicholars]

How about at 'tickover' or 'just above tickover' i.e. just audible plus 1 notch on the volume say?

The appeal of the 770 seems to be emphasised bass (to complement ultra low volume listening).

Sparkly top end (to complement same).

Good isolation.

I WANT a neutral sound really though. Its a huge compromise I need to make (because of my condition) just to listen at all without pain.

So I NEED (rather than WANT I mean):

Good resolution
Transparency
Soft treble
Warm lush sound
(all of the above so I can listen without pain to the ears even at 'just higher than zero' volumes)
Much better isolation than the 940 gives

Up to £250...or the 1540 which is quite a bit more; but it would have to be spot on. There seem to be mixed feelings on this headphone. Mostly positive though.

I've tried the 940. Very clear. Not enough isolation for me. Highs probably too hot for me.

After a headphone listen has induced pain it could be because of:
Time of exposure
Volume level
Frequency
Distortion/sibilance whatever

(but probably a combination of them...)

Just like sunburn!

The sound quality of the 840 is better than the DT770 and the bass on them is good quality, but not much in quantity, I had them a few years ago I can't remember that well but I think they are better than the DT770. I have owned a lot of headphones and demo'd a lot more in shops etc. and the SRH 1540 literally is "spot on", out of my Xonar stx they sounded very good but had a few problems, with the NAD D1050 they are the best sound quality I have personally heard from headphones and as close to perfect as I have heard, they still sound good with an "ok" Dac/amp such as Xonar STX but they sound extremely good with a good quality dac/amp. I have no idea why they do not have more reviews on head-fi, maybe people on here are looking for a different sound....
 
More people need to try the combo of the SRH 1540 and D1050 and then judge them! Obviously everyone likes different sound but the SRH 1540 tick all the boxes for me (at the same time in one headphone, which is the hard part).

 

[Minstrel59]

Thanks nicolars and everyone for your help.

Sounds like the 1540 will give everything except the isolation.

I've had several strong recommendations on Yamaha HPH MT220 and DT150. Have you heard either of these?

 

[Jackson9696]

I've had both the mt220 and the 1540 and I can confidently say that the shure is much better for my preferences. It is warmer with more of a mid bass emphasis and has a much softer treble with delicate mids. It also has much better soundstage depth and imaging, whereas the yamaha is very wide and tall. I also found that the mt220 could get harsh at times.

Best Regards,
Jackson

 

[Ra97oR]

DT150 will work best with an amp. Output from a phone most the time is not sufficient. But it is a real bargain, seriously punching way above it's price tag. I throw mine around all the time, built like a tank.

 

[nicholars]

Thanks nicolars and everyone for your help.

Sounds like the 1540 will give everything except the isolation.

I've had several strong recommendations on Yamaha HPH MT220 and DT150. Have you heard either of these?

 
No I havn't but seriously just buy the 1540 and ideally a good source as well 1540 + NAD D1050 are like they were designed to sound good together, the D1050 fixes all the weak parts of the 1540 from a lesser dac / amp (the weak parts are pretty minor anyway compared to most headphones, the SRH 1540 do it all with a good source, very nice bass, very nice mids, silky treble with a little bit of sparkle, imaging, separation, 3D soundstage, pace, comfort, build quality all accounted for. Perfect balance between "neutral / reference" and "fun"... If you get the 1540 you can upgrade the source later and experience high end sound at mid range prices. More people should seriously buy the 1540, Shure is such a great manufacturer, if you listen to a variety of genres and want all round sound quality with an almost open soundstage and closed bass at the same time, there are not any other headphones that can do that at the price (that I have tried anyway). Also if you want to go a bit cheaper the NAD HP50 and PSB M4U headphones are very popular, I have not heard them for long enough to give a proper opinion on them, except that the comfort and fit is bad compared to the SRH1540 and they have a smaller soundstage.

 

[Fearless1]

The DT 150 blows the doors off of the 1540 in every genera IMHO. I tried both in my search for a closed can and the DT150 is here the 1540 is gone. 

 

[nicholars]

  The DT 150 blows the doors off of the 1540 in every genera IMHO. I tried both in my search for a closed can and the DT150 is here the 1540 is gone. 

 Hm