[clarinetman]

After doing recent and extensive A/Bing, and owning my Shure 840 for almost a month, the 840 has decidedly taken the throne as my new favorite headphone I own, even over my beloved Grado 325.  I don't know how it happened, but there's really something magical about the Shures that the Grados just don't have. I go into shock just hearing myself think that, because Grado has is my favorite brand of headphone of all time (Sony and A-T is right up there). Interestingly, both headphones are on practically opposite sides of the spectrum; Grado being forward and "fun", whereas the 840 is balanced and natural (the Shures are even $100 or so dollars cheaper than the Grado). Even while I tend to prefer an engaging and forward sound, I find that the 840 does both of the aforementioned quite well if I ask it to, and make for an overall more enjoyable listening experience than the 325. Amazingly, even though Grado is known for its incredible vocals,  listening to Diana Krall's "Besame Mucho" on the 840 conveys a completely different and far more mind-mind blowing feeling. It sounds as if Diana is singing into the very deepest depths of your soul on a cool rainy night, pining for you with every fiber of her being, calling out to you in the darkness with her sultry, sexy voice. To use the same metaphor, the Grado sounds as if she's shouting to you slightly more drunkenly for a one-night-stand. This is to say, the Grado is thousands of shades away from being bad, but the 840 is far more emotional, almost in maudlin in every sense of the word. The tone on the 840 is improved greatly over the 325 also; the only place Grado excels here is the sizzle and realism of percussion, however Shure comes very close and is abundantly acceptable. The presentation of the 840 also trumps the Grado. As previously stated, I'm partial to a forward sound, and the 840 has this, but to me it's far more refined and "sophisticated" so to speak. In short, the Grado sounds strangely thin in the treble  and even slightly, yes, muddy, in the midbass when compared to the Shure. Incredibly, I even like rock and metal better with the Shure than the Grado.  Details present themselves so beautifully with the Shures that metal now sounds even more bone-shattering than before. Each drum hit so realistic, every pick so perfect; all the instruments are delicately separated as if on the stage of a concert. The 840's separation makes electronic instruments sound glorious too in the sense that everything is intricate and almost "layered" sounding.
 
Nevertheless, I'm heavily considering selling my Grados soon, since they don't get a ton of use anymore. Thanks for reading!

 

[Germancub]

You're not insane at all... I've owned everything from HD600/650's, K701s and SR-325s and RS-1s and prefer the SRH840s to all of them without question. You hit it spot on with the "forward whilst being refined". They seem to encompass everything I liked from every high-end headphone and put it into one package. They are simply some of the best dynamic headphones I've ever heard, glad you're loving them! Shure knows what they're doing

 

[xnor]

Thanks for your impressions.
It's a shame I have only heard the SRH440 so far! It had some flaws but the SRH840 seems to fix some of those.
I'm still trying to find pictures of the 840 internals / driver because I want to see if there's enough modding potential.

 

[azncookiecutter]

Great thing about the SRH840s is the ability of not being picky of what amp it needs to drive them well, unlike the K701s. The HF-2s are still my favourite though, but the SRH840 more than holds it own, especially for the price.

 

[K_19]

It's not surprising at all, as SRH840 is a very well performing headphone with overall good balance. They do punch above their weight IMO, especially for closed headphones. They only did two things wrong for me which annoyed me enough for me to sell it (balance in mids/comfort), but for a lot of people it would not be an issue and a great deal on their end.

 

[AmanGeorge]

Yeah, I don't think you're crazy - I much prefer the Shures to the 325. The only true weakness of the Shures to my ears was that the soundstage was very closed in (probably as a result of the fact that the cups are very compact, clamp tightly, and isolate very well) - but then again, if you're used to Grados (especially with flats) this probably wouldn't be as big an issue for you.