[gelocks]

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Here is a good deal on an opened box but unused set of Shure SRH940's.   Best price I have seen anywhere!   They are also a Shure-authorized reseller so they are also coverd by the factory warranty.

Awesome deal!
And they are a good store! So if anyone is going to bite, better do it until they run out of stock!

 

[gelocks]

Quote:

I don't feel like reading all 66 pages of this thread, and I haven't found my answer in the last ten pages. Sorry if this has been said before.
 
I own the SRH 440. I find the ear pads very hard and sticky at times. I read many comparison between the 840 and 440 pads, saying how the 840 were softer. I think I read the 840 pads were made of memory foam. It is common knowledge that using the 840 pads on the 440 is an improvement in comfort. My question is, are the 940 pads made as soft and comfortable as the 840? Are they recommended for use on the 440?
 
I would think so, since the 940 are considered higher end than the 840. I'd just like a confirmation of this before I order the 940 pads.
 
Thanks

 


Quote:

Argh, I recall reading something about this somewhere in this thread too....
 
I think I've read that the 940 pads are more comfortable than the 840's since they're made of velour rather than pleather. However, I also seem to recall that the 940 pads reduced the bass on the 840's and the 840's pads increased the bass on the 940's. I don't quite recall the specifics though.
 

 
The 440s definitely benefit from 840 pads!
Sound just becomes fuller, bass a bit more present, and comfort goes up a notch.
 
Personally I didn't like the 940 velour pads on the 440s.
Although comfortable, it took away from the sound I loved (and had gotten used to!) with the 840 pads.
 
 

 

[extrabigmehdi]

ok let's share some impressions, I got my srh940  yesterday . Tested from "sansa clip+", "cowon s9" & "xonar stx" (mostly used flac or high qual ogg). I compare them with the other headphone I know: senn hd595  & the IE7 .

From the sansa clip+, the srh940 sounded the worse, these headphones didn't seem much the "detail monsters" you'd expect; lacking some clarity, thin sound, the soundstage was lacking.

The Sound improves, when moving from the sansa clip+ to the cowon s9, better clarity & soundstage, and this with a flat eq. Playing with the different jet effects, helps to get a more satisfying result. With the eq, I can get a more "balanced" sound, decreasing the high, increasing the lows. I can hear some "bass impact" (with techno for instance) , and the mach3Bass helps a bit to boost it. But it can't compete, with the bass of my iem senn IE7. I mean that for the bass: srh940 + jet effects << ie7 + no effects. And if I add the jet effects on the senn IE7, it's miles ahead of the srh940 (I'm on a discotheque). Never mind, you can still manage to get some "bass impact" from the srh940, enough to get a taste of it, but it leaves you hungry. Then I've tested my srh940 with some "meditative"/ambient music, like for instance "Adagio & Rondo for Glass Harmonica" from Mozart (with true Glass Harmonica) or Hammock or Jonsi & Alex  etc..., and thought "this sucks". Somehow I couldn't reach the euphonic tones from my hd595, and thought that my hd595 is much better for this kind of music.

When moving to the xonar stx source on the computer, I found the sound more refined and pleasing. Despite of the "brightness", the sound was enjoyable. Listening to some ambient music , was much better from the xonar stx  than on my cowon s9, but it still couldn't compete with my hd595 (too bad, there are cracks on my hd595 that are getting worse  & worse).  I tried to apply some gain from the built in headphone amplifier of the xonar stx, (switching from normal gain to high gain), and the sound seemed a bit warmer, compensating slightly the "bright" sound, but not that much.

Somehow, I still found the brightness of the srh940 "unnatural". This reminded me a bit the music that leaks from any headphones, when you don't put your ears on them: you hear more the highs than anything else. Well the comparison is an exaggeration, but you get the idea.  I listened to the song "on the closet" from Michael Jackson, and I found the percussions too much pronounced, you almost only pay only attention to them. I listened to the song "en cendres" by "emilie simon" (vocal & acoustic), and at first I thought at first "oh my god, what an explosion of details!". But then I thought that all these details were drowning the Song.

But this "brightness" was not bad for every song, sometimes it contributes to give a more "lively" feeling. I listened to some "Deadmau5" (electronic genre) as someone suggested on this thread; and the pronounced percussions was somehow "spicing up" the music.

About the "bass", I listened to it more carefully on  the xonar stx. There's definitely some "bass impact" from the srh940 , but depending of the song, it's more or less drowned by the mids & the highs. When I compare with the bass of the hd595, I wouldn't say there's "more bass" (perhaps even the contrary). However I understood that the bass of the hd595 is somehow "broken". I would say there's a lack of definition between the low and the "low mids". Because of this , you often cannot hear any "slam","thump", from the hd595. So there's not more bass on the srh940 than the hd595, but because of its better quality, it's more satisfying.

About the soundstage of srh940 from xonar stx: I'd say it's the half of my hd595, not that bad.
Can be greatly improved using the free vst sheppi (I prefer this to dolby headphone).

Finally I applied a chain of vst (using multifxvst & george yohng vst wrapper on foobar) . Because why just an eq ?  So first, I used an equalizer, trying to imitate the quick tweaks I've made on my cowon s9. Basically I add 2 db below 400hz, remove 2 db above 1.1 khz (edited), and the mids decrease regularly between the two (see graph below). Then I add to the chain the D82 vst (commercial, BBE  effect), increasing the "lo countour" setting to 0.5; this helps a slight bit to make the bass fatter/energical. Then I used the vst sheppi (it's free, get it, it's worth it), and I got a great improvement on the soundstage.  I already tried sheppi vst before on the hd595, and the effect was much more important/interesting on the srh940.
 


I'd the say that for the moment, that with the vst chain, I like the result (my taste & mood vary ...) . Probably I could enjoy my srh940 without the vst chain, if I could get used to the brightness of these headphone. On the pic, below you can see the vst chain using multifxvst.  The freeg vst is to decrease volume, and avoid clipping after applying all dsp effects.
 

 
Finally a comment about the comfort of srh940: I find it great. The pads are as soft as the pads of the hd595 on my ears. When you touch the pads with the fingers, you realize that the pads on the hd595 are softer. Also, there's the clamping force of the srh940, that you can't completely forget; but it's bearable.
 

 

[baka1969]

i think the srh840 is one of the most versatile headphones around.
it is my second most favorite closed headphone.  just behind the ultrasone ed.8.  and actually ahead of the d7000.
so, it is quite something considering it's $200 price tag.
 
so, i've been quite keen to try these new 940s.
but, i must confess that the frequency response graphs have me a little concerned, though.
 
using two "tried and true" benchmarks for "warm" vs. "bright" versions of neutral - the HD650 and the K702, you can see that the srh840 tracks closer to the HD650.  with a slightly lumpier path through the midbass and midrange.  with a slightly elevated midbass.
the SRH940 tracks quite closer to the K702.  albeit with a slightly narrower peak in the upper mids / lower treble.  the K702's peak is wider, leading to it's unique s.s. 

 
i'm not trying to throw rocks or anything here.  i just thought it might be helpful for those out there choosing a closed headphone.
particularly if they are at all familar with the sound signatures of the ubiquitous K701 and HD650, then this might help them choose between the 940 and 840 respectively.
 
 
 

That Headroom chart pretty much verifies what I said about the stock 940's bass being similar to the bass of the 70x. Which, to many, is a bit bass shy. Again, I think the bass of the HD800 is just right. The putty/Blu-Tack mod helps though.

 

[baka1969]

http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=863&graphID[]=3101

 

[tdockweiler]

I love graphs. I found this one interesting and I wonder if they sound similar in any ways..
 

 
The Koss KDE250 one made me laugh. Worst graph I've seen yet! What the heck is going on here?!
Turn it 90 degrees to the right and it's a space alien!
 

 
 

 

[electropop]

"Neutral" at 30Hz, can't be considered bass-light. It promises good things. Can't wait to get a pair...
 
Heh, that last graph indeed looks quite funny.

 

[Uchiya]

Treble is a little bit too sharp for my liking, but nothing the treble reducer can't help tone down on the ipod.  The 940's improve upon everything the Edition 8's had and more, except for the awesome finish and comfy skins.  Maybe Shure can release a "Limited Edition" with Ruthenium-like cups, and Lambskin earpads, perhaps toned down treble for a couple hundred more, catering to the connoisseur!  I'd shurely shell out a few extra dollars for that.

 

[TheWuss]

Quote:

Treble is a little bit too sharp for my liking, but nothing the treble reducer can't help tone down on the ipod.  The 940's improve upon everything the Edition 8's had and more, except for the awesome finish and comfy skins.  Maybe Shure can release a "Limited Edition" with Ruthenium-like cups, and Lambskin earpads, perhaps toned down treble for a couple hundred more, catering to the connoisseur!  I'd shurely shell out a few extra dollars for that.

Touché. 

---

 

 

[electropop]

Quote:

Treble is a little bit too sharp for my liking, but nothing the treble reducer can't help tone down on the ipod.  The 940's improve upon everything the Edition 8's had and more, except for the awesome finish and comfy skins.  Maybe Shure can release a "Limited Edition" with Ruthenium-like cups, and Lambskin earpads, perhaps toned down treble for a couple hundred more, catering to the connoisseur!  I'd shurely shell out a few extra dollars for that.

Nice to hear that. I don't know whether you own an ED8, but it seems like you've had time with them. For their price (well, for me, any price), I thought they were quite rubbish. Seems every person who owns them can't dislike them...

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Nice to hear that. I don't know whether you own an ED8, but it seems like you've had time with them. For their price (well, for me, any price), I thought they were quite rubbish. Seems every person who owns them can't dislike them...

I got to try out the ED8's for the first time at the Seattle meet today. I was actually unimpressed by them, to my surprise.
 
Back onto the topic, how big are the SRH940's ear pads? I tried out the HD800's today and their ear pads were huuuge. They felt like they covered half of my face.
 

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

I got to try out the ED8's for the first time at the Seattle meet today. I was actually unimpressed by them, to my surprise.
 

Maybe you tried with the wrong kind of music ? I  can't understand there's three editions: ruthenium, palladium, limited, and they would suck.
Have you tried the cheaper ultrasone 900 pro ?
 
Quote:

Back onto the topic, how big are the SRH940's ear pads?

As big as the ear pads you find on the hd595. Slightly smaller.

 
 

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Maybe you tried with the wrong kind of music ? I  can't understand there's three editions: ruthenium, palladium, limited, and they would suck.
Have you tried the cheaper ultrasone 900 pro ?

I haven't tried the 900 Pros yet. The ED8's were the ruthenium edition I believe, but yeah it might have been the selection of music that makes a difference. It was an acoustic track if I recall correctly, and they were right next to a pair of HD800's. So naturally I favored the openness of the HD800's over the closed-sound signature of the ED8's.

 

[feutche]

Maybe somebody here had a chance to compare these to Sennheisers HD 250 Linear II?

 

[Uchiya]

@electropop - Yes, I have owned them at one point; purchasing them off the classifieds on these forums for a great deal.  Even then, they were not worth the price.  The Edition 8's sound like how a headphone should if the price was $250, Good!  Used with a CLAS and RX mk.2 amp, there were hardly any noticeable improvement other than a blacker background during high volume play.  If anything, the advantage of using the Edition 8 was that it played back a good sound without the addition of an amp or higher quality source; able to reach it's limit much quicker though having a lower potential than that of other quality headphones.  Imo, the Edition 8 does it all average with excellent looks and aesthetics while the SRH-940 is an above-average performer though having only average looks, yet is far more appealing due to it's fair and realistic price.