Shure SRH 940 impression and support thread

[kiteki]

 
^I don't like returning products, and I have so many things I need to buy and weigh up spend money on (including mundane stuff like dentistry) that it's not a simple talk of just buying X headphone and then selling/returning it, I like to make the informed decision especially since I'm an IEM person and ideally only want 1 or 2 headphones total in my collection.
 
It's disappointing to me to hear that there's respected reviewers and other people that think the 840 is BETTER than the 940 because when I listened to them as I've stated before the 840 sounded plain jane average and the 940 sounded teriffic.
 
I can just extend my available funds, get the Tesla T5p and avoid the idiocy.
 
Pianist saying the 840 is better than the 940 doesn't bother me, because he thinks the RE0 is better than the DT880, and the ES3X is worse than just about everything, but Tyll saying the 840 is better than the 940 is just outright confusing.
 
 
 

 

[extrabigmehdi]

 
@Tyll Hertsens
Quote:

 
The Shure 940 is a poor sounding headphone, IMO. The 840 outperforms it easily, again, IMO.
 

I was waiting for the bashers, finally someone that  dares to hate them.

Frankly I'm  not surprised that not everyone like them.
However I  take every review with a "grain of salt", even when coming from an "expert".
And especially after seeing how you praised the skullcandy aviators

  (sorry, but don't take it badly , I  didn't test these aviators yet).
 

 
 
I'm disappointed that there's people saying the 840 is better than the 940.
 
 
Now I feel like avoiding the 940, and it was the only Shure product I've heard that really impressed me.
 

 
You know , I've seen an other "expert"  saying that he disliked the senn IE7 (he didn't dare to say they are bad

, there's too much enthusiastic reactions online).
And it didn't change my opinion on the senn IE7 (awesome bass & soundstage, but I  was wishing for more clarity).
I  believe all the srh940 need is a good source to show its  "high level of refinement", and decent bass. 

@rhythmdevils
 
Quote:

I'm listening to my ksc-75's right now and I just turned on the "treble boost" EQ on my ipod.  OMG!  It sounds exactly like the HD800 now!

What I'm  secretly suspecting

. However some people say that the hd800 out of an ipod is just fine:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/511103/my-hd800-sounds-great-on-my-ipod-i-m-ready-for-heavy-insults
Now I'm wondering how much people have tried the ksc75 ....
 
Quote:

The ability to get such wonderful sound for only $300 should be shouted out to every person on a budget, not closed off with such negativity as I've seen here.

After all, it's great you have such positive experience with the srh940, and wish I could enjoy them as much as you do.
Now have you tested them with different sources, and noticed differences ? Are you using a particular source ?
 

 

[Digital-Pride]

Quote:

 
^I don't like returning products, and I have so many things I need to buy and weigh up spend money on (including mundane stuff like dentistry) that it's not a simple talk of just buying X headphone and then selling/returning it, I like to make the informed decision especially since I'm an IEM person and ideally only want 1 or 2 headphones total in my collection.
 
It's disappointing to me to hear that there's respected reviewers and other people that think the 840 is BETTER than the 940 because when I listened to them as I've stated before the 840 sounded plain jane average and the 940 sounded teriffic.
 
I can just extend my available funds, get the Tesla T5p and avoid the idiocy.
 
Pianist saying the 840 is better than the 940 doesn't bother me, because he thinks the RE0 is better than the DT880, and the ES3X is worse than just about everything, but Tyll saying the 840 is better than the 940 is just outright confusing.
 
 
 

Well if the 940 sounded better to you than it matters not what others say about it experienced or otherwise.  It is as they often say- Trust your ears.
 

 

[baka1969]

 
^I don't like returning products, and I have so many things I need to buy and weigh up spend money on (including mundane stuff like dentistry) that it's not a simple talk of just buying X headphone and then selling/returning it, I like to make the informed decision especially since I'm an IEM person and ideally only want 1 or 2 headphones total in my collection.
 
It's disappointing to me to hear that there's respected reviewers and other people that think the 840 is BETTER than the 940 because when I listened to them as I've stated before the 840 sounded plain jane average and the 940 sounded teriffic.
 
I can just extend my available funds, get the Tesla T5p and avoid the idiocy.
 
Pianist saying the 840 is better than the 940 doesn't bother me, because he thinks the RE0 is better than the DT880, and the ES3X is worse than just about everything, but Tyll saying the 840 is better than the 940 is just outright confusing.
 
 
 

Just trust your ears.

 

[oldshoe99]

I could never understand why anyone would want a "bright" headphone to go with bright music (i.e. female vocals, being brighter than male vocals). I find the 940 more ideal for male vocals, as the brightness of the headphones does not get exaggerated by the bright sounds in female vocals. To use an analogy, I know that some people use bassy headphones on bassy music, doubling up the pain as it were. Maybe there's some logic to that, but it escapes me. Of course, if the female vocals don't have much brightness in the recordings, then it's a wash, but on average I don't use bright with bright, or dark with dark, or bassy with bassy. I think that's why they call the better equipment things like "high fidelity" or "neutral", so your expensive headphone will play better with a wider variety of songs.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

, I know that some people use bassy headphones on bassy music, doubling up the pain as it were. Maybe there's some logic to that, but it escapes me.

Good bass is like a drug. If you are addicted you want more.
 
 

 

[Brooko]

Quote:

I never made fun of anyone with clown postings, nor did I say like Tyll said that anyone's obviously decent equipment was "poor", nor did I call anyone a troll, nor did I insinuate that they would be banned. I think you have to understand that many of these gear forums are top-heavy with frat-boy attitudes, which is a big part of the reason so few women are involved. My personality does clash with what I call the frat-boy crowd, because I think their main interest isn't discovering great new things in sound as much as it is participating in a virtual mosh-pit.

Here's a couple of quotes - see if you perhaps recognise them .......
 
 
Quote:

But on this site it's pretty obvious by now that nobody has done any serious comparisons, preferring to offer unfounded opinions.

 
 
Quote:

Here's my sarcasm for you. I don't do any of this for your benefit, only for the benefit of people who care how the 940 sounds compared to an actual reference, which seems outside of your comprehension range.

 
When you "make it personal" - you'll get the same back.  It's called human nature.  A lot of your posts have been good in this thread - and the SRH940 is definitely a polarising headphone IMO - people are going to like it or dislike it.  Just because I don't like it, doesn't mean I'm wrong, it just means I don't like that signature.  FWIW I have DT880s and Alessandro MS1is and I really like them.
 
Perhaps we can start again (offers olive branch) - personally I do not like the SRH940 because of the mid bass dip (clearly visible on frequency graphs) - it just totally sounds un-natural to me (mainly for rock/prog-rock).  The HD-800 shows no mid-bass dip.  I would imagine this totally changes the overall signature.  Thoughts?
 

 

[oldshoe99]

Quoted text gets cut off on iPad and iPhone both. Buffer overrun on both? I have the headroom amp from circa 2001 - runs from wall wart or battery pack. iPod, iPad, iPhone, MacAir, various PC's. I do not have a DAC though, which might make some of the harsh sounds from bad recordings better? Or maybe not. It would be interesting to find out, and hear whether the DAC would improve on some of those harmonics that contribute to tonal quality.

 

[oldshoe99]

Here's a couple of quotes - see if you perhaps recognise them .......
 
 
 
 
 
When you "make it personal" - you'll get the same back.  It's called human nature.  A lot of your posts have been good in this thread - and the SRH940 is definitely a polarising headphone IMO - people are going to like it or dislike it.  Just because I don't like it, doesn't mean I'm wrong, it just means I don't like that signature.  FWIW I have DT880s and Alessandro MS1is and I really like them.
 
Perhaps we can start again (offers olive branch) - personally I do not like the SRH940 because of the mid bass dip (clearly visible on frequency graphs) - it just totally sounds un-natural to me (mainly for rock/prog-rock).  The HD-800 shows no mid-bass dip.  I would imagine this totally changes the overall signature.  Thoughts?
 

You took that second quote out of its context, which nullifies your argument.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

 
Quote:

Perhaps we can start again (offers olive branch) - personally I do not like the SRH940 because of the mid bass dip (clearly visible on frequency graphs) - it just totally sounds un-natural to me (mainly for rock/prog-rock).  The HD-800 shows no mid-bass dip.  I would imagine this totally changes the overall signature.  Thoughts?
 

 
Eq-ing the 60hz-200hz region is not that hard. It's a difference of less than 3db with the hd800, on that region. This introduces a subtle change that I  like, nothing radical.

 
 

 

[Brooko]

Quote:

You took that second quote out of its context, which nullifies your argument.

I give up - play your games.

 

[oldshoe99]

Good bass is like a drug. If you are addicted you want more.
 
 

OK - I agree to an extent on the bass. But it's that other end of the spectrum that annoys me.

 

[oldshoe99]

 
 
Eq-ing the 60hz-200hz region is not that hard. It's a difference of less than 3db with the hd800, on that region. This introduces a subtle change that I  like, nothing radical.

 
 

The dip on the graph didn't show up in my listening, which is why I asked for examples.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

 I have the headroom amp from circa 2001 - runs from wall wart or battery pack. iPod, iPad, iPhone, MacAir, various PC's. I do not have a DAC though, which might make some of the harsh sounds from bad recordings better?

Does your headroom amp makes a difference ? I think a good DAC would make the sound of bad recordings worse (by making it more obvious that they are bad).
 

 

[Ouspensky]

People listen to the same headphones with completely different setups each, and with a wide selection of all forms of music. We also have to take in account everybody's favorite type of sound signature. Is it any wonder why there is no universal agreement?