[Hachiko270296]

I'm considering these having just returned a pair of momentum 2 wireless phones.

I have a pair of Grado RS1i that I use at home, mostly when playing guitar through an Axe Fx 2 but also with my iPhone 6. I really like the Grados though they can be slightly peaky. I like their bass response. Drums sound like drums. Duffs bass on Nightrain sounds spanky like a bass should rather than round and dull like the party next door which is how the Momentums present it.

I'm torn between the Shure 1540 and the Oppo PM3. Both are about same price in UK. I can probably audition the Shure. Not so the Oppo.

Tastes: 80s Hard Rock and Metal, Rock, Vocals like Norah Jones, occasional current pop and modern Metal - getting into Periphery.

I hated the Momentum. Their bass was so amped, round, dull, and overpowered the rest of the spectrum. Guitars lost their treble, edge, rawness, Bass and Drums sounded off. I'm worried the 1540 will have similar issues? Their lightness and Alcantara cups are appealing. The more portable PM3 is appealing too, and from reviews I think it's sound might be more appealing.

Thanks

The Shure I found better than the PM-3. The PM-3 just sounded rather average with a lack of body. While the 1540 has it's faults for a £400 headphone..it has an ideal sound. Closed headphones being even tend to sound odd to me. The 1540 has a big bass boost that meets the lower mids but the upper mids get a bit swallowed making them sound a bit pushed back. The treble has a bit of extension then drips off.

The overall mix makes the phones sound spacious and doesn't follow that typical closed back trend.

I found the Shure to have issues for it's price but it terms of good mid-fi closed backs..it's at the top for overall mix.

 

[nofuture]

Do you have a particular sound signature that you prefer?

 
Yep I'm searching for something as close as possible to the DT 880 PRO 250 Ohm, I would say I'd like something neutral / cold.
 
Ideally
Tight SUB (20-80 Hz)
Flat BASS (80-250 Hz) 
Flat / Recessed in the Muddy Zone ( around 330 Hz )
Flat / Slightly Recessed MEDIUM (250-4000 Hz)
Emphasis in the HIGH (5 - 16 kHz).
With Replaceable cable ( no matter if it's proprietary cable, if it can be replaced it's okay ) 
Comfort is important too
Portability is a plus
 
Well I know I'm asking a lot...
 
I've watched almost all the data on innerfidelity and the only headphone that was what I want in term of frequency response (based on the spectrum / square wave ) was the HD800 and eventually the PM-1 from Oppo, so I'm waiting for a test of the PM-3 but here it's around 700 USD so it's a bit overpriced for me and it seem less present in the higher part of the spectrum compared to the DT880 / HD800...

 

[chailee80]

Yep I'm searching for something as close as possible to the DT 880 PRO 250 Ohm, I would say I'd like something neutral / cold.

Ideally
Tight SUB (20-80 Hz)
Flat BASS (80-250 Hz) 
Flat / Recessed in the Muddy Zone ( around 330 Hz )
Flat / Slightly Recessed MEDIUM (250-4000 Hz)
Emphasis in the HIGH (5 - 16 kHz).
With Replaceable cable ( no matter if it's proprietary cable, if it can be replaced it's okay ) 
Comfort is important too
Portability is a plus

Well I know I'm asking a lot...

I've watched almost all the data on innerfidelity and the only headphone that was what I want in term of frequency response (based on the spectrum / square wave ) was the HD800 and eventually the PM-1 from Oppo, so I'm waiting for a test of the PM-3 but here it's around 700 USD so it's a bit overpriced for me and it seem less present in the higher part of the spectrum compared to the DT880 / HD800...

While it doesnt have a removeable cable you might want to check out the beyerdynamic t70p. They closely follow your description imo. Some others that come to mind are the audio technica ath-msr7, ath-m50x/m70x and the sony mdr-7520.
The pm-1 is not really emphasized in the highs, its quite relaxed and laid back.

 

[nofuture]

Thanks for you answer.
 
The T70P is close to the perfect frequency response to my taste unfortunately it's a bit the antithesis of portable headphone, it's big, non fold-able, doesn't have replaceable cable... Well I'm not sure about this one as portable headphone. 
 
I've already tried the ATH-M50x and buy one for one of my friends but I find it a bit too light in the high frequencies while for the price it's a really great deal.
 
At this point I didn't find any place where I can try the M70X and I also didn't find any data sheet à la innerfidelity / goldenear to compare the spectrum but they seems interesting.
 
Idem for the 7520, can't find it anywhere in my city, I still have to check the small shop that aren't on the web. And idem for the SRH1540...
 
Other suggestion are welcome.

 

[macshooter]

Just wanted to say, I won a pair of SRH 1540s from Sweetwater and have had them for a few weeks now.  My signal is laptop> Fii0 E10K> Fii0 E12A>SRH1540.  Or 18i20>SRH1540.  I have quite a few headphones now... (this place...)  Anyway I'm not going to get into the weeds with trying to compare the fine shades of tonality of these to the other stuff I have. It's pretty stark, nothing subtle about it.  These are the best sounding and most comfortable headphones I have ever heard.(combined, the K702 anni, and K7xx MD are the most comfortable ever, but they don't sound as good.)  These wipe the floor with everything else I have.  That kinda sux because I have a lot of headphones, and backups of headphones that I thought were really good... Well they are very good, to be fair. But these are GREAT.
 
These don't get hot like other closed back cans. You can wear them for hours without wanting to take them off.  The isolation is pretty good, but it doesn't seal everything out.  That's fine. You can still make out what some one is saying to you with them on, which is fine.  As good as these sound, I don't think there's a point in using open back cans anymore.  These crush the K702's without the external noise factor they have.  I don't know how much they leak for tracking purposes yet, (not very important since I can see mixing with these all day,) but I may have to go back to M50x for tracking if too much sound escapes.  But I hope not.
 
The only gripes I have about them is that the ear cups don't articulate nearly as fully as other brands so you have to adjust the head band to get them to lay flat against your (my) head.  The headband doesn't adjust very easily while they are on, but that's good because once you get them right they don't move.  And I've grown accustomed to only having one cord instead of two.  But the two cabled cord is heavy duty and detachable.  Small price to pay for total next level sound.  You can drive them easily from an iphone.  Hate to say it (and an unfair comparison) but these kill my JH16pros... But those have a totally different form factor, design constraints. And I can't see myself out and about with these giant cans on my head, so my JH16 still reign for mobile use.
 
Serious tools for critical listening, for the mixer/sound engineer.  Very impressed.

 

[Beencredible]

So I just traded my 1540 for the 1840. First things first, the 1540 didn't meet my expectations outside of comfort. It may be different for everyone, but the bass was too much bleeding a tiny bit into the mids and the treble was too little. I tried to like it, but the absence of sparkle really made it feel like it lacked clarity. Changing the pads the velour did help some but not enough. In all honesty, this headphone felt like a $200-300 one to me with an accessories premium added on. I'm enjoying the 1840 way more, but then it isn't a closed pair.

 

[Change is Good]

I had both the 1540 and 1840 at the same time a long while back. Preferred the 1540. All a matter of taste and preference.

 

[nicholars]

I'm considering these having just returned a pair of momentum 2 wireless phones.

I have a pair of Grado RS1i that I use at home, mostly when playing guitar through an Axe Fx 2 but also with my iPhone 6. I really like the Grados though they can be slightly peaky. I like their bass response. Drums sound like drums. Duffs bass on Nightrain sounds spanky like a bass should rather than round and dull like the party next door which is how the Momentums present it.

I'm torn between the Shure 1540 and the Oppo PM3. Both are about same price in UK. I can probably audition the Shure. Not so the Oppo.

Tastes: 80s Hard Rock and Metal, Rock, Vocals like Norah Jones, occasional current pop and modern Metal - getting into Periphery.

I hated the Momentum. Their bass was so amped, round, dull, and overpowered the rest of the spectrum. Guitars lost their treble, edge, rawness, Bass and Drums sounded off. I'm worried the 1540 will have similar issues? Their lightness and Alcantara cups are appealing. The more portable PM3 is appealing too, and from reviews I think it's sound might be more appealing.

Thanks

 
The tonality of the 1540 is good eg. sound realistic and things don't sound "off"... But the bass is a bit emphasised / slightly rounded (less rounded than the momentums) Guitars etc. have a bit of an "edge" to them but compared to the Grado's, which when I tried them sounded very bright and sibilant to me ( I think that was the SR325 that I used in a shop ) you might find the treble a bit laid back... Overall I think the 1540 are an upgrade to the grado but you would have to try them and see what you think... I prefer darker sound with big soundstage and emphasised bass / lower mids. The 1540 do have some treble just they are not very bright like the grado 325 I used in a shop. For comfort, soundstage size, "allrounderness" and build quality the 1540 destroy the grado! Sorry that paragraph was very badly written!

 

[zerolight]

Hi Nicholars,
 
Thanks for the input. I did find the 1540s to be just a tiny bit too bass emphasised. I did however find the treble to be a little bit too much too at times, which is probably why I didn't leave the store with them. At this point, I am thinking I'll go PM3 for portable and see if I can trade my RS1i for a pair for HE-560. 

 

[nicholars]

These are also very good gaming headphones... Was playing some "alien isolation" the other day and these headphones are really good for games!
 
Maybe they should get added to the "gaming headphones" thread...

 

[Change is Good]

  These are also very good gaming headphones... Was playing some "alien isolation" the other day and these headphones are really good for games!
 
Maybe they should get added to the "gaming headphones" thread...

 
MLE should be posting a review, sometime soon...

 

[nicholars]

  Hi Nicholars,
 
Thanks for the input. I did find the 1540s to be just a tiny bit too bass emphasised. I did however find the treble to be a little bit too much too at times, which is probably why I didn't leave the store with them. At this point, I am thinking I'll go PM3 for portable and see if I can trade my RS1i for a pair for HE-560. 

 
Thats very surprising that you find the 1540 have too much treble coming from the Grado's... The 1540 are not bright compared to a lot of headphones, I don't like bright headphones and I do not have a problem with the amount of treble on the 1540 90% of the time. Might be the source that they were using in the shop.

 

[Hachiko270296]

Despite my disappointment. I am actually buying these again. My flaws with the phones  still stand but at £369 there's no closed back that are actually built good and comfortable. I know these will stand up to long road trips and be comfortable.

 

[zerolight]

Thats very surprising that you find the 1540 have too much treble coming from the Grado's... The 1540 are not bright compared to a lot of headphones, I don't like bright headphones and I do not have a problem with the amount of treble on the 1540 90% of the time. Might be the source that they were using in the shop.

No no. Don't get me wrong. The Grados are much brighter. I've realised after the Shures that the Grados are too bright. The Shures were only occasionally too bright. They were frequently a little too bass heavy though.

 

[zerolight]

I may be getting old. I found the sound too bright the other day at the Odeon Cinema.