Well, I've barely been listening to anything else since I got the SRH1540. I love these headphones. The new pads came in and they feel fantastic. My only gripe is the headband. Will likely be looking to get the HD 250(?) pads down the line.
I feel the bass boost is perfectly tuned for my tastes with the stock pads. Too much with dekoni pads. The sound is very clean, and the bass makes music exciting without messing with the balance of the headphone.
Putting it head to head with estats, its presentation is definitely smaller scale, and ultimately "less realistic". I find this however to only be a "problem" or "con" with the 1540s when doing very active listening to certain genres. The 1540s are *clear enough*. The soundstage is *wide enough*. I am certaintly not missing details with these cans. For enjoyment, I think the added bass of the 1540s are enough to make up for its lack of soundstage and clarity. One reason for that is of course that a lot of music are bass-centric. Another reason is that I think most contemporary music is mixed with dynamic sound systems in mind.
Now another couple of reasons for why the 1540s are stealing all my time is a reason I thought would be important, but seems to be even more important than I thought it would be:
1) Its closed, and 2) Its built to last
To me, these two factors combined with its fantastic sound makes it a really unique headphone. My Stax needs to be carefully handled, and are obviously completely open. Getting fantastic listening experiences sort of hinges on the house being quiet, and I always need to dedicate myself to have a listening session. With the 1540s, the passive noise cancellation and the fact that I can just have it laying on my desk at all times just makes them so damn practical, that the difference in sound quality there is simply matters less.
I've tried to have a pair of closed cans before, both with the Sony z7's and the Sony MX4s, but they never scratched the itch in terms of quality. I honestly didn't expect too much from the Shures, other than being comfortable and practical. But its sound quality has really impressed me. I think its the best pair of dynamic headphones I've ever owned. I did like the Fostex TH 900s and the Denon 5000s, however they were too sharp in the treble. The HD 650s were great but I never liked their bass. A comparable headphone I would say is the JVC HPDX1000s, however they are much more expensive and not as practical.