[Promenadeplatz]

Here is a great summary to 1440: https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/shure/srh-1440/

 

[llysender]

I mainly use two head amps, a solid state and one with valves.
One is the Lehmann BCL (modified quite heavily) and the other one is a DIY tube OTL design with SRPP topology.
Both are desktop-type with linear power supplies so no real issues with power-hungry cans.
They are fed by a separate XMOS DAC unit from Audiophonics, utilising AKM AK4495SEQ.

Do you think the AKG 712 Pro is rather towards the bright end?
They are supposed to be one of the warmer ones in the 7xx line and I can find them pretty easily.
These are main motivations for giving them a try.

I'm really sensitive in the presence and treble region and I need to preserve what hearing I have left, so I can't stand a pair with more energy up there.
The current pair I'm using (HD599) is relatively warm in comparison to the standard HD600 and I'm looking for that kind of similar sound signature.
Looking at the frequency response graphs a headphone like the HD700 for example would be almost ideal for me, if it didn't have that unfortunate stupid treble peak.

Ah my bad personally im very much affected by rough and uneven treble and not so much the volume. That being said the k712 was both uneven and a bit bright yes. Personally warmness is the relative balance of the upper/mid bass to the mids and i dont assosate bright/dark which is relative treble energy to the mids with them.

That being said if you want a upgrade to the hd599 then yes the r70x is a good choise if you are ok with significantly less sparkly more controlled smooth treble in return for more forward mids and significantly more subbass. Warmness is about the same. There is a slight increase in treble at around the 10kish hi hat area but not by much

 

[LincolnNE]

Wow, its been awhile.

I have these and still use them. Modifications I have done are taking off the back metallic screen off the driver, and using cotton to raise the pad height, all of which work incredibly well with this piece. I am not sure how doing the cotton ball mod works over using some after market pads like the brainwaze, hm5, etc so can anyone comment? I am also needing possibly a new dac, and since these cans are very akin to the HD 800, can anyone make a recommendation? I would imagine tube amp with a dac is the way to go.

 

[jkorten]

Wow, its been awhile.

I have these and still use them. Modifications I have done are taking off the back metallic screen off the driver, and using cotton to raise the pad height, all of which work incredibly well with this piece. I am not sure how doing the cotton ball mod works over using some after market pads like the brainwaze, hm5, etc so can anyone comment? I am also needing possibly a new dac, and since these cans are very akin to the HD 800, can anyone make a recommendation? I would imagine tube amp with a dac is the way to go.

I have a setup at my computer which is the Topping D50 stack (with linear DC supply) that works very well. In my stereo system a Little Dot MkIV SE driven by a Cary SLP98P. For travel I use an FIIO player and a Little Dot battery powered amp. All depens on your needs. Where will you be listening?

 

[jkorten]

The biggest upgrade you can make btw is to replace the cables with silver litz wire cables.

 

[LincolnNE]

The biggest upgrade you can make btw is to replace the cables with silver litz wire cables.

Can you tell me how those compare to stock cables? I know there a few of those high end after market cables around like blue dragon for instance, has anyone made any comparison?

 

[jkorten]

Can you tell me how those compare to stock cables? I know there a few of those high end after market cables around like blue dragon for instance, has anyone made any comparison?

Much more transparent. I've used ones sold on ebay from China. Like $40 or so. But silver is what I believe is important.

 

[LincolnNE]

Much more transparent. I've used ones sold on ebay from China. Like $40 or so. But silver is what I believe is important.

Can you be more specific? I cant believe how much some of these cables cost looking at them like Norne audio, moon dragon, arctic, etc. I also want to clarify, is "litz" a cable style or actual brand? From what I have seen it seems to be a cable braiding style.

 

[jkorten]

Can you be more specific? I cant believe how much some of these cables cost looking at them like Norne audio, moon dragon, arctic, etc. I also want to clarify, is "litz" a cable style or actual brand? From what I have seen it seems to be a cable braiding style.

Litz is a style (many fine strands). So I'm not sure what I bought because it was so long ago, but I will post a couple as examples (not endorsing but showing the various kinds)


https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-5mm-Cabl...318067&hash=item285351369e:g:wxYAAOSwH3haC6Ms

or

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Shure-...44e8b7ebf43008a33b32|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2334524

But if you get a 6 9s copper that is silver plated, should be much better than what comes with. You hear more detail, more extended high frequencies.

This is also true for the Shure IEMs. The evidently don't put much effort into the cables.

 

[ilmothedude]

I've listened my srh1440 lately in purely stock form. Still sounds very good! Clear, detailed with great open soundstage and imaging. I've understood that srh1440 has brighter signature than srh1840. I wonder if those upgrade cables would improve srh1440. They definitely don't lack high end, but I wouldn't mind if better cable would provide better refinement and smoothness to treble. I once used my srh1440 cable with my Grados and there it would affect the sound negatively, so considering that, I suppose it's possible that srh1440 doesn't perform at its best with that cable.

 

[LincolnNE]

I've listened my srh1440 lately in purely stock form. Still sounds very good! Clear, detailed with great open soundstage and imaging. I've understood that srh1440 has brighter signature than srh1840. I wonder if those upgrade cables would improve srh1440. They definitely don't lack high end, but I wouldn't mind if better cable would provide better refinement and smoothness to treble. I once used my srh1440 cable with my Grados and there it would affect the sound negatively, so considering that, I suppose it's possible that srh1440 doesn't perform at its best with that cable.

Any idea what cable to go for? A cable's a cable, so I cant say I am much interested in 500 dollar cables which seem highly gimmicked to me, so I am open to suggestions. Here is just what I have found so far that seems decent and its a litz, which according to jkorten here makes almost all the difference when paired with a silver coating. http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=7234 and its only 45 dollars. Is there anything special about 16 cores over 8 or 4 cores?

 

[ilmothedude]

Any idea what cable to go for? A cable's a cable, so I cant say I am much interested in 500 dollar cables which seem highly gimmicked to me, so I am open to suggestions. Here is just what I have found so far that seems decent and its a litz, which according to jkorten here makes almost all the difference when paired with a silver coating. http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=7234 and its only 45 dollars. Is there anything special about 16 cores over 8 or 4 cores?

I'm no way an expert regarding cables. To me, basically cable is a cable indeed, BUT it's more like good enough cable is good enough cable for certain headphone (and in certain gear). Most evident and logical improvement cable can have is cable diameter being larger ie thicker or more cores, and not being overly long. 16 core cable you linked is at least thicker and seems to be good enough / 'better' than stock cable, and price seems fair. You've probably heard term diminishing returns, and headphone cables are probably quite high in that league. I mean if you can get cable you linked for 45$ which seems pretty adequate in thickness and quality, how much better sound you get with cable costing for example 300$? Probably very very negligible sound improvements considering price. Different sound: probably. Better sound: possibly.

But then again what do I know as I don't have experince of high end cables. But I do know how easily human brain can be tricked to hear differences and improvements, even when there's hardly any... But then again, some things are so subtle that you simply can't perceive them if you don't believe... Haha, that must sound very controversial, but that's how human brain works.

Just my two cents

 

[ilmothedude]

I made little diy mmcx "extension pieces" for my srh1440. Mmcx sockets on Shures are deep in the shell so normal mmcx connector won't fit in there, so I made a little extension pieces which allow me to use normal mmcx cables.

Solder work and with heat shrink. Heat shrink makes snug fit to headphone shell, so adapter shouldn't wiggle around and (hopefully) won't loosen up mmcx connectors inside Shure.

Pieces fitted inside my Srh1440 and my Ourart mmcx cable connected. Sounds really good!

 

[LincolnNE]

I made little diy mmcx "extension pieces" for my srh1440. Mmcx sockets on Shures are deep in the shell so normal mmcx connector won't fit in there, so I made a little extension pieces which allow me to use normal mmcx cables.

Solder work and with heat shrink. Heat shrink makes snug fit to headphone shell, so adapter shouldn't wiggle around and (hopefully) won't loosen up mmcx connectors inside Shure.

Pieces fitted inside my Srh1440 and my Ourart mmcx cable connected. Sounds really good!

How does it compare with stock cable? What new cable are you using?

 

[ilmothedude]

How does it compare with stock cable? What new cable are you using?

https://penonaudio.com/accessories/...rt-copper-mixed-silver-plated-mmcx-cable.html
To be fair, to my ears there's no any clear or evident improvements in sound. Cable switching process takes several seconds so proper a/b testing can't be done. However I tested cables at same time, ie left driver with stock cable and right driver with Ourart cable, and I don't think Ourart cable brings any clear improvements over stock cable. With similiar test I noticed with my Grados that Shure cable provided less bass than Grado cable. However my srh1440 doesn't seem to show any clear differences with same testing method. I suppose Shure cable is pretty adequate. Afterall srh1440 are pretty easy to drive headphones so logically it doesn't need that much thicker cable to get all the power it needs to perform optimally. I feed my Shures with Taga Harmony thda-500t which outputs 2x 500mw/100ohm, so it gives more than enough power to drive srh1440, and stock cable appears to be able to provide. This is however only my personal observation on my own gear, and results can differ with different gear (and different ears).