Shure SRH1840 and SRH1440 Unveiled!

[John In Cali]

Well if CES is tomorrow, then we should be hearing more about the SRH1840 from Jude within 24 hours it seems

 

Hopefully. Also only 7 days to their release?

 

[achristilaw]

Quote:

Well if CES is tomorrow, then we should be hearing more about the SRH1840 from Jude within 24 hours it seems
 
 

Doubt it! The Sennheiser 700 will get the ink I imagine....
 

 

[bcasey25raptor]

I still want.

 

[IMAWolf]

Bet Jude's in a difficult position if asked for comparisons between the HD700s and the SRH1840s.

 

[dyl1dyl]

Quote:

Bet Jude's in a difficult position if asked for comparisons between the HD700s and the SRH1840s.

That is very true. However, from his (albeit very sketchy) impressions so far, I would guess he favours the HD-700s since he stated that they are about as good as the HD-800 and we all know he really really likes those headphones. On the other hand, he commented that the srh 1840 was good but didn't quite situate the comment in comparison to other headphones.
 

 

[dyl1dyl]

Quote:

That is very true. However, from his (albeit very sketchy) impressions so far, I would guess he favours the HD-700s since he stated that they are about as good as the HD-800 and we all know he really really likes those headphones. On the other hand, he commented that the srh 1840 was good but didn't quite situate the comment in comparison to other headphones.
 

Btw, @jude please correct me if I'm wrong, this is just my guess as to what your impressions are so far from your comments. 
 

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Doubt it! The Sennheiser 700 will get the ink I imagine....
 

 
I hope not Alan. I'm more excited about the Shures than the Senns.

 

[ac500]

Well he said he'd post something about the SRH1840 before he leaves for CES, while not saying any such thing about the HD700. Meanwhile, he's now at CES, and we have a review of the HD700 yet nothing about the SRH1840. Also he said the HD700 was his most listened-to headphone lately. So I think it's safe to say the HD700 likely his favorite. Unless he's holding out because he has something very surprising to say about the SRH1840s. Ultimately we won't know until we hear more about them.
 
Honestly though I was/am really hoping the SRH1840 would destroy the HD700/HD800, mostly because it's disgusting IMO how hifi audio products are priced nowadays. $1000 for an HD700... $1500 for an HD800... and everyone knows they don't cost even a tiny fraction of that to manufacture. It seems the trend in hifi audio is simply to increase prices exponentially over time and never stop. 
 
Quite frankly the HD800 has become almost like Dr Dre Beats for middle class old men. It's absurdly overpriced. Everyone knows it. However it's an over priced product that happens to be among the best, which is why they get away with the pricing. You can pay $30,000 for HE-90s with arguably not even that much improvement over other headphones, yet people get away with it simply because there's nothing better. I say this price inflation is just about as bad as the Beats overpriced phenomenon.
 
But again, for those who want the best audio, there's not much that can be done because it's a monopoly of the flagships. So I still do hope that Shure or some company comes along and offers some serious price/performance competition in the arena of the flagships performance, and forces companies like Sennheiser to cut the stupid price of HD800s down to something more realistic and/or morally priced.

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Quote:

Well he said he'd post something about the SRH1840 before he leaves for CES, while not saying any such thing about the HD700. Meanwhile, he's now at CES, and we have a review of the HD700 yet nothing about the SRH1840. Also he said the HD700 was his most listened-to headphone lately. So I think it's safe to say the HD700 likely his favorite. Unless he's holding out because he has something very surprising to say about the SRH1840s. Ultimately we won't know until we hear more about them.
 
Honestly though I was/am really hoping the SRH1840 would destroy the HD700/HD800, mostly because it's disgusting IMO how hifi audio products are priced nowadays. $1000 for an HD700... $1500 for an HD800... and everyone knows they don't cost even a tiny fraction of that to manufacture. It seems the trend in hifi audio is simply to increase prices exponentially over time and never stop. 
 
Quite frankly the HD800 has become almost like Dr Dre Beats for middle class old men. It's absurdly overpriced. Everyone knows it. However it's an over priced product that happens to be among the best, which is why they get away with the pricing. You can pay $30,000 for HE-90s with arguably not even that much improvement over other headphones, yet people get away with it simply because there's nothing better. I say it's just about as bad as the Beats overpriced phenomenon.

I agree.

 

[DVDRey]

Yes its expensive but no one forces you to buy. The audiophiles products have always been very expensive, Its just that now some of the headphones are a part of this audiophile world.
 
 
But compare sennheiser to monster,lol, there is world. The policy of the two companies are completely different.  Quality vs ..... monster

 

 

[ac500]

Of course nobody forces you to buy, however there is still something called "competition". The street price of a brand new SRH1840 will probably be half that of the HD700, and I have a hard time believing it's going to perform much less.
 
All reports of the HD700 so far say that it has even thinner bass than the HD800, and has even more peaky and sibilant treble than the HD800 -- basically as though they took all the worst flaws of the HD800 and made them worse. Nobody is saying the HD700 sounds bad (well not many anyway), it's just that for $1000 MSRP, they're underwhelming. This is the summarized feeling I got from reading the 2-3 impressions we have so far from people who've heard the HD700.
 
Shure on the other hand almost always produces an overwhelmingly good performance for the price, so I suspect (hope) the SRH1840 performs at least as good as the HD700 -- and likely will costs half the HD700 in the US.

 

[DarkSleip]

Quote:

Of course nobody forces you to buy, however there is still something called "competition". The street price of a brand new SRH1840 will probably be half that of the HD700, and I have a hard time believing it's going to perform much less.
 
All reports of the HD700 so far say that it has even thinner bass than the HD800, and has even more peaky and sibilant treble than the HD800 -- basically as though they took all the worst flaws of the HD800 and made them worse. Nobody is saying the HD700 sounds bad (well not many anyway), it's just that for $1000 MSRP, they're underwhelming. This is the summarized feeling I got from reading the 2-3 impressions we have so far from people who've heard the HD700.
 
Shure on the other hand almost always produces an overwhelmingly good performance for the price, so I suspect (hope) the SRH1840 performs at least as good as the HD700 -- and likely will costs half the HD700 in the US.

Why are you mixing mrsp with street prices?, I would root for the SRH1840 to be cheap and good sounding as well, but I still have faith in sennheiser and I would not want to see this horrifying battle between premium headphones just to realize that every day a cheaper and better sounding option appears, so maybe it's the best to wait until these difficult choices begin to settle down.
That would cause that prices start falling constantly, so we get a good deal for our much-worshipped headphones on all prices.

 

[DVDRey]

Quote:

The street price of a brand new SRH1840 will probably be half that of the HD700

 
Not for the moment.
 
Quote:

All reports of the HD700 so far say that it has even thinner bass than the HD800, and has even more peaky and sibilant treble than the HD800 -- basically as though they took all the worst flaws of the HD800 and made them worse. Nobody is saying the HD700 sounds bad (well not many anyway), it's just that for $1000 MSRP, they're underwhelming. This is the summarized feeling I got from reading the 2-3 impressions we have so far from people who've heard the HD700.

 
 
Too early imo, to judge the performance of two headphones.
 
Quote:

Shure on the other hand almost always produces an overwhelmingly good performance for the price, so I suspect (hope) the SRH1840 performs at least as good as the HD700 -- and likely will costs half the HD700 in the US.

 
In Europe i m not sure that the difference ll be big with "maybe" an HD700 at 799 euros and a SRH1840 at 699 euros. Its just estimations. Wait and see.
 
 

 

[ac500]

In Europe Shure may not be as good a deal. However based on Shure's pricing track record in the USA, the SRH1840 will probably be available in the US for around $500 brand new. If Sennheiser price fixes the HD700 like they do with the HD800 (oddly enough the HD650 has magically jumped in price from $300 to $500 with the announcement of the HD700 -- it does indeed seem that Sennheiser is becoming more draconian with their price fixing lately), then it will remain at $1000 -- and no less. Thus, the HD700 at $1000 is twice of a expected $500 for the SRH1840.
 
Now I could be wrong -- Sennheiser could have a sudden change of heart and stop price fixing, thus letting the HD700 drop to $800 or so. But do you really think this is going to happen? I suppose time will tell.

 

[DVDRey]

 
Quote:

the SRH1840 will probably be available in the US for around $500 brand new.

 
I don't believe this one second. Maybe i m wrong, but its my opinion.