[Merdril]

the Sound Blaster came in today. OMG, it's so sexy and black. I told you I'm a sucker for black, sleek electronics. I'm afraid to touch the top of it with my filthy human hands =(.

 

[Merdril]

Certainly an improvement over my laptop, although I'm not sure if I like it more than the VIA. Some more listening will help with that decision though. Listening to "Forces" by Susumu Hirasawa and then "Mermaid Song."

Edit:

Just wow, is all I can say. I never knew the XB700 could sound so amazing! The Sound Blaster certainly makes "Mermaid Song" sound amazing. I feel like I should have waited to write my impression of the SRH440 until now, but that wouldn't have changed my opinion much other than that the bass would probably be more present, but (as you guessed), not enough for me. "My Will" by Dream now has the bright character of the SRH440 (on a VT1708S) coupled with the powerful bass of the XB700. Although I can't help but notice that in "Parade" by Susumu Hirasawa, the gain of the entire sond is lowered to compensate for the powerful drums in the song (at the moment of the drumbeat) whereas the VT1708S did not (and it doesn't sound distorted on the VIA card either). It doesn't seem to do this for many songs, but it does do it for songs with strong bass (which is 2 so far, the other being "Forces," one of my favorites) and that makes me

. I wonder what a BB cMoy could do for the Sound Blaster.

Edit:

It was just the Creative driver not liking what WMP was sending to it. Lowered WMP's volume and increased system volume and the gain lowering issue is no longer there.

 

[12345142]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merdril /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just wow, is all I can say. I never knew the XB700 could sound so amazing! The Sound Blaster certainly makes "Mermaid Song" sound amazing. I feel like I should have waited to write my impression of the SRH440 until now, but that wouldn't have changed my opinion much other than that the bass would probably be more present, but (as you guessed), not enough for me. "My Will" by Dream now has the bright character of the SRH440 (on a VT1708S) coupled with the powerful bass of the XB700...I wonder what a BB cMoy could do for the Sound Blaster.

Huh, that's something. To be honest, I was thinking, 'couldn't they have gotten a full-on DAC/amp?' but maybe it's spurred by the fact that Creative isn't obscure enough a company for Head-Fi, apparently. It must be my indie-rocker snobbery.

Great that you like it, though - I'm not as skeptical about Creative DACs like I was before. Still, I'll rely on my Icon Mobile (oh! I should report about its performance with the Shures!) to deliver. Now go listen to both of to Aru Majutsu no Index's openings and appreciate the bass those bad boys have to offer. That demi-trance is good, enough said.

(I feel strangely comfortable throwing around anime/manga titles on Head-Fi...it must be overshadowed by the fact that I signed up for a headphone forum. Heh, just kidding - looks like I'm two degrees of 'loser' now.)

 

[Cyberbeing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12345142 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now go listen to both of to Aru Majutsu no Index's openings and appreciate the bass those bad boys have to offer.

What bass? OK, the openings "PSI-missing" and "masterpiece" do have bass, but the bassline is very fast hitting and not really of the high impact, thumping variety.

I never listened to either of those songs when I owned the SRH440, but they do seem the type which SRH440 would do an acceptable job with especially since the mids and highs on those songs are recessed in the source.

Since it sounds like you collect anime songs, if you want something with heavier thumping bass, check out "Shut up and Explode" by BOOM BOOM SATELLITES from the Xam'd opening (strong drums which should maintain their powerful/defined sound and not be drowned by everything else), or for even more bass "Honey Honey" by SEAMO from the xxxHolic Kei ending (overpowering thumping bass which you should feel a powerful impact and with proper headphones or monitors even air movement as the bass hits).

The SRH440 didn't do well with either of those songs. The bass is too polite and when the vocals kick in, the mids and highs came off as very harsh, and push the bass even further into the background. In order to make the SRH440 sound acceptable with those songs, I needed to use an EQ to reduce the mids and highs into oblivion which brought back the bass.

Lack of great bass response was never the main gripe I had about the SRH440, but rather the harsh mids and highs. The song that most swayed me towards returning the SRH440 was "Rose" by Anna Tsuchiya from the NANA opening (NANA Best CD). At the 1:00 minute mark, the SRH440 fails miserably, losing all detail and blending the mids and highs into a distorted mess of solid tones to the point where it no longer sounds like instruments were playing.

I would say beware to anybody thinking of driving the SRH440 directly out of a Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 or 4 soundcard and likely X-Fi as well as the source. Compared to Creative soundcards, it appears you really need a source/amp which is much warmer/darker and with more laid-back mid and highs or you'll likely run into the same issue I had with the SRH440.

 

[Merdril]

"PSI-missing" is now on my Five Star list ^^ (it's either five star, or no star for my rating system). As for "Masterpiece," I certainly enjoyed the bass, but the song is too discordant for my taste. Who knows? I might grow to like it, as I did with "Waga Routashi Aku no Hana." And I also just found this great website that has many of my favorite songs in FLAC, so now I have "Wings of Word," "PSI-missing," "Masterpiece," "Enrai ~Tooku ni Aru Akari~," and "Moment" in FLAC. Not a great jump in quality (as much as I was expecting) over their 320 kbps mp3 counterparts, but they respond better to equalization and maintain transparency better when equalized. I wish I could find "Inner Universe" in FLAC, that song would certainly have a great improvement in sound quality in that sound format.

 

[12345142]

Thanks for the, ah, input, Cyberbeing. It's true that trance requires a fast bass, and the 440s would do well with bassier sources. Too bad we all have our own budgets; otherwise I'd have an RSA Predator right now instead of the bright-sounding Icon Mobile.

I should add that no, I don't collect anime songs. I watch/read what I like, and when I hear something I like, then I like it. Realistically, the music I listen to is Western alternative rock, such as the White Stripes, the Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys and Weezer. The SRH440s perform reasonably well with those bands, although it does lose a bit of muscle that makes the latter two more engaging.

 

[Cyberbeing]

The main purpose of my previous post was just to clarify my post here with some song examples that influenced my opinion as well as what I was using as my source (Audigy 4). I seem to remember reading ~8 years ago that the Soundblaster Audigy 1 cards did have an emphasis in the mids and highs. I have no idea if that carried over to Audigy 2, Audigy 4, and X-Fi, but if that is still the case it likely influenced my findings.

The SRH440 does do very well (probably better then the ATH-M50) with any music which doesn't have high pitched vocals, high gain electric guitar, loud cymbals, or heavy bass. Yet I was on a short time frame and I needed something which could handle all types of music relatively well without any significant faults. The ATH-M50 I bought as a replacement seems to fit that bill and handles the music the SRH440 had issues with a lot better.

Now if Shure ever decides to release a SRH440 Revision 2 with thicker pads, a straight cable, slightly toned down mids and highs (or slightly more extended bass), and possibly even reduced weight, I would definitely be tempted to give them another chance and pick up a pair.

 

[z50j]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyberbeing /img/forum/go_quote.gif .... Now if Shure ever decides to release a SRH440 Revision 2 with thicker pads, a straight cable, slightly toned down mids and highs (or slightly more extended bass), and possibly even reduced weight, I would definitely be tempted to give them another chance and pick up a pair.

I dont have problem with the mids
but yes, thicker pads, toned down highs and more bass

the cable though is not a proble to me
because I use my own custom cables

 

[pasoleati]

How is "high pitched vocals" defined, Cyberbeing? I have tested my SRH440 with live concert by a Serbian sopran Divna Blagojevic plus some other classical voval music and they perform very well.

 

[pterodactilo]

Quote:

How is "high pitched vocals" defined, Cyberbeing?

They work well at this. Af for someone who asked what do I mean when I said the shure 440 don't reproduce the sound of drums well: I can't explain with words, but they don't sound realistic. "Lifeless" would be a good word to describe it I guess.

 

[Merdril]

Well, the SRH440 can't reproduce drums that well because their too cool in bass. Drums sound punchy on the SRH440, but their is not much breadth in them. 'Shizuku Ippai no Kioku" has parade drums throughout the entire song and listening to it on the SRH440 is vastly different than the XB700. I get the punch with both cans, but only the XB700 brings out the boom and roll of the drum.

 

[Cyberbeing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pasoleati /img/forum/go_quote.gif How is "high pitched vocals" defined, Cyberbeing? I have tested my SRH440 with live concert by a Serbian sopran Divna Blagojevic plus some other classical voval music and they perform very well.

I've never really listened to either, so I don't know if that falls within what I was talking about. All I know is that at higher volumes, high pitched vocals began to sound shrill and unnatural (hurt my ears), especially when mixed with electric guitar.

As someone mentioned to me in another thread, I may just be sensitive to the upper frequencies. Though I have seen mention in some other threads of people who appeared to be having the same issue with the SRH440 as I did.

All I do know is that with the SRH440 using a Creative Soundblaster Audigy 4 as the source, everything sounded as I described to my ears.

I still do believe people should be cautious if they are thinking of mating the SRH440 with any DAC or amp which has a reputation of being bright and/or aggressive.

 

[GulFX]

So how exactly is the isolation on the shure srh440?? Compared to other closed headphones at this price range?

 

[Merdril]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GulFX /img/forum/go_quote.gif So how exactly is the isolation on the shure srh440?? Compared to other closed headphones at this price range?

Haven't heard too many other headphones around the same price >.>. They are more isolating than the XB700, but then again, the XB700 isn't "completely" closed. They are similarly isolating to the Bose QuietComfort 15, but the Bose blocks out more low frequencies and high frequencies. They isolate better than the MDR-RF925RK, which are really comfy. They are also more isolating than the MDR-XD200 and XD100, but those aren't really in its price range.

 

[JayB18]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GulFX /img/forum/go_quote.gif So how exactly is the isolation on the shure srh440?? Compared to other closed headphones at this price range?

Probably similar. If you really want more than about 10-15db of isolation you have to go with iem's.