Just posting this as possibly my last post for this thread. I no longer own my SRH440, I recently gave them away to a friend who wanted to try them so I don't feel it right that I should continue commenting on this thread when my experience with the product grows staler. Although, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about why I liked them. I, like all of Head-Fi, hold their music dear to them, and even more so than the headphones we listen to is the music we listen to. I'm picky (not discerning) when it comes to which songs I like, and there are quite a few that I like (and really like) which screw up my understand of how my brain makes these decisions. I have come up with a few general rules though, one being if a song is mostly in English, I will not like it; this is why one of my favorite songs (of which I only have 6) is mostly in English. It has been about 2 years since I found a favorite song (the last being the aforementioned song) and they generally stop being my favorite about 2 weeks in. All 6 have this in common: they produce a tingling sensation that is amplified in step with the climax(es) of the song and they produce an emotion unique to the song. Of the thousands of songs I've sampled, and of the 160-ish that I listen to, and the 30 or so that are regulars, only 6 have I believed to be amazing. One of those is "Mermaid Song" by Susumu Hirasawa, which placed itself on my list when I first heard it, and became my favorite with the Shure SRH440. 3 of the other ones were favorites before the SRH440, and only one is a favorite due to the Sony MDR-XB700. "Mermaid Song" sounds like all my other songs with the XB700, only the SRH440 truly made me feel the song. "Inner Universe" by Yoko Kanno is similar to "Mermaid Song," but the XB700 has been able to give me that sensation, although not as much as the SRH440. "'Libera Me' From Hell" by Taku Iwasaki is that mostly English song (spoken by a Japanese person, if that has any influence) which is equivalent on the SRH440 and XB700. "Honey Honey feat. AYUSE KOZUE" by SEAMO (it was recommended to me by a commenter on one of my threads) became a favorite through the XB700 and sounds dismal on the SRH440 entirely due to the amount of low bass in the song (and for the love of Kamiwa, do not watch the music video). "The Girl In Byakkoya" by Susumu Hirasawa rounds off the list (and defaults to my favorite artist) and is more enjoyable on the SRH440 than XB700. Finally, "Tank!" by the Seatbelts also sounds better on the SRH440. There are a few other songs that sound better on the SRH440 than the XB700, but the vast majority of my songs sound better on the XB700. Remember, these songs are no longer my favorites, which is why I switched over to the XB700, but I suppose that's also why I haven't found another since I got them. Retrospectively, I must admit the SRH440 was a great pair of headphones, and I will miss them. So ultimately, I would recommend it, maybe not as often as the XB700, but they're two different beasts, and one just so happens to have a bigger place in my heart and the other a bigger place around my ears.
PS. This is extremely subjective.
Edit:
In my moment of gushy nostalgia I had an idea: how about I set the equalizer (all DSP's are from f2k, I've long since abandoned Creative's solutions) in the shape of the SRH440's frequency response, and equalize using that as the bass? It's yeilded some interesting results so far, especially with "Inner Universe." It's also drastically improved clarity and soundstage within the XB700, although the song I'm listening to sounds a bit boxy, but this song in specific has always sounded boxy on any headphone.
Now I need to call Sennheiser and order some more hd600 headband cushions for spares.
