[McCol]

Starting a thread on these headphones, as far as I'm aware only one person has bought these so far on the forums.

Ordered mine today from iheadphones for £69.99 which is £30 cheaper than anywhere else here in the UK. Will be here tomorrow so will give an account on how they are out of the box tomorrow evening.

I dont really have anything to compare them with apart from Sennheiser HD555, all of my use of phones over the last few years is IEM's.

Was going to buy the 840's but they are more or less twice the price although I can see myself buying them in a few weeks to make a comparasion between the two.

 

[sampson_smith]

I'd love to hear yours and others' thoughts on these 'phones! I thought that SchneiderStudios (?) had a pair of these for a while before trading up to the SRH-840 (which I also have and totally dig). Interesting that at HeadRoom, the 440's rate higher than the 840's. Others say it's all in the ear pads and whether or not the signal is straight from a portable device (in which case there have been complaints about the 840's--the impedance is just a bit to high for these relatively easy-to-drive cans, me thinks).

 

[McCol]

My main source will be my computer using the Asus Essence STX soundcard.
Will try with my iphone as well, although this is unamped.

 

[McCol]

My Shure SRH440 headphones arrived this morning, excellent service from iheadphones, ordered 15.45 yesterday and here next morning.

Before I say anything about these phones please remember that these are only my 2nd set of full size cans. For the last 5 years or so I've probably owned more or less most iem's on the market! Before settling on the Sennheiser IE8 with ACS custom tips. I love the deep bass sound from the IE8 but also find that they give me good detail and clarity on the mids and highs. Its this kind of sound I've been looking for in a full size headphone.


Listened to the 440's for approx 3 hours today with my PC as the source using a Asus Essence STX soundcard, most music is ripped in ALAC or 320mp3.

Comfort/fit wise there is no problem for me with the Shure, could barely tell I had them on after 30 minutes of listening.

For listening I mainly used Indie/Alternative music, such as The Smiths, Eels, The Jam, The Wedding Present/Cinerama and early Bowie/Lou Reed.

Out of the box I was impressed with the Shure's they have IMO a sound similar to the SE530 but with more soundstage, bass was a bit bloaty in some tracks but I assume this will settle after some burn in. Some vocals such as a couple of Manic Street Preachers tracks were a little harsh but again I assume this will settle after a few hours.

My other set of full size cans, HD555 are only a couple of weeks old but I already on short listen today prefer the sound from the Shure's. They seem to deliver my music with a bit more life and energy, not as wide a soundstage but not far off.

Overall I am impressed with these phones and will post back after various stages of burn in to report any changes.

 

[SchneiderStudios]

glad your happy, the bass wansnt doing it for me so i returned them. when they have the srh840 back in stock ill give them a try. i also listen to indie and alt without an amp.

 

[McCol]

I'm fairly happy with the bass at the moment, so far i find it goes quite deep, not as deep as my Iem IE8 or the Atrio M5 but it still has a presence, going to leave them burning in over night for a few days to see how and if this changes.

 

[SchneiderStudios]

they didnt really change after 2 days of pink noise, the bass doesnt compare to my denon d2000.

 

[fzman]

I've had a chance to listen to both the 440 and the 840. the 840 had more hours on them, and i am just starting to break in the 440s. both are samples, since i work for a shure dealer......

i have tried them both with my gigabeat f40 and also with f40 - to -amp3 to - shure headphones.

they sound very good for the money, and are very natural sounding. they have good resolution, but are not of the fling detail at you type. the bass is a little full, but otherwise blends nicely with the mids and trebles.

to my ears, and with the different burn-in on the two i'd say the 840s sound better, but they bear a strong family resemblance to each other.

for the price, they are both amazing, and could be portable, but i have not stood on the street corner yet with either of them, but have with the f40 and my e4cs!

 

[fzman]

forgot to mention, my main cans are denon 7000s, via a fully dual-mono diy headphone amp based on the 49713ha current feedback opamps, 317/337 psu with electra-print transformers, and a bulgin 4-pin output connector running my reterminated (gulp) 7000s.

i have not yet tried the shures on my amp yet, but will soon.

 

[vkvedam]

Nice impressions guys.

 

[McCol]

These sound alot better amped, left on all night to start the burn-in process and had a listen again today through both my iphone and the soundcard on my pc(which has a built in headphone amp). Big difference to my ears, more sparkle on the mids and highs than unamped and a little bit more refined on the bass.

Is it possible that with my lack of experience with full size cans that I'm hearing more detail than others would who have a better field of listening knowledge with fullsize cans?

 

[rufusisnodufus]

Hey, I'm new to the forums.

I just got a pair of the 440's based on the great reviews I read here and various other sites. I'm not sure if its my set, or my phone but I'm really disappointed.

I have them plugged directly into my iPhone, and it sounds terrible. The bass is all muddled, crackly and distorted and it seems really treble heavy and slightly tinny. I'm guess that this might be a defect with this set, or possibly that my phone just doesn't have enough juice to drive these properly. I'm heading back to the store tonight, any thoughts?

 

[Sinty]

that shouldnt happen ^ Perhaps check the EQ on the ipod, maybe the volume is set too high? Other than that it might be a bad set? Seriously it shouldnt sound THAT awful unless there is a problem

 

[rufusisnodufus]

The EQ on the iPod is off. The volume isn't really high, just loud enough to be enjoyable (maybe 2/3's). I just tried them on my computer and the same song sounds much sharper, with no crackly distortion. I'm not a terribly picky listener, but the pair of "vintage" Panasonic cans I had before this sounded better with my phone. Does the iPhone not have enough juice to drive them properly? I'm kind of surprised that no one here has felt that way, its bad enough that I might want to return them (or need to get a headphone amp) if that's the case.

 

[McCol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rufusisnodufus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey, I'm new to the forums. I just got a pair of the 440's based on the great reviews I read here and various other sites. I'm not sure if its my set, or my phone but I'm really disappointed. I have them plugged directly into my iPhone, and it sounds terrible. The bass is all muddled, crackly and distorted and it seems really treble heavy and slightly tinny. I'm guess that this might be a defect with this set, or possibly that my phone just doesn't have enough juice to drive these properly. I'm heading back to the store tonight, any thoughts?

They sound fine out of my iphone, not as good as through my amp but not what you describe. Could be faulty.