[nehcrow]

narrowed my headphone choices down to these two... 
i'll be using these headphones on my samsung galaxy s (supercurio's mod, which brings out the best of the wolfson codec/driver) and my laptop.
tend to listen to jazz, shoegaze, rock, metal (black, death metal mainly), folk, enjoy hearing female vocals.
which would be the best for me?

 

[jimejam]

I had the 840 went to the 940 and my daughter has the 440. the 840 has much better detail and is an all around better headphone, worth the extra money for sure.

 

[nehcrow]

how about portability and the need for amplication?
does srh840 require an amp to sound good? can it run off my phone easily?

 

[ztreb185]

The 440 and 840 are similar headphones.  The 840 being the upgraded version of a 440 and will obviously sound better.  Yes the 840 will definitely sound better with an amp, but more so with a dac.  But then again all headphones sound better with an amp despite low impedance.  I previously owned the srh440 and the build quality is practically the same as the 840s.  Beware the comfort issues.  The ear pads don't have very much depth so your ears will be pushed against the inside unless you have very small ears.  The headband also has no cushion so I felt an abnormal amount of pressure on the top of my head.  

 

[sid12345678910]

440s don't need an amp at all they, they benefit a little from one but its not necessary 

 

[kiteki]

940 or KNS 6400