[FraGGleR]

Each person hears differently. Some ears are not as trained as well as others. Some people can't convey what they want with words. I got everything I liked about my HD-25's with the SRH840's, but with more of everything I wanted from them. So to me, what I said made sense. An intelligent person would have looked at my signature and my time on Headfi to deduce that I am new to all this and, yes, might not know what the hell I am talking about. As I become more experienced and hear more headphones, it may come to pass that I realize how terribly wrong I am, but right now, I am trying to contribute the best way I can. You are most welcome to disagree, but instead of being an ******* and making disparaging remarks, you could explain why you think I am offbase in my opinion, which might actually be useful to the people who want to know more about these headphones.

 

[K_19]

Just something I've noticed over the last few days or so...

I've noticed that the SQ of this headphone is VERY dependent in regards to how you position your earcups. Sometimes when I position it so that my ears are more towards the front of the cups, these can be borderline sibilant and the upper mids get too painful for my ears, with thinner bass. With the ears pushed to the back (with back of my ears pretty much touching the pads at the back), highs and mids get back down to tolerable levels and I get more of the bass.

This is something that is true with most headphones, but with the SRH840 it seems way more prominent than any other circumaural headphones that I've tried (maybe after K701's).

 

[MomijiTMO]

I just tried moving them around on my head but with my ears touching the back felt that the bass was too much? It could be because I'm listening to music with a lot of bass.

 

[pekklemon]

what does everyone think of the beyer dt250 compared to the shure??

 

[MomijiTMO]

Not having the DT250s to compare with means I can only provide washed up hearsay. The dt250s have better instrument separation and tighter, deeper bass. However they are a third more expensive than the 840s [well in Aus]. I find the 840s to have a lot of bass. . . sometimes too much bass but don't find it muddy.

 

[pekklemon]

if you buy them from US, it will be around 270AUD shipped for a DT250

 

[Jelly Hammer]

Are these a good option for a closed ipod compatible can? Also, how comfortable are they?

 

[MomijiTMO]

I find them comfortable after I bent the head rest a bit to fit my head. As for iPodness, I had a go today and they sounded ok but maybe the 440s sound as good while being cheaper and lighter.

 

[electropop]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FraGGleR /img/forum/go_quote.gif Each person hears differently. Some ears are not as trained as well as others. Some people can't convey what they want with words. I got everything I liked about my HD-25's with the SRH840's, but with more of everything I wanted from them. So to me, what I said made sense. An intelligent person would have looked at my signature and my time on Headfi to deduce that I am new to all this and, yes, might not know what the hell I am talking about. As I become more experienced and hear more headphones, it may come to pass that I realize how terribly wrong I am, but right now, I am trying to contribute the best way I can. You are most welcome to disagree, but instead of being an ******* and making disparaging remarks, you could explain why you think I am offbase in my opinion, which might actually be useful to the people who want to know more about these headphones.

I'm sorry if my hasty comment was interpreted as such. It wasn't directed towards you primarily. And regarding post counts and time on here, we're kind of in the same pool.. And in the end it's you who hears it the way you hear it.

Back to the subject. The problem lies where sound characteristics are specified because that certainly isn't the point. I myself couldn't care less which phone has more treble extension, sparklier presentation, MORE bass unless it comes out negatively trying to present music. At this point I want to make clear that it's absolutely crucial to state what kind of music one is evaluating phones with. If it's monotonic trance/techno with no obvious melodic structure, it doesn't, at least to me, tell anything about a phones ability to play "music". I want to hear pitches accurately, notes, natural transients and so on. Soundstaging in headphones is a difficult subject for me, so I've decided not to give it much thought.. But if it's downright weird, I do take notice.

Let me explicit: In this way (musical reproduction) the SRH840 and HD25 vary quite largely! Having listened to the SRH840s for quite some time and then moving back to my trusty ol' portables, the HD25-1s the difference was remarkable. I've heard comments from people that the SRH840s are boring (also compared to HD25s). I understand now that this is due to more apparent presentation in percussive instruments (mid/high bass and cymbals) in the Hd25s (but I still couldn't distinguish pitches of different toms, for instance).
How some have said that the HD25s have a "thin" midrange holds some actual truth, to my ears nevertheless. They do have that effect that's the norm of the Hi-fi world today: nice edge and "shrill" that you hear from plucking the acoustic guitar but complete absence of notes. The HD25s are fast but nowhere near natural when listening to a saxaphone for instance. You hear the, whatchamacallit, mmm crunch (?) but not the melody. Now, the SRH840s when listening to full-sounding instruments such as brass, piano or different synthesizers you can follow the melodic structure, at least much better when compared to the HD25s, though not nearly as well as my current stereo-setup. Ergo, the HD25's lack "body", which I interpret as "capability to display melodies", in the midrange.

So the current paradigms in HI-FI (discerning sound characteristics as a hobby) should be left behind and concentrate on the "music" itself. Of course we could engage in a debate on what music ultimately/fundamentally is in the end, hence the apostrophes, but I myself (if not already obvious

) like melodies and a natural flow in music.
As much as I still don't quite like the SRH840s compared to many other top tier phones, their linear and natural presentation is captivating especially in this price-range, but for some might not have the "oompfs" and "sparkles" some find crucial for their sensations..
Kudos to you (FraGGleR) for finding a headphone that you like and surpasses your reference. If you haven't read, I've posted much thoughts about these headphones in this thread but have not compared them to the HD25's too much directly. I hope you find what you like in good sound/musical reproduction and learn more, as you said, and through that contribute to this society like we all. Maybe I could learn a few things too, mainly of objectivity, but I do have a fundamental I follow in musical reproduction, hehe

(There was no irony or sarcasm in this post)

Thanks

 

[FraGGleR]

Thanks for the response Electropop. I admit that I can bristle quite quickly to perceived slights, and in particular I am sensitive here because I am still a lost babe in the woods so to speak. Knowing full well how nuance can get lost in written words, I should have held a little of my crankiness back and simply asked you to further explain your position. The funny thing is that I understand and could hear everything that you articulated, yet when, in my naive enthusiasm tried to give a little back, I said something that wasn't very useful because I didn't have the ability to put what I hear down in words. I can tell the differences between headphones, but I am unable at this point to put coherently into words what those differences are to my ears. The short of it was that I loved the HD25's, but I love the SRH840's even more. I translated my pleasure with both pairs into a false similarity between the two.

In the end I highly recommend either pair to anyone in the market for closed, affordable cans because I think they are probably close to as good a value as you can get.

 

[merro]

with normal ipodtouch the sounds are very balanced and the basskind of weakfor mypersonal preference. But with my cowon s9with sound equalizer i can increase the bass even more, and that is when the magic comes out from srh840.
could even discover fraction of sound details that i never heard before after havinglisteningnto the same song for 2 years. Imo with cowon s9 the 840 could be worth 500 usd with the sound qualitycoming out from cowon s9
not to mention that the bass is just way too awesome. tested the max bass settings from cowon and was too much forme that i actually had to decrease it

 

[MomijiTMO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by merro /img/forum/go_quote.gif with normal ipodtouch the sounds are very balanced and the basskind of weakfor mypersonal preference.

I'd agree with that. Out of my iPod it sounds alright but the soundstage is narrow and in non lingo speak, it feels lifeless. I wonder what some hard to drive phones sound like out of an iPod

Quote:

Originally Posted by FraGGleR /img/forum/go_quote.gif I admit that I can bristle quite quickly to perceived slights, and in particular I am sensitive here because I am still a lost babe in the woods so to speak.

You just need to laugh more Mr Laughing Man. S'all good on our audio journey.

 

[FraGGleR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MomijiTMO /img/forum/go_quote.gif You just need to laugh more Mr Laughing Man. S'all good on our audio journey.

Except that the Laughing man was a mastermind criminal, stole billions, and killed people.

But I definitely get what you are saying. Ironically, it is usually the advice I give. I think I saw Electropop's post at precisely the wrong moment.

To happy listening!

 

[Jelly Hammer]

Anybody have experience with the 840's and the ATH-M50's? How do they compare? Which is more well suited for un-amped usage?

 

[kb1gra]

I have both...I'd say that unamped the ATH-M50s sound much better, and scale nicely with an amp if you did decide to go that way.