[superman0390]

Hi fellow head fi-ers!
Im looking for a new set of headphones, i just tried the ATH M 50, DT 770, DT 880, Shure 840 & last but definitely not least Shure 940. 
Alright a little history, i own several pair of skullcandies as starters, omg i was seriously stupid back then, and then i switched to the sennheisers cx 350s and to the Audio technica's ATH ES7. Lastly i switched to the IEMs from westone, the Westone 3s and the UM3X and have never looked back since! I now own the UM3X and have been using it for around 15months paired with my cmoybb and ipod touch 4G (the cmoybb i bought just a week ago). I love the um3x, the reason i changed from the westone 3s was because of sibilance and the  artificially bloated sounding bass. Now i love the neutral sounding kind of signature from the um3x and my cmoybb has just managed to expand the soundstage and improve the sound quality a little w/o compromising the original sound signature. So now I'm looking for a pair of full sized headphones that are as neutral as possible, equivalent or even outdo my um3x!
 
I spend lots of time reading reviews and stuffs and came to the conclusion for a few headphones to audition. I was fairly leaning on the ATH M-50s due to the good reviews and i saw IU(korean singer) using it lol! But nevertheless i wanted to try the rest in case the rest are even better. Okay this is the weird part, when i tried on the ATH M-50 at the stall i was like GAWK!!! wth is this?! the highs were so high and it was even sharper than a westone 3 to the point of being piercing, how can it be named studio monitoring headphones! Sound engineers or producers who uses this would probably have super dark sounds for their musics. I wonder how IU manage to sing with that on even! I took off the ATH M 50 after trying 4 songs, it was too horrendous to me by then. No offense to the ATH M 50 lovers.
 
Next i tried the DT 770 and DT 880, both were better than the ATH M 50 but the highs were still a little too high and the bass for this was quite recessed. Nevertheless, i think the beyers were quite an improvement over the ATH M 50 and understand why so many people love them. I love the ear cups too! they look like ear muffs, kinda cool! one of the better looking ear phones and comfy earphones i've tried.
 
And lastly i tried the Shures. Arhhhhh, this is the sound signature that's more like it. Neutral and forward, i tried the 840s first with a few lossless songs and was quite impressed, all these while my eyes were looking at the ATH m50 poster infront of me boasting how good and neutral it is and used by several grammy award nominated studio monitoring enginners, zzzz -.-!!!!  
I was quite into the idea on getting the 840s but it wasn't exactly an improvement over my um3x, it was abit of a downgrade actually so i asked for a better upgrade from the 840s from the super helpful sales girl( from stereo in sg). She passed me the 940s and when i tried it i was quite blown away by the detail level. It was better than my um3x in the detail department and the neutrality is quite there as well.
So i came to the conclusion that i like the Shure sound signature a little more and am quite close to getting the 940s but i'm still having mixed feelings. I'm not sure if there are other headphones out there which are better and i would love to have some recommendations so that i won't regret my buy. I love would to audition some great neutral sounding headphones, if you guys have any suggestions please do list them down for me.
Thanks in advance! All suggestions are welcome! 
 
 
 

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
The Shure 940's for their price point and being closed are quite a new headphone on the block. Plus it doesn't require a lot of power to drive them. Previously, this kind of sound was held by the AKG K701. But it's hard to drive and is open-air, so it leaks a lot more (matters if you use them as portables, I tend to take headphones with me every where, so matters to me). Also it lets anyone in the room hear you. Might matter if you're sharing space with someone. The 940's have forward highs and neutral mids, but they're not overly bright so you don't go into fatigue quickly. They also have surprisingly good bass for the kind of headphone they are.
 
Similar headphones would be the AKG K701, Grado SR225i, Sennheiser HD598 (to an extent), BeyerDynamic DT880's. You tried some of these already.
 
If you really want to keep it closed-back, there's not much that will match the Shure 940 in that bracket for that type of sound signature. Denons don't have the forward highs like the Shure 940. AKG's are open. Grados are very bright, and open. HD598's have more bass presence, but otherwise, are quite similar, but not quite as detailed in the highs. DT880's are neutral but might be too bassy for your taste. So again, the Shure 940 simply is in it's own class. Another closed headphone doesn't really do what it does at this price point.
 
Grab a pair. They're wonderful.
 
Very best,

 

[superman0390]

OK thanks! I just got my Shure 940, its quite sparkly compared to my um3x and im trying to get used to it. When amped with my cmoybb, OMG!!!! the cmoybb's like build for this monster cans. What the cmoybb does to all headphones is they lower down the treble abit and add abit more warmth and clarity. Its like a total match for the 990s, toning down the sparkle a little and giving it just a little bit of "fun" sound.