Shure SRH940

[Rich]

I sold my Denon AH-D5000s and replaced them with a pair of Shure SRH940s. Bass extension on Denon's was good but there was too much bass boost. The music was more prominent than the vocals.

I started searching. I had previously owned the AKG701 and liked them but the bass extension was not low enough for me plus I needed to switch to closed backs to appease the wife. I was looking at graphs from different sites and compared to the different sets I had owned. I found the graphs of the AKG701s and the Shure SRH 940s similar but not the same. Bass on the SRH 940 are well extended like that of the Denon AH-D5000s but not as much boost. The vocals were more prominent on the SRH940 like that of the AKG701. The result was a closed back headphone with the sound I liked.

There is definitely a break in period required for the Shure SRH940 of about 20 hours. When I first unpacked the 940s, I thought I had made a mistake as the vocals appeared shrill and not very enjoyable to listen to. The longer I listened the better they got.

So far for me, they are the best I have had. Sound is priority over looks for me. It doesn't have to expensive to be good.

[Suave]

Sounds like you've got yourself a nice new pair of headphones Rich - congrats!

I've been using a pair of similarly priced Beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones for a few years now and I'm very pleased with them. I don't listen to music through headphones too often so I never really felt the need to upgrade them - for my purpose they work perfectly well

What do you plug the new headphones into?

[Rich]

Just got back from a Florida vacation. Got a bit of tan. I currently use the headphone output of my Creek Destiny 2 for which I find the sound quality perfect for my needs. The Creek headphone output has received some positive comments and I am one that can agee.

[John72953]

I've been the very happy owner of a pair of Shure SRH840's for close to 2 years now. The 940's intrigue me, but the 840's will have to do as I'm not a superhuge headphone listener.

[Dr Tone]

My 940s were extremely harsh in the beginning, but continual hours of medium volume hip hop in my desk drawer fixed them nicely.

That said, I still use the bass boost on my Fiio E11 to get me enough bass to make low level listening enjoyable.

[Jimi]

I agree with Rich "It doesn't have to be expensive to be good." I own a pair of Grado Sr80i (less than $150). The detail is incredible. I tried many other headphones in that price range and nothing else I listened to came close in terms of detail. They are not the most comfortable headphones , even though they are lightweight but to me they are the best "bang for the buck" headphones I've ever tried just in terms of sound quality. They don't add alot of bass , which I find many headphones do. They just accurately reproduce what's there without colouring the sound to much.

[SoundGame]

I have the Grado SR80, model prior to the latest "i" and find them to provide a fabulous and addictive sound - especially when it come to the midrange; however, I do find the foam of their cups to be a little rough on my skin - no as comfortable as some other hi-end headphones. I also find they can get a little tiresome as the volume level get high but right up to a med-high level they are great.

I believe if anything, it's in the mid-range that they give a little extra boost over neutral - which makes voices really seem to come alive.

[Rich]

Yes...I started with the Grad SR80s way back. I did like the mid-range range on those but as SoundGame says they get tiresome with extended listening periods and louder volumes. I then gravitated towards the AKG-701, I had a headband comfort issue with these and the wife did not like being in the same room when I was listening at higher volumes. So...I moved to closed backs, the Denon 5000s. These were very comfortable but after owning for a year the boosted bass and the laid back mid-range was getting to me. I was missing something. Finally ended up with these Shure 940s. I was now on the right track.

[Jimi]

I forgot to mention great headphones for dirt cheap." Koss Sporta Pro." I bought a pair a few years ago for only $33. They are a good , cheap upgrade for most MP3 earphones / headphones. You'll probably be very surprised at just how good these headphones sound for so little money.