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- Accurate frequency response delivers smooth high-end extension with tight bass, and superior transient response for minimal distortion
- That same legendary Shure quality to withstand the rigors of everyday use yet lightweight, ergonomic fit with premium padded headband provide maximum comfort over extended periods
- Closed-back, circumaural design rests comfortably over the ears and reduces background noise while collapsible design with 90-degree swivel ear cups provides convenient storage and portability
- Bayonet Clip securely locks cable into ear cup and two included detachable cables (coiled & straight) provide flexible wearing options and easy replacement
- Replaceable velour ear pads included to ensure long product life and maximum comfort and a zippered hard travel case protects headphones when on the go or not in use
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Audio Quality: 4.5/5
Comfort: 5/5
Design: 4/5
Value: 5/5
Overall Rating: 4.6/5
Pros: Very comfortable; deep low-bass; excellent for: orchestra, classical, jazz, vocals, and certain kinds of pop, R&B, and rock music; lots of bundled extras; able to fold-up nicely; detachable cable; can lie 'flat' (see the review for more details on that); headband has adjustment markers; can run from an iPod without an amp; really decent soundstage
Cons: Mid-bass could use a tad-bit more 'oomph' without using an EQ; very slightly fatiguing; cable is a bit too long or heavy; poorly recorded or mastered tracks sound bad
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Believe it or not, I used to think bass was the one thing I liked from my music. I even considered buying a pair of Beats by Dre headphone *gasp*. Boy am I glad I didn't. For a $300 price point, the Shure SRH940's blew the Beats out of the water. I feel that my wallet is thanking me for buying a headphone actually worth the price in terms of audio quality and the coverage I have for the product's durability.
I'm just starting to dip my toes into the world of high-fidelity sound. I've listened through the V-Moda Vibe, Sennheiser CX-300, Skullcandy Hesh, Sennheiser HD 238, Sennheiser HD25-I-II, Beyerdynamic DT770 (32 ohm), Beyerdynamic DT800, Audio Technica ES7, Audio Technica ESW10, Audio Technica M50, Shure SRH440, Shure SRH840, Ultrasone HFI-780, Pioneer HD-1000, Sony MDR7506, AKG K240, and Beats by Dre Studio and Pro headphones (I personally own the first 4 headphones mentioned).
This is my first time posting a major review of an audio product and it addresses many of the questions I had when I was searching for my next major headphone. I am still learning about the technical terms and details of how to describe a headphone's sound, but I will try my best to convey my thoughts.
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These headphones have a lot of things bundled in the rather large box.
Inside the box:
Official product manual
2 year limited warranty
Large hard-foam/plastic storage case
Shure SRH940 headphones
4 velour pads total (two on the headphones, two extras)
9.84 ft. (3 m) detachable coiled cable (when coiled it's around 3.5 ft or 1 meter) with 3.5 mm gold-plated straight jack
8.2 ft. (2.5 m) detachable straight cable with 3.5 mm gold-plated straight jack
1/4 in. (6.35 mm) gold-plated stereo audio jack (screw on)
Headphone specifications (from the Shure official website)
40 mm drivers
42 ohm impedence
5 Hz 30 kHz frequency range
320 g mass (without the cable attached)
With an extra cable and replacement pair of ear pads, I'm sure the 940's were packaged with durability in mind. There is a Velcro-secured compartment in the hard-case to store the extra velour ear pads, and a nylon pouch inside the lid to store the second cable and 1/4 in. stereo jack adapter. These bundled extras make me feel secure about my purchase should the ear pads or cable break.
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For a full-sized headphone, the circum-aural (the ear pads surround the ears) 940's are very comfortable. The clamp force is moderate, not too tight, not too loose. I found that the squishy velour pads help relieve the clamping force. Compared to the 940's brother, the SRH840's, they are actually heavier by measurement. Don't let that fool you though, I found the 940's to be lighter on my head than the 840's. It might be because of the cushioned bumps located on the 940's headband, which the 840's lacked. Despite others' opinions about the 940's having the same "crown of death" discomfort effect as some AKG headphones, I found the headband quite comfortable. I do have to mention that the headband+weight of the headphones does cause me to have "flat baseball cap hair" if I wear the 940's long enough.
The 940's have marked levels on the headband to make it easy to adjust one side of the headband equal to the other side. I have a small-ish sized head and I find that the 940's are most comfortable with the headband set at size 2 (out of 10) on both sides, so I think the 940's will fit on most heads.
The velour ear pads are a huge welcome to me. I've tried a good amount pleather/leather headphones at my local Guitar Center store and I found most of them to be uncomfortable, not to mention how quickly they heated up. I don't know if it was the pleather ear pads of the 840's, but I found that the 940's didn't clamp as hard on my head as the 840's did. Even with glasses on, the 940's seemed to be just as comfortable.
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For a closed headphone, the 940's provide decent noise isolation. They don't isolate as much as in-ear monitors nor pleather/leather, but they still do a good job. I can still hear surrounding noises while wearing them, but I find that to be good so that I can be more aware of my surroundings.
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Despite the 940's being made of plastic for the most part (the outer ear piece and the SHURE logo are metal), the 940's feel pretty durable. The swivel and folding mechanisms on the 940's do squeak a little when I move them, but I don't think that will cause problems in the future (I hope). As I mentioned earlier, the extra ear pads and cables are good as backups should the first set break or malfunction. Shure does provide a 2 year limited warranty with the 940's, covering only product defects and not normal wear-and-tear damage.
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The 940's fold up pretty neatly, similar to the Beats by Dre headphones, making them fairly portable headphones (without using the hard storage case). One side of the headphone folds inward while the other side folds right on top of it (either side can be folded first, the order does not matter). The detachable cable makes storing the 940's a breeze without having to worry about the cable-ends being stressed or bent.
Although there is a swivel mechanism that allows the ear cups to swivel 90 degrees, there is one strange detail about the 940's swivel mechanism. There seems to be a spring mechanism that naturally prevents the 940's ear cups from rotating the full 90. Moving the headphones from listening position (on your ears normally) to your neck, the ear pads face upward at a 45-ish degrees and actually dig into my chin/neck. This is uncomfortable and I can barely move my head without bumping into the velour pads. However, moving the headphones from listening position, turning them around 180 degrees, and then placing them on my neck so that the ear pads rest on my shoulder, they are much more comfortable to wear. However, it is convenient to place the headphones directly from your head to a surface so that the ear pads lie on the surface rather than the top or sides of the ear cups.
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No they do not require an amp to sound decent and they are capable of running straight out of an iPod. Like most high quality headphones however, having an amp will probably make it sound a little better (I don't own an amp myself) [PLEASE SEE THE UPDATE AT THE END OF REVIEW FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SRH940'S AND AMPLIFIERS]
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Here is what most people read about.
Setup: Unibody aluminum Macbook 5.1 (FLAC files played in VLC with flat EQ); iPod Touch 2G (320 kbps CBR)
Tracks or albums used during the review:
Ayana Last Regrets (Anime soundtrack)
Chiaki Ishikawa Uninstall (Japanese vocal pop)
Dazzle Vision To the Next (Japanese visual-kei screamo)
Deems Tsutakawa Deems Greatest Hits (jazz)
Eason Chan DUO Chenyixun 2010 Yanchang Hui, The 1st Eleven Years Ranhou Ne?, U87 (Mandarin Chinese vocal pop, Cantonese Chinese vocal pop)
Fighter X Unreleased (chiptune)
Fish Leong Chongbai, Ai De Da Youxing Live Quan Jilu, Yanwei Die: Xiading Ai De Juexin (Mandarin Chinese pop)
Franz Ferdinand Tonight (indie rock)
Gackt Diabolos (Japanese rock)
Harlem Yu Ha Lin Tiantang (Mandarin Chinese pop)
Hebe Tien To Hebe (Mandarin Chinese vocal pop)
High and Mighty Color Swamp Man (Japanese alternative metal)
Hungarian Chamber Orchestra Vivaldi/Geminiani Guitar Concertos/Sonatas (orchestra classical)
Jane Zhang Wo Ai Denglijun, Gaibian (older Mandarin Chinese vocal pop, modern Mandarin Chinese vocal pop)
Joanna Wang Start From Here (Mandarin Chinese/English folk)
Joey Yung Ten Most Wanted, EP2, Rong Zu Er, Yao Jue & Mo La Wei Ya Jiaoxiang Yuetuan (Cantonese Chinese pop, Cantonese Chinese pop/orchestra)
Jolin Tsai J-Top Guanjun Jingxuan, J1 Yanchang Hui Yingyin Quan Jilu, Myself, Wu Niang (Mandarin Chinese pop)
Lia Tori no Uta (Anime soundtrack)
Mongo Santamaria Montreux Heat (Latin jazz/percussion)
Ottmar Liebert Up Close (binaural acoustic)
Pet Shop Boys The Most Incredible Thing (electronic/orchestra)
Rainie Yang Banshu Xuanyan (Chinese vocal pop)
S.H.E Play, Shero, Super Star (Mandarin Chinese vocal pop)
Sammi Cheng Xinzhe De Ai (Mandarin Chinese vocal pop)
Trash80 Icarus (chiptune)
Twelve Girls Band Dunhuang, Qiji (Chinese folk)
Usher My Way (R&B)
Vince Guaraldi Trio A Charlie Brown Christmas (piano jazz)
Vitas Philosophy of Miracle (Russian pop/opera)
Initial Impressions:
Great extension on both ends of the sound spectrum. Lows are present but seem quiet compared to the mids and highs. They lack the bass punch that most headphones have. Mids seem laid back and upper-mids are more forward. Vocals sound very good with the 940's. Highs are detailed and are the most prominent of the 940's. Despite the highs being prominent, they handle sibilance quite well, though they might be fatiguing to some.
Lows
Being the first pair of headphones over $100 USD I've owned, my initial impressions of these 'phones are just about on par with everyone else; they seem 'bass shy' in the sense that they don't have the mid-bass 'thump' that I'm used to hearing (especially coming from Sennheiser CX-300's). However, there seems to be very good bass extension. Is this what neutral bass is supposed to sound like? I found that with a slight increase in the lower end with an EQ (about a 3-5 dB gain at around 60-130 Hz) is good enough for me. That said, some electronic tracks sound odd with the 940's since they lack the mid-bass 'thump thump' effect. Ladytron, however, sounds all right with the 940's since her songs feature her voice.
Mids
Vocals seem forward and very clear, which is what I was looking for in my next headphone. Female vocals indeed do sound brilliant with these headphones. Guitars and congas also sound very good with the 940's. Rock music sounds fantastic with the 940's with the prominent highs and forward vocals.
Highs
The highs are definitely more prominent than any headphone I've owned so far, but not to the extent where it hurts my ears (my ears are sensitive to sibilance). I find that the 940's handle sibilance quite well actually. Some of the sibilant tracks I have don't sound as sibilant to my ears with the 940's as they were with the CX-300's. Most brass instruments sound great with the 940's so they are an ideal match-up for jazz.
Soundstage
The soundstage is pretty decent for a closed headphone. I found it to be wider than the ATH-M50's and the Sennheiser HD25-1-ii, having better instrument separation and air between the instruments played. They I haven't tried them for gaming yet, but I was going to try them out soon.
All in all, my first impressions of the 940's are impressive. The lack of the bass thump is my biggest complaint, but I can manage it.
Final Impressions:
After about 50 hours of use, the sound signature of the 940's seemed to be a bit tamer. After listening to my music more carefully, I can hear some of the imperfections of my tracks. It might be because of the clearer high notes, but I'm really starting to hear more details in the songs I listen to. Just for the sake of testing, I tried playing a 192 kbps track from the Hungarian Chamber Orchestra's album listed above and it sounded pretty bad with the 940's. I think they call this feature "unforgiving" in terms of describing a headphone. Overall, I notice some imperfections in some of my music and I noticed details in the upper frequencies that I didn't notice before. Poorly recorded tracks and/or low bit-rate tracks are noticeable with the 940's.
Lows
The lows/lower-mids seemed more noticeable than before, although they are is still relatively quiet and laid back compared to the rest of the sound spectrum. I find that the bass isn't focused on the mid-bass, but more on the lower-bass. I keep thinking the bass can be described as not the clubbing type of bass (mid-bass), but more like deep sound rolling thunder (lower-bass). I actually prefer this kind of bass since it's not the kind of bass I get to hear every day (so many young people seem to have a liking for that mid-bass). Despite that, classical music sounds fantastic with these headphones. The bass required for most classical music isn't the clubbing type of bass, so the rolling-thunder bass of the 940's work quite well for this genre of music. However, some rock tracks may sound odd with the 940's due to their lack of sufficient mid-bass and emphasized highs.
Mids
I didn't mention this before, but most of the mids seem to be forward. Guitars and higher-pitched instruments such as violins and pianos all seem to take the front stage. Vocals still sound excellent on the 940's, both male and female. However, due to the emphasis of the 940's highs and upper-mids, female vocals are absolutely amazing with the 940's. I really like the way pianos are presented with these headphones. I found that if you have pop music that emphasizes vocals over bass, the 940's do a sufficient job at presenting that type of pop music.
Highs
The upper-mids/highs seemed to be toned down slightly so that they aren't as fatiguing as they used to be, but are still the most noticeable sounds from these headphones. Sometimes the highs can be a bit harsh on the ears such as trumpets, although I've always found trumpets to be too much for my ears. Jazz music also works well with the 940's for the most part.
Soundstage
For gaming, I found the 940's to be adequate for the games I play. I mainly play computer games via Steam (Spiral Knights, Portal 2, Team Fortress 2). The explosions are present, but it, again, lacks the 'thump' of the mid-bass. To me, the explosions sound good enough but I haven't heard a serious gamer's headphone before, so I can't really tell you what's good and what's not good. I am able to hear other players' footsteps during game play, so I can locate players more easily than I could with the CX-300's (which had lots of bass but a rather small soundstage).
[PLEASE SEE THE UPDATE AT THE END OF REVIEW FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SOUNDSTAGE]
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Overall, I am really enjoying these headphones. They have nearly all of the attributes I wanted from my first major headphone purchase. For a closed, comfortable, decent-soundstage, deep low-bass, foldable, highly-detailed, mid/high focused, portable headphone at $275 USD street price, I would recommend this headphone.
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Thank you for taking the time to read or glance over my review. I hope this review is helpful in some way or another. I'm not too experienced in the world in high-fidelity sound (this is my first major headphone purchase), and I know it's not the most detailed review you've read in terms of describing the sound signature, but I tried my best.
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UPDATE: 2012-01-21 (SRH940 with different Digital-Analog Converters and Amplifiers!)
So I had the opportunity to listen to the SRH940's through various headphone amplifiers and DAC's (Schiit Audio Lyr, Benchmark DAC1 Pre, HiFiMan EF-5, Peachtree Audio Nova, Bottlehead Crack OTL) and I must say, the 940's really do benefit from an amplifier. In a nutshell, the soundstage seems to widen a bit, the highs are more crisp (in a good way) or more tame, and the lows are improved as well, having more definition and weight than without an amp. I couldn't detect much of a difference with the mids however. Overall, having an amp really does help tame the 940's treble and improve the lower frequency's presence in your tracks.
Since my experience with the 940's has been mostly without an amplifier, I will try my best to the describe the 940's soundstage with an amp.
The 940's sound seems a few seats away from the front row of the stage for the most part. Instrument separation is good for a closed can, though it can't even compare to the massive width of the HD800's obviously. Cymbals and snare drums are easy to hear. Vocals seem to occupy the front stage and are lively. The bass drum has decent impact. Without an amp, that same bass drum seems further back in the stage, being quieter but still present. The bass guitar is really nice when you hear it, but it's sometimes drowned out by the other sounds on the stage. To me this is a somewhat accurate presentation of the bass guitar since, from my experience, the bass guitar is sometimes drowned out by the other sounds on the stage.
Based on this, the 940's sound can be described as:
Singer front of the stage
Drum set behind the singer to the side but not too far back
Bass guitar behind the drummer; depending on the recording, the guitarist is either far away from the drummer or a few steps back
in other words...
mids/vocals very forward, but not necessarily louder than the upper mids/highs
upper mids/highs present, but a bit quieter than the vocals and has some left/right imaging width
lows present, but less so compared to the rest of the sounds; it's really nice to hear it though an amp since it's brought closer to the drummer
In terms of the size of the room I'm in, the 940's seems like a small concert hall. It's still pretty good for a closed headphone, but it loses the width offered by open-back headphones. I can't really describe the height since the concept of height is still unfamiliar to me.
That being said, the upper mids and highs do have a good sparkle to them. Sometimes the snare drums are really hard-hitting on your ear relative to the rest of the sounds being played. A similar effect can be heard when some brass instruments, in particular, are played. It might be due to the instrument itself, but trumpets sound almost unbearable with the 940's as a result of the upper mid/high emphasis.
I didn't have a whole lot of time to listen to the various DAC's and amps well enough to tell you which one(s) work the best with the 940's, unfortunately, so please bare with me on my rather brief overview.
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UPDATE: 2012-03-06 (SRH940 with SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip Portable Media Player)
I didn't think it would make a difference, but the with the SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip portable media player, the 940's get a nice boost in the lows relative to my iPod Touch and iPod Video (Rockboxed). With the Clip Zip, the 940's seem to have a little more bass impact as well as more noticeable sub-bass compared to the two iPods at a similar volume. It was a pleasant surprise to me to be honest since I bought the Clip Zip for only $40.
Buy Shure SRH940 Professional Reference Headphones (Silver) Now
EDIT: After a few more months of listening, I'm updating this review to be more realistic and critical. It's important for buyers to be aware of flaws as well as the areas the SRH940 does exceedingly well. I also had a chance to listen to more high-end headphones for comparison. I've also removed parts where I say what other reviewers say, since that's a useless and misleading thing to add to my own review.
I've owned a number of very high quality headphones (Sennheiser HD 650, Audio-Technica AD2000, Beyerdynamic DT880, Ultrasone Pro 900, and for over 5 months now the Shure SRH940). I also tried some other ultra-hifi ones like the Audeze LCD-2 and as of recently I own the Sennheiser HD 800. I've also owned some mid/low fi ones way back (Sennheiser HD 280 Pro).
Simply put, the Shure SRH-940 is an incredibly detailed sounding dynamic headphone with TREBLE better than any headphone I've heard under $900. Keep in mind that every headphone has different strengths and weaknesses, and you should first make sure the SRH-940's sound signature (treble leaning) is to your tastes, but if it is, I'm not aware of many alternates even close to this price range. That said, I've come to realize a few major weak points in the SRH-940, namely, the mids and bass are only what I would call "good", and the overall tonality/coloration is a bit unnatural. In short, the SRH940 will render complex subtleties (fast electric guitar music for example) with unrivaled speed and fine detail, however it struggles to render classical music and some vocals naturally -that is to say, violins, guitar, voice, etc. will sound detailed but distinctly artificial, compared to competing headphones.
Sidenote: First of all, I'd address the notion one reviewer brought up of the SRH940 comparing favorably to Sennheiser HD800s. Short answer: No. Long answer: To my ears, the SRH940 treble beats many well-regarded headphones near its price-point like HD650s, DT880s, etc. It however does not even come within a mile of the HD800 treble quality or detail -and to say the SRH940 mids or bass deserve being mentioned in the same sentence as that of the HD800 is just... almost insulting. The HD800 is so astoundingly good, I can't even fully put into comparative words. Not in the same league by far. That said, the SRH940 treble is still ahead of its competitors in the price point.
Edit 2: I have now purchased a Sennheiser HD800 myself and have listened to it for at least 20 hours. I can confirm the above sidenote. Unless you are hearing impaired, the SRH940 in no way even comes close to the sound quality of the HD800. The sound *signature* (that is to say, the relative volume of the bass, mids, and highs) is similar (although the HD800 has more bass), but frequency response has nothing to do with sound quality. The rest of the review to follow I left in the perspective of when I did not own the HD800 (which is still valid because I'm comparing it to headphones within its price range).
(Pros)
I currently have a Sennheiser HD 650 as well as these Shure SRH-940s, and I keep both (for reasons described below). It's not an exaggeration that after several months of comparing both, the SRH-940 is considerably better than the Sennheiser HD 650 in upper highs and treble detail. This says a lot, because the HD650 is one of the best headphones you can get under $500. It's surprising how crystal clear and detailed sound these SRH940's can reproduce.
I have personally compared the SRH-940 with Sennheiser HD650s, Beyerdynamic DT880s, and Audio Technica AD2000s. My overall evaluation is that the SRH-940 beats ALL of them when it comes to treble quality and ability to reveal subtle details in the music. It's that "I'm hearing things I've never heard in the music" feeling that the SRH940 absolutely excels at. [Before you get too excited though, it has one big "flaw" that I've come to realize with extensive listening over the past few months: The bass and mids are only "good" quality, and the tonality is a bit unnatural. More on that in the cons section.]
Particular strengths that stand out are:
Incredible detail, accuracy, and resolution you hear EVERYTHING. These could literally reproduce a pin drop across a room and if your ears could hear it in real life, you would hear it crystal clear with these. This is the area it destroys the Sennheiser HD 650 in direct comparison.
Pristine treble, the best I've ever heard under $900. The Audio Technica AD2000, DT880, and Sennheiser HD650 are known as some of the best for good midrange frequency reproduction, and the SRH940 is a league ahead of both of these (I've owned all of them). The treble, and similarly the detail of this headphone, is THE selling point of this headphone IMO. The upper treble on the SRH940 (10+khz) is just brilliantly good to my ears. Extremely detailed and accurate, very present (not recessed), yet somehow very smooth. Many headphones with pronounced treble suffer from sibilance issues (that harsh "SSssssss" sound on some high notes), and the SRH940 manages to avoid this entirely (unless the recording itself contains it).
(Critique)
As mentioned above, I still kept my Sennheiser HD 650s, and I have recently been leaning towards the HD650s for general use. There are a few reasons for this.
The SRH-940 is comfortable, but not nearly as comfortable as the Sennheiser HD 650 to me. Sennheiser's upper end and Beyerdynamics are known for amazing comfort you can barely feel them on your head. This is quite nice for movies and long term listening. The SRH940 becomes mildly uncomfortable on my extra large head after ~4 hours. A Sennheiser HD650 becomes uncomfortable... never... at all (literally).
The SRH-940's critical flaw to me is its tonality. The subtle sound "coloration" is not natural like the Beyerdynamic DT880s or Sennheiser HD650s. On the HD650, listening to a classical orchestral piece, the violin, flute, piano, etc. sound quite realistic -you could almost believe you were hearing the real thing. The SRH940 might sound better on first impression due to its detailed sound, however there is something distinctly "off" about its tonality. Violins sound a bit unnatural, like there's something not quite right about their tonality. It's difficult to explain, but sadly it's the truth.
The SRH-940 has good quality bass and mids, with bass just a bit shy of neutral. If you are used to bass boosted headphones you will notice there is less bass, but once your ears adapt you will notice some very good quality crystal clear bass. I don't necessarily have any problem with the SRH940's bass and mids, however they're not brilliantly good for the price range like the treble is -they're just about average. The Sennheiser HD650's ($350-$500) mids and bass are much better than the SRH940 ($200-$300). In particular, the SRH940 bass is not as impactful (strong physical sensation of bass) or effortless as my Sennheiser HD 650s, and I believe the SRH940 has some resonance/balance issues on the lower end as well. For example, some bass tones sound great on the SRH940, while others seem rather lacking. Most music on the HD650 is absolutely brilliant in its warm and beautiful rendition of the lower end ("warm") frequency spectrum. The HD650 has the ability to really capture you "emotionally" in the music due to its stunningly accurate and liquid lower end. The SRH940 reproduces the lower end well, but there's something missing. I believe this is what largely contributes to the previously mentioend "unnatural" sound of the SRH940 on classical music.
Not really a con so much, but the fact that the SRH-940 is extremely detailed and precise means it will reveal all the subtleties of your music; as a result, if you're used to listening to badly compressed music or random stuff from grooveshark or youtube, it will not sound so great. It won't sound worse than cheap headphones, but basically the SRH-940 treble sound quality is so good that you need to find sufficiently high quality recordings to reveal its full potential.
(Sound Signature)
As mentioned, make sure the SRH940 sound signature is for you. The SRH940 to my ears sound a bit on the bright side: Treble is very slightly louder than neutral, and low end bass is slightly quieter than neutral. Those who prefer headphones with excessive bass and suppressed treble may not like these. Those who hate treble also will not like these (even though it's very smooth and pleasant treble not sibilant or harsh at all coming from someone who experienced painful ear fatigue from listening to Sennheiser HD 280 Pros).
I should note that when I find a flaw in a headphone I try to correct it with equalization. On my HD650s for example, I found the treble to be recessed (a bit quieter than neutral), so I applied a treble boost equalization -which fixed the problem perfectly. I have not yet been able to find any equalization solution to the SRH940s unnatural coloration issue mentioned above (and I'm thinking the coloration problem isn't one related to frequency response but a more complex interaction or resonance that effects timbre in a more complex way).
(Misc)
These do not *need* a high end DAC/Amp to sound good, but they will definitely max out your laptop's standard audio output port. Listening from a MacBook Air audio port, I'd say SRH-940s sound about 60-70% as good as they do on my desktop DAC/Amp (an Audio-gd NFB-12). This is actually pretty good, compared to something like the Sennheiser HD650, which sounds maybe 40% as good at most.
In short, you'll enjoy these a ton from your ipod or standard computer audio out, but with a higher quality DAC/Amp / sound card, they'll sound much much better. In particular, the bass quality increases considerably. Bass will muddy up the rest of the sound spectrum just a little bit out of a standard audio jack. Treble quality also increases noticeably if you have the ear for it... very precise treble sounds you might find in electronic music (or subtly, in vocals) will sound cleaner and incredibly crystal clear from a good audio source.
From a standard computer, it's just slightly muddier sounding in treble, and a bit blurrier distinction between bass and the rest of the music, but not much. This is just because a standard MacBook sound output for example is fairly good (certainly way beyond most headphones capability), but these headphones are much beyond "fairly good". They will exceed pretty much any computer's sound output capability. My desktop PC's standard audio output is much worse than my MacBook Air, so unless you have a PC sound card you might consider upgrading to bring out the full potential of the SRH-940.
Despite its flaws, I still have no problem giving the SRH940 5/5 stars. It's an admittedly specialized headphone -it has brilliant treble and detail, and average mids and lows (to be perfectly honest). The treble makes up for any shortcomings to warrant it 5 stars within its price range to me. Just keep in mind its strenghts/weaknesses before buying to make sure it's what you want. Due to unnatural tonality issues I cannot any more recommend this as a general all-purpose headphone like the Sennheiser HD650 or HD600 excels at. Instead I highly recommend it as a specialized analytical/detailed treble-leaning headphone.
Read Best Reviews of Shure SRH940 Professional Reference Headphones (Silver) Here
I am loving/digging these headphones so far. I wrote a review, but it never materialized. I have listened to stuff from Future Sounds of London, Van Halen (currently addicted to "Best of Both Worlds" with these headphones), Arcade Fire, The Cars, The Temper Trap, Fleetwood Mac, The White Rabbits, Phil Collins (especially "Sussudio" extended remix version), Florence and the Machine and The Doors. I've been floating on a fine green cloud of rich, warm, wonderful full-bodied sound. These baby's can take some volume let me tell you! Try cranking up "Burning Down The House" by The Talking Heads. I tingled all over. OK, I didn't tingle, but I certainly should have.
It took a little while to pull the trigger because I couldn't quite decide between these and Sennheisers HD 600 & HD 650. The closed back style won out because I prefer as little extraneous noise as possible. They are quite comfortable and fairly light due to Plastic. I may not be the best judge of specific comfort levels because my ears take plenty of breaks.
I think you would be hard pressed to find better sounding headphones at this quality/price ratio. It is highly subjective of course. Hey, I am a happy camper!
Aug. 30 Update: I am more impressed than previously stated. One downfall stemming from such high quality is the fact that I catch far more anomalies, below par quality recordings and the like. Those are area's that I have interest in, so it doesn't bother me. I have certainly caught instruments in songs that I never knew existed. These headphones have inspired me to attempt to create the worlds finest playlist of Classic hits alternating with Alernative/Indie music. I bought the 940's without ever testing. Glad I did.
Want Shure SRH940 Professional Reference Headphones (Silver) Discount?
I confess that I have a certain addiction to headphones -probably because music is such an integral part of my existence and because of my office environment where if I don't have some way to block out my co-workers, it would not end well for my co-workers or myself.
I tend to go back and forth between earbuds and headphones. I like earbuds for their minimal size/weight and generally cost. However, often I get tired of having to jam something in my ear so like over the ear headphones as well.
I had a wonderful EXPENSIVE set of Denon's but alas, they were damaged in my last move and I hadn't had the heart (or money) to replace them. I have a set of SRH1840 headphones -which are supposed to be the "top of the line" from Shure -however, they are an open design and was concerned that they would let too much noise out to be a good choice for my office. Also at more than twice the price as the SRH940, I wasn't sure if I wanted to "risk" something happening to them by taking them to the office.
I listen to a wide range of music but purchase based on my love of classical music. So tonight I sat down with both the SRH940 and the SRH1840s and had a little side-by-side comparison.
I used my iPhone 5 as my listening device and all of the music I chose was ripped directly from CD using the Apple Lossless format. The pieces I chose to listen to were:
Bach Chaconne for Unaccompanied Violin -(Perlman)
Brahms Symphony #1 -1st movement (Solti and the Chicago Symphony)
Saint Saens Piano Concerto #2 -1st movement
I think I was expecting a much bigger difference (at least based on price) than there really was. Not surprisingly -both sounded very very good with VERY subtle differences -differences I probably would not notice if I were sitting in my office with background noise (as opposed to alone in my house with no distractions except for my cat who insists on shedding in my lap!)
Here are the differences:
-SRH940 had a louder "harsher" sound -not surprising given that they have a higher sensitivity rating (in essence, they will be louder because the earphones are more "efficient" at producing sound. Perhaps the "harshness" was due to the louder sound but I did adjust the volume to try to control for the difference. However, the SRH1840s seemed to be more "refined" and "mellow" -sort of a difference between a fine old violin vs a brand new one that you would purchase from your local big-box music store for 300 bucks!
-SRH940 had a more "detailed" sound -whereas the 1840s tended to have a more "blended" sound. When I was playing the piano concerto, one of the things that struck me was how distinctly I was able to "picture" the orchestra in my head because the violins were quite clearly coming from the left ear and cellos and basses were on the right side. The piano was off to the left side but more "centered" than the violins. With the 1840s -you didn't notice the "placement" of the sounds to the same extent -it was a more nuanced and "blended" soundstage. Which is better? I suppose it is a matter of taste. Having played and attended many symphony concerts, I tend to think that the separation as you get with the 940s seems more "real" to me.
-The SRH1840s are more comfortable -they are lighter weight and the ear cups feel software and don't "clamp" your head as hard as the SRH940s... both have velour pads but the first time I tried on the SRH940s, my first thought was whether I would get tired of wearing them after awhile.
One difference I expected to find but didn't really experience was the external sound from the open vs close headphone design. I expected that the SRH 1840s would be much louder externally than they were. However, I found them to be roughly comparable to the closed SRH940 designs.
Which pair do I prefer? If I could only pick one -I would pick the SRH 1840s because of the comfort and more refined sound. However, was there enough of a difference to justify spending the extra 350? In all honesty -no -at least not under the circumstances for which I will be using them.
Perhaps both pairs are OVERKILL for my purposes -listening to music from an iPhone, iPod or my Macbook Pro -as my dad always said, the sound will only be as good as the weakest link. However, I like to think that the corollary is that even relatively poor equipment will sound better with high-end "output methods" (i.e. your headphones or speakers).
This may be a relatively "specialized" review and just my humble opinion -your mileage may vary.
[NCJAR]
The SRH-940 compares favorably in several ways to the Sennheiser HD-800, with a few exceptions. Given that the HD-800 costs 5 to 6 times as much, the similarities and differences are of great interest to persons whose budgets don't stretch much beyond the SRH-940. The main exceptions are soundstage and resolution of upper harmonic details. Because of the HD-800's huge earcups, large drivers, and some fancy and costly engineering, the HD-800 has possibly the widest (or best) soundstage of any dynamic headphone that I'm aware of. The harmonic details are not as easy to describe, but if you have a chance to make a direct comparison, the differences are much easier to hear when you go from the HD-800 to the SRH-940 rather than the other way around. Note my comments below relating to harmonics.
It would be easy to assume that the differences I just described are a really big deal, but that depends on your experience and perceptions, and how much of an audio perfectionist you might be. In my case, having access to many top quality headphones from the HD-800 on down, it's not a big deal. The main similarity between the SRH-940 and the HD-800 is the sound signature, i.e. the overall balance of bass, mids, and treble that give the headphone its basic character. Attempts to measure this characteristic are generally expressed as a frequency response. While the signatures of these two headphones are not identical, myself and others have made comparisons with specific music tracks that did not reveal a substantial difference, so where significant differences are reported, look for specific examples if that is important to you.
Summarizing the actual sound of the SRH-940, it is highly detailed and has what is widely regarded as a more-or-less neutral signature over most of its range, with a slight bit of brightness on the high end. Fortunately, whatever extra brightness the SRH-940 may have compared to the average headphone does not contribute to a sibilance problem. I find the 940's soundstage to be above average for a closed-back headphone, and while the bass will not satisfy the so-called bass-heads of the headphone world, I find the bass to be pretty consistent with what I know to be accurate high fidelity reproduction. Again, depending on how accurate you require your bass to be, a decibel or two of variance that's acceptable to some persons might be annoying to others.
Other headphones I compared the SRH-940 to are the Shure SRH-1840 and the B&W P5. The P5 sounds slightly hollow compared to the SRH-940, it sounds somewhat muffled on the high end, and sounds a little bit weak in the deep bass. Given that the P5 and SRH-940 sell for about the same price and that the SRH-940 wins in sound quality on all counts (in my opinion), I'd say that the P5's advantage is smaller size and better portability. Compared to the SRH-1840, the 1840 has less brightness in the "presence" area around 4 to 7 khz and a very slight edge in soundstage and upper harmonic detail.
The SRH-940 will play at reasonable volume levels with portable devices such as most cellphones, iPods and so on. The straight cord feels strong enough to withstand some abuse, and with the earcups pulled all the way down and rotated against my chest, I can have the headphone around my neck all day long without it getting in my way when I'm not listening to it. It also comes with a coiled cord. Neither cord has an angled plug unfortunately. The other good news with the cord is that it's detachable. The other less-than-good news is that the detachable end is partially proprietary. The detachable plug is a standard sub-mini plug (next size smaller than a 1/8 inch mini-plug), but the plastic fitting behind that plug locks into the jack on the earcup in a way that would require DIY'ers to take the earcup apart if they want to use a different cable without the proprietary connector.
The earcups of the SRH-940 completely surround my ears, and it's a close fit. The internal space for ears in each oval earcup measure 2-5/8 by 1-7/8 inches. I find the fit very comfortable, but people with much larger ears may feel very cramped. The carrycase that comes with the SRH-940 is fairly large, and would take up a lot of space in a carry-on bag for airline travel. If this is your situation, I'd recommend carrying the SRH-940 around your neck when boarding, or just wrap it in something thin to place in a suitcase, to give it minimal protection.
The entire headphone seems to be plastic except for the velour earpads, and Made In China means they optimized the SRH-940 for lowest production cost. The good news is that it seems to be very well made, and given the sound quality, a real bargain at the usual prices. Isolation from external sounds is good even when not playing music. When playing music, I can't hear the telephone ring from 3 feet away, and the ringer is the old-fashioned kind very attention-getting.
People often ask about the headband and comfort issues, and my experience says that the weight of the 940 is light enough that most of it is supported by the earcups and only a small percentage by the headband. In fact, if a user pulls the earcups down just slightly more than needed to fit their ears, that will lighten the headband pressure to the point that the feeling of wearing the headphone will virtually disappear.
In addition to the pop music tracks listed below, which I used mainly for detecting weaknesses or other problems with the sound, I played a wide variety of genres (Jazz, Diana Krall, Bill Evans Trio; Bach organ, Biggs; Beethoven 9th, Solti CSO; Chopin, Moravec; Reggae, Marley, Tosh; Country, Haggard, Yoakam; Verdi, Domingo; Sinatra and Bennett; Punk, Germs, Fear, Sid Vicious, Social Distortion; Medieval, Madrigali, Medieval Babes; Trance, Mylene Farmer, etc.)
The following are some of the music tracks I tested with, and the main features I listened for with those tracks:
Blues Project Caress Me Baby (piercing guitar sound, handled well).
Cocteau Twins Carolyn's Fingers (guitar string detail and quality, excellent).
Commodores Night Shift (bass detail, excellent).
Germs Forming (raw garage sound, good).
Lick The Tins Can't Help Falling In Love (tin whistle, very clear and clean).
Lou Reed Walk On The Wild Side (bass impact, good; detail excellent).
REM Radio Free Europe (drum impact, very good).
Rolling Stones She's So Cold (bass impact and guitar sound, very good).
U2 With Or Without You (bass boom/high-pitched instruments/sibilants, handled well).
Van Morrison Into The Mystic (bass, moderate).
Who Bargain (voice trailing off: "best I ever had", very good vocal harmonics).
