SRH440 Professional Studio Headphones, Enhanced Frequency Response and Extended Range for Home and Studio Recording, with Detachable Coiled Cable, Carrying Bag and 1/4" Adapter (SRH440)

I needed an upgrade to my old headphones that (admittedly) I got at a garage sale. Nice full size headphones but the cable was getting damaged and had that annoying volume control feature. I think its cool but at the same time stupid because I find it the first thing to go. I fought with them for a while until I finally had it. So I went looking for an upgrade that would cater closely to what I'm doing more nowadays, that is home/studio listening for enjoyment and music production. I live in a rather noisy area where I hear the fire trucks and ambulances coming and going regularly and among other things. So I needed a pair of closed-back headphones for isolation as I find the sound reproduction of noise canceling headphones to not be as accurate and nowhere near this price range. I also wanted a set that offered the replaceable cable and ear cups option as decent headphones can last a long time but these two parts always wear out before decent drivers do. Amazingly enough I discovered the Shure SRH 440's. I got everything I was looking for. These are really nice headphones for what they're designed for (e.g. home/studio listening). These might not appeal to people used to higher end equipment but as a start into the world of detail and sound resolution it's wonderful for the price. There are drawbacks that I feel some people miss about these. These don't have much bass impact (e.g. you don't really feel an explosion so much as hear it.) The sound signature is a rich neutral (e.g. it strives for balance and clarity, middle of the road). They are not really made to be run by Iphones and Ipods. These guys need a little more power to drive them to their full abilities with a headphone amplifier. They sound good unamped but sound their best amped. One other thing is these sound particularly tight and bright out of the box. There's nothing wrong with them because they need to be "broken-in." Some people like the sound from the get go, but for me it took a little getting used to. Over time the drivers have been slowly relaxing and loosening up making it sound even better with time. If your looking for nice pair of headphones that will last and deliver great sound, these are a nice choice at this price bracket. PROS + Marvelous sound that is balanced and clear. - Even at really low volumes (while amped) I can still hear amazing detail. + Great isolation. - I don't hear the traffic anymore with these on and I'm not cranking these. I listen at very moderate levels. + Removable cable for cable replacement. (Or to change to a higher grade audio cable) + Solid build. Can fold up for easy transport and storage. + Gold-plated Plugs (For signal efficiency.) 3.5MM with a screw on 1/4 plug. + Full-size over the ear cups. CONS - Shallow cushions - The rim of my ear rests against the drivers. Depending on position can become uncomfortable. - Shallow Headband cushion - There is some cushioning but mostly to cover up the inside parts. For me it gets a little uncomfortable in certain positions but once I find the spot I'm content. As these aren't powerhouse audiophile headphones, they don't require a serious amplifier to run them. If your a budding audiophile, spend a little more on your headphone amp and you'll be happier for it. My experience (if you wish to know) Putting these on and turning on the music is like being transported. I found myself relishing music even more through these as I began to hear it in a whole new way. I enjoy all kinds of music from Metal, Classical, Folk, World, Electronic and Alternative. When I put on Vivaldi: Four Seasons (FLAC format), I couldn't believe my ears. The clarity and beauty of this music resonated out of drivers with such detail. The descents and ascents of the lows to highs and back were a treat. String instruments sound incredible in these as well (Violin, Acoustic Guitar, Cello). One thing is you'll notice the quality of your music more. You'll hear the effects of the poor sound reproduction in the higher compression formats. However, you'll also notice other parts of the music that cheaper headphones can't reproduce when listening to CD's. Some music will be more appealing in these than others. Mostly music that relies more on its musical detail (Classical, New Age, Flamenco) than impact.

PRE ORDER Mission: I bought these looking for a replacement for another pair of headphones for monitoring purposes. Attractions: The first thing that attracted me to the Shures was the claim of flat response obviously intended for the professional studio (as labeled). The second thing that attracted me to these headphones was the low price. Another thing that REALLY attracted me to these was the REMOVABLE locking cable. I've had trouble with previous headphone jacks that ended up with me having to go buy a new jack and stripping the cable to solder it on, so it seemed like a pretty sweet feature to save future trouble. Picking the Right Set of Cans: I was doing some research on good studio oriented headphones below(or at) the $100 price point. I came up finding these(Shure SRH440), the Sennheiser HD280 Pros, and the Sony MDR-v6's and/or 7506's. And obviously I came to choosing these. POST ORDER First Impressions: I had watched a few unboxing and review videos of the Shures just to see what I'd be getting, so nothing out of the box VISUALLY surprised me as I had seen it all already, but when I took them out of the plastic bag and actually held them in my hand myself, I was lovestruck. They are nice and heavy(in a good way) and VERY solidly built. Build: Like I said before, these are quite hefty in weight, but also in size. (Which I like a lot, but for those looking for smaller, lighter cans, I don't think this is where you want to go) The plastics used on the headphones are very solid and of high quality. I guess I had taken the build of the previous set of headphones I was using as fair, so when I just grabbed the earcups and pulled them apart I was blown away with just how well these things were made. The headband is made of some flexible material covered in a synthetic leatherette, and feels sturdy yet moldable. It sits nicely atop the head. From what gathered from the few moments the stock earPADS were one the headphones before I took them off to replace them with some upgraded SRH840 pads I had bought at the same time as these, they were okay in quality. A tad stiff though. The cable is a nice, thick coiled one around 10 feet long that starts up on a SINGLE side of the headphones rather than a Y-cable, and terminates to a 3.5 mm/ 1/8 in gold plated jack. The jack itself has a threaded end to screw on the included 1/4 in (whatever the equivalent is in millimeters) adapter. The rubber/plastic on the end of it has a nice grippy part to it that makes it easy to hold and plug in to whatever you need to. A small detail, but I found it quite nice. Comfort: Like I said a short ways up in the previous paragraph, I bought a set of replacement earpads that normally go on the big brother of this product, the SRH840, on suggestions of other peoples experiences with these headphones. I tried them on with the stock pads before I swapped them and like people said, the pads were fairly stiff and shallow. Immediately thereafter I put on the other pads. They were thicker, softer, and more comfortable. The most noticeably difference I would have to say though is the padding on the INSIDE of the pads that cover the driver. It is much thicker and of better quality. So during long wearing sessions I can see these being much more bearable. I've also heard claims of the pads improving sound quality, but I didn't actually listen to them before I swapped the pads so I can't confirm them. ** I also have pretty prominent(sticky-outy) ears that usually become discomforted quite soon after putting on headphones, but these are (now anyways) deep enough with thick enough inner padding that it's not much of a problem. The headband is quite "cushy" and forms rather nicely to the head. But sometims, when wearing them for a long time, the top of my head begins to get sore where it rests upon my head. These headphones are actually pretty tight gripping on my (seemingly) normal sized head. I like that A LOT, but I'm sure it bothers the hell of some people. I've heard people calling them loose, but they aren't to me. Overall, they feel very nice to me sitting on my head. Now with what was my greatest fear about ordering headphones, Sound/Sound Quality: I have previously listened to studio oriented headphone and they seemed "canny" and fit the closed back headphone STEREOtype(pun), and I hate having to wait unnecessarily for things, so I was afraid of ordering these before actually listening to them under the cause that they would sound crappy. I'll tell you right now, my fears were misplaced. The SRH440's sounded pretty darn good on the first listen. I still haven't burnt them in the full 100 or so hours suggested by many, but they sound great already. The highs are nice and crisp, the mids are warm and smooth, and the bass is lush and extended. I am currently playing pink noise and assorted sounds through them, and after a few of days(with breaks, don't worry) hey, maybe they'll sound even better. As far as isolation of outside noise goes, the Shures do it quite well. I'll give you an example of how well they do it:I've had really loud music been playing through speakers in the other room, and I put these on as earmuffs to block out the sound. Obviously it didn't completely shut out the sound, but made it quiet enough that it wasn't unbearable to hear. The soundstage with these is actually pretty wide and spacey. Things panned hard left or right sound more spread apart than other closed back headphones. Now I haven't heard a lot to compare to them (especially not open backed/open-air headphones which are supposed to have the broadest soundstage), but these headphones give me such an awesome stereo image when listening to music. If I had to describe these headphones in two words, it would be these: SUPERIOR VALUE. Well there's my two cents. Haha, I hope I didn't miss anything. Awesome headphones.

I was recently in need of closed headphones with a $100 budget and curious about what the market offers. I thought I might share my findings with someone in a similar situation. The Shure SRH440 turns out to be the most accurate, neutral sounding closed cans among the eight headphone models that I have compared. Below is my review of these headphones. I am a speaker builder with measurement equipment, so I know what is neutral and undistorted sound. Unlike speaker systems, most headphones have no crossover or frequency response correction circuit. So, it is critical to be able to know how much such uneven responses affect perception of their sound with respect to accuracy and neutrality. I have good sense of it since I have been measuring sound. But I do not have proper equipment for headphone measurement, mostly importantly a dummy torso/head, nor am I willing to invest time in making a DIY setup. This is the reason why my search and audition have been limited to headphones for which measurement data exist, with some exceptions (see below). I made use of three different sources for the data: InnerFidelity.com, Headphone.com, and en.GoldenEars.net. While there is consistency within each site's measurements, there is also inconsistency between them, due to different measurement conditions and compensation methods. So, I researched and took those into account. One may say we can use EQ to remedy irregular frequency responses. But EQ has its own limitations. Some minor EQ'ing can help, but headphones that need too extensive correction should be avoided. The foremost reason is the loss of dynamic range. Theoretically, with EQ you can only limit, not increase, dynamic range in a certain frequency band. On the source side, you lose digital bit depth, and on the headphone side, you suppress the driver's efficient response range. Below is the list of headphones that I have auditioned (in the order of their street prices): - Tascam TH-02 ($30; no data available) - Panasonic RP-HTF600-S ($32; semi-open headphones) - Brainwavz HM3 / Incipio F38 ($35; no data available) - Tascam TH-2000 ($50; no data available) - AKG K518LE ($50) - Sennheiser HD 429 ($65) - Creative Aurvana Live! ($70) - KRK KNS 6400 ($85) - Shure SRH440 ($90) My DIY speaker system (it measures very flat) served as a reference with respect to tonal balance. I also own some open headphones like Sony MDR-MA900 and Sennheiser PX100, which also provided a baseline when I evaluated tonal balance of the headphones under comparison. I used a desktop headphone amp that has flat FR and reasonably low output impedance. I will give short, summarized impressions for each pair. Tascam TH-02 (no measurement data available) This is a really nice surprise. There is a little hump in the bass and midbass regions, and some wide, shallow dip in upper mids and lower treble (i.e., slightly polite presentation). Otherwise, these are relatively accurate headphones at a fraction ($30) of cost of headphones of comparable quality. Construction is good for the price. The pad size is between over-ear and on-ear, but comfortable enough. Panasonic RP-HTF600-S (semi-open headphones) Warm tone, deep bass. Treble is there, but upper mids and lower treble are lacking. Comfortable to wear. A good value, but not great for those looking for reasonably accurate sound. Brainwavz HM3 / Incipio F38 (no data available) Mid/upper bass ruins the sound which has otherwise good midrange-treble balance. Very uncomfortable to wear due to non-swivel cups. Tascam TH-2000 (no data available) Simply inferior to its younger brother TH02. Very dull and muddy presentation. The model uses the same ear cups as TH02 but contains different drive units. The driver may have better components but execution must be bad. Not worth the asking price. AKG K518LE You need to remove the thick foam pad at the driver's front (easily removable) to have better bass-to-mids balance. Even the pad removed, the phones still have bass-oriented sound, but not bad. Mids to treble balance is good. Somewhat similar sound signature to Tascam TH-02's. But the TH-02 sounds a little more natural. The headband can be too small for some people. The clamping force is a bit above a comfortable level. Sennheiser HD 429 Anothter pair of headphones with bass emphasis. Not overly bassy, though. But a bigger problem is treble, which is a little too polite to be neutral. I would not consider these headphones a good value. Creative Aurvana Live! Smooth and warm tone. Bass is somewhat loose at times. Treble has sparkles and at the same time sounds smooth. But relative to bass and treble, upper mids and lower treble are somewhat recessed, making the headphones' sound colored. Some people may feel them musical and full, but I prefer the Tascam TH02 at a lower price. The appearance is very good, though, with some feel of high quality. Very comfortable to wear with memory foam pads. KRK KNS 6400 It has much more neutral sound than the headphones described above. Mid- and upper bass is somewhat lacking, and treble is a little overly presented. Good monitor-type sound. But there is one problem with these headphones. They are not very efficient, which means their usability is limited---you need a desktop headphone amp or a high-current capable portable amp to make them sound good. A little too bright treble is a weakness, too. Shure SRH440 Without doubt, these are the best of the bunch. Perceived dynamic range is unbelievably wide. These are in a different league in terms of clarity as well---perhaps, the KNS 6400 is close but also with weaknesses (see above). Treble is sometimes a little on the bright side, but not as bright as the KNS6400's. Some people may find them bright with bright recordings, but the headphones should not be blamed for that. These produce very neutral and accurate sound. Bass is sufficient and often pleasantly strong in the mid- and upper bass regions, but deeper bass is not covered by these cans. Most music recordings do not contain this deep bass, anyway. I summarize my findings with the following top two picks: 1. Shure SRH440: These are the headphones you can safely choose under $100 if what you are looking for is accurate, neutral sound. 2. Tascam TH-02: This is a secret gem. At $30, you get really good closed cans. Its overall presentation is not as clear as the SRH440's, but with their price factored in, you cannot complain. They are definitely in the same league as the AKG K518LE (foam pads removed) and the Creative Aurvana Live. It may depend on personal preference, but among the three, my pick is the Tascam. The Creative has a better look and feel, but I'd choose the Tascam for its sound. Another headphone model I wanted to include in my search was the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro ($90-$100), but after I listened to the Shure SRH440, I decided not to. According to HeadRoom's measurements and many people's common impressions, the HD 280 Pro has a little subdued treble compared to the SRH440 which has great mids to treble balance when compared to my reference speakers. The Sennheiser covers the lowest octave much better than the Shure, but that is not my priority. I also considered the Koss ProDJ100 because of good reviews, but ruled them out because of their measurements. Their response might be flat in fundamental tones from most instruments but not with harmonics due to a large dip around 5-6kHz. Some people may think they sound good, but there is no way for them to sound accurate and natural by my standard.

Before I review these headphones, I must say something about their intended purpose. These are NOT designed for listening to music anywhere except sitting down in your home or in a studio. The cord is incredibly long and bulky, and the headphones are far from stylish. If you're looking for headphones you can wear on-the-go, stop right here and go look for some in-ear-monitors or smaller sized headphones. If you are looking for the best sound quality you can find in $100 headphones, and don't care much about anything else, this is probably the right place. Design Overview: These headphones are MASSIVE. These are my first pair of studio monitors and I was not expecting them to be as giant as they are. I have a normal sized head- These headphones look ridiculous on me and on larger heads, still seem pretty big. I am not a very fashion-minded person but even I think twice about taking these around. The headphones fold up for convenience, allowing them to fit in my backpack without too much trouble. The cord is one of my biggest gripes with the headphones. It is not on par with the quality of the rest of the headphone. Comfort: These headphones will hurt your ears and the top of your head after about an hour. I was very disappointed with the stock earpads, and the plastic headband is covered by what seems to be leather with little to no padding. About a month after I bought these, I ordered the replacement earpads from Shure's higher end version of the product, the SRH-840, and slapped those onto my SRH-440. I am much happier with the comfort of these headphones with this 15 dollar investment. Cord: The only thing I like about this cord is that it is detachable and twists to lock into a jack on the headphone. I have a lot of issues with the stock cord. It is something like 10 feet long uncoiled, and even coiled up takes up too much space on my small computer desk. The cord is cheaply made, with the wires nestled into a plasticky tube that gets kinked up permanently much like a garden hose. Within three months the cord was unbearably tangled and did not coil up properly. With this stock coiled cord, it is impossible to go anywhere with the headphones as you have a large bundle of cord that barely fits into a pocket by itself, much less with an mp3 player. I replaced the cord with Shure's straight cord, just to find the cord was still something like 8 feet long, and made of the same low-quality garden hose plastic. The best thing about this cord, how it locks into the headphone, also made it very hard to find a third-party, decent cord. After some hunting on eBay, I found a reasonable length cord made from decent material. I should not have to go through this much trouble to find a cord I can walk with, and don't completely understand the appeal of a cord this long, unless you sit 10 feet away from your audio jack in a studio. Sound: I'm no audiophile, but I can tell you without a doubt that this is some of the best sound you can find in a headphone at this price range. Each instrument in your music becomes separate from each other, and much more clear. Low quality earbuds will bother you with how muddled they sound after listening to these cans. With a headphone amp such as the FiiO E11, you can even hear small details of each instrument that are difficult to describe. The sound of these headphones is never harsh, and the sound is warm but crisp. The only downside of the sound is a minor deficiency in bass. A lot of headphones have far too much bass, but these have the treble slightly overpowering. I'm not complaining- this is easy to fix with a small EQ adjustment. Conclusion: Overall, these are great headphones. I'm fairly picky about quality, and most likely, others won't have as much of a problem with the design of these cans. The manufacturer was likely trying to keep the price down on these while still maintaining an entry-level audiophile sound. Thanks for reading my review, I hope it helped decide your purchase. Below is where I found my custom cord and earpads: Earpads found here on Amazon: Shure HPAEC840 Replacement Ear Cushions For SRH840 Headphones Cable found on eBay: Replacement Audio Upgrade Cable for SHURE SRH840 SRH940 440 SRH750DJ Headphones

I bought these 3 years ago. At the time, I got them for only $72. First off, these are very good headphones, especially for the price I paid. I find it pointless to try and describe specifics of sound quality to people on the internet, so I'm going to try to focus on other aspects of the headphones in this review. I'm going to touch on a few things I didn't like about them first. - I did not like the coil cable. I've always had a hatred for coiled cables. Just a preference, not really a flaw since I know a lot of people like them. However, since the cable is removable, it can always be replaced with a straight one. I never cared enough to do that though. - I found these uncomfortable, and that is the main reason I no longer use them. They mostly just felt tight around my head, and I couldn't wear them for long periods of time. For comparison, I also own an Astro A40 headset for gaming and a pair of Beats by Dre Studio headphones and both are much more comfortable to me. - This wasn't a problem for me, but i didn't like how exposed the wires are that lead into the ear cups. It seemed like it would be easy for something to rip them out or cut them accidentally. It does come with a leather bag to store them in, so if you plan on being mobile with these, I would advise using it. Sound quality wise, these are excellent and an overall great value. If this is would be your first pair of reference headphones, you'd be hard pressed to find a better deal. I no longer use these, but I gave these to a friend of mine and he loves them too. If you've only ever used the awful ear buds that came with your phone, you will be very happy. Keep in mind, if you only have 128kbps songs on your computer, or primarily listen to music from YouTube, don't expect to be all that impressed. Bad quality music will only sound worse through these. It's a lot like watching standard definition programming on a 60" LED HDTV and expecting it to look better because your TV is so good. Also, I did buy a cheap amplifier after about a year of owning them and it did help out a little, especially since I like a little more bass in my music than these provide. Just remember, some people like these because of the mids and highs, and some people hate these for the lack of bass. Likewise, some people love Beats for their emphasis on lows, and some people hate them for their lack of quality mids and highs. It all comes down to what you want out of your music. Are these worth $300? No. Are they worth $150? I think so. Are they worth the $72 I paid? Absolutely.

I'll preface this by saying that I don't know if I should call myself an audiophile or not, but I definitely hear and appreciate quality. I can still hear the full range I should be able to and have tested that up to 20khz. It only got painful, not quieter. :) I received these headphones recently and have been trying them out for all kinds of music, from piano by Glass through Mozart through Daft Punk, The Glitch Mob, various top 40 tracks and various scores and soundtracks. Bass: I have read a lot of reviews that said that these headphones are light on bass. First let me add my two cents on that one. These headphones have plenty of bass. I have to wonder if the people who said it wasn't really there have some minor hearing loss. Nothing against them, but if you value clarity and not just bass then these are probably the right pick for you. I have listened to Klipsch, and similarly priced Sennheisers and those were lighter on clarity and heavy on bass. In my personal opinion, too much bass can make even clear mids sound muddled. Clarity: These headphones, as others have pointed out, have really brought out color in the music and subtle details that are lost in most headphones and earphones I've listened to. You can hear everything, from the change of direction of a bow on a string to the click of the c or k sound in a singer's throat. I've actually started listening for those details and have found detail within sounds in synth and artists like eDiT that I never knew were there. It enhances the visceral experience of the music. Burn-in: I haven't burned these in yet and from what I understand, they will get even better when they do. Comfort: I can see that over long periods, the headband may not be the most comfortable thing in the world compared to some of the others that I've tried. It hasn't been a problem for me though, but then again, it's hard to find something that's so uncomfortable that it bothers me without actually causing soreness or pain. Concerns: I am so far only a little concerned with the exposed wires just above each of the cans. These won't be used outside the house though, so it may be just fine. It would worry me more if they were going to be used on the go. Portability: They're not. Don't even try.

Pros: Flat audio output, so no artificial boosting of bass or treble ensures that I know what I'm hearing is accurate. Threaded 1/4" adapter, comfortable for long periods. The soft case is well built and has a nice feel, but I feel like I might have preferred a hard case. Sturdy, coiled, locking detachable cable means no accidentally yanking the cable out while moving around. Cons: Not a fan of the 2.5mm proprietary jack to hook the cable up to the headphones. This means I can only use the cable that came with, and should something happen to that I'm up a very lonely creek. I have to disconnect the cable to fold them up all the way. This could have been remedied by a little extra design work on the folding bits, but I guess this way means some extra protection from damage to the jack while transporting. I do worry a bit about the longevity of the wires. Instead of being routed through the headband all the way, they stick out at the points where the headband is adjustable, and they could get snagged on something. Other thoughts: There's no active noise cancellation, but they create a nice enough seal around the ears that it doesn't become necessary. Passive cancellation also means I won't hear any inaccurate sound pickup while recording. I've had active sets that actually scrub out the signal coming through the wire because it's the same waveform as the outside noise. That is not a good attribute when trying to find the best mic placement. The only time I've had bad audio from these is plugging into my laptop. But I'd excuse even that, since laptops have notoriously noisy signal from the headphone jacks. When I'm at home, I run an HDMI out to my TV anyway and have that decode the audio. Gives me a cleaner signal and I can edit my audio way better. Bottom line: It's the best deal I've seen for professional studio-quality headphones. This is a set for those looking for accurate audio representation, not music fans looking for orgasmic bass response. Given that, though, I still hear nuances in my music that I hadn't been hearing before.

I bought this pair of headphones primarily on impulse, my Beats Solo had finally given out to poor use by a friend of mine and because I'm in college and speakers are not really an option considering my room layout. I felt it time, to invest in a new pair of headphones. I did a small amount of research before I bought these headphones and I found that most reviewers found a nice clear sound with these headphones and I commonly found a very high comfort rating from these headphones. What I failed to see (or ignored) was the somewhat poor bass response these headphones give right out of the box. This wasn't a dealbreaker for me, it's simply the fact that most of the music I listen to is either bass driven or has a high emphasis on bass. The build quality of these headphones is to be admired however. Aside from the exposed cable on the sides of the headphones, the build quality here is incredibly sturdy. It seems as though these headphones can survive a beating if need be, which considering that they are studio headphones, they really shouldn't be. The headband of these cans is made of a high quality metal I believe, and they are able to stretch to fit all size heads. My head is fairly big and I found myself forgetting that these headphones were even on. The sound... The highs and mids are crisp and clear, without being harsh at all. The music surrounds you and I found sounds and instruments in songs I never knew were there. Songs actually became more beautiful through these headphones. Far better than the horrid muddy sounding beats I previously owned. However, out of the box, these headphones have ZERO bass, in some songs it's nearly non-existent. With a a few (50) hours of burn in the bass comes out of it's shell (somewhat) and the sound becomes fuller and more satisfying. For anyone working in a studio, these headphones are a must, the sound reproduction from a quality source is excellent. Every aspect of the music is alive and prevalent, (aside from the bass) and the soundstage is decent for this level of headphones. An amp may be required, but my iphone drove these fairly well. I would recommend these to those who work in a studio, or are not bassheads and are patient enough to burn in these headphones before forming an opinion on them. Very few headphones sound great out of the box.