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Posted 20 hours ago

Shure SRH1540 Professional Premium Closed-Back Headphones, Clear, Extended Highs and Warm, Accurate Bass, Aluminum Alloy & Carbon Fiber Construction, Alcantara Ear Pads, Detachable Cable, Black/Silver

£205.635£411.27Clearance
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About this deal

Kunika Kato - Fur Alina (Vibraphone): A very unusual instrumental - the tone quality is unlike anything I've heard before. Recording close-up is part of the magic here, but the SRH1540 does the rest in reproducing the full harmonics of this amazing instrument.

We’re used to big boxes like the one the SRH1540 came in, but we’re not used to seeing a case of the same size sitting inside. This was our first indication that Shure took the SRH1540 pretty seriously, and that we probably should too. The case is the sort that you might expect to get with high-end studio monitor headphones (but never do), designed with protection and storage in mind first, and portability a distant second. Simply placing the SRH1540 on your head doesn’t seem to provide a remarkable amount of passive noise isolation. In the office, we could still hear nearby discussions, and loud construction work bled through, remaining as distracting as ever, if just a little bit less edgy. But with music playing at even moderate volumes, we managed to shut out the world around us. On a recent flight, we missed having active noise-cancelling for toning down the drone of the plane’s engines, but, again, the headphones had no problem delivering crystal clear audio from movies and music, even at moderate volume settings. While we own a pair of Phiaton Chord MS 530and generally prefer them for travel, we still wound up pulling out the Shure cans for sheer listening pleasure. Performance

Yet the more I listened to the NDH 30s, the more I felt that they should displace the Shures at the top of the heap. Perhaps it’s the exceptionally low distortion, but there’s something about the sound that relaxes your ears and makes you feel that you’re listening to music, not to a monitoring system. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I suspect their vestigial softness in the upper midrange might simply represent unaccustomed clarity, rather than a real dip in the frequency response. I fancy myself as somewhat of a very mild basshead. More like a ‘bass inclined/well balanced’ head. I prefer sub bass over mid bass in general. I must say I was left impressed with how low the Shure 1540 was able to reach with a satisfying rumble. Its not exactly a bass monster, yet the 1540 hits 35hz notes with relative ease, and is appreciably audible down to the mid-20hz range before it becomes quiet relative to the rest of the sound. And you’ll want them to last as long as possible – the Shures perform superbly. You only need a moment with them to appreciate their dynamic and diligently detailed sound. Shure's typical MMCX connectors. I hated them on their SE(iem) line, but I actually like them quite a bit for their headphones! This is different from SRH940. SRH1840 and SRH1440 uses the same connectors from my memory.

The Shure 1540 leans more towards fun/immersive gaming, with potent bass, large soundstage, and sparkly treble as its best attributes for gaming. The headphone themselves are very light, adding to the overall comfort. The padding on the headband is generous and plush. Now, the pads... They used Alcantara pads. From my memory Alcantara is a synthetic material, first used by the legendary Sennheiser HD800. These are perforated Alcantara pads, with memory foam under it. As I expected, these are ultra comfortable, and doesn't get as hot as pleather. Nice choice Shure. Overall comfort is exceptional, much much better then SRH940, and slightly better then SRH1840. I recently worn these to a trip to Penn, about a 6hr ride, and didn't have any issue with the comfort.

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This is one of the only areas on the 1540 I wish would’ve been different, as it just makes sense to have one single headband pressing down to the scalp, not two. The 1540 leaves two distinct indentations on my head after extended periods of use. The downward force of the dual headband may not be suited for those with larger heads. In addition to the headphones you'll also find a spare cable and even spare ear pads in the box. There's a hard carry case, too, making these ideal for travelling with.

Just a disclaimer : I code test tones for headphones (I'm preparing a new set of test bench and analyser for measuring headphones), I do some science analysis on audio/image and while amateur, I can do mimicry, sing and play a few instruments. Not bragging, but just a bit of a notification that I know what I'm listening to.

If you are looking for very accurate neutral headphones for video or sound editing - these are great, although pricey for what they deliver considering the alternatives.

Pads, extremely comfortable but probably the reason why isolation is not super great and sounds leaks. These headphones have the audio qualities you hear when listening to recordings made by ribbon microphones. That's it. There it is. It's a very nice sound signature and even has a hint of vintage audio to it. The frequency curve looks like one you'd expect from a ribbon microphone. Also, these are some smooth headphones and have absolutely no grain. None. In fact, they make the HD600 sound like they have grain. Dynamic drivers or balanced armature are most common in earphones. Balanced armature drivers are notable for how tiny and lightweight they can be; these qualities allow manufacturers to include multiple balanced armature drivers in a single earpiece that cover different frequency ranges. Like two-way or three-way stereo speaker setups, this tends to lead to a more accurate sound signature, but it all depends on the driver tuning. sure they'll outresolve my srh1540 by a mile. That's not even a question at all. My intention is to get a better headphone. I keep a very open mind and try to listen to gear so I can buy something that will make my work better. The only difference is I don't fall for the hype or fakeness (it's easy to fake so many things). At the moment I'm a little monetarily constrained hence I'm trying my best to try inexpensive stuff like t1 and hd700 which I have some hope they'll outresolve my thing. Soundstage is very good for closed cans. I've listened exclusively to open cans on my reference system for the last few years, so I'm very used to the open rendering of the music. While the Shures will never be confused with open cans, they are very open in sound. There's good air and imaging there. They do form a very 3D image that circles your listening space. They don't fall victim to the "three blob" soundstage that many headphones produce. Imaging is believable with good space and placement. It's among the best I've ever heard in closed cans. I'd say it's very accurate within the confines of a closed can system.gold plated screw on adapter. You can never have enough of these. Better to have spares than none at all. For anyone arguing that they just need a 'burn in' time - the sound signature on mine has not changed much after hundreds of hours of use and in my opinion if you are hoping they will 'improve', they wont. The acoustic-led instrumental accompaniment is clear and textured, and the intricate strings of notes are tangible. Verdict Between headphones and earphones, there's a range of driver styles. In headphones, the most common option is the dynamic driver—headphones typically only employ a single full-range driver in each earcup’s enclosure. In recent years, audiophiles have gotten excited about planar magnetic drivers, which use a magnetic field to vibrate a large (compared with a dynamic driver) flat surface area. Planar magnetic drivers are typically sought after for their ability to deliver high levels of detail throughout the frequency range with very little distortion and a highly accurate bass response. Like the even less common (and far more expensive) electrostatic drivers, the enclosures for these headphones are often large and not really ideal for wearing out of the house. Many earphones that employ planar magnetic drivers look rather bulky and odd as well. Cons: With a rather steep price tag it can be a large pill to swallow for someone hesitant to take the leap.

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