Audio Random IEM / Headphone Rants

esanthosh said:
:lol:
Anyone here owns / tried Shure SRH940 or 1440/1840?
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I had checked these earlier, very nice looking headphones but uses a smallish 40mm driver. It would have difficulty reproducing the frequency extremes & is evident in Tyll's measurement (significant THD apart from roll-offs) . Hifiman HE-500 is a better option at that budget in my opinion.
 
But the QC issues on Hifiman line worries me. I am sure they sound fine, but the build quality is not terribly impressive. Besides, they have no local distributor now, which means for every issue, you need to send back to Hongkong awaiting months. I was OK when dealing with Hifiman IEMs because they are a small package to send, but not sure if I want to risk buying a channel imbalanced headphone for $700 + shipping.

Shure offers local support and warranty for roughly the same price. That is the reason I was thinking of SRH1840. I am also sure that I can use it with UHA-6S and Burson HA-160 should do fine with it, but I was not sure about the synergy of Burson with HE-500. On the flip side, the measurements at innerfidelity did not impress me as much based on whatever I could see in relation to HD800.

I am not that knowledgeable, so I may be wrong - but to my untrained, subjective eyes, Stax SR-009 felt like measurement porn (SRZ burned in). If only it was cheaper by a few thousand dollars..... :(
 
I don't actually remember hearing about QC issues wrt HE500, its their cheaper offering that have been reported.I also hear that Audeze have sorted out their issues at least wt LCDr2 if not LCD-3 & that it is pretty safe to buy a LCDr2 these days.

Actually, HD800 measures very well except for its treble tilted FR. I am no expert on reading measurements either but apart from Tyll's measurements there are purrin's CSD's as well & the HD800 measure extremely clean.
HD700 are the worst of $1k headphones in terms of those measurements(except the whole crazy Beyer lineup).

SR-009 measures great but the Orpheus measures even better & obviously costs a heck more too. :comfort:

I can understand your argument about having no local dealer but that's a risk one has to take while living in India. Anyways, I think you would be much better off with the HD800 in that case.
 
titana said:
(except the whole crazy Beyer lineup).
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I read that we can have two T1s that sound entirely different. QC of Beyer seems too lax - one of the reasons I dropped T1 out of my list.

titana said:
SR-009 measures great but the Orpheus measures even better & obviously costs a heck more too.
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Unobtanium

titana said:
I can understand your argument about having no local dealer but that's a risk one has to take while living in India. Anyways, I think you would be much better off with the HD800 in that case.
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That's what I am thinking too! From what I've read, HD800 is a picky phone and many prefer it with something like a EC Super 7 (which itself could set me back by $2K, not to mention customs). That's the only thing that worries me. Is it worth spending so much on a headphone, only to go through the next round of DAC/Amp upgrade? If considered in that light, I get more confused.


  • HE-500 - no local support, build quality may not be that great. SQ wise, should do fine as an upgrade to HD600, DT880/600.
  • HD800 - Should do very well SQ wise, especially sound stage wise. But, may need better amp == wallet vanishing act!
  • SRH-1840 - a compromise in every sense. Priced lesser than HD800 with local warranty, may not need additional investment for amping == wallet remains open for DAC/Amp/IEM upgrades after a few weeks/months. But chances are it could leave me wanting for more - much like HD600 and DT880, may be a little tier up.
  • Also, I use IEMs more than headphones (I haven't seriously tried headphone listening, so that could quickly change). So, in that case, instead of a single HD800 based system, I could settle for a compromise in SRH1840, but buy a K3003 / MH334 sometime later. The last point is the only reason this and HE-500 sound more attractive than HD800. But on the other hand, you only know "good" when you hear it. So, may be I might end up selling most of my IEM selection if I get a HD800 based system.

Which will be the better compromise of the three? :23::unsure:
 
Indeed.If you get the HD800, then you have to be prepared to build a system around it. Its a great headphone but the skewed FR means that careful source/amp matching is paramount.

Between the SRH-1840 & HE-500, I would pick the hifiman mainly because I consider the shure headphone to be just a side-grade from HD600/DT880. From all accounts, the HE-500 should be an upgrade.
BTW, is the shure 1840 available locally now?
The last time I asked, the dealer said that they stocked only the closed back shure offerings & had no plans for 1840.
 
I asked the local Shure distributor last evening and within half an hour, I got the reply that it is available Ex-stock. That's what triggered all the confusion. I wasn't

[a] Expecting them to reply any time soon
Expected that they would be in stock
 
[closed back] Shure SRH-840 has been stated as neutral on head-fi with very good amount of bass and it doesn't need amping.

[open back] Beyerdynamic DT880 is also stated as a flat neutral with good soundstage on head-fi but amp is recommended with this.

[open back] Beyerdynamic DT990 is a semi open HP has a great soundstage with natural sound with a good bass. AMP is recommended with these too.
 
titana,

That would be the best way, though I doubt they will agree :unsure:. Their tone was more like - pay it now and we will send it right away. I suspect they might have only a handful of these selling to studios? No harm in asking. Will do.

abhi_jollyguy,

There are those who like SRH1840 and those who don't. A few impressions -

Shure SRH1840 and SRH1440 Unveiled! (sounds like K701, body and warmth in mids, bass not lacking)
Shure SRH1840 and SRH1440 Unveiled! (Muppetface: Measurements <> what I hear)
Shure SRH1840 and SRH1440 Unveiled! (MuppetFace: HD800 vs SRH1840 and this is her ranking)
Shure SRH1840 and SRH1440 Unveiled! (Shahrose: SRH1840 = HD650 - bass + mids + treble + airiness + balance + comfort)

If it's better than T1 and in the same tier as HD800 to Muppetface's ears, it must be doing something right. But, unlike Joker, I do not have anything in common with Muppetface i.e., a clutch of headphones or IEMs where we tend to think somewhat similarly (not the same, not in every aspect, but somewhat similar) or like Brendon, where I understand his preferences and can accordingly adjust to form my own opinion from the review. So, that's always a problem.

So, this probably gives me a better picture. Much like HD600, it ain't master of anything, but a jack of all trades in the next tier - somewhat mid-way between HD600 and HD800, probably. I am still confused!!!

anu0512,

Budget?
 
esanthosh said:
titana,

That would be the best way, though I doubt they will agree :unsure:. Their tone was more like - pay it now and we will send it right away. I suspect they might have only a handful of these selling to studios? No harm in asking. Will do.

abhi_jollyguy,

There are those who like SRH1840 and those who don't. A few impressions -

Shure SRH1840 and SRH1440 Unveiled! (sounds like K701, body and warmth in mids, bass not lacking)
Shure SRH1840 and SRH1440 Unveiled! (Muppetface: Measurements <> what I hear)
Shure SRH1840 and SRH1440 Unveiled! (MuppetFace: HD800 vs SRH1840 and this is her ranking)
Shure SRH1840 and SRH1440 Unveiled! (Shahrose: SRH1840 = HD650 - bass + mids + treble + airiness + balance + comfort)

If it's better than T1 and in the same tier as HD800 to Muppetface's ears, it must be doing something right. But, unlike Joker, I do not have anything in common with Muppetface i.e., a clutch of headphones or IEMs where we tend to think somewhat similarly (not the same, not in every aspect, but somewhat similar) or like Brendon, where I understand his preferences and can accordingly adjust to form my own opinion from the review. So, that's always a problem.

So, this probably gives me a better picture. Much like HD600, it ain't master of anything, but a jack of all trades in the next tier - somewhat mid-way between HD600 and HD800, probably. I am still confused!!!
@esanthosh

Quite a mixed opinion, b/w are you now looking for full sized can?
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@esanthosh : In that ranking, MF ranks LCD-2r1 above 1840. I also remember her mentioning somwhere (probably at purrin's site), that she prefers Hifiman orthos to that of Audeze. So, in her opinion shure is probably couple of tiers below HE-500.
Shahrose has indeed been a vocal supporter of 1840. IIRC, he prefers them to HE-500.
I never found asr's impression of much use. The guy just has some odd priorities.

So basically like all headphones, some people at HF love them & some don't. Measurement wise these seem to be technically no better than the DT880.
I would consider it a bit adventurous to buy these without an audition. FWIW, the delhi shure dealers were actually quite pleasant & even invited me for an audition but I wasn't really interested in trying the closed back shure offerings.May be I should give them a gall again.
 
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Guess I'll have to either settle for HE-500 or wait till I accumulate enough cash for a proper HD800 or Stax rig.

titana,

But wouldn't that also mean that MuppetFace considers HD800 a tier or two below Hifiman Orthos as well? :huh: That's what confused me.

abhi_jollyguy,

I had enough confusion about which IEM to go for next for the last several months, so thought I'd at least confuse myself differently this time :p
 
@esanthosh,

MF probably prefers headphones which have lesser treble than the HD800/1840. Also, HD800 are finicky headphones & among her hundreds of headphones I don't think she has time to build a system around these.
BTW, I believe that HE-500/LCD-2 is a better bet from a modest system than HD800.
 
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:OJaben has the amp in their window if I remember right......don't think you can audition it though.BTW, how much do the thunderpants cost at the cheapest direct from smeggy? i.e. no engraving or anything? The kit w/o the T50RP is about 300!!
 
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