Shure SRH840A-EFS

At first, I want you to notice that I bought these headphones for listening to music, not for studio -monitoring- purposes and I will share here some thoughs I made and posted in head-fi.org about them.

The first day I received them I posted this:

They remember to me to my Beyer DT 150 cans or my Beyer Soul Byrd IEMs, althought the soundstage of the 840-A is smaller (respect to the Beyer cans).

Remember to me to those cans because all sound "correct", they don't emphasize anything, but at the same time they are fun and not sterile. I find the mids more forward when comparing to other closed backs (that are known for their recessed mids), the bass don't have the definition of the Denon AH-D9200s, but you can notice very well them and even the sub-bass. And there are not piercing highs. I only listened to "Supertramp - Classics", "Draconian - Under a Godless Veil", "Epica - The Divine Conspiracy", some OST songs and jazz songs and now I'm enjoying "Melody Gardot - Sunset in the blue" with them.

Regarding to comfort, I had to elongate them at maximum (just 3 positions to elongate the headband) and thankfully they fit me very well... For reference, I use the 9200s at 7 position and the Sony Z7s at 6... For people with bigger heads they won't fit). Also, the headband padding is very thin, but, again thankfully, no hot spots in my case. After a few hours with them you notice your ears a little hot (but less than with my Z7s) and when I first looked at them I was horrorized thinking that my ears will touch the inner mesh, but not at all.

At the end, I like very much them because they offer a different approach to my music, and is a enjoyable approach... That's what I'm looking for in this hobby.

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And the next day, I wrote the following (with a briefly comparison with the well-known Beyer DT 150 studio headphones):

Some other thoughs about the Shure 840-A (althought I liked what they offer, I've decided to return them), and a mental comparison with the Beyer DT 150 I had:

At first, when I was trying the 840-A with some rock and metal I liked the direct sound, the balanced signature and I found them "multi-genre" headphones, which is one of the characteristics I valorate a lot about headphones. When swapped to some jazz, OST songs and the entire "Melody Gardot - Sunset in the blue" album, I started to find a small soundstage (all sounded very congested, like I had experienced with some other closed-back headphones before: Sennheiser PC 350 or Beyer MMX 300), that was very evident with something like "Hiromi Uehara (Trio project) - Voice", althought I found the sound balanced with a good bass presentation and no treble peaks, all the instruments sounded together with no separation... Maybe I was accostumed to closed-backs with more soundstage, like the DT 150 I had or the Sony Z7s, even the 9200s has more soundstage comparing to the Shures.

Also, when listening to Hiromi Uehara or Melody Gardot, there were some details at the background that sounded like noise and I couldn't perceive them... These Shures 840-A gave me the urge to take my HD 800s again (you know: master of details and with the biggest soundstage), now on my head.

A little comparison with other closed back I've tried in similar price range, Beyer DT 150 studio headphones:

- Comfort: I decided to get rid of my DT 150s because of that, the clamp pressure of the earpads and headband was too much for my head. With the Shures (if fits you, because there is not much margin to elongate the headband, just 3 positions) you get average comfort (more or less the Denon AH-D9200s comfort but with a little less clamp pressure).

- Sound: the DT 150 have a very good, balanced, and enjoyable sound register, they present the bass and sub-bass with impact and don't have treble peaks, like other Beyers. Surprisingly, the soundstage is very big, one of the biggest I have found in closed-back headphones. Like I said, the 840-A have a very little soundstage, all sound very closed and that is good for certain genres of music, but you miss a bigger soundstage for other genres. Anyway, the sound is very good for the price, balanced with good bass (not as good and impactful as the one of the DT 150s) even you can notice the sub-bass (more evident in the DT 150), forward mids (sometimes I found them very forward, specially the voices) and good treble without being annoying.

I bought these as an entry level studio headphones. I was hoping for Shure's legendary SM58 type of quality and here's what my impression is.

The sound quality is perfect for my amateur purposes. I use it as a monitor set for playing bass guitar, midi instruments and vocals.

The comfort is great. Good padding on the right places, covers the entire ear and very lightweight construction.

The cable is long enough and is good quality as well. However the 6.35 jack adapter could be better. It's a screw-on sullution and therefore can't really be used on other 3.5mm jacks. Not a big deal but I like universal solutions.

What's my biggest concern about these headphones is the build quality. The body is made of cheap plastic. Only time will tell how long the pivoting joints will last. Unfortunatelly that's the most vulnerable point of all headphones and having broken three already I'm a bit dissapointed to see Shure's product this flimsy.

Overall, good headphones and definitely serves the purpose.

I have owned the previous generation model of the SRH-840 and love them and used them everyday for the last 4 years. I still have them but wanted to try the new model and see if they still match up sound and quality wise. So my review is mostly comparing them to the previous gen so bare that in mind.

NEGATIVES:
The overall feel of the headset is one of corner cutting compared with last gen, plastics feel and look cheaper and they dont look like they will last nearly as long as my old ones have. The earpieces rotate and the hinges seem flimsy and would probably break if they fell onto anything other that carpeted floor. The cable isnt as premium as the old coiled one but is serviceable I suppose. Comfort is not as good as the last gen not terrible but still feels more clampy on the head but maybe more time to wear in will help with that.

POSITIVES:
The sound is pretty much the same as the old gen which was my number one concern and thankfully they didnt cut any corners here from what I can tell. I did some testing with my guitar plugins and amps and some basic music playback and they seem to match up to my old gen ones pretty close. There maybe some subtle differences in the treble ranges but no massive noticeable differences. Thankfully they didnt cut corners here from what I can tell.

CONCLUSION:
If you are thinking of upgrading from the SRH-840's of the last gen and think you will be getting the same quality feel and durability I would say probably dont unless you can get them for a reasonable price i.e <€100.
They sound good so if thats your major concern then dont worry they will serve you well on that front, just dont expect the confort and durability to anywhere near the previous gen.

These are good headphones.

I had the previous version 840, I liked them. But I sold them because of their heavy weight.

The bass has become cleaner and deeper. There are ports that load the bank!
There is much less mumbling, or none at all.

A good middle ground.

There's more top end, but it's not "beyerdynamic").
These seem to be lighter colored headphones now.

I play the guitar in them, the guitar in them sounds dense, full-bodied and angry, like a real pumped-up tube amp. I like it!

In general, this is the sound of the 840, perhaps it differs in some way, but there is definitely no way to compare.

Headphones + part of the cord, weigh about 300 grams.

I really don't like the fact that the cans spin horizontally!!!
I bought a Thomann cable tie which fits perfectly, tightened it around the rotating hinges and now the cans rotate just a little to ensure a comfortable fit, but don't rotate)

The cord is of high quality and it’s good that it’s straight. But it is oak and has a microphonic effect, transmitting rustles, touches and blows well.
Theoretically, you can make your own cable.
Buy a twisted cable, cut it, solder a 3.5 mm plastic socket.

Other Shure ear pads fit here.
I tried 840 and 1540. But I decided that the original ear pads are much better quality and sound better.

The depth of the ear pads is the same 18-19 mm, but you can insert a wire or balcony insulation there, this will increase the internal depth and the speaker will not touch the ear, this will not affect the sound much, the stage and body of the sound will increase.

I especially like that on the manufacturer’s official website in the questions section it is written that the speakers are matched to each other in terms of sensitivity.

These are cool headphones! I think the Shure update was a success.
I've had a lot of headphones, now I have 770/80 and 990/80.
I will definitely keep 840A for myself.

I generally really like Shure's sound philosophy.