Shure SRH840A Over-Ear Wired Headphones for Critical Listening & Monitoring, Professional Headset, Tailored Frequency Response, Superior Detailed Sound, Adjustable & Collapsible Design - 2022 Version

Product Information

To give you an idea of where I'm coming from I have owned JH audio JH5 IEMs, Fostex T50rps, and Audio Technica ATH-M50x's. My Fostex T50rps were issued to me at audio engineering school and were what I used as reference for a long time and I loved their natural mids. My JH5's are also very flat as far as IEMs are concerened. i was not a fan of the ATH-M50x's (owned them for about an hour before returning and getting these Shures). The SRH840 are an ideal choice for professional audio engineers and musicians in applications such as studio recording and critical listening. Recommended 10/10 for anyone who is looking for a well-epuipped pair of headphones which highly live up to the price they sell for. Definitely worth it!! These are comfortable cans, too - light enough for you to wear for long periods at a time, but not so featherweight that you’ll forget you’ve got them on. The leather-style earpads sit nicely on your ears without too much pressure - they swivel, giving you a bit of extra flexbility - and the band has plenty of cushioning when you’re in it for the long haul. Bass is measured and punchy. It’s far more reserved than the consumer standard, which may take a while to bed into if you’re accustomed to the mainstream tuning of, say, a Sony or Bose pair. However, depth is solid. Sub-bass isn’t particularly strong, with the real action starting around 55Hz. Shure’s ultra-wide 5-25000Hz frequency coverage claim was always going to turn out optimistic, given it goes well beyond the upper and lower bounds of human hearing.

Not only that, but the ear pads, which should last a few years, can be replaced — so if they get worn out you’re covered. In the years that we’ve used them, we’ve found that there is also some wear and tear on the headband — but the fact is that’s normal for a pair of headphones. Alongside the cable, you get a 6.3mm adapter and a no-frills shiny synthetic leather carry case in the box. The old SRH840 even included a spare set of pads, but you don’t get those this time. Let’s start with the bass, which sounds great. There’s plenty of bass to speak of here, and while a totally natural-sounding pair of headphones would offer slightly less, the fact is that once you get used to that you can adjust your mixes accordingly. Or, if you’re not mixing but rather listening, you might like the ever-so-slight bass boost the headphones have on offer. That’s not to say that these will be good for mega-bass fans — people looking for huge bass boosts should keep on looking. An der schönen blauen Donau, Op.314' (more commonly known as 'The Blue Danube') by Herbert von Karajan and the Berliner PhilharmonikerWhat is immediately noticeable about the Shure SRH840A is that the cable routing running over the headband is no longer partly visible from the outside, as was the case with its predecessor. The cables have been routed inwards so that there is no longer a weak point. In addition, the 80’s look of the old headphone model is history. Unfortunately, the SRH840A are no longer foldable, as the SRH840 was. But at least its ear cups can be rotated 90 degrees so that the headphones can be stored flat in the carrying pouch. The only niggles with this great pair of cans is that they are a bit heavy. That's not to say they're uncomfortable (they are fairly comfortable), but they have a good deal of mass. Overall they have a very sturdy build, but I didn't like the exposed wires above the earcups. Thought that was a bit of an oversight on Shure's part and could lead to damage if you're not careful. But if you treat your audio and tech toys with reverence and care (like I do), you should be fine. The mid-range is extremely well-tuned. It offers a slight warmth to it, but not too much to sound muddy or overly low-mid-heavy. The high-mids are clean and crisp, without being too present — which would be problematic. Sitting in the passenger seat in the car with my wife for three hours, the Shure SRH840 headphones provide constant comfort around the ears and refrain from giving you a headache from the constant pressure against the vein and arteries around your head. The sound quality is by far the best thing about these headphones. They’re clear, crips, natural-sounding, and they don’t go over the top in any frequency range. Safe to say, if you’re looking for a pair of headphones for a great sound, these are the ones to get. They sound like a dream.

This is not the most fun sounding headphone since it is designed for monitoring, so if you like your music with a decent bit of coloration, then you should look elsewhere. In general, the headphones sit in an interesting spot. They are tuned a little to sound more fun than other studio or professional headphones, which makes them perfect for home hi-fi situations. That being said, they still work great for mixing engineers looking for a pair of reference headphones — as long as you take into consideration the sound profile that the headphones have to offer. There are a few quirks to mention when it comes to design. For example, each earcup has a super thin wire that features on the outside of the headphones — and that cable could pretty easily be broken if you aren’t careful. The assumption is that this is due to the folding nature of the headphones, but the result is the same regardless. You’ll want to be a little careful to not let that wire snag, or else you may find yourself with a useless pair of headphones. Shure has made significant changes to the SRH840 series’s design, but the sound is largely familiar. The old and new headphones share the same claimed 5-25000Hz frequency response and have similarly low impedance for use with non-specialist hardware. While some other specs, such as sensitivity, are a little different, you wouldn’t expect a new pair of headphones to have internal hardware identical to that of a pair more than a decade old.Viewed from the perspective of a studio engineer, they’re much more attractive. The SRH840 fold up across a plastic hinge at the top of each earcup, and the cups also swivel around 180 degrees, letting you easily listen to a single channel without the other interfering.

That said, it is not completely neutral. It does have a somewhat warm midrange that makes it fantastic for listening to vocals. Overall, for the price you pay, these cans offer a decent amount of detail and an overall balanced sound that should please audiophiles who are on a budget. Bass is accurate and tight, but a bit on the light side. As others have said, they can be a bit sibilant on some recordings. These headphones are a great bargain for anyone wanting a very good monitoring headphone that delivers great SQ across the frequency spectrum.

Comfort

Shure is a pioneer in the headphone world. The company may not be as well known as the likes of Beats among consumers, but when it comes to professional audio, it’s one of the most important companies out there. In fact, I’ve been using a pair of Shure headphones for years now — the Shure SRH840 headphones. There’s one part of the SRH840 that seems curiously vulnerable for headphones that are otherwise heady-duty. Thin cables poke out of the earcup and snakes around into the headband on the outside. We assume this is to let the folding mechanism move freely without risking the cable, but it does leave you worried that a sharp snag could leave you with a useless pair of cans. Of course, generally speaking we review new headphones rather than aging ones like the Shure SRH840 headphones — but the fact is the SRH840s are still being sold, and therefor still current. Because of that, we decided to put them through our testing to see how they fared. Design