Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

perfect sound, rich warm, not tinny at all. and i was pleased to see the 440s earned best overall headphones in wired magazine!

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

These are my go-to headphones now. I use it at work, home, and my commute to work.

They are a bit larger than regular headphones, so some people might find it bulky, but the sound quality for the price is great, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice pair of headphones, but doesn't want to spend more than ~$100.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

I use these mostly for practice with my keyboards and to listen to music from various sources. Good but not great sound. Decent mids and highs but bass is a little muddy. Very comfortable. The carry pouch and detachable cord are an asset. They serve the purpose and are overall worth the money. I am keeping them but I'm not sure they qualify as a 'professional' headset.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

I've been in media for 20 years, and have owned a lot of headphones for the studio and on-air booth. I also have reasonably high-end equipment at home, and even drive my office headphones with a separate DAC and amp. So, I'm picky. That said, here's my take on the Shure 440s.

First, after a reasonable break-in period, these sound fantastic. Best sounding inexpensive cans I've owned. Period. They give my reference phones at home a good run for their money.

Second, overall a nice design. The detachable, replaceable cord is wonderful, the coil is long enough to be usable in large studio sessions where there's distance between me and the board, and the cups isolate nicely.

But, wait: there's a caveat here. A huge, 800-pound, angry silverback caveat–after about 45 minutes, your head begins to hurt from the headband. Not an "oh, darn, that's annoying" hurt, but a "son of a gun, I'm getting a migraine from these things digging into the top of my skull" hurt. I returned mine.

B & H was great about the return, as always; it's why my department has done literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in business with them over the years. The quality of the service is much better than the comfort of these phones.

Look elsewhere if you're going to wear your phones for extended periods. Really.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

Recently bought these headphones as a gift. Did a fair bit of research and test before committing my money on these SRH440. Other headphones looked at were the Sennheiser HD215 where I found it selling at almost 1/2 price in a shop, the HD280Pro, HD445, and the HD25 and its variants.

What was really impressive was the build quality of these cans. Yes, I know they have little cables that come out and could get caught and snap off if you are really harsh with them. But that aside, they are very well built compared with the others. They do not clamp as hard as the HD280Pro or HD25 and the padding on the cans were very comfortable and fitted nicely for my ears and head. The isolation was really great as a result. Overall, the construction was exemplary compared with the huge HD215 which on the other hand felt loose and fragile. They can be folded up and store in the supplied bag.

The sound (which is even more important) is impressive. Despite that they are 44Ohm compared with the HD215, which is 32Ohm, they are even more efficient. While frequency response is not flat, it is certainly not bass heavy like many others. There is roll off on both ends, but I believe its tonal characteristics makes them well suited for recording and general listening even for long sessions without experiencing fatigue.

Compared with Grado SR80, they are more comfortable and less as bright but tonally very pleasant, detailed and a real pleasure to listen to especially if you need to block out environmental noise.

The cable is also well built with bayonet locking mechanism and it can be replaced with a straight cord if you don't like the coiled cord.

The SRH840s are even better with more bass extension but they do cost twice as much. Well done, Shure!

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

I use these headphones for listening to music and for recording my own music, and my band's music. These headphones definitely perform just as advertised: They are comfortable, portable, durable, and have great sound quality. I really like the coiled cord as well.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

I bought this a few weeks back and they have not disappointed. Fantastic quality, i listen to them all day at work and they are great, very comfortable over the head design and compact and fold away for storage and comes with a carry case which is awesome.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

I rarely find that I need the best of the best. So, up front I will say these are not the BEST headphones, but for often $200 LESS than a better pair I'd have to say I'm quite pleased.Overall sound quality is great across the frequencies with only the very lows and very highs lacking in comparison to others I've tried. I will mostly be using these as a monitor for in the field video production. I think they'll be wonderful for this. But if you're looking for studio headphones to be worn all day I think the quality and comfort would convince me to get something else.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

great sound and great fit - compared to all others in same $100-$200 range, really sweet deal

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

The SRH440 are a great set of headphones because of their marriage between sound and price. While they are fairly cheap in relation to many headphones of this size and list of things promised, they deliver a seriously impressive level of both sound and comfort. I especially like this headphones when walking outside in cooler weather, as the ear coverings are both comfortable enough for prolonged listening, and warm enough to keep my ears warm while listening. And yet, in case you were thinking they would overheat your ears when inside, the SRH440 seem to find that nice balance between warm enough and not too hot.

Sound is great and clear, just take a little bit of time in the beginning to acclimate yourself to the feel of a big set of headphones, as I was always an in-ear listener. However, the transition time is negligible, and they will feel great in no time at all.

Continuing with Shure's history of impressive sound and isolation from the world to ensure clear and excellent listening, the SRH440 headphones block out environmental noise while not completely isolating you from the outside world. As far as circumaural headphones are concerned, few can compare with the SRH440's ability to isolate noise, especially with only little increases in audio volume, to prevent against hearing loss in the future.

As far as downsides are concerned, they are obviously not top of the line, as the price would indicate. Yes, the sound is not as clear and perfect as would you could get from a company like Grado, but at the same time, if you can afford $1700 headphones, be my guest.

Should you buy it? Depends; do you need headphones, do you prefer in-ear headphones or do you prefer over the headphones? These are certainly great in sound quality, clarity and isolation, along with prolonged listening and comfort. If you want maximum isolation, go for a more expensive set of in-ear headphones. If you want something stylish and want to give your wallet a break, then the SRH440 are a good investment. The fact that they can fold up and fit in your bag, or in the nifty carrying case is a major plus as well.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

Love the replaceable cord. Sound quality 8/10

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

I bought these headphones for home use. They are well made, and have sharp sound. The detachable cord is very useful and locks into place so it doesn't fall out during use. Good headphones for the price.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

These are excellent headphones for a really reasonable price.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

It was between these and Sennheiser HD280, and Sony MDR-V6's. I listened them all in the store and noticed very little difference in sound quality-- as would be expected sense they are all [$]100 closed back studio headphones. For my application (video production-- sometimes wearing them for 8 hours at a time) comfort was key. The Shure 440s gave good crisp highs and enough low end for my taste (bass freaks look else where) in a comfortable design and affordable price.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

These Shures feel like much more expensive headphones. The materials are top notch. I bought them as an alternative to the ubiquitous Sony pro studio monitors that all us video shooters wear. They cup my ears so perfectly that all I could hear was the camera output, even at a very noisy cheerleading championship. And, they fold. Folding is a bit of a pain as you have to unscrew the removable 1/8" cable...then again, if this cable goes I can replace it.

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

So far they are performing as expected. Bass is great and clarity almost perfect. They sealed perfectly around the ear. And the price is at everyone budget...

Comments about Shure SRH440 Professional Around-Ear Stereo Headphones:

If The ratings allowed, I would give this about 4.7 out of 5 stars. I did a lot of research before selecting these headphones and did so because of stellar reviews on the internet and the Shure reputation.

If you like bass, do not buy these. They have a flat response, like a monitor headphone should. They do not artificially amplify any part of the spectrum. I use these for voice and for classical music, so they are perfect for me. They are very comfortable and provide amazing sound quality after a burn-in period of about 50-100 hours.

One thing that I never saw in a review but REALLY enjoy about these is they do not have rotatable cups. Rotatable cups are used for pro headphones so that cups can be shared and audio clips discussed between sound engineers. However, I find this "feature" to be aggravating while putting on the phones. I would buy these above the MDR-V6's and the competition for just this one reason. The detachable cord is a great idea, too, but Shure included the wrong type for most of us. Shure, you can "shure" make a bundle by selling a straight cord as an accessory. Shure, are you listening? Some of us would pay BIG money to get rid of the aggravation of a coiled cord. Shure?

I read a lot of discussion on the internet on the subject of the SRH440 vs. the 840. My take: unless you work in a studio, pick the 440. It is far lighter (181g vs 321g). The typical home user cannot discern the audio difference between the two and the weight makes a big difference in comfort after a few hours.