Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
Shure srh940. If it were not for the crap build quailty, I'd be having one now. >80% of the resolution of srh1540 for 60% of the price. One of my friends who tests dac interpolation filters and some other stuff uses a srh840, I need to listen to them sometime. At this point you can call me a shure shill, but I don't think I'll like any of their iems, save for the crazy expensive kse1200. Also I own a couple of presonus mics and lewitt mics (if I were a shure shill I'd be raging up with shure mics). And this was actually disappointing, the 1540s leak what I believe is A LOT of sound when volume is increased to "enjoyable" levels (for me). At least I saw my co-worker head-bopping to one of the songs I had playing... lol. I asked her if she actually knew what song it was and yeah, she knew... So that's a fail for me there. The 1540’s treble range is generally smooth with good extension and air. At about 8khz, it ramps up to a non-fatiguing, 10khz treble peak, which softens up while continuing to extend to about 13khz, before smoothing over and becoming non-distinct. Please note that I've only owned these for 4 days, and had about 15-20hrs of use. My impressions may and probably will change, and my review will be updated constantly. 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
Daft Punk - Lose Yourself to Dance (Electronic/Disco): Less than hi-fi quality recording, but the voices are very good. There's a decent amount of bass impact, but the bass doesn't have much detail.
Sennheiser HD 660S2
The 1540’s midrange is recessed relative to the bass and treble. I’m not completely bothered by this, as I was a v-shaped fan for years, though my tastes have evolved to become more of a bass and midrange first/second kind of person. They give you extra Alcantara Pads! Also included, but not in the picture is an extra set of cables. Great accessories, as expected of Shure. Ben Goldberg - Root and Branch (Jazz): Realistic you-are-there sound with great instrumental reproduction. The SRH1540 plays this extremely well.
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. So, Shure 1540s, excellent mids, very good imaging, just "Ok" isolation and leakage control, but a little bit too much bass. They are indeed enjoyable headphones and one of the most comfortable headphones I have ever put on BUT sadly, at this point in time, they are not for me. I'm still a fan though. Shure knows how to create products and cater to specific audiences. I just hope that on their next headphone they do something with their presentation (i.e. tame the lows a bit, more clarity up top) and change the design a bit so that one doesn't look weird wearing their headphones! For all of the SRH1540’s premium parts and build quality, it is clearly intended for day-to-day listening. The SRH-1540 add significant bass impact. I knew the AKGs were a bit bass light, but I was OK with that. The AKGs are 55 ohms, the Shures are 46 ohms and that small difference, along with the level of bass, means I have reduced the volume I listen to. For my ageing ears, that is a good thing.
Detail: SRH940 was praised for it's details. In fact, they had more detail then SRH1840. I feel like SRH1540 is closer to SRH940 in terms of detail. Stunning details. In a way, it reminded me of my UERMs, the most detail audio gear I've owned. They manage to portray micro details without forcing them. The Beyerdynamic T5p with Blue Dragon cables highlight is definitely their mids, very clear, forward and excellent. Due to their more "treble-forward" approach, they sound colder than the Shure's. Soundstage and imaging are very good as well but their highs are a bit too much sometimes (maybe too revealing to my tastes or maybe they are too peaky?). Bass is actually quite anemic in comparison with both the ADs and 1540s but what it shows it's good quality. Also, straight from the X3, I didn't found them that anemic and through the Burson Soloist SL, I actually enjoyed them more than the Shure's These are very comfortable as well, good isolation and no leakage.
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