Shure SRH940 Headphones Evaluation Report

As a professional audio brand from the United States, Shure is familiar with the recording and monitoring products in the professional audio field. It is familiar with the in-ear earphones, such as the early E2C, E4C, E5C, etc. In terms of personal audio products, Shure, UE, Etymotic, and Wisdom are well-known brands of moving iron headphones. However, in 2009, Shure released the SRH series of three headphones [SRH240/440/840], indicating that Shure began to enter the traditional headset products, and then Shure released the SRH940 higher than the SRH840. The prices of these headphones are different, and the price ranges from a few hundred yuan to 2,000 yuan. They are obviously for more enthusiasts. Although today's SRH940 evaluation is a bit too late, but fortunately these headphones are still on sale, the price of SRH940 is 1980 yuan, Shure's 2000 yuan level headphones that are known in the traditional impression of moving iron earplugs will perform. How?

The SRH940 is the highest-end positioning of Shure's line of headphone products. Its price is currently stable at RMB 1980. After 2009, Shure did not stop the update of the headset product line. In 2012 they also released the SRH1440 and SRH1840, which are priced at around 2,500 yuan and 4,500 yuan respectively. Due to limited resources for evaluation, unfortunately, in today's assessment, we are unable to provide you with other Shure headphones for reference comparison. Thanks to the netizen "lileiluck" for providing a test prototype.

Shure SRH940 uses 40mm diameter neodymium magnet magnetic speaker unit, closed design [SSR240/440/840 is said to be closed design], the official main parameter impedance is 42 ohms, sensitivity is 100dB. The headset uses a single-sided pluggable special 2.5mm interface connection, and the interface snap lock is the same as the Philips SHP9000. The SRH940 is made of a plastic case and bracket. The outside of the earphone case has a distinctive metallic texture with a decorative label printed on the product logo, while the other parts are decorated in silver-grey tones. This style is also in line with the positioning style of the product biased towards professional applications.

The SRH940's head frame and unit connection can be rotated 180 degrees, and the sides of the bracket can be recycled 90 degrees inward. It is a common design for "folding" portable headphones. Although the SRH940 has a large head, it can be folded down. The corresponding storage space. The SRH940 also comes standard with a leather-looking storage case for easy storage, although the shape still looks a bit large. The headrest of the SRH940 is nothing special. The top is wrapped in a soft leather material. The top of the head is made up of four thick cushions that can be worn with the top of the head for a better wearing experience. The joints of the earphones are made of plastic. Thanks to the 90 degree rotation function provided by the two angles of the inward storage, the rotating bracket will bring a certain "squeak" of plastic friction when rotating, although similarly designed earphones There will be such problems as the Philips SHP9000, the Pioneer SE-A1000, etc., but the SHP9000 uses a smooth plastic kit on the horizontal shaft to reduce friction, while the A1000's headstock is loose. Relatively speaking, the SRH940 has a slightly more prominent problem. .

Although the SRH940 uses a 40mm unit, its overall shape of the earphone unit is not small, only slightly smaller than the Sennheiser HD650. The thickness of the ear cushion of the SRH940 is also comparable to that of the HD650 [slightly thin], and black flannel is used outside. Wrap, the unit is covered with a sponge in the center. Remove the outer ear pad and sponge pad of the earphone, you can see the speaker unit diaphragm of the SRH940 through the gap. The diaphragm seems to be divided into two parts, the outer ring and the inner ring [similar to AKG, but the distribution ratio is different], inner ring The diaphragm has a denser "reinforcing pattern" relative to the outer ring.

Since this headset is provided by users for testing, it has been used for a long time, we only took the headset for about 10 days. Although it is regrettable that we can't compare the performance of Shure's several headphones vertically, as a fully enclosed design earphone with a price of around 2,000 yuan, we can only refer to some representative ones that have been evaluated. Headphones, including AKG K701/702, Q701, Philips SHP9000, Sennheiser HD650, etc. We use as many sources and amps as possible in the test. The audio source is mainly composed of the music help MD11+HP11, Monitor 03 US, Fantasia D/A decoder, rhythm serenade USE sound card, serenade HP amp, etc. are also used as reference. The iPod Player, iPhone 5, and vivo Xplay are used as the main reference for portable players. Unless otherwise specified, the sound is obtained from the MD11 decoder connected to the HP11 amp. The parameters of HP11 are Feedback=2 and Gain=2.

Overall impression: Whether using a sound card, decoder or mobile phone, player, Shure SRH940 is a headset that is easy to launch enough sound, from the most popular applications, it can be considered a "good push", but In the end, how can we make it perform better, and we have to draw conclusions after comparing them on different levels of sound sources. The SRH940 does not give a particularly obvious "closed" design feeling from the sense of hearing. Its high frequency is more prominent, the sound is wider and brighter, and the low frequency part is not so strong, but it also has better resolution. Especially when using a mobile phone as a sound source, users are more concerned that the mobile phone has insufficient thrust, but in fact this performance has been related to its closed design. Of course, when you connect the SRH940 to a sound card, amp, or even a different amp or amp setting, you should notice some of the obvious sound characteristics of the closed earphone: relatively tight sound, very clean Transient performance, fast and clean low frequencies, etc. There are also many users who have commented that the SRH940 is the most widely closed earphone he has ever heard, and we think that at first you will not feel that its sound is obviously rigid and crowded when you first listen to the SRH940.

High-frequency performance: The high-frequency of the Shure SRH940 has a slightly higher listening sensation, which is not so obvious on mobile phones or iPod Classic players, but it is more prominent in 03 US, MD11 or HP11. Does it mean that these sound cards or amps push the SRH940's high frequency too much? We have made several comparisons. Overall, the SRH940 exhibits a neutral, bright high-frequency style on high-quality portable players [including mobile phones] and better PC peripheral sources, with high-frequency resolution and correlation with sound sources in terms of detail and style. Relatively small, even on the dynamics of iPod Classic or Xplay can provide a good sense of hearing.

With the reasonable settings of the HP11, the entire high frequency of the SRH940 can be made more open, the sound will be more open, and the dynamics will be improved. Because the high frequency of the SRH940 earphone has a certain tendency to pull up, it will be exaggerated in some bright high frequencies, such as some extremely high frequency overtones of the violin, and the metal texture of the high frequency part of the brass instrument. It seems that the density is too much. In the small and medium dynamics, such performance has some characteristics, and it is even easier to appear smooth and gorgeous, but the degree of exquisiteness is discounted. This is the same as AKG K701, HD650, etc. The overly arrogant high frequency has higher requirements on the sound source in the case of large dynamics. From the test point of view, although the high frequency is still biased under the reasonable setting of HP11, the sound is the most open under the big dynamic, the detail remains better, and the middle and high frequency connection level It's clearer, but the overall trend is still dry. However, under 03 US, the sound dryness and burr feeling become very strong; while the serenade USE, Fantasia D/A, etc. is slightly better, and the more neutral MD11 headphones output performance is relatively the most restrained.

Overall, the closed design of the Shure SRH940 gives it a good transient performance at high frequencies, with clean, fast, slightly tight and hard sound. It is not suitable for a very "violent" amp [Monitor 03 US does not perform well], and does not require high-frequency part of the grainy sound modification [such as serenade USE will bring more obvious dry graininess], and more Partial emphasis on the high frequency of the sound source part. Compared with the AKG K702, the high frequency of the SRH940 is much brighter, and the sound density and dynamics are more prominent. However, the high frequency of the SRH940 is more rigid and rigid, and the pursuit of bright texture is excessive, and the high frequency air is obviously lacking. Feeling and aura. Driven by a better sound source or amp, the SRH940's high frequency will be brighter and wider, and some music will look more gorgeous and faster. The overall sense of hearing is too young and impulsive, but not refined and elegant.

IF performance: Shure SRH940's IF style is similar to high frequency. It is not a problem to match different levels of high-quality audio. If compared with K701, 702 and other headphones, the sound of SRH940 on mobile phone or portable player is obviously fuller. However, when paired with the amp, it is difficult for you to further improve its IF dynamics, because the high-frequency part of the height does not allow the amp output to give the headphones a greater driving force. The SRH940 IF performs better like a closed-type headphone. Its mid-range is neutral, and the mid-high frequency and high-frequency connection also have a slightly higher tendency. Therefore, the sound is slightly younger and the resolution of the entire sound is still Maintaining a high level of sound, the sound is clean, but there is no obvious partial hard feeling. The softness of the sense of hearing is much better than the high frequency.

Compared with AKG K701, 702 and other headphones, SRH940 seems to be a relatively light taste, but the low frequency of SRH940 on mobile phones and portable players with less driving power is much more than the AKG headphones such as K702, especially young female voices. Or the mid-high frequency part, the SRH940 has a certain dynamic advantage, the sound is brighter and thicker. However, with the reasonable combination of amps, the dynamics of the K702 will be significantly improved, and the overall performance is far from the weak image on the mobile phone; while the SRH940's overall sound shape and trend changes under the amp are less obvious. The SRH940's intermediate frequency is small in compiling music, and the vocals are good enough. The mid-range and mid-low frequencies are slightly lighter [slightly thicker than the K702], but in the large compilation and large dynamics, the SRH940's intermediate and mid-low frequencies They are a little incomprehensible. Compared with the open-designed headphones, they really lack the momentum. Even with the light taste of the AKG, the SRH940 brings the kind of "pure power" type of assault, but there is no such thing. The low-frequency part is supported by enough detail and lacks sufficient momentum. This point is even more different than SHP9000, HD650 and so on.

Low-frequency performance: The low frequency of Shure SRH940 on the mobile phone, people will feel that the amount may be slightly less, but the AKG K702's low frequency is also weaker when connected to the mobile phone. Don't expect that the low frequency of the SRH940 will be greatly changed and improved in the amp. Even under the HP11, its low frequency performance is the best [in all of our sound sources], which is also the style of the lesser style. Its low-frequency resolution is better, but the mid-low frequency part is less sensitive, the texture is also relatively tight, and the mid-low frequency detail is slightly thin. The reasonable combination of the amp will make the low-frequency resolution, texture and volume have a significant improvement, but its low frequency has a good transient, always feels calm, but many times you can easily feel that such a low frequency is somewhat perfunctory Something. Compared with AKG K702, the texture and quantity of the mid-low frequency part of SRH940 are slightly weaker, and the resolution is also slightly worse, but the deeper part of the low-frequency dive, or the particularly large dynamic performance, because the low-frequency sense of these two headphones are more general. So there won't be a heavy feeling like the SHP9000 or HD650.

Performance under different sound sources: Although Shure SRH940 is a relatively easy to drive headset, but after listening to the performance of MD11 and HP11, it is really difficult to accept its performance on several of our commonly used sound cards. Including Monitor 03 US, Fantasia D/A, Serenade USE, etc., it seems that their amp design is a bit too "violent." The MD11's headphone output is relatively suitable for the SRH940. We didn't find a suitable setting or a suitable sound source to make the SRH940's mid-range and low-frequency appear more slack, so in some small, medium and small dynamic music, we also like to make the SRH940's high frequency become less public. Therefore, the output performance of the above several sound card headphones is not satisfactory, and the overall listening feeling of MD11 direct push, IPC, Xplay and the like can maintain its consistent introverted style. So, if you are planning to buy this headset, or the user of this headset, you should pay attention to the selection of PC audio. But the good news is that the SRH940 is performing satisfactorily on high-quality portable audio sources. It has a good resolving power and a high level of transient performance. The sound style is still more moderately high-frequency, which is relatively young, while the intermediate frequency and low frequency are obviously more introverted.

Summary: Shure SRH940 as a closed-type earphone, the overall sound style does not have the boring, tight, unstoppable sound of the traditional impression, just relative to the familiar open headphones The sound of SRH940 is still obviously restrained and tight, which is mainly reflected in the intermediate frequency and low frequency. In terms of high frequency, the SRH940 has a relatively exaggerated sound design, and its high frequency is relatively hard and bright, which makes the whole middle and high frequency sound more open and young. In the high-frequency extension, pay more attention to the density of sound, especially good at expressing the metal texture of instrumental music, but it is inevitable to bring some dry sense of hearing. It is easy to "push" out enough dynamic and "volume", but it is not suitable for low-quality headphone amplification output. Its high-frequency characteristics make it relatively sensitive to the sound source response, but it will appear more dry when mismatched. High frequency with burr. Its overall sound quality is high, but the high-frequency part is too prominent, the sound is not balanced enough, and the closed design is wide enough or even stretched in the same design; however, compared with similarly positioned open-type headphones, the sound has obvious characteristics. But there are also obvious deficiencies. Compared with HD650 and SHP9000, SRH940 and AKG are also relatively light style. The high frequency of SRH940 is brighter, but it is not refined enough. Compared with the K702 [the amp is a reasonable match], the SRH940 sound is more cautious, the blunt performance under the big dynamics is even too blunt [large symphony], the low frequency is not enough slack and lacks momentum.