The SRH1540 are over-ear, closed-back headphones, which Shure recommend especially for “professional engineers, musicians and audiophiles”. They are the flagship headphones in Shure’s product line-up of closed-back cans, which have gained a good reputation on the market; amongst them the ever popular SRH840, or the SRH440, which I have been using for years. In this review, I will try to investigate if the SRH1540 can fulfil the high expectations which one automatically associates with headphones in their price range.
Preface
Since their market launch not quite two years ago, the Shure SRH1540 have been positioned in a price segment where there was almost no competition. At a price point of roughly $500/£380, they were well above the $300 mark, under which you can find most studio headphones, but also considerably lower-priced than some flagship models of other manufacturers, like Beyerdynamic’s T1 or the HD800 by Sennheiser.
Since then, several new models have been introduced in this price segment, like the recently released Beyerdynamic DT1770 PRO, which shares a similar price point with the Shure SRH1540’s. I welcome this development, since it means that more people can have access to first-grade headphones without having to break the bank.
But what sets the SRH1540 apart from e.g. the SRH440, which is available for roughly a fifth of its price? Let’s have a closer look.
Scope of delivery
The “travel case” and its content.
The Shure SRH1540 comes in such a huge box that you can’t help but wonder if maybe a shipment to Brobdingnag got delivered to you by mistake. But you realise the reason for the size of the box quickly: the SRH1540’s come sitting in a huge, robust zippered hard case. Shure calls this a “travel case”, but I can hardly agree with that term given the case’s size – it surely is perfect for storage or a move, though.
In the case besides the cans, we also find a pair of replacement earcup pads (thank you, Shure), two detachable cables and a ¼ inch threaded adapter. I personally would have preferred if Shure had included a smaller case which would have been slightly more suitable for travel, or if they had additionally included a travel-bag like the one that comes with the SRH440’s. Unfortunately, the SRH1540’s do not quite fit into said bag.
The two cables have a length of 1,83 m each, and are equipped with gold-plated MMCX connectors. You simply plug in the connectors into the earcups without the need to turn them, and if you want to remove them you simply pull them out. MMCX connectors are not a proprietary design, like used for e.g. with the SRH840’s, which means that you can purchase replacement cables in various lengths and designs from third party manufacturers easily.
The MMCX connectors.
However, I wish that Shure would have included two cables of different lengths: one in a 3m length for home use or the studio, and one in a 1m length for mobile use. The included 1,8 m cables are somewhere in between, so they aren’t perfectly suited for either of those applications. But as mentioned above, you could easily replace them if necessary. I have a suspicion that Shure initially planned to include two cables of different lengths themselves, because the cables come packed in small bags of different size.
Design/Build
Carbon fider cap.
The Shure SRH1540 is surely (no pun intended) one of the best looking headphones that I’ve seen. The aluminium alloy yokes, the carbon fiber caps on the ear cups and the leather padded headband give the headphones a really classy look, without looking pretentious at all. You can tell immediately that you have a set of high-grade cans in front of you.
The build quality is outstanding; To my eyes, I did not notice any apparent flaws. All components are crafted with high-quality materials – my guess is that the SRH1540’s will accompany you for many years to come.
Comfort
A very important aspect when choosing headphones is how comfortably they are – because what’s the best sound good for, if you can’t wear the cans for longer than 10 minutes? Even though the SRH1540’s dont quite reach the phenomenal wearing comfort of my AKG K702’s, they are still among the most comfortable closed-back headphones I have ever used. The earcup pads made of Alcantara and memory foam softly cuddle up to your ears, like a teddy bear giving your head a hug. 🙂
Alcantara ear pads.
I could wear the SRH1540’s for hours without discomfort; I used them on a four-hour long flight on two separate occasions almost non-stop. This isn’t possible with e.g. the SRH440’s, which I usually need to remove after an hour or so for a while; even though I certainly wouldn’t call them uncomfortable. The clamping pressure is just about right; the headphones sit tightly on your head and don’t move around, but they don’t press anywhere in an unpleasant way. Just like with any other closed-back headphone, your ears get a little warm after a while, but even here, the SRH1540’s perform better than most other closed-back headphones. It never gets really unpleasant by any means, I could have even worn them in the very hot summer we recently had to endure in Europe this year.
In use
Despite their size, the Shure SRH1540’s are remarkably light, with just 286 g (10.1 oz.). This has been achieved certainly by a smart selection of components, like the aluminium alloy yokes. Their light weight would make them ideally suited for mobile use – but the lack of a collapsible construction (like the SRH440’s has) defeats this purpose somewhat.
Nevertheless, I tried the SRH1540’s on the road also. Their sensitivity of 99 dB/mW and impedance of 46 Ω makes them loud enough for most mobile audio players; I had no problem achieving a sufficient volume with my iPod Classic in most situations. Only at the presence of loud ambient noise, or when listening to very dynamic albums like Dire Strait’s “Brothers In Arms” (original master) was I wishing for a bit more loudness. But I usually don’t listen at high levels – if you really want to crank them up, you will probably need a mobile headphone amp.
Since I’ve grown accustomed to studio headphones with the cable attached to one ear cup for many years, I initially thought that the dual-exit cables of the SRH1540’s would bother me a bit. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case for any application: neither for mobile use, or when recording vocals. Some audiophiles claim that dual-exit cables are better anyway, because the audio signal would reach both ear cups at exactly the same time, thus avoiding any time offset between the left and the right ear cup. While that’s technically true, I leave it to you to calculate the time offset that occurs on approx. half a meter, with the audio signal traveling at nearly the speed of light.
As far as noise isolation is concerned, the SRH1540’s performed average at best. Many other closed-back headphones offer better isolation, as do the SRH440’s. Thus, for micing and recording e.g. loud guitar amps the SRH1540’s wouldn’t be my first choice (I consider them too precious for rough day-to-day studio work anyway), but their isolation is sufficient for most everyday applications. My guess is that the Shure’s extraordinary comfort comes at the cost of less isolation – you’d surely need more clamping pressure for better isolation. Because the recording of loud sources is certainly not the No.1 application the SRH1540’s were designed for, I don’t consider this to be a negative aspect – I’d personally prefer better comfort over high isolation on premium headphones any day.
However, a real reason for critique is, that the alloy yokes have no markings on them at all to help you set them up to your desired size – once you set them up correctly though, they will keep the position without any issues. For me personally that doesn’t really cause a problem, because I simply need to set the SRH1540’s up to their biggest possible size. Which brings me to the next possible issue: I wouldn’t describe my head as small by any means, but there are certainly a lot of people who have larger heads than me. For them, the SRH1540’s could turn out to be a tad on the small size. So I’d definitely recommend you try them out before purchasing (which is highly recommended with any headphones anyway).
Sound
Let’s turn our attention to the most important category now, where the sheep get sorted from the goats quickly. 🙂
Maybe I should mention that before I got the SRH1540’s for the review, I had the chance to listen to them in a shop for a short while. My plan was to spend just a few minutes to gain a first impression, but I ended up listening to the headphones for two hours, blown away by their sound quality. I should further add that I’m not easily impressed, and have experience with dozens of different studio headphones. Many of them I dismiss after just five minutes, because they usually have something that bothers me. Not so with the SRH1540’s; in this case, a sales person had to bring to my attention that the shop would be closing very soon.
A good month later I had the SRH1540’s in my hands in my studio, and was very excited to find out if my initial enthusiasm would persist or vanish.
Shortly after, a guess that I have already had at the first listen in the shop confirmed itself for me: the Shure SRH1540’s are a set headphones for music aficionados. The way I see it, they were developed and tuned mainly for pure musical enjoyment, and less so for critical monitoring for mixing and mastering purposes.
That being said, if you now think that this was just my diplomatic phrasing for stating that the SRH1540’s arent suited for critical listening (which would indeed be true in many other cases), I advise you to please read on.
I would describe the frequency response of the SRH1540’s as being very linear in the mids and highs – they do have, however, an obvious boost in the sub-bass, as well as a slight emphasis in the low-mids. While many other headphones just fake “a lot of bass” by having a boost around 100 Hz area, (which for critical listening can be quite problematic) the Shure’s have a boost indeed in the low-lows at around 50 Hz. This makes them sound incredibly punchy and powerful; when listening to songs with clearly prominent sub-bass you almost wonder if there is a subwoofer in the room somewhere supporting it. Don’t get me wrong, the SRH1540’s certainly are not a bass-head headphone like the models by a certain infamous doctor, but a clear emphasis in the bass is obviously there.
However, this emphasis in the sub-bass, fortunately doesn’t come at the cost of masking other frequencies, as is the case with so many bass-heavy headphones. This is the good news for those of us who also want to use cans for mixing and/or mastering.
The mids sound very natural indeed, as do the highs, which are present, but in no way hyped at all. Compared to my reference headphones, the AKG K702’s, which of course have an open-back design, both the mids and the highs sound a little restrained. If you put the SRH1540’s on directly after listening to the K702’s, you might think that they sound a bit dull; but this is only due to the direct comparison, since the K702’s are fairly bright sounding headphones. The SRH1540’s don’t quite manage to reach the outstanding clarity that the K702’s offer, but you’d have a hard time finding a closed-back headphone that would.
In contrast, the Shure’s bring to the table what I have always been missing with the K702’s: extended, powerful bass, which can put a smile on your face. Since the SRH1540’s arrived at my place, I have used them almost exclusively for listening to music; I’d only prefer the K702’s for classical, or mainly acoustical music, like Alison Krauss & Union Stations’ album “Paper Airplane”, which on the K702’s sounds nothing short of spectacular.
The SRH1540’s, however, shine everywhere where you could use a little more “oomph”, e.g. for pop, rock, electronic, etc. The sub-bass emphasis makes kick drums sound phenomenal (if they had been recorded and mixed accordingly), and synth basses sound incredibly powerful. The slight lift at the low-mids beefs up guitars, pianos and male voices, without muddying up the high-mids.
Just a few examples of albums which are a pure joy to listen to on the SRH1540’s are “The Resistance” by Muse, “Turn Blue” by The Black Keys, and Steven Wilson’s “Hand.Cannot.Erase”. Goldfrapp’s songs “Strict Machine” and “Ooh La La”, or Daft Punk’s “The Game of Love” immerse you in warm bass, while you can hardly believe how punchy and clear the drums sound at the same time on Taylor Swift’s “State of Grace”.
The excellent impulse response of the SRH1540’s is certainly one of the reasons why it doesn’t lose clarity despite the strong bass. Transients get reproduced with high precision – in the intro of Toto’s “I Will Remember” the toms not only have plenty of attack, but also the proper weight that is missing on the K702’s. While working on a mix, it’s very easy to hear the effect of the attack knob on a compressor.
The SRH1540’s also manage to separate instruments very well. Even in highly crammed arrangements like Tears For Fears’ “Sowing the Seeds of Love” (which imho is a small masterpiece of a mix) you can spot all instruments and elements of the mix effortlessly.
Similar can be said about the depiction of depth: you can easily pick out delays and reverb tails. On Norah Jones’ album “The Fall” you can perceive how her voice has been treated with effects differently for each song.
As far as the soundstage and stereo-width is concerned, the SRH1540’s can’t quite compete with the K702’s; this was to be expected though, because open-back headphones have a clear advantage here due to their design. That being said, the soundstage of the SRH1540’s doesn’t really leave anything to be desired.
However, I find that the SRH1540’s are not that well suited for mixes which have a clear emphasis on the low-mids, in such cases they can sound a little muddy. On the other hand, with the Shure’s you can also listen to songs which have a very present high-end, like Keane’s “You Don’t See Me”, or “Try” by P!nk. These two songs almost hurt when listening to them on the K702’s, especially at louder volumes.
To sum it up, I can say that I’ve found a perfect companion with the SRH1540’s to complement my AKG K702’s. If I want to evaluate the sub-bass in the mix, or simply want to listen to music for pure enjoyment, I go with the Shure’s; for critical listening like spotting cutting mistakes, clicks and pops or hiss, I prefer the AKG’s, which for me, are a bit better suited for that purpose.
Would I recommend the Shure SRH1540, and is it worth its relatively high price? I can answer both questions definitely with “yes”, albeit with small reservations.
I may not recommend the SRH1540 as your only headphone for mixing and mastering, but if you happen to already have an (open-back) headphone with a thinner sound signature (basically like the AKG lineup), it might just be the perfect complement. For pure musical enjoyment the SRH1540’s are hard to beat, unless you mainly listen to classical or acoustical music.
Whether or not they are worth the price tag is up to you to decide of course, but considering the quality of their components and their sound, as well as their expected long-durability, I think the price is justified. You should also take into consideration that you’d need to spend a multiple of the price for being able to properly judge the bass with monitors. Firstly, almost all nearfield monitors struggle to reproduce this important frequency range properly and secondly, there would be no way round of spending a serious amount to address acoustical problems of your room, which of course are not an issue with headphones. If you look at it this way, the SRH1540’s are also an ideal companion for those who are using compact nearfield monitors.
Verdict
The Shure SRH1540’s are a brilliant set of headphones which combine exquisite sound, high comfort and outstanding build quality with a classy look. It’s pure joy to use them for music listening, and with small reservations they are also well suited for mixing and mastering. Considering their overall quality, the relatively high price is justified imho. If you are in the market for a first-grade set of headphones, you should definitively give the SRH1540’s a try.
+ Detailed, balanced sound with outstanding bass
+ Very comfortable
+ High-quality components
+ Very good build quality
– Average noise isolation
– Alloy yokes have no markings
– Might be a tad too small for people with larger heads
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