Topic by Beto-Music

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Topic: Is Shure SRH-440a great headphone for digital piano sound???

I found a seller offering a used Shure SRH-440 headphone (made for studio & DJ) for a nice price.

I sent him some digital piano MP3 of the most powerfull deep bass of pianoteq, some mid range, as well some striking trebbles, and asked him if he notice any distortion.
I will also ak the serial number to try to check out in Shure website if the number is true, just to be sure it's not a imitation/fake headphone.

But I also would like to ask if somebody in this forum have used or tried this headphone, to tell me if it's really great for digital piano tone or not
.

A lot of music with piano included sound ok on many headphones, but when you plug in a piano software, the pure piano sound, it became clear that most phones don't handle very well.

Last edited by Beto-Music (Yesterday 04:46)

Reply by Pianistically

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Re: Is Shure SRH-440a great headphone for digital piano sound???

Beto-Music wrote:

I found a seller offering a used Shure SRH-440 headphone (made for studio & DJ) for a nice price.

I sent him some digital piano MP3 of the most powerfull deep bass of pianoteq, some mid range, as well some striking trebbles, and asked him if he notice any distortion.
I will also ak the serial number to try to check out in Shure website if the number is true, just to be sure it's not a imitation/fake headphone.

But I also would like to ask if somebody in this forum have used or tried this headphone, to tell me if it's really great for digital piano tone or not
.

A lot of music with piano included sound ok on many headphones, but when you plug in a piano software, the pure piano sound, it became clear that most phones don't handle very well.

I don’t think you will have distorsion issues  with these headphones . The critical point is whether you are going to like ´the colour’ of the Shure . In fact there is no colour , so you lay feel the sound lacks character specially in the upper register . It really depends upon your personal liking and only you can tell if you like the sound or not no matter what other reviews or users tell you .
As you mention , make sure the headphones are not fake , as there a lot of fake Shure in the market and they look incredibly authentic.

Reply by Beto-Music

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Re: Is Shure SRH-440a great headphone for digital piano sound???

No great colors?
SRH 440 is usually sold for high price in my country.

Is Edifier H850 better or worse?


Pianistically wrote:
Beto-Music wrote:

I found a seller offering a used Shure SRH-440 headphone (made for studio & DJ) for a nice price.

I sent him some digital piano MP3 of the most powerfull deep bass of pianoteq, some mid range, as well some striking trebbles, and asked him if he notice any distortion.
I will also ak the serial number to try to check out in Shure website if the number is true, just to be sure it's not a imitation/fake headphone.

But I also would like to ask if somebody in this forum have used or tried this headphone, to tell me if it's really great for digital piano tone or not
.

A lot of music with piano included sound ok on many headphones, but when you plug in a piano software, the pure piano sound, it became clear that most phones don't handle very well.

I don’t think you will have distorsion issues  with these headphones . The critical point is whether you are going to like ´the colour’ of the Shure . In fact there is no colour , so you lay feel the sound lacks character specially in the upper register . It really depends upon your personal liking and only you can tell if you like the sound or not no matter what other reviews or users tell you .
As you mention , make sure the headphones are not fake , as there a lot of fake Shure in the market and they look incredibly authentic.

Reply by daniel_r328

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Re: Is Shure SRH-440a great headphone for digital piano sound???

Not directly an answer to your question, but I'm very happy with my Hifiman Sundara - decent bass extension, undemanding on the audio output, and distortion-free. I picked it for the clear midrange and treble which is useful for the piano. It's good value for money.

In general, I agree with the others that personal preference is more important than technical performance in headphones - whether you like the sound signature or not is something you can only decide for yourself. But having said that, my experience has been that you can get close to any sound experience you might have in mind with a digital EQ: you don't need to pay extra for headphones just so that they meet your preferences out of the box.

Reply by Kaiser Wilhelm

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Re: Is Shure SRH-440a great headphone for digital piano sound???

daniel_r328 wrote:

Not directly an answer to your question, but I'm very happy with my Hifiman Sundara - decent bass extension, undemanding on the audio output, and distortion-free. I picked it for the clear midrange and treble which is useful for the piano. It's good value for money.

In general, I agree with the others that personal preference is more important than technical performance in headphones - whether you like the sound signature or not is something you can only decide for yourself. But having said that, my experience has been that you can get close to any sound experience you might have in mind with a digital EQ: you don't need to pay extra for headphones just so that they meet your preferences out of the box.

Hy Beto,

for best results, the headphone and Headphone amplifier must match. This is why some vendors offer their headphones with different Impediance so the user can choose the proper one for his amplifier. Does the SRH-440 has the proper Imepediance for your source?

Reply by Pianistically

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Re: Is Shure SRH-440a great headphone for digital piano sound???

Beto-Music wrote:

No great colors?
SRH 440 is usually sold for high price in my country.

Is Edifier H850 better or worse?


Pianistically wrote:
Beto-Music wrote:

I found a seller offering a used Shure SRH-440 headphone (made for studio & DJ) for a nice price.

I sent him some digital piano MP3 of the most powerfull deep bass of pianoteq, some mid range, as well some striking trebbles, and asked him if he notice any distortion.
I will also ak the serial number to try to check out in Shure website if the number is true, just to be sure it's not a imitation/fake headphone.

But I also would like to ask if somebody in this forum have used or tried this headphone, to tell me if it's really great for digital piano tone or not
.

A lot of music with piano included sound ok on many headphones, but when you plug in a piano software, the pure piano sound, it became clear that most phones don't handle very well.

I don’t think you will have distorsion issues  with these headphones . The critical point is whether you are going to like ´the colour’ of the Shure . In fact there is no colour , so you lay feel the sound lacks character specially in the upper register . It really depends upon your personal liking and only you can tell if you like the sound or not no matter what other reviews or users tell you .
As you mention , make sure the headphones are not fake , as there a lot of fake Shure in the market and they look incredibly authentic.

what I meant is that it was made for studio  monitoring and therefore is very neutral . Some people prefer headphones with more sound colour for piano . It is not related to the price , you will find expensive neutral headphones and expensive ones full of character . It is all about the use case and your personal taste .

Reply by Pianoteqenthusiast

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Re: Is Shure SRH-440a great headphone for digital piano sound???

Many headphones are bass-heavy and I have been looking for headphones with baiance with bass and treble. I have found out that there are headphones tuned to exaggerate bass response usually by depressing the midrange. And there are headphones with too much treble. Beyer Dynamic DT 990 pro was a bad buy in that way. After many different headphones over the years I am now satisfied with the Grado Labs SE 125X Prestige series.( there are more expensive variations in the series but for the price I am satified now playing Pianoteq and Organteq). 249€ here in Finland. And I'm using Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3 gen.It is good.

As we know, this is my personal opinion and choice. I'm happy. Thougt I mention this headphone, might be that not many people know about them.
Handicrafts from Brooklyn, New York.

Best wishes,

Stig

Last edited by Pianoteqenthusiast (Today 15:56)

Reply by sharpnine

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Re: Is Shure SRH-440a great headphone for digital piano sound???

Pianoteqenthusiast wrote:

Many headphones are bass-heavy and I have been looking for headphones with baiance with bass and treble. I have found out that there are headphones tuned to exaggerate bass response usually by depressing the midrange. And there are headphones with too much treble. Beyer Dynamic DT 990 pro was a bad buy in that way. After many different headphones over the years I am now satisfied with the Grado Labs SE 125X Prestige series.( there are more expensive variations in the series but for the price I am satified now playing Pianoteq and Organteq). 249€ here in Finland. And I'm using Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3 gen.It is good.

As we know, this is my personal opinion and choice. I'm happy. Thougt I mention this headphone, might be that not many people know about them.
Handicrafts from Brooklyn, New York.

Best wishes,

Stig

I have found I much prefer open-back headphones for piano practice. The grado models are great for this (those are what I use). The Shure SRH-440 headphone is closed-back. I definitely recommend trying an open-back for comparison.

Reply by dikrek

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Re: Is Shure SRH-440a great headphone for digital piano sound???

sharpnine wrote:
Pianoteqenthusiast wrote:

Many headphones are bass-heavy and I have been looking for headphones with baiance with bass and treble. I have found out that there are headphones tuned to exaggerate bass response usually by depressing the midrange. And there are headphones with too much treble. Beyer Dynamic DT 990 pro was a bad buy in that way. After many different headphones over the years I am now satisfied with the Grado Labs SE 125X Prestige series.( there are more expensive variations in the series but for the price I am satified now playing Pianoteq and Organteq). 249€ here in Finland. And I'm using Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 3 gen.It is good.

As we know, this is my personal opinion and choice. I'm happy. Thougt I mention this headphone, might be that not many people know about them.
Handicrafts from Brooklyn, New York.

Best wishes,

Stig

I have found I much prefer open-back headphones for piano practice. The grado models are great for this (those are what I use). The Shure SRH-440 headphone is closed-back. I definitely recommend trying an open-back for comparison.

Sennheiser HD560S. Open back, great for almost anything, not exaggerated, Amazon has them very cheap in some countries. There's a slightly updated model but there's no need.