Review of Shure SRH1540 closed-back headphones

[@joemato]

Thanks man, your description of soundstage made me decide for this. I'm eyeing the 650 as well :)

[@hornblenda6]

Thank you for all the info! It was more informative than most of reviews of these cans I had seen before. Really glad to hear that the bass isnt all that boomy in these, beacuse everybody seems to point this out, and it kept me away from these a bit... I like bass, but I am not looking for something MUCH more bassy than the HD650. Bass tightness and extension, though, is always very welcome ;)

[@stevenross-watt8640]

Hi Seltzertronics: where did you get the red replacement ear pads?

[@awood186]

Did you like these more or less than the Elegia?

[@spiroasimov8673]

Hi im gonna get these could u tell me where u got the red ear cushions..thank you.

[@monsieurVi]

One of the factor that pull the triger for me while buying these is their efficiency. Meaning - I can listen to these with my macbook pro without a need for an external amp. So not that power hungry (althought it can be a good thing in case of other more hungry cans and synergetic hp amps).

[@worldgonewrong2049]

Good review. I like getting what I pay for and conversely, don't like paying for something I don't need. Case in point, soft bag vs hard case. The point of a soft bag is to keep cost down and keep the phones clean. Not everyone needs to travel with their expensive headphones. I have both the 1540's and 1840's because they sound great and I bring one or both with me when travelling. I also have a variety of headphones at the home studio which reside in the studio, and appreciate not paying for a hard case every time. The bag is fine to keep them clean. Many of the bags are waterproof as well. Another good feature. I listen to my HD650 more for casual listening. They are great. My 1840's compare very well with them and are more analytical for mixing with headphones, which I try not to do too much of anyway, but sometimes it's required. What I really like about the 1840's and 1540's is how great they sound at lower volume. More than many other phones, these conserve my hearing by sounding wonderful at lower volumes, and that is the main reason why I own them. YMMV.

[@OptionalOG]

Thanks for the review my dude. Buying these for CSGO and general gaming! Been running senheisser Game Zeros for a while, tired of the integrated mics and gaming gimmicks.

[@DavidSmith-tn9rm]

How are these for gaming? are they worth getting?

[@DavidSmith-tn9rm]

Do they go pretty loud? I own the HyperX Cloud Orbit S headphones, but they don't go loud enough for me. currently also using the Shure 750DJ headphones, but they lack in the bass department.

[@OptionalOG]

@@DavidSmith-tn9rm They go pretty loud. But you'll need an amp. 50 ohms or something. Don't quote me on this. Most high end motherboards can probably handle it but you'd be doing yourself a favour getting an amp with a headset like this. Bass is good too. Highly recommend Peace EQ with a decent setting though. Some extra bass, lower mids, higher highs, etc. But otherwise, out of the box, they sound great. Decent boom/rumble and a lot of range for closed back cans. Still use them for competitive gaming since this post.

[@DavidSmith-tn9rm]

@@OptionalOG nice, I got the Presonus HP4 headphone amp, it should be good enough I hope, have my Woojer Vest and Buttkicker Gamer 2 plugged into it......Yes I have the PEACE Equalizer, it's very good....you should get yourself the "FXSound" program (they just made it free for everyone) it's cool, because you can make games sound like they have EAX support. (that's an old, but awesome technology for audio in games) check it out...

[@darkshroud703]

I really like closed back cans but the amount of praise that HD600s get make me think it's worth the jump from my HD280 pros. For me it's a toss up between the SRH1540 or going taking a leap of faith with open back HD600s. But like you I also love the bass for trap, dupstep and hip hop.

[@seltzertronics2538]

I think you'll find the SRH1540 very familiar to the 600/650. Maybe a bit more transparent and resolving. The 1540 don't actually have a ton of bass, at least by closed-can standards. If you're really looking for a bass, I'd look at the Fostex TR-X00/TH-600. I miss my TH-900s, but only when I listen to trap!

[@michaelhoffmann510]

LOUDUURRR!

[@manueljenkin95]

Wow.. glad to see someone sharing the same opinion as me with the srh1540. For a fully sealed headphone, what they have done is just amazing. They lose to my gr07 in terms of bass speed and resolution but much much better in everything else. www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/aldp1w/got_a_chance_to_listen_to_some_high_end/? Will be auditioning hd800/hd800s by next week and then I'll make my srh1540 review as well. One doubt.. does pad rolling Change the sound significantly? I love them with the stock earpads but does the earpad you use improve bass response? Have you tried sr009.. I heard one and loved it. How does hd800 compare?

[@seltzertronics2538]

Thanks! I should have mentioned but I honestly don't have much else to say about the stock pads or the impact of the pad change because I pretty much swapped them as soon as I had the cans. Never heard the SR009. I'd really like to but I'm a bit afraid it will make me want to sell everything I own. Enjoy the 800/800S. They're kind of amazing for what they are.

[@manueljenkin95]

@@seltzertronics2538 umm.. I'm not sure if it'll make you sell everything. They were damn amazing (the bass was just unreal), but not perfect. They had a sense of flakiness (lack of solidity) to the sound and the upper mids were kind of overly forward.