By aspect — in detail
Tonality
Contested · 10 srcThe headline claim is the contested one. Three editorial reviews call it a neutral monitor with a touch of warmth; both compensated measurement rigs, the German bench, MusicRadar and the owner threads read a bass-lifted, warm tuning that is enjoyable but not flat. The split follows method, not taste.
Measured
oratory1990 scores it 71/100 for predicted preference before EQ against the Harman AE/OE 2018 target on a GRAS 45BC-10, an average deviation of 1.98 dB; DIY-Audio-Heaven's comparison against the old SRH840 shows the same 200 Hz–6 kHz stretch tilted warmer on the A.
⚠ vs. listeners — Mix mixed on them successfully and Trusted Reviews heard neutrality, while solderdude — reading the same product on a bench — says outright that it is not a mixing headphone. Both can be true: the deviation from target is modest (about 2 dB average), so the tilt is audible as character rather than as an obvious fault.
Where it splits
warm and bass-lifted — enjoyable, but not the flat monitor the badge implies70%
“In the studio these are fine for monitoring. Not suited to mix on because of the elevated bass and sharpness.”
solderdude, DIY-Audio-Heaven
a genuinely neutral monitor, warmed just enough not to sound sterile30%
“The Shure SRH840A have the neutrality required of a pair of monitor headphones, with just a little thickness in the upper bass or low mids to avoid sounding sterile.”
Andrew Williams, Trusted Reviews
Broad agreement that the low end is deep and generously served, and that it is more of it than the old SRH840 had. Trusted Reviews is the lone dissent, hearing a reserved bass that only gets going near 55 Hz — a reading the measurements explain, because this is a closed back whose low end collapses the moment the seal breaks.
“Bass response extends very low (8Hz -3dB) and is elevated and has some punch but is not ‘tight’ and bloated on recordings with a lot of bass.”
solderdude, DIY-Audio-Heaven
“This was mainly due to the rich bass that these headphones produce. They went all the way into the low bass range without being overbearing.”
Carsten Kaiser, headphonecheck.com
“both(!) Shures have more and better sub-bass than the K371, 840A more boosted than 440A”
r/oratory1990 thread starter
Measured
DIY-Audio-Heaven measures bass to -3 dB at 8 Hz with a lift solderdude puts at roughly 4 dB above Harman; oratory1990's Harman-target preset opens with a broad 7.4 dB cut centred at 53 Hz. A dedicated seal-break series shows a small leak — thick-armed glasses resting on the skin is the example — already audibly thinning the low end.
⚠ vs. listeners — Trusted Reviews hears sub-bass that is not particularly strong with "the real action starting around 55Hz", against a measured -3 dB point of 8 Hz. Seal is the likely reconciler rather than a disagreement about the headphone: on this design the bass a listener actually gets is set by fit.
The most consistently praised aspect and the closest thing to a settled verdict: vocals and guitars come through uncoloured and present. Digital Camera World is the one source wanting more midrange detail.
“A lack of colouration in the mids, and vocals in particular, is perhaps the key strength here.”
Andrew Williams, Trusted Reviews
“Mids are full/warm and dynamic and distortion and coloration free.”
solderdude, DIY-Audio-Heaven
“Midrange is smooth and warm. Vocals Sound close and not thin - just the way I like it.”
tremolux, Head-Fi
Measured
oratory1990's correction leaves the midrange broadly alone but does dip 3 kHz by 2.8 dB and lift 4.3 kHz by 4.0 dB, so the presence region is shaped rather than flat.
Sources split cleanly in two. One camp — both Harman-referenced and unsmoothed benches, plus owners who reach for EQ — describes a real peak up top that reads as sharpness. The other camp, including the German measurement site, hears the treble as smooth or even restrained. Nobody in either camp calls it sibilant.
Measured
Two rigs read excess energy above 5 kHz: DIY-Audio-Heaven's unsmoothed plot shows a large peak near 9 kHz (with, on the CSD, a very short decay), and oratory1990's Harman preset cuts 5.15 kHz by 3.8 dB and 6.1 kHz by 2.5 dB and shelves 11 kHz down 2.0 dB. headphonecheck, measuring on a Neumann KU100 against its own target, calls the same region "restrained".
⚠ vs. listeners — solderdude, whose own plot shows the peak, explains the gap directly rather than dismissing it — of headphonecheck's curve he says "That's because their target is quite a bit off from reality. They seems to prefer bright headphones." The peak is also narrow and well damped, which is why smoothed graphs flatten it and why many listeners simply never hear it as harshness.
Where it splits
smooth, non-fatiguing — some hear it as outright restrained57%
“There’s a decent high-frequency spark here that doesn’t veer into harshness of sibilance”
Andrew Williams, Trusted Reviews
a real peak that turns sharp with time and wants a small EQ cut43%
“There is a huge peak around 9kHz which accentuates the treble but at the same time gives too much ‘sharpness’.”
solderdude, DIY-Audio-Heaven
Widely described as resolving for the money, with owners repeatedly picking it over the AKG K371 on separation. The dissent is worth knowing: the measurement side argues some of that impression is the upper-treble lift doing the work.
“revealing plenty of mix details that you wouldn’t be able to pick out with less capable headphones”
Ben Rogerson, MusicRadar
“Great detail and separation for $150 headphones”
hong8311, Head-Fi
“At first listen this brings the illusion of a highly detailed sound and fast ‘transients’.”
solderdude, DIY-Audio-Heaven
Measured
The 9 kHz lift is the mechanism solderdude names for the first-listen detail impression; his CSD shows resonances above 4 kHz but the 9 kHz peak decaying quickly, so the driver is well damped despite it.
Soundstage
Strong consensus · 5 srcConsistent, unexcited agreement: good for a closed back, wider than most owners expected, and short on depth next to open-back references. No source calls it congested and none calls it remarkable.
“Stereo imaging is not wide but also not narrow due to the elevated treble.”
solderdude, DIY-Audio-Heaven
“With classical music at least, these Shure headphones also show off their solid stereo impression and their discreet depth gradation.”
Carsten Kaiser, headphonecheck.com
Separation is well spoken of — owners hear more of it than on the K371 and the HD 58X — but Trusted Reviews, comparing against an AKG Q701, finds the sense of depth and three-dimensionality the weakest technical trait.
“both Shures seem articulate (technical, detailed) to me, I think I hear more details than with K371”
r/oratory1990 thread starter
“More detailed sound , wider soundstage .”
Skulkaa, r/headphones
Dynamics
Strong consensus · 3 srcAgreement that it plays punchy and stays clean loud, with one measured caveat: compression starts creeping into the bass above roughly 85 dB, so the headroom is comfortable rather than limitless.
“The sound is full/warm, dynamic and ‘clear’ but alas a bit too detailed/sharp.”
solderdude, DIY-Audio-Heaven
“However, the SRH840A deliver distortion-free reproduction even at high volume levels.”
Carsten Kaiser, headphonecheck.com
Measured
Distortion at 90 dB SPL is about 2% and mostly third-harmonic; a 60–96 dB linearity sweep shows compression below 150 Hz appearing from around 85 dB and rising quickly above it.
Comfort
Contested · 13 srcGenuinely split, and the split has a cause. Most reviewers wear it for hours happily, and clamping force measures low at 2.5 N with the headphone at 275 g. The complaints cluster instead on a headband that runs out of length on larger heads, pads shallow enough for ears to touch the driver, and pleather-over-memory-foam that gets hot.
Measured
Measured clamping force is low (2.5 N) and weight is 275 g without the cable — objectively an easy-wearing headphone, which is why the complaints point at headband length and pad depth instead of clamp.
⚠ vs. listeners — headphonecheck praises the pads for not overheating and yet flags in the same review that "For really big heads, however, even the largest setting might still be too small." Owners on both sides describe their own head and ear size, and the verdict follows it — one Reddit owner reports the band pressing down even at its longest setting, while an ASR owner who likes it specifies his head is average.
Where it splits
light, low-clamp and fine for long sessions66%
“This headphone is decent in weight (275 gr without the cable) and combined with the low clamping force (2.5N) and soft memory foam pads makes it a comfortable headphone.”
solderdude, DIY-Audio-Heaven
runs short and shallow — pressure, hot ears and cramped cups over time34%
“As a result, they're not quite as comfortable and are also a little too small to be 'roomy' around my average-sized ears.”
Paul Hatton, Digital Camera World
Contested along an unusual line: newcomers and reviewers call it a clear step up, with a metal-reinforced headband, a locking detachable cable and no creak. Owners of the original SRH840 mostly disagree, reading lighter plastics and flimsier swivel hinges — the exact place the old model was known to snap.
Where it splits
a real improvement — better headband, better mechanism, no creak72%
“The build quality is improved over the old version. Much better quality headband, decent adjusting mechanism.”
solderdude, DIY-Audio-Heaven
lighter and cheaper-feeling than the SRH840, with the hinges as the worry28%
“What's my biggest concern about these headphones is the build quality. The body is made of cheap plastic.”
Samasati, Thomann customer review
Isolation
Contested · 6 srcThe one aspect where the redesign appears to have gone backwards. Editorial reviewers call isolation a strength; the measurement side and owners who compare it directly call it weak for a closed back, and the bench says plainly it attenuates less than the SRH840 did.
Measured
headphonecheck publishes an exterior-noise-damping chart alongside its frequency response; DIY-Audio-Heaven rates isolation only "decent" and states directly that the SRH840A attenuates less outside noise than the SRH840.
⚠ vs. listeners — The gap is a like-for-like problem, not a taste one: reviewers comparing the SRH840A against ambient noise call it good, while those comparing it against another closed back call it poor — one ASR owner puts his Sony WH-1000XM4's passive isolation, with noise cancelling switched off, well ahead of it. Owners attribute the drop to vent holes added to the A-model cups that the original SRH840 did not have.
Where it splits
isolates well enough for tracking and noisy rooms60%
“Outside noise was well attenuated and I also liked the isolation from the outside.”
Carsten Kaiser, headphonecheck.com
weak for a closed back — and weaker than the model it replaced40%
“Isolation is not great for a closed headphone but there is some attenuation of outside noises.”
solderdude, DIY-Audio-Heaven
The most positive aspect in the set, and near-unanimous: reviewers and owners alike guess a higher price than it asks, and several say it beats more expensive closed backs. The dissent comes from SRH840 owners, who rate the upgrade worth having only at a discount.
“Based on their build quality and performance, I would have thought they’d cost much more.”
Mike Levine, Mix
“Build quality is superb, that product feels like hi-end headphones, despite costing me only 140$.”
Skulkaa, r/headphones
“Best cans in this price range for what they do and are.”
solidtitanium, r/headphones
