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t3ch Review - Shure SRH240 Headphones
Jason Tsay
Product: Shure SRH240 Headphones
What they say it does: “provide excellent sound reproduction and comfort, optimized for general listening and monitoring, reproduce deep bass with clear mids and highs”
In the audio industry, Shure is a brand not to go unnoticed. Since 1925, they have been pro’s in the field of audio reproduction. Currently, Shure only manufactures 3 pairs of headphones: the SRH240, SRH440, and the SRH840. Today we have with us the SRH240 to review. Does this pair of headphones deliver an enjoyable experience overall? Let’s dive deep into the world of audio and design to find out!
My Experience
First up, let me tell you a bit about what I’ve been using to listen to music before my SRH240’s arrived. I currently own Apple Earbuds, Sony EX Earbuds and a pair of Sennheiser HD 201’s. I felt that the Apple Earbuds were a bit too cheap for my taste so I switched to the 201’s and use the Sony in-ear headphones in loud environments. Now with that out of the way, let’s talk specs.
Dynamic neodymium magnet transducers work with the 40 mm drivers to power this set of cans. At a frequency of 1kHz, the sensitivity is 105 dB/mW and the impedance is 38 Ω. The frequency of the SRH240’s ranges from 20 - 20,000 Hz. Maximum input power at 1 kHz is 500 mW. As for connectivity, this pair of headphones uses a gold plated 3.5 mm (1/8”) plug and comes with a 1/4” screw-on adapter. A nifty 2 meter long cable connects to both sides of the headphones though I would have much preferred it be a detachable cable going to only one side. The flat cord rarely tangles much, being covered with a rubber coating. (My ideal cable I would be that found on the Beats by Dr. Dre Tour’s, closely resembling a rubber band.) Weighing in at 0.4 lb, the SRH240’s certainly shouldn’t be too heavy for most people but it probably isn’t a good idea to wear it for longer than a couple of hours at a time. As a person who has headphones on for most of the day, I did notice a distinct squeeze after wearing it for some time. While we’re on the topic of comfort, 2 pleather/leather cushions line the headphones providing considerably adequate comfort. The headphones are adjustable to 10 different positions on each side. As for me, I usually click it up to 5 so people with larger heads shouldn’t have any problems.
Design wise, Shure poorly chose its materials for the exterior of SRH240. A glossy black plastic is definitely eye-catching but attracts fingerprints like some sort of crazy magnet. On the other hand, it also makes the headphones look rather cheap. In fact, the general styling is reminiscent of Beats by Dr. Dre Studios. Shiny silver letters on both sides announce to the world: “Shure” with “SRH240” under that in smaller text. The black leather headband is pretty simple with the Shure logo emblazoned in gray. The big brothers of the SRH240, the SRH440 and SRH840 have color coded left/right indicators while the 240 is stuck with black indents on the side on which text is engraved. Beats me why the model we’re reviewing doesn’t have the aforementioned indicators. Maybe Shure felt it would clash with the gloss finish? But trust me you’ll get used to the finish and not worry too much about it unless you are always eating with your hands while listening to music.
Getting to the meat: the audio quality. I fired up iTunes and used my iPod as my audio sources. The cheerful tunes of “Hot Air Balloon” by Owl City flowed into my ears. The pre-puberty voice of Justin Bieber in my ear, “And I was like baby, baby, baby ohhh” Bass delivered perfectly from the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” and when I listened to “Daughters” by John Mayer, it felt like he was strumming the guitar right next to my head. When I took off the headphones and cranked up the volume all the way on my iPod, there was minimal distortion and the audio still sounded fine. Bass is exceptional when paired with an equalizer such as the one found on the iPod and iTunes. They are generally great all-around headphones and display excellence when the audio source is tuned to the type of music you are currently listening to. The 240’s block out some outside noise but that is only due to the surface area of each headphone as these are not true noise cancelling headphones. It is also important to note that these are closed headphones. Open-air headphones are generally better for the audio to flow resulting in better sound quality but do not provide as much privacy and noise isolation as closed headphones do.
For 60 bucks, the price doesn’t feel quite justified. I would have at least liked a carrying case/bag like the one included with the SRH440. Even a cleaning cloth would have been nice to counter the glossy finish. (The Beats by Dr. Dre Studios include them). Heck, I know there’s a massive price difference between the Beats and these but even iPod cases come with cleaning cloths nowadays. Another nice addition would have been inline controls like the ones on Apple’s iPod Earbuds. (Though if you are looking for inline controls and a mic, I would direct you to the recently introduced SRH240m+). I just feel like the headphones should have had more features to mention or at least a couple of pack-ins inside the red and blue cardboard box
All this sounds pretty good right? So it basically all comes down to this: if you have a bit more dough to spend, get the critically acclaimed SRH440’s. Retailing at a cool $125, you can usually get them for under 100. A colleague of mine over at Gadgetmac describes this pair of headphones as a “huge step up in quality” over the SRH240. After giving the more costly cans a listen, he calls the “plain worthless in terms of build quality and also sound quality.” “The SRH440 are worth every penny.” But here’s a principle to live by: find a pair that you like and can afford, then be happy with what you have. If you’re coming from, say, Apple’s dinky white headphones, you will find that the Shure SRH240’s are a quite pleasurable upgrade. Say you’ve used headphones that cost twice as much as this pair, you’ll obviously find that the audio and build quality are nothing worth noting. As for headphone types, I personally don’t like on-ear headphones and can’t stand in-ear headphones. To me, over the ear headphones provide perfect comfort and noise isolation. If you’re looking for another type of headphone, you might want to check out T3ch H3lp’s review of the Beats by Dr. Dre Solo’s.
Pros - pretty decent sound, 1/4” adapter included, fairly stylish
Cons - glossy finish, non-detachable cable, huge 3.5 mm plug
Price: $59.99
