Those in part 1 are the upsides. The downside is that the
SRH1840, for all its neutrality, can sound a little on the bland side. A track
that encapsulated the character of the SRH1840 for me was ‘Fender Bender' from
the Stockfisch CD Roadhouses & Automobiles [SFR 357.6027.2] by the late
Chris Jones. It's a piece that I imagine CJ and the band played with grins on
their faces, perhaps diluted by concentration, because it's a romp, mostly
comprising relentless runs on Jones' acoustic guitar matched by Grischka Zepf's
‘anything you can do' electric bass.
A well balanced, tuneful, articulate bass register is
essential for the latter - and thereby the entire track - and the SRH1840
delivers it very nicely, in contrast to the hiked-bass brigade which inevitably
invoke varying degrees of blanketing stodge.
Y-cable plugs
separately into each capsule. A spare is provided, together with replacement
earpads
No question, the result was toe-tapping as it should be but
the Shure didn't quite serve up the crispness and treble sparkle that I was
hoping for. In fact cymbals sounded suppressed - not the result you'd expect
given the measured performance but something in the SRH1840's makeup removed a
little pizzazz, a little joie de vivre from this quintessentially, breathlessly
fun piece of music.
A mild clouding
The next track I chose was Gretchen Peters' ‘Hello Cruel
World' [Proper Records PRPCD094], where she bemoans being damaged goods but
gives the clear impression of being steely enough, beneath that harsh
self-assessment, to do damage herself. This is nothing like as good a recording
as the Stockfisch, becoming rather congested in the choruses, but that only
made more apparent the overlaying sense of mild clouding which the SRH1840
'phones imposed.
Again the cymbals could have been crisper, and Peters'
sibilants were dialled back a little. As before there was no sense of manifest
departures from a pretty even tonal balance, but neither was there the
crystalline transparency that ought by rights to accompany it.
Comfort levels are
high not just due to the low mass but with important contributions from low
head clamping force and generously proportioned, soft earpads
If anything, this impression of compromised resolution was even
greater when I turned to classical programme and one of my favourite old
recordings: Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Sir Ralph Richardson
and conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent (ripped from Decca 458 595-2). This is a
recording of contrasts in which the odd-sounding narration, very clearly made
in a much smaller space, jars with the wonderfully wide and deep image of the
orchestra, and where cross-fades from one to the other are only made more
obvious by low frequency background noise in Kingsway Hall which ebbs and flows
with adjustment of the sliders.
In the good bits - the orchestral passages - the recording
is one to make the uninitiated wonder at the sound quality that could be
achieved all those decades ago but the SRH1840 didn't provide the best
advertisement for this, again due to its sense of veiling. This was nowhere
more evident than on Peter's familiar theme in the strings, which didn't evince
the lushly vibrant sound that I know Decca captured.
Shure SRH1840
parts
Missing magic dust
The same effect was also heard, albeit less obviously, in
the opening bars of Vaughan Williams' Oboe Concerto played by the RLPO under
Vernon Handley, with Jonathan Small as soloist [EMI Eminence 57531 12].
I'd heard an excellent performance of this piece in our
local church by Michal Rogalski and Red Note Ensemble a fortnight before and
still had the trademark VW string harmonies and hauntingly beautiful solo part
fresh in my mind. No mere recording could be expected to compete with that, of course,
but it was again notable that while the SRH1840 sounded smooth, clean and
unexaggerated it couldn't quite convey the luminous string sound and clarity in
the upper register of the oboe of which I know this recording to be capable.
So while the
result was unquestionably listenable and enjoyable, it lacked that final
sprinkling of magic
By the time I called up the Oscar Peterson Trio's ‘You Look
Good to Me' (24/88.2 conversion from a rip of the Verve SACD) I pretty well
knew what to expect. Ray Brown's bowed and plucked double-bass was kept
strictly in proportion and never allowed to overwhelm proceedings, but
overtones were suppressed in the bowed string sound and Ed Thigpen's bells and
cymbals didn't ring out with full- bandwidth authority.
Verdict
There’s a lot to like about Shure’s top-of-the-range
headphone. The 1840 is light, comfortable, promises years of reliable service
and comes as welcome relief from a recent review diet of bloated bass and/or
denuded presence band. Shure’s determination to shun fashion and deliver a
neutral tonal balance is admirable. In fact it would be an unblemished success
story, but for the shortfall in transparency.
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Specifications
·
Sensitivity (SPL at 1kHz for IVrms input): 108.6dB
·
Impedance modulus min/max (20Hz-20kHz): 62.0ohm @ 20Hz; 73.2ohm
@ 20kHz
·
Capsule matching (40Hz-10kHz): ±4.2dB
·
LF extension (-6dB ref. 200Hz): 32Hz
·
Distortion 100Hz/1kHz (for 90dB SPL): 4.0% / <0.1%
·
Weight (inc cable and 0.25in connector): 318g
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