New Shure Open Back Headphone

It seems like even until today, their new open back headphone is still in Coming Soon status. Most probably their date of December 6^th as stated in the Shure Japan twitter is more of a launch date or introductory date instead of releasing them into the markets. At least their information about the new open headphone already has been released.

So far I still haven’t seen any status updates on their US website yet (Shure is a US brand and it is weird for them to not update them first hand), but their UK site and the Asian site already has been updated. Both sites is still in coming soon status as of today and no official words on the released date yet except for available in winter 2012. If it is not release in the first quarter of 2012, then the consumer have to wait till the end of 2012 to get them. This is a bad news for both Shure and consumers if it is released on the end of 2012. But judging from UK site that has already gotten their price and both the Asian and UK site that already have their new open back headphone included in the link together with their other headphones, most probably they will be released in this few months.

At first many have not thought about there are two open headphone released by Shure because their teaser photo only shown one headphones. But it is now confirmed that there are two open back headphones that will follow the naming scheme from their first closed back headphones. The cheaper version of their open back headphone is the Shure SRH 1440 and most probably will be their midrange open back if they followed their previous headphone in giving model numbering. Their flagship that is shown in the teaser photo released by Shure Japan has a model number of Shure SRH 1840 like their previous closed back the SRH 840.

The Asian site does not have price information so now I only have information of the price from their UK site only. There is one issue with the open back is that their pricing is much higher than their previous closed back flagship, Shure SRH 940 which should put them in the higher tier headphone as Hifiman HE-6, HE-500, Audeze LCD-2, Sennheiser HD800, Beyerdynamic T1, T5P region for their flagship open back headphone. Now we can only hope that the Shure hybrid that have the looks of so many high end headphones could really at least be on par if not defeating them, at least judging from their higher tier pricing. The price in Euro for the entry level open back Shure SRH 1440 is £ 406.80/ US $630.54 which are still higher than their SRH 940 that sold for £ 249.00/ US $385.95. The prices of SRH 1840 on the other hand have a higher tier pricing of £ 598.80 or US $926.84

Both the headphone will have dual entry removable cable instead of single entry, which should allowed for a more even distribution of sound as well as not suffering from poorer cable that loop from the left to right (for single entry cable) if one choose to upgrade to a high end cable. Besides the upgrade from single to dual entry, both the headphones will also get the same hard storage case as the SRH 940 but with probably slight changes in the looks. (Not sure about this part because the hard case for both SRH 1440, SRH 1840 is HPACC2 instead of HPACC1 for the SRH 940 that looks a bit different)

Specs

Shared a Similar Headband with SRH 940

Shure SRH 1440

• Transducer Type: Dynamic, Neodym-Magnet
• Driver size: 40 mm
• Sensitivity: 101 dB SPL/mW
• Impedance: 37 Ω
• Max. input power: 1000 mW
• Frequency range: 15 Hz - 27 kHz
• Net weight (without cable): 343 g
• Cable length: 2.1 m
• Type of cable: Dual-exit, detachable oxygen-free copper
• Plug: Gold-plated 1/8” (3.5 mm) stereo mini jack

Have various hybrid looks as stated in the previous post. Most noticeable is the T50/DT1350 headband.

Shure SRH 1840

• Transducer Type: Dynamic, Neodymium-Magnet
• Driver size: 40 mm
• Sensitivity : 96 dB SPL/mW
• Impedance: 65 Ω
• Max. input power: 1000 mW
• Frequency range: 10 Hz - 30 kHz
• Net weight (without cable): 268 g
• Cable length: 2.1 m
• Type of cable: Dual-exit, detachable oxygen-free copper
• Plug: Gold-plated 1/8” (3.5 mm) stereo mini jack

• Threaded ¼” Adapter (Part No: HPAQA1)
• Replacement Dual-Exit Detachable Cable (Part No: HPASCA2)
• Replacement Ear Pads (Part No: HPAEC1840)
• Zippered Storage Case (Part No: HPACC2)

QUICK FACTS AS RELEASED BY SHURE UK.

• The SRH1440 is suited for recording applications delivering full-range audio with rich bass. Its open back, circumaural design offers an exceptional natural sound, a wide stereo image and increased depth of field.
• The new flagship headphones SRH1840 feature individually matched drivers for unparalleled acoustic performance with smooth, extended highs and accurate bass, appealing to studio pros as well as audio enthusiasts.

As usual, their impressions of their own products are not too accurate of their own products so do take these words from Shure with a grain of salt and wait for reviews of the final products to be released on the net. I’m not saying that they are poor or bad sounding as compared to their impression; it’s just that it is not an accurate representation of how their products will sound.