Shure is definitely not the brand that comes to mind when talking about professional headphones. It’s all the more surprising how cleverly they broke into the professional acoustics market in the late 2000s. At first, many professionals treated them with distrust, but the ice gradually melted and the classic on-ear headphones from the SRH series became regular guests of studio tops and personal recommendations on the Gearslutz and KVR forums. They have all the characteristics of professional headphones, such as a comfortable headband, thick ear pads or a replaceable cable, at the same time, they rarely feature fashionable trends such as algorithmic noise reduction or support for Hi-Res codecs.


The model range of the SRH series looks very diverse and here, for example, you can find both relatively simple home models a la SRH240, and professional DJ headphones of the SRH550DJ level with the obligatory rotating cups. To maintain its reputation, Shure designers pay special attention to quality and comfort in design, striving to ensure that the headphones sit comfortably on the head during long recording or mixing sessions, so that they do not color the sound too much or break from being dropped or poked. In terms of materials, in most cases a classic design with a metal frame coated with high-quality leatherette is used. At the same time, the SRH series sometimes features premium headphones a la the SRH1540 with carbon fiber-reinforced structures and Alcantara trim, which is usually used to cover Rolls-Royces and SpaceX space shuttles.

The unofficial head of this family for almost 15 years has been the Shure SRH840 model, which perfectly reveals all the features of this line. These are classic closed-back wired headphones with a foldable design, a detachable cable and 40mm dynamic drivers. Their strong point is an extremely smooth frequency response, characteristic of more expensive and high-status models. At the same time, they sound lively and interesting; they are not characterized by the excessive stinginess and neutrality of classic monitor headphones, the main purpose of which is to find and correct roughness in the mix. For a modest $150, the potential owner of the SRH840 essentially gets a 2-in-1 model that is perfect for both home recording and music listening.