Shure SRH 940 Audiophile Headphone

SRH940 to DT880: Starting from the bottom and climbing up the frequency curve, there is slightly less perceivable bass but equal bass quality--not a midbass hole as others have claimed but more akin to a bass roll off of 3-5 decibels, from 40 Hz to 20 Hz, dependent on snugness and position. Its midrange is very lifelike--a farcry from the DT880's slight U-shaped mid-reserved soundscape--certainly one of its highlights, a step up quality and quantity-wise. Its treble has a electrostatic-like quality just like the DT880, except without that model's polarizing ice pick curve and artificiality, instead actually extending further in airiness and spaciousness, a natural result of its control and finesse. Aside from its sonic fingerprint, its build holds up well under daily use and, being sealed, it passively isolates external noise so you can have an on-the-go audiophile sanctuary on the daily commute or 40,000 feet up. In the bundle, it also comes with a handy foam zipper case, complete with extra pads, a straight cable and a coiled cable, with room to spare for a Fiio E17 and perhaps a mp3/mp4 player inside.

How does this stack up compared to the DT880s on drop?

I prefer the Shure SRH 940 by a long shot to the K701 and, by extension, to the SRH840 and certainly the K550. It is astoundingly very linear with a hair of excitement of 1 to 2 decibels of treble in the 8 to 14 kHz range and a slight dip in the lower bass by 3-4 decibels starting from 50 Hz to 20 Hz. Unless you are bass fiend or preferences lie with an artistically warm sound, these are some of the best headphones under $1000. Bear in mind that this assessment was made over years with countless Beyerdynamic, Grado, Sennheiser and even HiFiMAN headphones I have either bought or used for hours each on an individual and head-to-head comparison basis.