I can confidently say that the SRH1540 takes the comfort level up several notches. The SRH1540 has a sleek modern design that maintains a similar overall shape as the SRH840 but trades in the heavy molded plastics and oversize headband for slimmed down aluminum and flashy carbon fiber bits. While you lose the ability to fold the headphones for transportation, you gain looks and weight savings (a claimed 286g versus my SRH840 that weighed in at 376g pre-mods and 324g post-mods). This puts the SRH1540 in the same weight class as the HD650 and TH600. Grieg (Beecham-Royal Philharmonic) - Peer Gynt-Solveig's Lullaby (Classical): This very old (late 1950's) stereo recording must have been made on the most expensive gear in the world, since the overall sound quality and especially Ilse Hollweg's amazing voice are as close to "being there" as I've heard with some of the better classical recordings made since the year 2000. The SRH1540 makes this an outstanding listen.

The frequency response delivered by SRH1540's makes for a great listening experience, and they're some of the most comfortable headphones you'll wear. However, despite the cheaper price point, the SRH940's are still the most accurate model on offer. To summarise, it's likely you'll prefer the 940 in your studio, and the 1540 for your Hi-Fi. SRH940: Previous flagship from Shure.(http://www.head-fi.org/t/665919/100-300-headphones-review-ath-m50-vs-ath-ad700-vs-hd598-vs-srh940-vs-dt1350-vs-v6-vs-modded-v6-vs-bose-oe-updated-6-19-13#post_9481088)

Shure Sets Another Benchmark in Comfort and Accuracy!

And you’ll want them to last as long as possible – the Shures perform superbly. You only need a moment with them to appreciate their dynamic and diligently detailed sound. If you are familiar with the SRH1840s, then you shouldn't have problems loving the build of the 1540s. They are just excellent. I mean, "aircraft-grade" aluminum alloy, steel, carbon fiber construction, they might seem like buzz words but once you hold them in your hands you cannot deny that they feel like a premium headset. Best of all, they are EXTREMELY light! I don't doubt that these could withstand abuse and the test of time. Really. Design, again similar to their previous offerings. These look good without going extremely utilitarian nor too flashy. But I'm pretty sure that people will still talk about how they look once on your head. Shure still uses the same system when extending the headband and it looks like instead of extending down, they extend sideways and you look like a dork with them on! LOL sorry, but that's what I think anyway but maybe it's just me since I really have more of a long-ish head than round-ish... Even with this caveat though, comfort is top-notch. They made a great decision by going with the Alcantara pads. Trust me, going from something like the Alpha Dogs to the Shure's is like night and day. I rate the Alpha's very high in comfort factor but the 1540s take the cake because of their light weight! The 1540’s sound signature will appeal to v-shaped headphone fast who like a lively bass and treble response. The midrange is its weak point, though it isn’t a gaping void like some v-shaped headphones can tend to be. I listened only for a short time but I felt hd800 and focal clear had very well defined tone edges (read dynamics/transients). Need to listen to them again. hd820 was a bit polarizing. Had amazing treble and dynamics, mids were off. I fiddled around wiht the fit and when I got them to sound coherent, isolation fell flat. Didn't know what to say.

Additional pair of Alcantara pads. I greatly appreciate this more than anything else, as it would allow me to use the pads with other headphones. The 1540’s treble range is generally smooth with good extension and air. At about 8khz, it ramps up to a non-fatiguing, 10khz treble peak, which softens up while continuing to extend to about 13khz, before smoothing over and becoming non-distinct. I forgot to cover this at the beginning. The isolation on SRH1540 is decent. It's not superb like on ears like DT1350 or Momentum, but they still manage to give decent isolation. The leakage is also fair. There is some leakage at high volumes, but I use my SRH1540 in classrooms without disturbing others, so it's not too bad.Pads, extremely comfortable but probably the reason why isolation is not super great and sounds leaks.

SRH1540 is rather easy to drive. These are usable with iPods, but definitely benefits with good source. I recommend solid state amp, as these already have a bass boost with rich mids. As with SRH940, these are not affected by AK100's 22ohm output impedance. SRH1540 pairs well with AK100 and UHA-6S.MKII. Amping is recommended, but not necessary. Using AK100, I've concluded that a good DAC benefits the SRH1540 quite a bit as well, kind of like SRH940. After two years of listening to Shure’s SRH840 headphone nearly every workday, I decided it was finally time for an upgrade. Not so much because the SRH840 isn’t a good headphone ( you can read my review here), but more because I wanted something different. I've heard LCD2F and lcd2c (non fazor). LCD2F didn't have anything good. Lcd2c was amazing for stuff like piano key strokes. They had something great in the lower range. Micro dynamics were very blurred but macro dynamics and were amazing. But they weren't that detailed in mids or treble (but that's not what you look for either). Zippered Hard Storage Case. Very functional, and holds all the goodies. Certainly one of the better included cases, though I would’ve liked a handle. I can simulate l300 on any decent dynamic driver. I'm just keeping the l300 to measure and prove my point.

HiFiMan Ananda

Ana Victoria - Roxanne (Pop Vocal): Spacious sound, good bass tone and impact, and the vocal sounds very natural. Excellent reproduction by the SRH1540. The problem with most full-sized headphones we test is that their large size and weight usually make them a little cumbersome, and eventually uncomfortable to wear. Sennheiser’s HD800wereimpossible to forget you had on. With the Audeze LCD3, we just felt it would be best for us to sit still. Even the V-Moda Crossfade M-100 had enough clamping force at play that we’d ultimately need a rest. Between headphones and earphones, there's a range of driver styles. In headphones, the most common option is the dynamic driver—headphones typically only employ a single full-range driver in each earcup’s enclosure. In recent years, audiophiles have gotten excited about planar magnetic drivers, which use a magnetic field to vibrate a large (compared with a dynamic driver) flat surface area. Planar magnetic drivers are typically sought after for their ability to deliver high levels of detail throughout the frequency range with very little distortion and a highly accurate bass response. Like the even less common (and far more expensive) electrostatic drivers, the enclosures for these headphones are often large and not really ideal for wearing out of the house. Many earphones that employ planar magnetic drivers look rather bulky and odd as well. Bonus: The ear pads on all Shure headphones are interchangeable. Hence, I tried velour pads from SRH940 and put them on the SRH1540. The bass was tamed a bit, and treble gained bit more presence, making the SRH1540 a more flat sounding headphone. Definitely worth a try if you want a flatter sound. SRH1540 pads on SRH940 increases bass and tames the treble, making SRH940 a more balanced headphone as well.