Clarity: The nature of this kind of tuning creates some muffled sound. However, Shure did a superb job making these sound very clear. While not as clear as SRH940, I feel that for this kind of tuning, this is as clear as it's going to get(for the respective price).

Though the SRH1540 ships with two detachable cables, neither has an inline remote or mic. The implication seems clear: These headphones are for listening to music, not talking to friends. It's an odd choice, however, since one cable could have been equipped with a remote and one not, a common configuration for headphones recently.The alcantara for the pads, makes a difference. I thought the velour pads were comfy, but not that much when you compare with alcantara. They sound fine with most musics. No "wow" factor, I didn't find them superior with a particular genre. However no "glaring flaw". The bass is a bit emphasized, but I get used to it after some listening. The sound signature is relaxing, non-fatiguing, but I don't get bored either. In comparison, the srh940 sound more "exciting" , with a more present treble. The shr940 sounds more "alive", and I thought it work well with metal , or industrial music. Exceptional comfort comes from the dual frame assembly and large Alcantara covered ear pads fitted with memory-type foam. With a dual frame assembly you get a comfortable fit and less pressure on the top of your head, while the large pads fit comfortably around your ears and provide long-term comfort without excessive pressure or heat build up. The bottom end of the 1540s' frequency range is 5Hz, and despite being two octaves below our nominal hearing limit it certainly feels so; it's like wearing a sub on your head. The sound quality is superb and makes our 'pro' pair sound a bit sludgy and veiled. In fact when we took the 1540s off with the monitors running we noticed a lot less difference than we're used to.

Two detachable cables. I don’t really understand why they supplied two identical cables. I would’ve preferred the cables be different in length, for some variety and versatility. Richard Strauss (Mester-Pasadena) - Also Sprach Zarathustra (opening) (Classical): The granddaddy of bass is in the opening 1:50 of this recording, and I've heard it only once on a large and expensive loudspeaker system in Cleveland. For most people, that experience would be indistinguishable from being in a fairly strong earthquake. The SRH1540 conveys as much of that experience as is possible on headphones. The tympani also have excellent impact here. For anyone arguing that they just need a 'burn in' time - the sound signature on mine has not changed much after hundreds of hours of use and in my opinion if you are hoping they will 'improve', they wont.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. Overall, I really like the SRH1540. It takes what I liked about the sound of its SRH840 sibling and does it better in just about every way. Better bass. More balanced mids. Smooth, detailed highs. Greater sense of space and instrument separation. If you like the SRH840, you’ll likely love the SRH1540, except for its price, but we’ll get to that later. They give you extra Alcantara Pads! Also included, but not in the picture is an extra set of cables. Great accessories, as expected of Shure.

We’re used to big boxes like the one the SRH1540 came in, but we’re not used to seeing a case of the same size sitting inside. This was our first indication that Shure took the SRH1540 pretty seriously, and that we probably should too. The case is the sort that you might expect to get with high-end studio monitor headphones (but never do), designed with protection and storage in mind first, and portability a distant second. 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) I own the l300. Most electrostats are overrated. The perceived clarity is an aberration. PM me if you want to learn more.

Our only criticism is that the low mids feel a bit dominated by the deep bass extension and clarity - a masking effect due to our own auditory expectations and preferences. Premium in all ways Detail: SRH940 was praised for it's details. In fact, they had more detail then SRH1840. I feel like SRH1540 is closer to SRH940 in terms of detail. Stunning details. In a way, it reminded me of my UERMs, the most detail audio gear I've owned. They manage to portray micro details without forcing them. vsSRH1840: SRH1540 are obviously very different from SRH1840. SRH1840 have more flat sound. Both are superb. SRH1840 has better soundstage and imaging, while SRH1540 has better bass capability and detail. The bass is detailed and present but not forward and rampant I like bass so this isn’t the best sounding set of headphones for me in terms of sound. In particularly bassy songs such as limit to your love from James Blake there is ample bass and sub bass that rumbles, hits hard and makes my skull reverberate as it should. So, the bass isn’t anywhere near as bad as the qc15s and the bass Is certainly there, I just feel like its hiding. The Mids are clear and slightly pronounced, I feel that they can be in your face at some points in songs such as in atmospheres sugar some of the instruments feel too loud in comparison to everything else. The highs are also to emphasised for my liking and this is probably the worst part as they are very present and sometimes painful James Blake retrograde stands out as probably one of the worst as he really hits some painful high notes which I am a tad sensitive to. At Shure we pride ourselves on great design and the SRH1540 is undoubtedly one of the most comfortable headphones we've ever made. The headband is extremely ergonomic and lightweight, which when combined with the ultrasoft Alcantara® earpads makes for a headphone that virtually disappears.