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Sudan, Juba
1 Level
766 Review
58 Karma

Review on SMH-1000 Pro Field & Studio Monitor Headphones by Senal by Jesse Nell

Revainrating 5 out of 5

SMH should stand for Shake My Head.

I've been collecting headphones for a long time. My experience is based on the following devices: AKG K551, DT770, ATH MSR7, Modhouse Audio Argon, AKG K240S, AKG K240DF, Ultimate Ears UE6000, SRH440, JBL S500, Sony MDR ZX701ip and, by far the best comparison, MDR7506. Senals are the worst of them, both in assembly and in sound. First, it is definitely a clone of MDR7506. They last forever and I think they would if they were better designed. My headband was missing a screw. A foam ring is sloppily glued under the ear pads around the 7506 driver, a 5-year-old child could glue it better. Speaking of ear pads, although the cup itself is the same size as the 7506, there's no ear pad. They are much, much smaller. The 7506's ear pads were up for me, these were up. I understand the SMH1200 has larger pads but they are twice the price. So to the sound. where to start you are hurt a lot of. There is splash in the mid-range, masking all transparency in the mids and highs. The opening guitar to "Anna Molly" is a great test because every pair of headphones interprets the mids differently. The SMH-1000 decides to turn this colorful introduction into a monotonous hum. It really has never sounded so bad. High frequencies are reduced, but they are also missing. They call it "relaxed," but unlike the K551s or UE6000, they're not detailed either. No Doubt's "Spiderwebs" usually has a lot of layers in the chorus, and I didn't hear a single detail in it. Finally bass. Unlike the frequency response on the box, they are not elongated and tasteless. Run the Jewels' "Talk to Me" sounds like it's coming out of a cheap second-hand speaker. It's not even a "studio monitor" sound. I've heard my mate's M40x, my mate's HD280, and my 7506/SRH440 and none of them sounded that inaccurate. Every time I tried changing pads, HM5s, Shures, MDR 7506s, etc. all sounded worse. Avoid at all costs. They don't even cost $30 let alone the $75 they charge.

Pros
  • Satisfied so far
Cons
  • Zero