Packaging and Closer Look
Master & Dynamic sent me the MH40 together with a headphone stand (sold separately as an accessory). You get a very nice sturdy white box with a picture of the MH40 in front of the box. Overall, I would say the packaging and unboxing experience was pretty good. It felt premium and as you open the box it smells like you are opening a brand new leather shoes. Probably it’s just me, or the smell may be caused by the leather material used on the headphone. But I love the smell and it smells new. You probably get what I mean.
The package includes a standard 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable (2 meters in length), another 3.5mm cable that comes with a remote and mic (1.25 meters in length), a 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter, a carrying pouch and some reading materials.
Sliding the inner box out and flipping its top cover reveals the MH40 cradled on a semi-hard foam. As you can see from the photo above, the headphone is well secured since the foam is molded based on the MH40’s shape.
The carrying pouch (or canvas headphone case) is nothing fancy at all. Really simple looking and the opening has a magnetic strip that acts as a lock for the pouch. The pouch is enough to protect it from surface scratch, but I don’t think it’s enough to protect the headphone from a fall.
Above is the Master & Dynamic MH40 headphone hanging on its steel stand. The stand is available in silver and black by the way. You can click on the images for a larger view.
The Master & Dynamic MH40 is a closed back headphone even though it looks like a (semi) open back. The design of the MH40 is quite unique; for me it looks modern at the same time classic, making it elegant looking and stylish. The exterior surface of the headband is covered with a premium grain cowhide, you can feel texture of the surface as you touch it. While underneath the headband, the one that touches your head, is covered with a soft lambskin. It feels smooth and nice to touch, but I think the padding is a little bit thin for me, considering the weight of the headphone.
Notice that there are two 3.5mm plug on both ear cups, this means that you can plug the cable on either side or you can connect another headphone on the available port for music sharing. Also, there is a mute all button located near the hinge on the right ear cup. You should be able to see that from the left-hand picture above.
The ear cup harness, hinge and adjustment post is made out of stainless steel components. The adjustment post doesn’t click when you slide it, but you need a little force to slide it up or down. Another thing to note is that the hinge has a spring that puts the ear cups back to its original position whenever you tilt it downwards and release it.
The MH40 features a removable and replaceable memory foam ear pads with lambskin covering. The pads are really soft and comfortable, and the surface texture is really smooth as well. The ear pads are magnetized so you only need to gently pull the ear pads to remove it. It’s hard to see the 45mm Neodymium drivers from this angle, even in actual, since there is a thin black layer protecting the internal parts in the earcups.
Let’s proceed to the next page and find out how the MH40 headphone sounds like…
