Any Ultrasone alternative to Audio Technica ATH-M50s?

[elitiste]

Hi All,

I posted a thread a week ago asking abut alternatives to Audio Technica ATH-M50 studio monitor headphones that I was thinking about buying. I am looking to get another over-the-head headphone to complement my K702. It’s been suggested that I consider Ultrasone. I unfortunately know very little about its products aside from it’s strong reputation in professional gears. My orginal thread is posted here:
About to buy ATH-M50. Any other cans I should look at?

My requirements are:

• Neutrality, like the K701/702, because I’ll be listening to a wide variety of music
• Portable, smaller and lighter than the K702, most likely collapsible like the ATH-M50
• Easy to drive, does not DEMAND an amp; I would be using it with a portable device like my Sony Ericsson cell phone; I also intend to buy a better PAD soon
• Noise isolation, I will be using it on the street, in an airplane, it will be a closed-back phone for sure
• Decent aesthetics to wear it out on the street or on a bus. This is, of course, highly subjective. That being said, I would say that the K702 is, IMO, not an attractive headphone for outdoors

To be honest, I am a bit concerned about the prices of the Ultrasones however. I understand it’s a “premium” brand in the otherwise no-frills professional world. In comparison, the ATH-M50s can be found on eBay for about USD100. But nonetheless I think I should explore the Ultrasone lineup before I make up my mind. Please let me know if you have any suggestion that would suit my needs. Thanks.

[elitiste]

No love yet? Maybe I should post this under the full-sized headphones section?

[ultraandy]

Hi,

I would recommend Ultrasone HFI-780. It fullfills nearly all your requirements: It is suited and sounds great with all kinds of music.
It is smaller and collapsible like the ATH-M50.
It is easy to drive because of only 35 Ohms.
It is a closed back headphone with good noise isolation, up to 35 dB.
It has a cool and stylish design, silver earcups with metal application and a shiny diamond cut logo. But as you already mentioned, that is highly subjective.
The only thing that is not fullfilled: It is not lighter than the K702.

Hope these lines help.

[elitiste]

Thanks Ultraandy. Have a couple more questions for you:

Are the silver earcups actually made of aluminum or are they plastic cups painted/coated with a metallic finish?

How is the SQ? I heard that they are very bass-heavy? What does the S-logic surround sound technology do to the sound?

[elitiste]

Another question -- where are the HFI-780s made? I heard they are from Taiwan?

[cLy_eVo]

its plastic coated aluminium, not painted, the outer rim of the cup is plastic painted silver, bass is not as heavy as atrios, if you've heard them, yes they have a factory in taiwan, good thing its cheaper producing there

[cLy_eVo]

i've never heard ath-m50, but they are closer to k702 in neutrality than hfi780. hfi 780 is shiny, it ll atract attention if you mind that, go for m50. I though k702 looks nice in the picture than both. btw, ath-m50 has more higher bass while hfi 780 has more lower bass.

[ultrapaul]

Originally Posted by elitiste

Thanks Ultraandy. Have a couple more questions for you:

Are the silver earcups actually made of aluminum or are they plastic cups painted/coated with a metallic finish?

How is the SQ? I heard that they are very bass-heavy? What does the S-logic surround sound technology do to the sound?

There is an aluminum plate covering the ear-cup. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to create the logo on it the way that we did.

The HFI-780's have a freq. resp. of 10Hz-26kHz.

Every day, you use your outer ear to determine direction and distance of various sounds. S-Logic uses the same principals as nature by taking the sound coming out of the headphones and bouncing it off of your outer ear to create a true and natural perception of where the engineer wants you to be hearing those sounds.

If you have anymore questions, you can also contat us direct at infoteam@ultrasone.com

Happy listening

[jojo_b2]

One thing to note w/ Ultrasones is the BASS it's very deep. For some this may be alot also. Since you dont have a price you can try the Proline 750s and the Pro-line 900 they have a fair share of reviews here at headfi. I loved my 750s before my brother wnated it for himself. ='/

If you like the M50 alot you can also try Sony CD900st. they are also monitoring cans. They are very transparent like most monitoring cans. =)

[Benaiir]

Well, I liked my 2200ULE. Its sound seperation was amazing. It like... Edited the sound itself.

[cLy_eVo]

2200ule is also more comfortable than hfi780... i wish i could use the hfi 2200ule on the hfi780... huh