iCans

[haloxt]

Tried my ~300 hours iCans on an iriver h120 mp3 player, ht omega claro halo soundcard and audio-gd compass, and the iCans don't really benefit from better equipment. I think Ultrasone was serious when they said

These headphones have been specially designed and developed for iPod, MP3 players and other portable sound devices.

Out of the mp3 player it's like 85%+ of what I get out of my home system. I think the iCans fake small detail, such as the resonance of instruments and bass, but since it does this it is unable to reproduce real detail it just mushes it and so the three different setups I've tried sound quite similar. With HFI-2200 and Pro 900 I could distinguish easily between the mp3 player and the compass. I only recommend using the iCans out of an mp3/cd player.

I've been constantly amazed with my iCans on my almost month-long vacation, so much so I don't really mind that it is open anymore in fact sometimes I even had it on while talking to people with low volume you can hear people almost as good as if you weren't wearing headphones. Just as soon as Ultrasone makes peace with NS&L I'll buy a couple Zino's for my sister and nephews .

[jpelg]

Can anyone (Ultrasone???) confirm or deny that HFI-450, HFI-15G, and the iCans share the same Mylar driver?

[ultrapaul]

Originally Posted by jpelg

Can anyone (Ultrasone???) confirm or deny that HFI-450, HFI-15G, and the iCans share the same Mylar driver?

The HFI-15G and the HFI-450 both have the same 40mm Mylar driver. The HFI-15G is an open model, the HFI-450 is a closed model.

The iCans had a 30mm Mylar driver and were semi-open.

[jpelg]

Originally Posted by ultrapaul

The HFI-15G and the HFI-450 both have the same 40mm Mylar driver. The HFI-15G is an open model, the HFI-450 is a closed model. The iCans had a 30mm Mylar driver and were semi-open.

Thanks Paul!

[mikemap]

I'm a little confused about the "behind the head" aspect of iCans. I read it's supposed to be positioned 30 degrees from vertical. Can anyone comment on how the iCans work when you're lying down on your back with your head on a pillow?

I was thinking about grabbing a pair of these to use for daily work stuff like speech where SQ doesn't matter too much.

[haloxt]

The iCans headband shouldn't have to be put back enough that it gets pressed against the pillow. If you're using it at work, know that it's semi-open, you can hear almost everything outside and it leaks quite a lot of sound out.

[MightyJordan]

Hi there. Sorry to revive an old thread, but I don't want to post a new one when this one's here. :P


I'm getting these headphones soon (I'm getting the Okta variant) as an exchange for my faulty Shure SRH240s. Will these be any good compared to the Shures?

And also, are they durable? I assumed they were after seeing a couple of reviews saying it's better than standard full-size headphones, because it uses a rubberised material instead of PVC plastic, but I just read a review from a user here who says they are very flimsy, which worries me a bit, as I'm a bit of a rough handler with headphones. My last two have been fine, durability-wise (the Shures, and the Sennheiser HD 215s), but then my previous two were Skullcandy ones, which broke fairly easily after just three months of use each.

[haloxt]

It's okay, it may break if you are bending the headband but it is unlikely you will apply such pressure except deliberately.

[MightyJordan]

Originally Posted by haloxt

It's okay, it may break if you are bending the headband but it is unlikely you will apply such pressure except deliberately.

Ahh, that's good to know. I wasn't sure what to make of some durability claims. One reviewer claimed that they bent them 180 degrees and it didn't even make a dent. Sounds farfetched though.

[haloxt]

It's flexible plastic, not sure if there's a piece of metal in there or what.

[MightyJordan]

Originally Posted by haloxt

It's flexible plastic, not sure if there's a piece of metal in there or what.

There probably isn't any metal in there. I've read that it's made of some flexible rubber material. Not sure if that's true though. I'll find out out for myself when they arrive, which may be tomorrow if Royal Mail pull their fingers out and avoid striking for at least a couple of hours.

[JIGF]

Hi guys, I'll be getting soon a couple of portables headphones for a vacation trip, the Ultrasones iCans and the iGrado. Along with them I plan to bring the Nuforce Icon Mobile (wow thats a lot of "i's"). I'll keep you up with what I think of their sound and if any of the two is better.

[MightyJordan]

Oh yeah, I forgot to post my experience with the iCans. In a word, terrible.

The sound quality was about the same as the Koss PortaPros, but these were more flimsy. I had to treat it like it was made of glass, and even despite this, a small mark appeared on the headband not too long after opening them up.

So I sent them back and asked to exchange them for the Sennheiser HD 228s. They were fairly good, but when it came to blocking out external noise, it was about half-way there, the bass was great, but the rest of the sound felt a bit held back. The worst of all for me though is that they wouldn't stay on my head properly, because they're so small and light.

So I sent those back, and after my crusading through different headphones, I ended up getting another pair of the Shure SRH240s. For £40, I can't find anything else that beats it.

[haloxt]

Out of the box my icans sounded like the buds that come with $20 cd players (bad brand of cd player too), and it took 100+ hours of medium volume music for it to even begin to sound proper. Maybe it had something to do with sitting on the store shelves for so many years .