So what's the word on the new Ultrasone HFI-780????

[ajjekko]

I just got these with the velour pads and they're amazing. However, they feel very tight and clampy. They're comfortable for 5-30 minutes before they hurt my head. Is this normal, will it improve with use?

[sbulack]

Originally Posted by ajjekko

I just got these with the velour pads and they're amazing. However, they feel very tight and clampy. They're comfortable for 5-30 minutes before they hurt my head. Is this normal, will it improve with use?

It is normal, and it will improve with use. To help reduce the time it takes to improve, find a box about the width of your own head, or even just a little wider, and place the headphones on the box for the hours that they are not on your head - until, when the headphones are on your head, they feel better. The headphones conform to the dimensions of your head (or the box) they are on, and the clamping force reduces with use to just a pleasant snugness.

[ajjekko]

They already fit better after about two hours
I love these cans.

[ajjekko]

Sorry for double post.
Don't know how that happened.

[M3NTAL]

They already fit better after about two hours
I love these cans.

[haloxt]

If you want to stretch the headband, I highly recommend stretching the headband in this way, it is safer than using a book. It is halfway through the manual.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/2821957-post2902.html

[Del Griffith]

Those who find the highs harsh...Is it grado-ish highs or triple.fi highs etc? I want some big bass with clear highs. I love my triple.fi highs and want some full size with big bass and similar highs to the trips. Dt770 just didn't thrill me. I can get them for $149 shipped and would not want to recable due to extra cost.

[sbulack]

Originally Posted by Del Griffith

Those who find the highs harsh...Is it grado-ish highs or triple.fi highs etc? I want some big bass with clear highs. I love my triple.fi highs and want some full size with big bass and similar highs to the trips. Dt770 just didn't thrill me. I can get them for $149 shipped and would not want to recable due to extra cost.

I first bought stock HFI-780, and, after about 250 hours of use, decided that they were worth the recable. But, I put in some careful listening to them stock and I can offer you my observations about their highs. My first observation has been made repeatedly by folks who have commented on the HFI-780 highs - they are NOT as forward as Grado highs. I, too, really enjoy the clarity of the highs of my IEM's (ER4S and SE530). And, I have to say that the HFI-780 highs are not as clear and pure as those highs. I've never heard the triple.fi so I cannot make that comparison. My own take on the highs of the HFI-780 is that they provide a well-matched counterpoint to the qualities of the bass in the stock can. They ARE clean, clear highs, to my ear (using a MAD Ear+ Purist HD tube amp, and a Purity Audio Caliente), AND they are attention-getting enough to be heard well through the abundant bass of the HFI-780. More forward than the highs of a good IEM (which tend toward bass-liteness or bass-neutrality), but a good bit less forward than the highs of a Grado (and I enjoy the highs of a Grado, when driven with adequate current). These are my observations of the stock HFI-780 vis-a-vis the question about their highs.

Anyway, I did NOT find the highs of the HFI-780 to be harsh. I went ahead with the ALO mod/recable because I could hear the unclaimed potential in the stock cans and wanted to claim it. And, I'm not disappointed at all. It was a very good investment in a fine listening instrument.

For what is obtained from a stock HFI-780, the $149 shipped you can get them for is a good, solid value. By the way, is that $149, plus some "helium-filled shower curtain rings" (Del Griffith)? I would liken the quality of this stock phone to be at the level of a Grado SR225 (though different) with elements of what I really enjoy about the HD650 (though even more so, with the HFI-780). I found that it took about 250 hours of use to get this can to where I was hearing what it could really deliver - and I liked it. No need to rehash what that is here, though. It's been posted repeatedly by the pioneers who blazed the trail on this once-new-and-unknown set of phones.

[Del Griffith]

Thanks for the info! I pulled the trigger a few hrs ago. Looking forward to hearing them. I laughed good at the "helium filled" rings comment. You are one of the few who ever knew where the name came from. lol..

[sbulack]

Originally Posted by Del Griffith

Thanks for the info! I pulled the trigger a few hrs ago. Looking forward to hearing them. I laughed good at the "helium filled" rings comment. You are one of the few who ever knew where the name came from. lol..

I'm glad that you found the comment funny, rather than annoying. Whenever I see your screen name, it brings back memories of Del and gives me a good laugh as well.
Here's to your enjoying the HFI-780 as much as those of us who have posted with enthusiasm about it.
FWIW, I was listening again today using my Shure SE530, and the highs with it CAN be more forward than I was thinking earlier, in addition to their being as pure and lovely as I was thinking earlier as well, depending on the material. So, I think that the highs of the HFI-780 (stock) ARE more like those of the SE530 than I had posted above. I just hope that means they are like those of the triple.fi, which you seek. It would be of interest to me to know your comparison, once you've heard the HFI-780, well-used.

[Del Griffith]

Thanks so much again. I will report my opinions after I receive them and after lots of burn-in time.

[crezo]

Thought this might be the best place to ask as there's so many 780 users in this thread.

I just got a pair in the post today after reading these forums for the last few weeks, and I love them. probably spent the best part of £500 over the last few years trying many different sets on in ears trying to find something with good bass and still some clarity and brightness up top... kicking myself for not going for some proper cans sooner. But all ended good in the end.

My problem is that they feel very loose around the head... as in the ear cups don't seem very tight around my head, despite altering the headband sliders etc. Is there anyway to tighten them up at all?

Feel free to call me a complete idiot here, but literally just touching the back of cans is all it take to get a better seal and DRAMATICALLY improves the sound, the mids are sounding a bit washed out right now.

Any ideas? I've heard a lot of people saying these are quite tight for them, but apparently it's just the top part of my head that is quite wide, not all of it!

And thanks again to all who have contributed to this thread, you've made me a VERY happy man

[haloxt]

This is the instructions for adjusting the headband, be careful not to touch the sections of the headband to the left and right of the middle section. I'd also recommend you to adjust sliders so pressure is applied equally on all parts of the earpads.

Grasp the headband, with both thumbs facing each other across this top section. Align the remaining fingers along the underside of the headband. Push firmly, directly downward with the thumbs, while simultaneously pulling outward and upward with the fingers evenly, taking extreme care not to stress the “joints”* on either side of the rubberized midsection where it meets the two more plasticky outer thirds of the headband (the blue sides depicted in the photo above). Don’t overdo it; a little movement in this manner eases a good deal of clamping force. If, for some reason, the result is insufficient, repeat the process, going just a bit further until satisfactory results are achieved. This method is reversible if more clamping is desired.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/2821957-post2902.html

[crezo]

so basically bend the ****ers! That's high tech for you Thanks I'll try not to break them tonight.

[jiddu]

New HFI-780 owner here,

I'm in love.