Ultrasone HFI780 ALO Mod

[Jaw007]

Originally Posted by Jalo

I received my alo-780 on Wednesday of this week. Right out of the box I immediately started the burn in process. But as you all know, it is hard not to "peek" to see what it sounded like right out of the box. I did not like it a bit. I was rather disappointed throughout the first day. Almost feel like wanted to sell it right away. It sounded very bright, grainny, harsh, not a bit enjoyable at all. I compared it to my GS 1000 w/ black dragon recable (about 120 hrs). The GS 1000 are so refine, resolute, lively, musical and enjoyable. Even when the GS 1000 was right out of the box, it sounded better than the alo-780. Since Wednesday, I have put about 55 hrs. on the alo-780, now my faith in the alo-780 has redeemed quite a bit. The floor is a lot more quiet. The separation of sound is a lot more refine and clear. Bass is more tight and define, sound stage is still not as good as the GS1000, but it may never match up to the GS1k in this area. But at least I am seeing what everyone is talking about regarding the journey with the 780. I feel sorry for the owner of the stock 780 because they may have to go a long way before this thing settle down and it is hard on the owner. I am burning it in 20 hours a day. The changes from the first day to the second day to the third day is no laughing matter. I do not understand why a phone need to go through so much change before it settles down. My HD 600, GS 1000 did not have to go through such dramatic changes. But at least it is all going the right direction. I still have thoughts of sell the alo-780 and buying the UE9. I will have the chance to listen to the UE9 in a week or two and I'll decide if I will get the UE9 after that.

I hope you are not using compressed music ,because the 780's will bring out the bad sound of compressed music.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Yeah, I PM'd Ken a while back about a PL2500 recable and he was working on the PL750 at the time, but I don't get to tell anyone before Ken - takes away all the fun of it

[Morph201]

Ken!!!!

but right off the bat they are more mello, smoother and a bit easier on the ear than the 780s. Very nice though. I know there is a pretty substantial burn in so I am going to hold on the report.

Now when you say that, what type of 780s are you referring to (i.e. alo modded, stock, burned in, etc..)???

[penger]

They look like pro 750's to me too. Ultrasone

[Jaw007]

Originally Posted by KB

I only plan to make a few of these, unless I get arm bent by people. I am burning in a pair right now. The work to mod them was much harder than the 780 mod, and I used more material for the internal work. They are quite different than the 780s. Still getting some impressions, but right off the bat they are more mello, smoother and a bit easier on the ear than the 780s. Very nice though. I know there is a pretty substantial burn in so I am going to hold on the report.

Ken

Right click on the pictures,then properties,and what do you see!
Proline 750 Mod.

[Jalo]

Originally Posted by Jaw007

I hope you are not using compressed music ,because the 780's will bring out the bad sound of compressed music.

I am playing apple lossless files. Is that considered as compressed files? If lossless files are compressed materials then just about all digital music are compressed except may be wav.

[Jalo]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

Some people are more sensitive to "bright, grainy and harsh" than others, and some may describe the same thing as "crisp and detailed and revealing".

One thing I think we can agree on is that the grainy and harsh part of the description should not be applicable once the ALO 780 have 200+ hours on them, and with 450+ hours these are not overly bright all to me. Detailed and revealing yes, but in a good way.

It seems from jamato8 experience, just adding the insulation to the inside of the cups that Ken does will make a big difference in the smoothness, even with stock cable.

I think I can trust my ear that much, which is when I say grainy and harsh I don't think I am mistaken the sound for "crisp, detail and revealing".

On the other 780 thread, one member described it as " Originally Posted by Cry Havoc View Post I almost sent my 780s back when I first heard them. Awful. No bass and very screechy highs." And that is what I heard initially. Now after 75 hours of continuous burn in, that is gone, but I still need it to settle down more to be enjoyable. I wanted the sound to be more smooth, fuller, more body and imaging more consistently.

[ElChupahueso]

Originally Posted by KB

I only plan to make a few of these, unless I get arm bent by people. I am burning in a pair right now. The work to mod them was much harder than the 780 mod, and I used more material for the internal work. They are quite different than the 780s. Still getting some impressions, but right off the bat they are more mello, smoother and a bit easier on the ear than the 780s. Very nice though. I know there is a pretty substantial burn in so I am going to hold on the report.

Ken

Hehe! I have been WAITING for this.

[Rickio]

I think I must have the oposite experience of many people here. Initially I really totally enjoyed and liked the sound of these headphones. And the favorite of mine right before this was Denon 2000, so I think I can trust my ears as well hehehe

But the longer I heard them my opinions started to change. But enjoying them as much as I did I felt potential in them and so I went for the alo mod, maybe there is a way to get to that sound another way. Like doing your own dampening and getting a cheaper cable. But even with the mod version it takes time to burn in....

I still have my stock version but stopped listening to it. So maybe I will keep burning them in as well to see if they ever mellow out a bit more. But I did compare them again last night and the alo mod is so much smoother and I know they still need more burn in so I am digging them. As they sound great right now and will get better. The bass is tightening up practically as I listen to them....I was hearing a bass heavy track and thought damn that bass is way to much. 5 hours later I listened again and it was tighters and smoother. Big changes and I think the mod version burns in faster from what I am experiencing.



This more then any other headphone I have owned so far has gone the the widest in swing from positive to negative feelngs but the positive was strong enough for me to stick to it hehehe

[Morph201]

Rickio: How many hours on the alo modded version?

[Rickio]

Originally Posted by Morph201

Rickio: How many hours on the alo modded version?

I actually have not been burning them in 24 hours a day. I have had them since last Saturday and I have been burning them in about 10 hours more or less a day. So I would say probably around 80 hours as a a few times I have had them on longer. Right now they sound really really good. Still needs to smooth out a bit more but I am hearing some really critical music so I can see what they are really sounding like. Not just my usual rock music.

I found a cd called "Usher - Audiophile Test Cd" and began using that to burn it in and also listen to the changes and it's sounding very good.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by Jalo

I am playing apple lossless files. Is that considered as compressed files? If lossless files are compressed materials then just about all digital music are compressed except may be wav.

If you compress a text file as a .zip file, it still contains all the original information, but takes up half the space. That is kinda like what apple lossless is, everything should be there, but compressed into less space like a zip file.

[Morph201]

Well, I finally picked up the ALO 780s from the post office today, and KNOWING that these require some burn in time, I connected them to my amp, but.... just couldn't resist taking a lil "sneak peek" (where have I heard that before?? )

So far, my baseline for comparison is the PL2500 w/ a Silver Dragon II cable


Quick synopsis of the current bedroom headphone rig:

Phones: PL2500s w/ SD II cable
Source: Rega Apollo
Amp: Meier HA2-MK II SE
AC\IC: van den Hul mainsserver\Shunyata AC cords\AQ Colorado 72v DBS
Also, power conditioning...

Rather modest setup, but enough to relax to at night!

I have Bill Evans Village Vangaurd (LIVE) disc 2 playing at the moment, and this recording really shows off Scott LaFaro's stand up bass work!

PL2500s\silver Dragon II: Hours on cable and phones: A LOT!!

I. Treble: Airy, detailed, leaning towards the smoooth side... not shrill nor metallic, at all!

II. Midrange: Transparent, yet laid back... kind like you're 3 rows back. Details are still pretty noticeable, just not IN YOUR FACE details.

III. Bass: Extends very low, well defined, not bloated.. You can definitely hear mutiple string plucks, as opposed to just one!

Needless to say, with that particular setup I was pretty much satisfied, so I'm praying these ALO modded 780s turn into a beast, well at least a little beasty, since I possibly sold my beloved 2500s!!!!!


ALO MODDED HFi-780 HOURS 0 minutes 0 seconds 30!!

**** Keep in mind I expect this to become more refined over the next week!

I. Treble: Slightly metallic sounding, grainy... but not piercing or sharp! Still smooth sounding

II. Midrange: More upfront, closer to the stage, pretty much on stage with the artists!

III. Bass: This is what I noticed from the moment I put the phones on!! The 2500s bass was well defined and tight, BUT the impact wasn't there for me... Could be a byproduct of my source, but with the ALO modded phones, the bass sounded, not only, tight right off the bat, but had IMPACT and more BODY! This also is supposed to improve over time..


I am really optimistic, based upon my initial listening... More to come in the next couple of days!!

[silverrain]

I hereby propose that any post about the ALO-780, should always include whether they are cabled with vampire or cryo cable.

Keeps people (like me) from scrambling back (once again) thru the posts to find which cable the poster is talking about, since it has been posted that it makes a diffenece

Thank you! <==(Choose the one that applies!)

[slwiser]

Originally Posted by silverrain

I hereby propose that any post about the ALO-780, should always include whether they are cabled with vampire or cryo cable.

Keeps people (like me) from scrambling back (once again) thru the posts to find which cable the poster is talking about, since it has been posted that it makes a diffenece

Thank you! <==(Choose the one that applies!)

Vampire --> ALO-780V or ALO-HFI-780V
Jenna Labs --> ALO-780J or ALO-HFI-780J

What do you think....