Logitech UE 6000

*Will expand over the next few days*

God damn.  I don't know what to say.  I currently own a pair of Monster Turbines Pro Gold and a pair of V-Moda M-80's.  I wanted to get an over-ear to complete the collection for now.  I am in no way in expert in sound.

Accessories    

The whole thing is packaged quite nicely.  It comes with quite a few accessories.  A soft carrying case, a gold-plated 3.5mm cable, a headphone splitter (Don't know if that is the proper term), and a pair of batteries already in the headphone.  The splitter is used to share your music with others.  They just plug there headphones in there and bang.  The headphones have a snug fit in the case.  The cable seems high quality with a striking blue color.  It has a microphone along with a volume up/down and play button.  I believe these only work with Apple products.  Quick note: I've heard complaints that the cable does stay in the headphones.  You must push the cable in a bit for it to lock in with the retention device.  These headphones are tough enough to take a light push.  Speaking about toughness...

Here is photo which shows the cable.  You can see the three button mic also.

Build Quality

These cans are built pretty well.  Various materials such as glossy plastic and metal are used.  Because of the materials, noise-cancellation tech, and batteries lead these cans to be pretty heavy. This doesn't bother me too much.  These just feel nice to hold in the hand.

Here's the soft carrying case.

Here is the case with the UE 6000 inside.

Design

The headphones are quite stylish.  They look nice while not appearing aggressive like other rapper endorsed cans.  They do fold making them quite compact.  An interesting thing to note is that the 3.5mm jack on the headphone is on the right instead of the left.  Most cans have them on the left.  The left cup pops open to reveal 2 AAA batteries.  The part of the cup that pops off those not completely come off with I felt was a strange design choice.

Here you can see the folding mechanism.

Here is the battery compartment.  You can see a small button which releases the the cover.

Comfort

These are extremely comfortably.  I mentioned before that these cans are quite heavy so that might turn some off.  The cushions are quite soft and the cups are very deep.  The cloth that covers the driver is thick and soft so if your ears happen to touch the driver it won't be too uncomfortable compared to headphones like the M-100.  

Sound Isolation/Leakage/Noise Cancellation

The cans themselves block out a damn good amount of noise.  Lower frequencies are blocked very easily such as buses and trains.  Leakage can be a problem for some.  These do tend to leak quite a bit at around 75% volume, hell even at around 50% if you are in a very quiet area.  Since these block out a great deal of noise then I don't believe there would be much reason to turn them up so loud anyways. The Noise Cancellation is decent.  It completely blocks out lower frequencies.  Buses and plane engines disappear.  Even with Noise Cancellation on voices nearby can be heard very easily.  I find this to be useful as I can still maintain conversations with these on.  If you are buying these cans for Noise-Cancellation, look elsewhere. 

Here is the button that activates the noise cancelling function.

Sound Quality

The UE 6000 is warm headphone with slight bass emphasis.  The bass has a good punch with some texture but is not as tight as let's say the M-80.  The mid-range is quite balanced and everything in it seems quite "natural".  I tested these cans on various on various tracks but I'm going to mention The Dark Side of the Moon a lot.  Highs are clear and in the The Great Gig in the Sky, the female lead sounds astounding.  Nothing really feels laid back.  Drums have a nice punch in various tracks while the vocals of Roger Waters are eerie as usual.  A few adjustments would make these cans truly amazing but for this price they really are in the end.

Sound Quality w/Noise Cancellation

This is where the UE 6000 falls short.  An EQ is activated when the Noise Cancellation is turned on which bloats the bass and cause the treble to be slightly recessed.  The bass is much more dominant and a more "U shaped"  frequency appears.  While these changes might upset the audiophile in us, it makes sense to have this new sound signature in situations in which NC might be used.  One might watch a movie with NC on so one won't be distracted.  The added bass might make the film feel more lively and if one goes out to a loud area the bass can add a little more "bang" to your music.  Damn it was hard to describe that. 

Conclusion

The UE 6000 is a great pair of cans for the audiophile on the go.  It has a great design, great build, great isolation and most of all, great sound quality.  While it certainly isn't the best compared to let's say the Momentum as a portable headphone, for 200 dollars it is.  The only headphone I can truly think can compare to the UE 6000 is the M-80 which has it's own ups and downs such as discomfort and lack of a folding mechanism.  Enough of that now, that's for another review.

Bonus Photos

The cups are quite deep.  There is a thick layer of cloth covering the driver so if your ears happen to touch it, it won't be too annoying.

Here is a size comparison of the cups to a 4th Gen Ipod Touch.

A proper introduction should be in order; I am by no means a sound engineer, or even barely claiming to be. The best pair of cans to sit atop my head for any period of time has been a set of Sennheiser 202-II's, so I should be easy to impress! And goshdarnit, with this set, I am. I am playing my UE6000 through a Audioquest Dragonfly, primarily listening to Spotify Premium streaming at 320kbps or through FLACs.

So, in all ways, you can consider this to be my little froggy flop into a bigger pond. Better music, a better DAC, and a better set of headphones. So, with that info, I can only give you the impressions and improvements that I've noticed in my everyday listening.

I am nothing but a man who loves a good thwack of a bass guitar. Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, Flea, Victor Wooten, Burton and Newsted, Wolstenholme, Novoselic, Ellefson and especially one Les Claypool all come to mind in terms of names. The 70's, late 80's and early 90's are all sweet spots of rock n' roll for me, whether it be under a level of grunge or displayed in grandeur with the NWOBHM. Other bands and other genres must flow through these headphones, but I am always one to give this pair of headphones it's healthy dose of bass. It hits with a thwack, an impressive and controlled sound that brings a smile to my face on songs like Tommy the Cat (via Primus), Malignant Narcissism (via Rush), Around the World (via Daft Punk), and best of all, best of all, does Would? from Alice in Chains extremely proud.That bassline punches along like the Monster it is, without forfeiting the rest of the song. (Afterthought: Super honorable mention goes out to Hyper Music from Muse.)

That, to me, is the greatest thing about the UE6000. I am by no means someone who means to do mids or highs harm to have my wall of bass; I hate huge sonic booms and massive rumbles overcoming the rest of the music. Bass grooves and drives the song along, rarely ever needing to take a front seat. These mids are superb, as almost all vocal sections are incredibly clear, with no bleeding or mixing involved. I couldn't tell you if they're U or V-shaped, but they often match the occasion of what's called for. They aren't 'forward', and the song really dictates where the balance between the bottom and mids are; Metallica's bass player won't suddenly come to the front with these headphones, because Metallica has rarely ever worked that way, and shouldn't. The same goes for Les Claypool's serenades; Les' voice often simply plays along in a smaller role providing a different tone to contrast with his bass licks, as they should be. (God, I'm just trying to say there's a good balance here! Damn you, language!)

And well, that brings me to the highs. To be honest, highs are usually never a priority for me. The term 'sparkle' could slap me across the face and I still wouldn't really understand the true value of it. The solos of all the greatest string players, whether they be lead guitarists, violinists, or whatever they may be could serenade, shred and sing to impress me, and I'd still say, "Right, that was nice, onto the next bit!" Are the highs of the UE6000's a bit rolled off? Yessir, they probably are. They can sometimes come in 'under' the mids when it seems like they not ought to, and sometimes, that can be a bit of a shame. Still, for a headphone in this range, this is the perfect area to forfeit a bit of performance for my tastes, and I would rather have them be rolled off rather then come anywhere close to 'sibilant'. Too much bright and brittle will make me run screaming away from any headphone, and the UE6000 never threatens such a thing.

All in all, these big old Logitechs appeal massively to me. They play and stomp through my favorite genres without ever becoming deficient in any genre of music. The worst you could call them is 'very, very good' and for me, they range into 'great'! I don't know where I could go from here to possibly spoil myself more than I already am. These are incredibly comfortable headphones, even if they are way heavier then what I've been used to. 32 ounces of driver and headphone far outweighs the 5 ounces of HD-202 that I had, and it was quite an adjustment for a little bit of neck fatigue. There's an incredible amount of competition surrounding the Logitech sets, from Sennheiser, V-MODA, Beyer, Audio Technica, and the rest of the field. I'm largely ignorant to the sounds of the rest of the field surrounding my headphones, but I'd be willing to bet that few would be disappointed with a good set of these phones.

And hey, if you're here, you've either skipped the article or finished reading the darned thing. In either case, thanks for taking a look and try a set of these headphones on if you get the chance. I don't think many will walk away disappointed. (And hey, if my musings make any sense to you, maybe you could comment on what headphones typically represent the type of sound signature I myself like out of the UE6000's, at a higher or lower price point? I may have taken a dive into the pool with these phones, but some of y'all are on the crazily deep end of the pool with even better equipment. I'm wondering if I'm crazy as you are.)

P.S. This review is completely based off of my impressions of the Passive Mode. The Active Mode somehow trips up everything good and sacred about the UE6000 and "actively" makes it horrendous. The bass sound becomes every detractor you can think of; 'Boomy', muddy, thudding, a wall of noise that betrays how excellent the passive mode is.