There's Something About Ultrasone… - Page 10

Proline 750: first impressions

After a lot of hassle I finally got to listen to a pair of Ultrasones. They are the Proline 750.
I have been fascinated by these since more than a year now, but somehow couldn’t get my hands on them (got scammed on e-bay, but luckily recovered my money in the end).
I don’t want to do a review or something, just impressions from my first couple of hours with them.

Main source: Marantz CD12/DA12 and for amping alternately Rudistor NX-33, Corda Prehead and MF X-can V3 (Pinky version). If you want to know my complete setup: look in my profile: it’s all there.

I know all there is said about taking my time to get used to their sound (and I will, don’t worry), but there are a couple of things I want to vent right now, because I would like to know if other people experienced the same as I do when they started to listen to these phones.

First word that comes to mind when I put them on is: ARTIFICIAL.
Every detail is exaggerated, razor sharp, cold and analytical. All instruments seem to be made of metal and stone and everybody is playing in a concrete cellar.
The sound is extremely “bare bones”, there is no meat nor muscle to it anywhere.
The bass is missing. There are just the outlines of sounds that should have been bass notes, but what is left is just the details that surround it. It is powerless, like a flat tire, a wet paper.

I noticed that when I had been listening to them for a while, my ears (brains) got used to that, and I started to appreciate some aspects.
The amount of detail IS incredible.
Soundstage and positioning of sounds is phenomenal.
There is tremendous speed and clarity. Not the slightest trace of congestion anywhere.
Articulation is perfect.

It somewhat reminded me of the sound signature of my old DT880s, so I pulled them out of the closet to compare. The 880s are also known for their lack of bass (impact) and overall emphasis on the upper regions in the frequency spectrum. I have always liked them anyway.
The difference with the Proline 750 was striking: The DT880 have a lot more bass (one-on-one comparison with Ray Brown’s Summerwind and the test track of the organ on the Ultrasone CD: track 7). They are detailed, but not unnaturally so. They sound organic and natural.

Needless to say I am so far slightly disappointed.

Will they get better with burn-in? (they are burning in right now. I don’t know how much hours are on them by now, because they are a demo pair I got from a local retailer).

Will I just get used to this sound signature and learn to appreciate it?

Am I an incorrigible basshead and should I replace them for some Darth Beyers?

All I can tell you is that you need time, you are used to the unnatural presentations for the regular headphones we have heard along our lifes, and that takes time, is as I said once, that you are driving in the left seat, and now you seat on the right seat and try to do it, don't expect to do it properly unless you get used to that.....

Also if you really expect to like them, stop comparing them with other heapdhones until you get used to their presentation, otherwise you will never like them, as you will be reinforcing the unnatural presentation you are used to time after time....

One thing though that is curious to me, is that they indeed has a lot more and better bass than the DT880, which I even consider even leaner than my CD3000 which many people used to find bright, so they may need a lot of burn in, or they are defective, something is wrong there, for sure, the major steegth of those headphones is the bass dept, they do have one of the best bass I have ever heard from a headphone...

Thnx. I'll try some heavy burn-in first. Maybe I can get to Dex's some time and compare with his 2500s to see if they are defective. I'll also call the retailer, maybe he has any notion of how many hours they have on them so far.

Thanks for the reassurance. I have them running 24/7 now and keep my fingers crossed.
I'll see if I can make it to the meet, maybe see you then!

Put some Dream Theater on them for a few days, later on Metallica, and you will be all set...

And do not keep on comparing them to other heapdhones...or you will never get used to the right presentation they offer...

Still cooking. Takes like forever it seems. I try to stay away from them, so I can't really tell how they're getting along.
I'll just have to wait and see. I'll bring them to the meet so we can compare. I'm also curious about the 2500s. Looking forward to it!

Looking forward to your impressions on the best headphone line in this part of the universe.

Any further comparison between HFI-650 and 650/750 PROline is most welcomed. I`m trying to determine if the sound improvement is worth the price differences between these models.

I mean, I like the HFI-650s so much that the improvenets in SQ should be considerable to make me decide to go for any PROline model.

Soon I will ahve another baby here, so we will have more talking....

Then I can watch YOU burn-in(')...

The burn in has two components, as we all know, one is psycological, the other the actual burn in, in which the diaphragm loosens up a little bit, and tightens the sound of the driver....IMHO the most important and the one that takes longer is the psycological one, in which you get used to the new presentation, coloration, soundstage, details, and whatever you want to throw in here...of the new drivers, I usually do both together and listen the heapdhones while burning in...but in this case, given that I already know the drivers, and what to expect from the new presentation, headstage, dtails etc...my burn in will not be that long as others, anyway I estimate that a few days will be enough fro me, I have burn in a couple of Prolines already and the actual changes in the driver are not that big IME, It took me far more to get used to the new sound, more than three weeks IIRC....