There's Something About Ultrasone…
Nov 13, 2006 at 1:07 PM Post #61 of 5,942
Nice, thats a great deal!
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Lowest price in germany seems to be 260 for the proline 750. Jan Meier sells them for 280 and the Ultrasone shop for 299.
 
Nov 13, 2006 at 1:14 PM Post #62 of 5,942
Dex,

I did the conversion for those of us here in the USA and I believe that 125 euros comes out to about $160 which is an incredibly low price for new or even used 2500s. I got a fairly good deal on my 750s and paid $265. Ultrasone does a very good job of keeping tight price controls on their products, at least here in the states. I guess next time I'm in Europe I'll have to look for another pair of Ultrasones.
 
Nov 13, 2006 at 10:47 PM Post #63 of 5,942
No need to feel too bad about what you paid for your USones, ralph and bizkid, as I'm sure you'll ultimately agree, these cans are easily worth their full retail value and then some!

I believe that I just happened onto an oddball anomaly at a massive Belgian retailer.

Unlike in the States, where everything seems to be "on sale" pretty much all of the time, here in Belgium, the retailers are far more conservative, running "mega-sales" throughout only two months of the year, January and July.

Now the box containing my 2500s was at the very end of the display, on the lowest shelf, and all the way in the back. I suspect that when the sales ended in July, the folks at FNAC simply missed removing the sales sticker.

Interestingly enough, removing the sticker now reveals that an intermediate markdown had been taken at some other point as there was yet another sticker directly behind it:

USone2.jpg


And much to my surprise and delight, when I took the box to the store check-out, the cashier did not so much as bat an eyelash. Wahoo!
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Nov 14, 2006 at 2:31 AM Post #64 of 5,942
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dexdexter
No need to feel too bad about what you paid for your USones, ralph and bizkid, as I'm sure you'll ultimately agree, these cans are easily worth their full retail value and then some!.....

......And much to my surprise and delight, when I took the box to the store check-out, the cashier did not so much as bat an eyelash. Wahoo!
280smile.gif



The best part about this whole thing with you catching such a great deal is that at least the Ultrasones are in a good home. It's one thing when someone who understands just how great a deal they're getting scores a good deal but it's really a bummer when someone who doesn't know what they're getting walks away with the great deal. Enjoy!!
 
Nov 14, 2006 at 10:01 AM Post #65 of 5,942
Cheers, ralph!
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Good to see (yet, strangely, somehow disappointed) that no one appears to have soiled themselves out of jealousy here.
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Well the burn-in continues, and later this afternoon I'm gonna bring the 2500s in to Alexandre, my local hi-fi dealer, for a listening session.

He's not exactly a headphone guy (well, neither was I until just about a month ago), but as far as impressions of sound go, there's nobody that I trust more. He is scathingly blunt with his opinion, and has the uncanny ability to articulate things that I'm not able to notice.

I'll report back this evening.

Regards, Dex
 
Nov 14, 2006 at 12:01 PM Post #66 of 5,942
Found a graph for the Proline 750:

proline750_f.gif


For comparison: ATH-A900:

ath-a900_f.gif


Its interesting that, no matter which company developed it, all closed headphones seem to suffer from a dive at around 200-300hz.
The proline 2500 looks completely different, more similar to the AD2000 but with massive bass and the same weirdness going on the uppermids-highs as the 750:

Proline 2500:

proline2500_f.gif


AD2000:

ath-ad2000_f.gif



The ATs look much flatter than the ultrasones. Maybe they are a mix of the AT & Grado soundsignature? Dunno. Ill hear soon i hope. I worry though that the dive at 300hz will be too much for my taste, thats very possible.
I wouldnt mind some grado agressiveness
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Nov 14, 2006 at 12:19 PM Post #67 of 5,942
Quote:

Originally Posted by bizkid
Found a graph for the Proline 750:

proline750_f.gif


For comparison: ATH-A900:

ath-a900_f.gif


Its interesting that, no matter which company developed it, all closed headphones seem to suffer from a dive at around 200-300hz.
The proline 2500 looks completely different, more similar to the AD2000 but with massive bass and the same weirdness going on the uppermids-highs as the 750:

Proline 2500:

proline2500_f.gif


AD2000:

ath-ad2000_f.gif



The ATs look much flatter than the ultrasones. Maybe they are a mix of the AT & Grado soundsignature? Dunno. Ill hear soon i hope. I worry though that the dive at 300hz will be too much for my taste, thats very possible.
I wouldnt mind some grado agressiveness
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Even while those graphs look indeed similar, I can tell you that they do not sound anything alike, nothing is similar to the AT or the Grados...dont forget also that a completelly flat curve is not the way to go with heapdhones, it is a big mistake to try to get a flat measured curve, remember the biophonic curves, that take into consideration the resonances of the ear channel:

biphonic.gif


for more info just take a look here
 
Nov 14, 2006 at 12:54 PM Post #68 of 5,942
How do you know the biophonic curve wasnt already applied/substracted after recording these freq. response, or was part of the dummy head during recording? I can tell you that the AD2000/A900 certainly dont sound as flat as they look on those graphs
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I took those 2 AT cans to compare because i know them well. The measuring system was the same for all cans, so i dont see any problem making a relative comparison to the A900 / 750, AD2000 / 2500. Ofcourse it wont tell me everything, but it gives me pretty good idea what to expect as someone who heard alot of cans during the last years.
 
Nov 14, 2006 at 6:40 PM Post #70 of 5,942
Quote:

Originally Posted by Question
By the way would you mind to tell those black graphs' originating site?

They look more detailed and useful compared to ones from that other famous site
smily_headphones1.gif
and I wonder if there are some explanations about their measuring methods.

Regards



If you look at the image links for the graphs, the images come from the site "www.geocities.jp/ryumatsuba" which is a site in Japanese and I have no idea what anything means when I go to the web page. Perhaps bizkid can provide us with some more details about the site.
 
Nov 14, 2006 at 9:42 PM Post #71 of 5,942
OK, so let's look at the graphs of some of the major USone playas.

Edition 7:

edition7_f.gif


HFI 650:

hfi-650_f.gif


PROline 750:

proline750_f.gif


HFI 2200 ULE:

hfi-2200ule_f.gif


PROline 2500:

proline2500_f.gif


Now, to my eyes, the response curves here for the Edition 7 and the HFI 650 look very similar, as do the HFI 2200 ULE and PROline 2500.

But my ears have already told me that the PROline 2500 and HFI 2200 ULE are vastly different in terms of actual presentation and performance, and I would certainly expect a similar (and really, it oughta be huge) gap between the Edition 7 and the HFI 650.

So I suspect that there's much more to this story than meets the eye.

Dex
 
Nov 14, 2006 at 9:50 PM Post #72 of 5,942
Forgot your glasses?
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These certainly dont look as similar as you make it out. And yes there is much more to it, like distortion, driver matching, impedance curve and so on. I still stand by my point that it can give a pretty good idea of what to expect by an experienced head-fier. OFCOURSE it wont tell you how good the instrument seperation or resolving capabilities will be for example.

Anyway ill be getting my proline 750 tomorrow
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Nov 14, 2006 at 10:16 PM Post #73 of 5,942
OK, glasses back on, but I'm struggling here.
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Considering these two not-very-similar-at-all-whatsoever looking curves:

Ultrasone Edition 7, $3000.00

edition7_f.gif


Ultrasone HFI 650, $249.00

hfi-650_f.gif


Kindly explain to me the wide differences between the two curves and how they would lead you to know what to expect from the respective headphones' performance.

Best, Dex

P.S. Congrats on the 750s!
280smile.gif
 
Nov 14, 2006 at 11:02 PM Post #74 of 5,942
Quote:

Originally Posted by ralphp@optonline
If you look at the image links for the graphs, the images come from the site "www.geocities.jp/ryumatsuba" which is a site in Japanese and I have no idea what anything means when I go to the web page. Perhaps bizkid can provide us with some more details about the site.


Thanks.

 
 
Nov 14, 2006 at 11:45 PM Post #75 of 5,942
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dexdexter
OK, glasses back on, but I'm struggling here.
confused.gif


Considering these two not-very-similar-at-all-whatsoever looking curves:

Ultrasone Edition 7, $3000.00

edition7_f.gif


Ultrasone HFI 650, $249.00

hfi-650_f.gif


Kindly explain to me the wide differences between the two curves and how they would lead you to know what to expect from the respective headphones' performance.

Best, Dex

P.S. Congrats on the 750s!
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Wasnt i clear enough? They are useless to compare performance BUT it can give you a hint on its soundsignature. I hope thats clear now finally
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Get a parametric software EQ and you'll quickly hear yourself what signature youll get with eq'ing out a little at 200-300hz.
Comparing the 750 to the 2500 graphs tells me CLEARLY what im looking for in open vs closed design, especially since the 2 AT graphs show me the same differences in their open vs closed designs (dive at 300hz!).

Ofcourse i dont know how it will sound still, but i'm pretty sure how it wont sound
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Im getting a headache and i think my last posts were kind of useless... Well gotta kill time till my cans arrive
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