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Originally Posted by bizkid
Its hard to compare the Ultrasones to any other headphone because of its built in somewhat crossfeed like "s-logic".. Also i think these are more dangerous to buy unheard because they just sound so different.
Please dont get the idea to try out a crossfeed plugin to see if you would like the ultrasones, that is CLEARLY THE WRONG WAY as the ultrasones sound much much better as your usual crossfeed plugin or hardware implementation. I never used crossfeed and never liked it, actually i hated the downsides of it. So i guess crossfeed is just one small part of their whole s-logicwhatever thing. However its clearly silly to name it surround  |
I must confess that I feel somewhat conflicted about the whole S-Logic business since it inevitably gets misconstrued as gimmicky and artificial even though it appears to be based upon nothing more fancy than innovative acoustical engineering:
Problem: headphones fire sound directly into ear canal, while sound in nature is processed by the ear in its entirety, utilizing the outer ear as a receptor for spatial orientation and information.
Solution: offset the drivers to also bring the outer ear into play and voice them to take headphone-cup reflections into account.
Simple enough, no? Well, no, not when people interpret it as sonic voodoo.
And no one is more to blame for this than the marketing department at Ultrasone. By applying a vague, computer-ish sounding name to their concept and further muddying the waters with the suggestion that their headphones achieve something approaching "surround sound", they inevitably invite skepticism.
If they had chosen instead to introduce their product simply as "the headphones that sound more like loudspeakers", which is arguably true IMO, I believe folks here might be more receptive. But to a marketing team, this would be dull and unexciting. In this age of lightening speed technology, consumers expect nothing less than
magic.
So by coming up with the S-Logic hook, Ultrasone have chosen a marketing tack that mystifies rather than clarifies. And, to be fair, what else could they do? A relatively unknown company, just beginning to reach out for a global market in only the past 5 years, and trying to compete with brands established for better than 30 years.
By opting for the
gimmick in order to differentiate and distinguish themselves, the basic and most easily understood concepts behind the engineering simply get lost in the shuffle.
For what it is, as opposed to what it claims to be, S-Logic works. As always, YMMV. It is not an
effect, it is a
presentation.
Unfortunately, the marketing creates unreasonable expectations and confusion, so reviewers interpret the concept as anything from "crossfeed" to "passive noise-cancellation", to "surround sound". And hype-wary members here seem to either turn and run away or give a cursory listen at a meet and pronounce Ultrasone to be crap.
I kinda makes me wonder if a forum such as Head-Fi was around when electrostatics were introduced whether they would have ever had the opportunity to gain acceptance after running the gauntlet of people disinclined to give anything outside the established status quo a fighting chance.
Of course, Ultrasone is partially vindicated by their having achieved some degree of acceptance in the studio and professional community. And undoubtedly, there are consumers who
are impressed by their marketing gibberish.
So hopefully, Ultrasone will continue to grow and innovate. And be comfortable enough in their own skin to tone things down a bit on the marketing front and concentrate on their genuine strengths.
Best, Dex
I contacted Ultrasone about it.
