After waiting 5 weeks for my 750s (vendor was waiting for a shipment from Ultrasone USA, who was out of stock), I finally got mine(sigh...).
I had spent about an hour listening through a pair at a friend's and really liked them; didn't really pay that much attention to them visually.
On examining my new 750s, carefully, after unpacking them, I can't say that I was enthralled.......they're essentially all plastic; they remind me of something made by, say, "The Wang Bang Headphone Manufacturing Company" in China...and retailing for all of $39.95! Quality and elegance are not appelations that, IMHO, come to mind. "THESE are $400 headphones???!", I kept saying to myself ( ok, I paid $255 for them). I never once thought that about my K701s.
The driver enclosures are connected to the headband via plastic yokes, which swivel(within plastic enclosures) with plastic "ball" joints........which does NOT inspire confidence regarding durability. "They sure seem cheaply made", is a phrase that kept going through my mind as I looked them over. O, well.....
I put them on,....they are reasonably comfortable, although not as comfortable as my K-701s, connected them to my Xenos X1HA-EPC, which is connected to my Powerbook, and fired up some Electronica.
Initially, I winced, slightly, as the sound seemed sharp, somewhat stabbing....not what I remembered hearing at my friend's. I then made a conscious decision to stay "open" to the sound, to assume a psychologically flexible, non-rigid stance vis-a-vis the sound input.
Within, maybe, 15 minutes of intense, focused listening, what was initially somewhat objectionable quickly evolved into sound which was "sparkling", "scintillating"," crystalline", "impeccably enunciated".......something thoroughly esthetically satisfying to me!
I've spent many hours, now, listening through my 750s, and say, without the slightest hesitation, I'm just loving it! And, wafting in and out of various genres of music, I find my 750s deliver the goods with all of them.
Do I find the listening experience superior to my K-701s? Well, maybe a wee bit. They've each got their own , unique, sound personality, though.....and I'm really pleased with both of them.
Now...ahem...back to build quality. The current all/mostly (blue)plastic construction just doesn't sit right with me. I still think they look rather "chintzy", Whether or not they'll hold up over time remains to be seen. True, they've got a two year warranty, but if, say, one of the plastic parts breaks, Ultrasone can easily say that my pair were "abused", and therefore not covered under their warranty. Something else to lose sleep over, I guess.......yeah, I'm an insomniac.
But, God, these Ultrasones DO put out some amazingly beautiful sound.......and keep me coming back for more!
+++
An additional comment, here. At least three Ultrasone owners have reported failure of sound from one of the drivers.
On closely inspecting my 750s, I notice that the wire connecting the right driver with the left side is fed up through the pivot, or "ball joint" on the right, then through the handband and then comes down through the pivot on the left side.
When flipping each ear piece up for storage, the wires are bent, at the pivot points, at an acute angle. I wonder if repeating this action again and again causes eventual wire fatigue, resulting in eventual breakage of the wire? Maybe folding them up is not something that should be regularly done, or not done at all. Hmmm....something to think about.
I had spent about an hour listening through a pair at a friend's and really liked them; didn't really pay that much attention to them visually.
On examining my new 750s, carefully, after unpacking them, I can't say that I was enthralled.......they're essentially all plastic; they remind me of something made by, say, "The Wang Bang Headphone Manufacturing Company" in China...and retailing for all of $39.95! Quality and elegance are not appelations that, IMHO, come to mind. "THESE are $400 headphones???!", I kept saying to myself ( ok, I paid $255 for them). I never once thought that about my K701s.
The driver enclosures are connected to the headband via plastic yokes, which swivel(within plastic enclosures) with plastic "ball" joints........which does NOT inspire confidence regarding durability. "They sure seem cheaply made", is a phrase that kept going through my mind as I looked them over. O, well.....
I put them on,....they are reasonably comfortable, although not as comfortable as my K-701s, connected them to my Xenos X1HA-EPC, which is connected to my Powerbook, and fired up some Electronica.
Initially, I winced, slightly, as the sound seemed sharp, somewhat stabbing....not what I remembered hearing at my friend's. I then made a conscious decision to stay "open" to the sound, to assume a psychologically flexible, non-rigid stance vis-a-vis the sound input.
Within, maybe, 15 minutes of intense, focused listening, what was initially somewhat objectionable quickly evolved into sound which was "sparkling", "scintillating"," crystalline", "impeccably enunciated".......something thoroughly esthetically satisfying to me!
I've spent many hours, now, listening through my 750s, and say, without the slightest hesitation, I'm just loving it! And, wafting in and out of various genres of music, I find my 750s deliver the goods with all of them.
Do I find the listening experience superior to my K-701s? Well, maybe a wee bit. They've each got their own , unique, sound personality, though.....and I'm really pleased with both of them.
Now...ahem...back to build quality. The current all/mostly (blue)plastic construction just doesn't sit right with me. I still think they look rather "chintzy", Whether or not they'll hold up over time remains to be seen. True, they've got a two year warranty, but if, say, one of the plastic parts breaks, Ultrasone can easily say that my pair were "abused", and therefore not covered under their warranty. Something else to lose sleep over, I guess.......yeah, I'm an insomniac.
But, God, these Ultrasones DO put out some amazingly beautiful sound.......and keep me coming back for more!
+++
An additional comment, here. At least three Ultrasone owners have reported failure of sound from one of the drivers.
On closely inspecting my 750s, I notice that the wire connecting the right driver with the left side is fed up through the pivot, or "ball joint" on the right, then through the handband and then comes down through the pivot on the left side.
When flipping each ear piece up for storage, the wires are bent, at the pivot points, at an acute angle. I wonder if repeating this action again and again causes eventual wire fatigue, resulting in eventual breakage of the wire? Maybe folding them up is not something that should be regularly done, or not done at all. Hmmm....something to think about.
