So what's the word on the new Ultrasone HFI-780???? - Page 142

If they don't sound better after 200-250 hours yours are defective, based on the description of the sound you've given. I've heard three different pairs and never heard what you are describing.

I think that S-Logic doesn't work with my ears.

edited to add: hearing extremely heavy bass now. But the treble and midrange are still crap.

edit 2: on s-logic: I can hear it sort of out in front of me, but like with X-Fi's CMSS-3D, treble is totally ****ed up and the midrange has no body.

edit 3: sounds ok right now. There is something wrong about the treble, still, though. There is a gaping hole somewhere in the frequency response, too. I should try this headphone with computer games.

edit 4: I'd rather just use my HD650 for games, given its superior balance.

It seems like you have a new pair of 780's and i know that with mine they changed significantly over the course of the burn in. I have read that the non modded ones take even longer to burn so i would recommend giving them time before making a final judgement.

At first i thought the s logic was all bs, till i heard one song by a tribe called quest and i could literally hear the rapper's voice travelling around my head. So it may just depend on the song.

I think that this headphone will need the WooAudio6 I'm receiving in the next several weeks to sound very good to me. It could definitely do with some warmth and fullness and for the treble to be less aggressive.

dfkt, would you agree with that? Does the WA6 improve the HFI-780 by quite a bit versus a lower-end solid state amp or no amp?

Yeah, it has improved a bit in even just over one hour. It will be interesting to hear the ups and downs it will probably go through the next several hundred hours of use.

It doesn't make that much difference, in my experience. My HFI-780 actually sound rather decent with most portable players, even without a dedicated amp. They're in the "sweet spot", concerning impedance and sensitivity, I would say. Your experience with these phones sure differs a lot from my first impressions.

I think it is the fowardness of the sound that threw me off. Comparing directly between the HFI-780 and the DT770 Pro, for instance, it strikes me how laid back the DT770 is. The upper midrange and treble on the HFI-780 are definitely strong. That together with the lack of bass the HFI-780 had when I first listened to it made it sound like a generic crappy headphone (something significantly below the quality of the KSC-35).

Now I literally hear that it is just a V-shaped sound signature, which is what I was expecting (and the way the headphone was designed). Too much damn treble, though.

This just goes to show how incredibly good the D7000 is, in spite of its v-shaped sound signature and lack of midrange body. The HFI-780 is attention-grabbing, but that is not because the sound is great or anything. It is just the volume of treble, upper midrange, and bass. The D7000 is attention-grabbing and amazing because of its coloration and incredible control and quality of bass, and overall ability to carry a beat.

I think I'm going to stick with higher-quality stuff from now on. Lesson learned.

I'm on my third Ultrasone headphones (new discontinued iCans heh heh now I think I know why) and there's really two peculiar things about Ultrasone, 1. rollercoaster burn-in and 2. greatly varying sound depending on how you locate the headphones on your head. I've listened maybe 1500+ hours on Ultrasones now and when I put them on I still always do a combination of extending/retracting and getting the perfect fit where the sound sounds "right". I think Ultrasone should have very detailed wearing instructions and a warning about the burn-in, the first two hours of my iCans sounded like $2 headphones. Well what I'm trying to say is, stop commenting about your new HFI-780, you'll feel silly when you look back once you have 500 hours on them.

Speaking of iCans - I hated them at first and was going to sell them, but after 400-500 hours they sounded very good. The iCans took longer to burn-in than any other headphone I have had, until I recently got the Sennheiser IE8 and found they needed over 400 hours too.

Even though i haven't heard the D7000's i think i understand the point that you are making. I know there is a big price difference between the D7000 and the HFI-780's so what you are saying is very valid.

I would just say that the HFI-780's sound like a fun headphone to me, like they emphasis the parts of the music that makes me just want to tap my feet, nod my head and clap my hands etc...

That being said i understand that no one can is for everyone but i would say try to give the HFI-780 a fair go before you write them off you might find that you are pleasantly surprised

You should learn the burn in lesson too though and that it´s pretty hard to addition a new headphone in one day. That includes soundstage since it get affected by how the sound is altered and how you perceive it later on too. If you continue to addition headphones in a day or two you may miss some goldies really . And since you complain about V-shaped sound. Well most headphones have V-shaped sound compared to the HD 650 since it has a mid bass and low midrange hump. It´s by no means neutral for a dime.

If you like that signature but want more power including more powerful bass maybe you should go for some DX 1000 instead of D7000 which you have already dismissed once and you may get the same experience again?. I would say DX 1000 is closer to 650 for me then the markl D5000 though they are still different headphones of course. It has a similar response curve but have stronger and tighter bass, is considerably smoother, more detailed while having the same coloration like the HD 650 Is also quite laid back like the 650

Mind you DX 1000 will also not sound optimum in the beginning either and it´s mostly a classical, jazz headphone for me so far.

If you say so. All I know is that I find the HD650 to be the best balanced headphone out of all that I own.

As for finding v-shape where there isn't somehow due to the HD650's bass humps, let me show that unlikely by listing all the headphones I own that I find do not have a v-shaped sound signature: Stax SR-202, Koss KSC-35, AKG K701, AKG K501, Sennheiser HD595, Grado SR225, JVC HA-RX700, Sennheiser PX100, Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 ohm (barely v-shaped in comparison to the HFI-780 or D7000), AKG K81DJ, Etymotic ER-4P. That is everything but the HFI-780, and I do not own the D7000 anymore.

I apologize for the pretend elitism by saying that I'll stick to "higher-quality" equipment. I don't have much going for me in my pathetic life (which is my fault; not drugs or anything like that, though), so I attach some of my ego to headphones. About time I admitted that I'm a loser.

You are not a loser. Just impatient. Everyone just wants you to give the 780 a chance and run them in for a while. Come back later and post that it is better, and we'll leave you alone.

You could let them burn in over night for a couple of days, instead of listening to them as they burn in if you cant wait.

I agree with headphoneaddict you are not a loser. Just give the cans a fair chance and if you dont like them you are more than welcome to your opinon. But all these comparisons to the hd650 is making me wanna try them

I'm liking the HFI-780 as it sounds now with music that doesn't have a lot of treble. If the song lacks much bass and has quite a bit of treble, it sounds horrible to me through the HFI-780. The HD650 sounds good to me with everything (but for music that is made for exaggerated bass response, the HFI-780 is a much better match).

I think it will replace my KSC-35 as my laptop headphone for when I don't need to be able to hear my surroundings.

I don't find the DT770 to be that bad, either. I think I'd rather have a bassy headphone than one that is neutral or lacks bass. It is said that the HD650 has more bass than neutral, but I find it to be just about the "correct" amount, if not a little less than what should be there, at least out of my Total AirHead (especially with regards to bass extension - pretty poor out of the Total AirHead). I doubt it will become a bass monster with the WooAudio6, though.