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Anyone ever heard of Ultrasone?

post #1 of 34
7/5/01 at 3:30am
Thread Starter 
It's a German company with three headphones. Here are some pictures:






And here's the website: www.ultrasone.de

Sorry, it's all in German. So if you can't translate it then use www.world.altavista.com . Has anyone ever tried one of these headphones? They're probably no good, but who knows?
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post #2 of 34
7/5/01 at 6:31am
Ultrasone HFI-600 really looks like with Senns HD600...



That website also have English pages.
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post #3 of 34
7/5/01 at 7:00am
ooooh pretty glass heads....
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post #4 of 34
7/5/01 at 1:36pm
The HFI 600 looks like the Senn 600 but it says it's closed and that it's 32 ohms.
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post #5 of 34
7/5/01 at 2:37pm
Oh no, the HFI-2000 seems like another interesting phone to have a look at - and the Vivanco SR950 as well. I'm not really sure, whether I should try the Vivanco, but I'll try to get the Ultrasone...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
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post #6 of 34
7/5/01 at 2:51pm
Quote:
Originally posted by mbriant
The HFI 600 looks like the Senn 600 but it says it's closed and that it's 32 ohms.
Hmm....if they're closed, why the big grills? Do you think this company (and I'm not saying this is the case, just asking) is maybe creating headphones that look a lot like some popular German brand headphones? The 600's look like HD-600's, but closed (yet possessing big open-style grill panels). The 2000's look Beyer'ish. And the 15G looks old-school Sennheiser'ish.
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post #7 of 34
7/5/01 at 3:07pm
You're right Jude, they sure seem to have "borrowed" major design traits from other German manufacturers.

They've also got some bad Japanese-style translations on their web page. Take this for example:

"'The HFI-15G delighted with its realistic and plastic sound reproduction'."

They're also making a big deal about their phones being the only ones to block out harmful (headache/cancer causing) magnetic fields.

Yikes.
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post #8 of 34
7/5/01 at 5:50pm
Oh yeah, now that you've mentioned it: These similarities are really striking. Just like... uhm... with most turtables, vcrs, cdps, tv-sets... Maybe these headphones look all so similar, because they all have to be used on a human head. Hey, and these human heads: Wow, they've got striking similarities, indeed. [sarcasm off]

No, really, I mean it's not as if Ultrasone was new in the business. I've noticed quite a few positive reviews of their products over the years, but I never found them anywhere. What I'm trying to say: I'd rather look forward to a possible high quality alternative than just make fun of an unknown product with rather pointless statements. And I'm really curious whether their fps-technology works for me. And even low emission might make sense: Think of somebody who might want to use a headphone together with a hearing aid, for example. And, actually, I prefer companies that really try to bring in new inventions instead of just renaming well known technology with silly new names...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
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post #9 of 34
7/5/01 at 6:04pm
Thread Starter 
personally, I don't think the HFI-600 looks that much like the HD600, although I do see the similarities.
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post #10 of 34
7/5/01 at 6:25pm
lini,

Despite any lighthearted barbs, nobody said they're bad. If they're good, they're good, and I'd be willing to try them. I was unable to find much information on their phones (I looked), and so the photos are mostly what I have to go on. And, at least to my eyes, there's no mistaking the styling similarities that I mentioned, and so what's wrong with pointing out what at least to me seems obvious? (whether it's a coincidence or not) Despite the fact that all headphones generally go over the heads of people doesn't necessarily mean they all look alike:

AKG, Sennheiser, Sony, Grado, Beyer, Koss

You can pick models from these companies (especially in their lighter weight models) where there are similarities in design, but their bigger models are usually quite easily distinguished from one another.

Again, if they're good they're good. And when someone finally hears them and reports on them, even the most sarcastic of us will be interested in finding out more about them, I'm sure.
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post #11 of 34
7/5/01 at 6:30pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Neruda
personally, I don't think the HFI-600 looks that much like the HD600, although I do see the similarities.
I don't expect everybody to see what I see, but, man, the similarities are pretty strong to my eyes (maybe not in terms of the Corian-looking surface finish of the HD-600's, but certainly in terms of shape and general styling):





Again, I'm only speaking for me.
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post #12 of 34
7/5/01 at 6:56pm
lini: Do you own shares in this company or something?

Seriously though, they were innocent comments. In fact, I'm now a little concerned about this magnetic field/cancer thing they're on about.

I find it interesting that for a company which has only 3 headphones in it's lineup, that none of them look remotely similar to each other.....no family resemblance what-so-ever, and yet each of them have obvious similarities with phones made by each of the 3 larger German manufacturers.

These phones may very well be excellent sounding.

Just making observations from the info provided.
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post #13 of 34
7/5/01 at 7:06pm
Sorry, jude, I might have got that into the wrong throat, as we Germans say. And, of course, I know what you mean - you could also find similarities between the hfi-2000, audio-technica's ath-908 and the beyerdynamic dt531. And the hfi-15 looks very similar to my early '80s sennheiser (it was a hd20, I think). And some manufacturers even share components as beyerdynamic and mbquart do with headbands, earcups... Probably there are some major far east plastic companies, that produce components for many headphone manufacturers. I just wanted to point out, that this doesn't mean that manufactuer b actually copies manufacturer a.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
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post #14 of 34
7/5/01 at 7:10pm
lini,

Absolutely no "sorry" necessary, lini! I know what you mean about what you said. You're right -- the similarities don't necessarily mean there was any copying involved.

If you can find them, you may be the first among us to try them, and I'd be very interested in reading your first impressions.

-- Jude --
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post #15 of 34
7/5/01 at 7:19pm
Closed Sennheiser 600s? What kind of crackpot would even consider such a stupid idea?

markl
-crackpot-
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