what so special about Ultrasone headphones? - Page 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mochan 

If that is all it does why not just use a K701 which doesn't have metallic treble, has toned down bass to begin with and has gargantuan soundstage to boot?

Well, I compared both the K701 and K601 to my Pro900s at the Boston meet, and the AKGs had a very un-natural midrange coloration. The Pro900s also had much better bass .... much better dynamics ... and were faster on complex music playback.

Basically, properly modded 900s sound much more like real music than the 701s do to my ears. And lastly, the 900s are much less expensive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong 

That doesn't sound, to me, like the description of a headphone that can hold its own alongside the HD-800s etc, unless we're talking out of an iPod. 

 

Maybe someone should persuade Ultrasone to make a version of the Pro 900 re-tuned to be more neutral.  It's pretty silly that they can't consistently get a headphone to sound other than extremely coloured.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mochan 

If that is all it does why not just use a K701 which doesn't have metallic treble, has toned down bass to begin with and has gargantuan soundstage to boot?

I had a K701 for several months beside my Pro 900. The Pro 900 outperformed it in just about all areas. The K701 goes to far on the other side with anemic bass. Pro 900 is more accurate KeeS modded.K701 is considerably slower with slower attack and longer decays so nice if you want things soft, It´s a bit softer then the 900 and a bit more forgiving on sibilance but it had some painful treble spikes as well. They where certainly very airy and with a big soundstage... But they couldn´t quite fill that soundstage and it wasn´t accurate for movie watching. Pro 900 is several leagues better regarding soundstaging which is mighty impressive due to case of being closed I would say. Now K701 is 200$ so it´s quite a bit cheaper of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by downsize 

 

 

I wouldn't personally say that until you have heard a properly modded pair. I only like the T1s better, and don't think the HD-800s can even hold a candle to the modded 900s unless you are ONLY playing female voice or chamber music
 

Reading this there is no doubt in my mind that everyone hears vastly different from one another and other persons impressions are pretty much pointless.  You just have to experience each headphone for yourself.

I've heard the 900s before.  To my ears they can't even begin to compete with the HD800 in any area.  The ED9 doesn't even compete and I found that headphone clearly superior to the 900s. 

i think that ultrasone with the titanium plated ones had very revealing and sensitive driver so,, redampening it make the sound change VERY MUCH,, i think the edition series also had the headphone redamped.... i already tried different damper in my ultrasone pro 2500 n finally found one damper that i like,, now my ultrasone sounds very addictive..  :D

the bass is special, but in the full ride to harvard rather than the short yellow bus kind of way

Quote:

Originally Posted by downsize 

I agree removing the covers helps the resonance. My problem is that it also screws up other aspects of the sound. Literally ALL of the resonance can be removed by correct placement of the two felt pads, without any other negative effects.

I'm not trying to be arguementative, but am very passionate about letting people know they can have amazing top tier sound, with only a few cheap mods to the 900s.

For enjoying music, zero resonance is great. But that resonance is also spatial data, because the way the pro 900 does surround sound is by shooting the sound against the nondampening plastic earcups and bouncing it to the top holes, and you lose depth detail to the same degree that dampening is applied. With enough dampening like 3mm of cotton it sounds very un-ultrasonelike, more about analytical detail than soundstage detail.

Quote:

Originally Posted by haloxt 

For enjoying music, zero resonance is great. But that resonance is also spatial data, because the way the pro 900 does surround sound is by shooting the sound against the nondampening plastic earcups and bouncing it to the top holes, and you lose depth detail to the same degree that dampening is applied. With enough dampening like 3mm of cotton it sounds very un-ultrasonelike, more about analytical detail than soundstage detail.

I can't even imagine 3mm. I first tried 2mm of cotton dampening material, and the entire bass frquencies just dissapeared completely. Sounded is af there was a 24db/octave filter switched on at 100hz. So 3mm ?  that would literally eliminate ALL bass frequencies.

The cotton was never meant for resonance control at all BTW. It's sole purpose is for tuning the bass via airspace modification.

Regardless of what you and I personally think however. Here is something you may find interesting :  I was at the Boston meet when i decided to Kees mod my 900s. So it was not just me who listened and gave input while I was tuning with the Kees mod, but probably 5 or 7 other knowledgable and experienced Headfiers       When I went with 2mm cotton, literally everyone said I had went too far and removed all the bass. These same guys also heard it once I had went with 1mm .... and agreed it was spot on. This should help anyone doing this mod to find a good starting point as a reference ... Then they can tune for their own personal tastes from there.

Depending on your system but yes it´s WAY to much for any of my systems. I use probably less then 1 mm currently.  It doesn´t only affect the bass though that is the thing you hear first.

Case is the Pro 900 have an amazing mid range but not everyone discovers it due to the bass amount stock. But stuffing kills the mid range as well.

In general I think more headphone manufacturers should really encourage modding more then they do. We all have our preferences and even if the headphones are just right we need to find the right DAC or amp for our taste as well. 

I find it interesting that ortho people exist by 99 % modders whereas the majority of the dynamic/electro stat owners don´t mod theirs though compared to how my T50RP sounds currently they are all in desperate need for it ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by oqvist 

Depending on your system but yes it´s WAY to much for any of my systems. I use probably less then 1 mm currently.  It doesn´t only affect the bass though that is the thing you hear first.

 

Case is the Pro 900 have an amazing mid range but not everyone discovers it due to the bass amount stock. But stuffing kills the mid range as well.

In general I think more headphone manufacturers should really encourage modding more then they do. We all have our preferences and even if the headphones are just right we need to find the right DAC or amp for our taste as well. 

 

I find it interesting that ortho people exist by 99 % modders whereas the majority of the dynamic/electro stat owners don´t mod theirs though compared to how my T50RP sounds currently they are all in desperate need for it ;)

Wow ... great point. Think of the money manufacturers could make on their own special "modding accessories" ... They are probably afraid if the question : " Why didn't you make it right to start with ", when they could easily respond by advertising these mods availibility due everyone having different preferences. As far as the Pro900 ... I just wonder if Ultrasone held it back some, due to it's threat to the Ed9's sound ?

Could very well be, because I feel you are going to have to stretch to beat the Pro900 after mods, and at it's respective price point, I don't think it is beatable.

As far as stuffing killing midrange : The felt pads over the center hole of the driver plate brings the midrange right back up to flat for me. I really think 1mm is going to be hard pressed to affect the midrange audibly, but then again maybe I just got real lucky and got the mods "just perfect" ...

At the moment, I wouldn't dream of modding them. I bought them specially for their  bass and couln't be happier. When I want a more balanced can I will probably go for the K702 or T1.There is no such things as too many headphones. Plus, you shouldn't mess with headphones like that you know. 

If I'm lucky, I'll get a chance to hear this S Logic at work - if only to vet it for myself.  To my skeptical ears, it sounds like Bose logic.  There are various Jedi mind tricks one can employ to fool the mind into thinking all kinds of things.  In my experience, such tricks work better in certain applications than in others.  In my home theater setup, I have surround-sound satellite speakers whose only purpose is to add to the illusion of soundstage.  My aim is not to notice them, just the effect.  If I can hear them, for their own sake, they're too loud.  Bose does this with an array of reflective speakers that bounce signals off the walls.  You can get a similar illusion of "wide" sound by employing a comb filter, which can create a faux stereo off of a mono recording.

I wouldn't call this audiophile listening, just another entry into the competitive world of headfi.  Then again, what do I know?  The proof is always in the pudding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenpunk 

At the moment, I wouldn't dream of modding them. I bought them specially for their  bass and couln't be happier. When I want a more balanced can I will probably go for the K702 or T1.There is no such things as too many headphones. Plus, you shouldn't mess with headphones like that you know. 

Then do only the felt mods, and not the cotton batting. This will leave the bass alone, but will bring the mids up evenly, and also tame the spitty part of the treble.