Ultrasone edition 10 "THE BUTTERFLY" initial impressions - Page 137

Likely because of the negative publicity on Head-Fi, I was able to purchase my Ed 10 from one such dealer for substantially less than the advertised price. So far it has proven to be a very profitable investment in terms of detail, articulation and a truly expansive soundstage - a perfect complement to classical music on SACD. With that in mind, I'll be on the lookout for more of the products trashed by the "critics" on these pages...
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicman59 

[...] There was only one pair at RMAF/Canjam. I asked the dealer what he thinks about out them and he was very honest and basically said he brought them to Canjam just to see somebody gives him an offer [...]

 

^^

i admire your courage, few people can resist such an amount of peer pressure!

Almost as if negative review fuel you to be even more supportive of the product. Ultrasone needs you! ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMahler 

i heard the Edition 10 briefly.  But it was certainly a good sounding headphone with classical music.  One the best dynamics maybe...I have to purchase one for myself and spend many hours with it to certify this claim.  It is bright tho, and this gives it some character for classical music listening.  If and when I finally get a pair, I'll be happy to review it against some other top-end classical headphones... namely the SR Omega, HD800, K1000, R10 bass light, HE90 and SR009 (the last I haven't yet heard and will probably buy before the Ed10)

 If you decide to get a piar let me know and I'll put you in contact with one of those dealers that just want to get rid of them...

Hopefully by then they are still available.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinker 

The best  dynamics are Grado PS-1000 and Ultrasone EDITION-10  -with the right amp

What amp would that be?

ECBA NU 6SN7 Driver AVVT AV300B SL C37 Power Tubes.

How does Ultrasone Edition 10 compare to Grado PS-1000?

And how does the Ultrasone perform in rock and heavy electronic music? 

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I've been listening to the Edition 10 a lot lately. I'm actually in the process of writing a little opinion piece of sorts entitled "The Edition 10 Isn't That Bad."

Title is sort of tongue-in-cheek, given its price. Still I do think its flaws get exaggerated, and in the right circumstances it's actually a surprisingly good headphone given its status as a pariah. I don't expect to vindicate it, but I'm still interested in reflecting on the controversy now that some time has passed.

That is going to be very interesting to read.....

I still think they are the worst top end headphones (relative to price) in the recent years. I owned them twice. The first time I received on of the first 10 pairs shipped to the US market. the second pair were later production with the "ear pad fix" and even recebled with a Zeus. The second pair sounded better than the first one BUT still not even close worth the money IMO.

I think there are a lot better headphones in the market for less money. Don't get me wrong I really really tried to like them but I couldn't. IMO any of the headphones in my collection were better overall perfromers.

If you just had $2,500 to spend in headphones will you buy them? why? my personal answer would be no becuase of its price/perfromance ratio. If their price was under $1,000 then maybe. They are beautiful IMO but don't listen to classical or acoustinc music only.

Just my two cents.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I've been listening to the Edition 10 a lot lately. I'm actually in the process of writing a little opinion piece of sorts entitled "The Edition 10 Isn't That Bad."

 

Title is sort of tongue-in-cheek, given its price. Still I do think its flaws get exaggerated, and in the right circumstances it's actually a surprisingly good headphone given its status as a pariah. I don't expect to vindicate it, but I'm still interested in reflecting on the controversy now that some time has passed.

I still have my pair from when it launched at the end of 2010. Never changed the earpads as those included with mine seemed fine structurally. Personally, I've come to feel that the Audio-Technica ATH-L3000 is a more flawed and ultimately less enjoyable headphone than the Edition 10. Obviously that's just my own preference there.

But yes...

Ultrasone is simply a divisive brand. There's something of a cyclical drama at work in the forums where controversial manufacturers fall in and out of favor, subject to an ongoing debate, with the collective voice of one side rising above the other and speaking as a prevailing attitude more or less. Since 2010 or thereabouts it seems as though hating Ultrasone has been part of some in-crowd's itinerary, a topic of conversation used to foster camaraderie by inviting a plethora of "me too!" responses, many of which come from those who haven't even heard the headphones in question for themselves. Looking at the threads prior to and after the Edition 10's release, it's rather apparent that people were determined to hate the Edition 10 before it was even available to audition. When several experienced head-fiers reported the extent of Ultrasone's failure, this provided all the validation some people were seeking in the form of confirmation bias. Others would then come along and repeat the same mantras to appear knowledgable. 

A particularly striking example of all of this occurred in the W3000ANV thread earlier this year. Someone mentioned liking the Edition 10 for specific genres, but said he was too embarrassed to list it in his profile. Basically we're talking about saving face through disassociation here. That strikes me as rather absurd in the context of headphones, what should amount to an expression of personal taste primarily.

The Edition 10 is certainly a flawed headphone to my mind. There are several crucial areas where it misses the mark by a fairly wide margin. However I also feel there are several crucial areas---for me, at least---where it succeeds. Even succeeds with aplomb. As is so often the case I find, the actuality of a particular piece of gear falls somewhere between two opposing extremes. That's why I feel compelled to share my thoughts regarding the Edition 10, why I feel it has been rather exaggeratedly maligned. I'm also fully willing to clarify why I think the Edition 10 fails in several respects, too. Ultimately these failings snowball and become enormous, glaring issues due to the Edition 10's price-point; that's one of the biggest contributing factors to its downfall, as even small grievances get magnified one hundred fold, and so much more so the glaring faults that the Edition 10 exhibits. It's also why it gets ridiculed so feverishly by a number of people: Ultrasone provides too tempting of a target, puts too much pomp and circumstance on display with the entire package.

That's why I like the title "The Edition 10 Isn't That Bad" for such a set of reflections. It aims for a somewhat more balanced perspective, yet given the cost and image associated with the product in question it rings a bit comical.

I understand where you are coming from and actually agree with you. For some or many reasons Ultrasone has been a very polarized brand. I love the sound of the Edition 9 and against many I have always liked them better than the Edition 8 but unfortunately they were not very comfortable and end up sellig them becuase of that. If youtake a look at the design of the AT M50 it is very similar to the Edtion 9 but the cups are a little bigger makeing them a lot more comfortable. If Ultrasone had done that the Edition 9 chould had been a total winner in my mind.

Contrary to many I liked the Editon 10 since I saw the first pictures of them and order a pair immediately hoping for the Edition 9 signature in an open and more beautiful enclosure. Unfortunatley I was totally disppointed.

IMO Ultrasone needs to listen to people's opinions and come out with a true high performer that is comfortable and good looking in order to clean up thier name. I have not tried the new Signature but form pictures it looks like the same cup and headband desing as the Edtion 9 but with a different finish so I suspect the fit could be the same. If they ar then IMO they need a slightly bigger cups.

Originally Posted by MuppetFace 

Ultrasone is simply a divisive brand. There's something of a cyclical drama at work in the forums where controversial manufacturers fall in and out of favor, subject to an ongoing debate, with the collective voice of one side rising above the other and speaking as a prevailing attitude more or less. Since 2010 or thereabouts it seems as though hating Ultrasone has been part of some in-crowd's itinerary, a topic of conversation used to foster camaraderie by inviting a plethora of "me too!" responses, many of which come from those who haven't even heard the headphones in question for themselves. Looking at the threads prior to and after the Edition 10's release, it's rather apparent that people were determined to hate the Edition 10 before it was even available to audition. When several experienced head-fiers reported the extent of Ultrasone's failure, this provided all the validation some people were seeking in the form of confirmation bias. Others would then come along and repeat the same mantras to appear knowledgable. 

Having owned every Edition headphone except for the ED7 and having a love-hate relationship with them over the years, I do agree with most of your points.  Hating brands like Ultrasone is one of the first steps towards getting "in" with a certain crowd.  And the hate was around before the ED10 release.  These users' essential point since the release of the first Edition headphone was that it was overpriced.  This topic was divisive as there were many proponents of their sound, especially with the ED9 and ED8 who would bat off any criticisms.  With the release of the ED10 which were twice the price, it seemed to be the final "test" of Ultrasone - were they expensive because of premium materials and exclusivity or did they go through a painstaking engineering process to produce tremendous sound?

When the brunt of the impressions (after the first couple starry-eyed meet impressions) fell into the "I would rather chew aluminium foil" camp the hue and cry was raised - Ultrasone was all about exotic materials but made terrible headphones.  I see Tyll's review as the nail in the coffin.  Perhaps a little too much hyperbole has been used since then as to how bad they are objectively - I do think you are right in your assessment that it's about how they perform relative to their price.

I had an interesting journey with Ultrasone - I had an ED9 back when Head-Fi was swarming with Ultrasone, Rudistor, and ALO recable proponents.  I sold them for JH13's and highly preferred the customs.  I did have an ED8 earlier this year but they didn't compare well to my other headphones.  I don't think I'm as scandalized by them as I was a year ago - they have their market that enjoys luxury and exclusivity and the ED8 sound pretty good.  I think it's in comparison to say the engineering that went into the HD800, 009, and the focus on sound that companies like Audeze espouse that marginalizes Ultrasone to many.    I'm not particularly interested in trying the Sig Pro, but would revisit Ultrasone in the future if I thought they were breaking new ground (for themselves) sound-wise.  In hindsight the drama surrounding the ED10 was almost as comical as anything else.  One thought I had was that perhaps the hate Ultrasone garners is in direct proportion to how fanatic it's proponents are.