*** YOU ASKED FOR IT!? YOU GOT IT!!!***- Ultrasone Dj1 Pro Review - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by swbf2cheater 

 

The pro does have a different flatter flavor, yes.  Both sound great so dont let that stop you from buying if that is something you want, its still very enjoyable for rock or pop.  As for the bass lol, well both have very impacting and large bass.  I wouldnt recommend either to you lol, they are both so large and heavy, why on earth would you want that :)

I would recommend the Denon D1100 if you want some crazy bass.  In fact, I would definitely recommend that or the D1001 over the Ultrasones any day.  Great sound quality but at the price of looking like a radar dish and having a lead weight on your head isnt worth it.  
 

In terms of sound quality, how do the D1001's compare to the DJ1/HFI-580's while using an iPod as the source?
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPGWiZaRD 

Frequency response graphs doesn't always tell what you expect though, just compare them to the Shure 750 DJs:

 

 

You'd easily think the Shures would be bassier and definitely not lack in deep bass department from that graph, ofc it could be a source/amping issue but in your case I doubt that. At least I've removed Shure 750DJ from the list to try headphones.

^This.

The K518/81DJ vs DJ1 Pros/Pro 550 graph(given to me by WhiteCrow by the way, thanks) made me think something is wrong with me... 

He is being very helpful so far in explaining various things to me.

Hey, I see you weren't happy with the Pro's, Unity. That's too bad, hopefully you can amp your AKG to perfection!

Anyways, I've had the DJ-1 Pro's for a little over a week now.I guess I agree with the previous posts for the most part. The bass is quite strong, but it hasn't gotten in the way of the highs at all. These headphones can actually rumble, the low end is definitely the highlight. Percussion, in particular stands out. Cymbals, snare and kick are all incredibly crisp, without being too sharp. I was a little worried after hearing how the HFI-580's can have some really piercing highs, but the DJ-I Pro's don't have that problem at all. You get excellent detail, both in the high and low end. The isolation is excellent too.

I'm not actually that impressed by the soundstage. The Pro's avoid that "in your head" feeling I've gotten from IEM's and a Grado SR80, but they aren't as all encompassing as an open headphone. I wouldn't recommend these for dynamic vocal/acoustic music either, but I don't know why someone would buy a pair of headphones with "DJ" in the title for that anyways.

Ergonomics

This deserves it's own section, because of various minor quibbles. Firstly, there are several reviews out there that say the DJ-1 Pro comes with a 3m 3.5mm cord with volume control and stereo/mono switch. In fact it is printed in the brochure inside the box! This is no longer true. Instead you get a 0.8m 3.5mm cord. Bummer. Ultrasone have updated their website and the box itself, so they need to correct the misleading info in their brochure. The second 6.3mm plug's cord is coiled and 3m, but the tiny 3.5mm cord is next to useless.

The DJ-1 Pro comes with an extra set of removable earpads. The originals come off smoothly with a rotating motion. Unfortunately, you wil get a severe drop in lows and some rattling if the pads are the slightest bit loose. And you really have to crank them back on to get a tight seal, which I was understandably hesitant to do at first.

Similiarly the cables can be fussy. They are removable and attach with a threaded screw, which is definitely a nice touch. Once again, you have to jam them in with an unnecessary amount of force to get them to connect properly. These are minor things, but they could have been fixed by just watching a couple random people use the headphones for the first time. Instead, I got a new discovery each day as I tried to figure out why the headphones didn't sound right anymore.

I got the DJ-1 Pros to fill the gap my ATH-AD900's couldn't fill. Namely, something portable that could play hip-hop, as well as EDM and a variety of poorly mastered/recorded music. Sounds silly, but the Audio-Technica's get pretty unforgiving if you try listening to poor sources, and when it comes to stuff like underground rap, you don't always have a choice. The Pro's have done a great job so far with those genres, and they also do well with just about anything electronic, including ambient, and even harsher stuff like metal.

I just got an E11 amp in the mail today. It' still charging, but I'll write up something very briefly once I've had a chance to listen to the DJ-1 Pro's amplified. I can already say from a first try that it is capable of boosting the bass significantly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vheissu 

Hey, I see you weren't happy with the Pro's, Unity. That's too bad, hopefully you can amp your AKG to perfection!

 

Anyways, I've had the DJ-1 Pro's for a little over a week now.I guess I agree with the previous posts for the most part. The bass is quite strong, but it hasn't gotten in the way of the highs at all. These headphones can actually rumble, the low end is definitely the highlight. Percussion, in particular stands out. Cymbals, snare and kick are all incredibly crisp, without being too sharp. I was a little worried after hearing how the HFI-580's can have some really piercing highs, but the DJ-I Pro's don't have that problem at all. You get excellent detail, both in the high and low end. The isolation is excellent too.

I'm not actually that impressed by the soundstage. The Pro's avoid that "in your head" feeling I've gotten from IEM's and a Grado SR80, but they aren't as all encompassing as an open headphone. I wouldn't recommend these for dynamic vocal/acoustic music either, but I don't know why someone would buy a pair of headphones with "DJ" in the title for that anyways.

 

Ergonomics

This deserves it's own section, because of various minor quibbles. Firstly, there are several reviews out there that say the DJ-1 Pro comes with a 3m 3.5mm cord with volume control and stereo/mono switch. In fact it is printed in the brochure inside the box! This is no longer true. Instead you get a 0.8m 3.5mm cord. Bummer. Ultrasone have updated their website and the box itself, so they need to correct the misleading info in their brochure. The second 6.3mm plug's cord is coiled and 3m, but the tiny 3.5mm cord is next to useless.

The DJ-1 Pro comes with an extra set of removable earpads. The originals come off smoothly with a rotating motion. Unfortunately, you wil get a severe drop in lows and some rattling if the pads are the slightest bit loose. And you really have to crank them back on to get a tight seal, which I was understandably hesitant to do at first.

Similiarly the cables can be fussy. They are removable and attach with a threaded screw, which is definitely a nice touch. Once again, you have to jam them in with an unnecessary amount of force to get them to connect properly. These are minor things, but they could have been fixed by just watching a couple random people use the headphones for the first time. Instead, I got a new discovery each day as I tried to figure out why the headphones didn't sound right anymore.

 

I got the DJ-1 Pros to fill the gap my ATH-AD900's couldn't fill. Namely, something portable that could play hip-hop, as well as EDM and a variety of poorly mastered/recorded music. Sounds silly, but the Audio-Technica's get pretty unforgiving if you try listening to poor sources, and when it comes to stuff like underground rap, you don't always have a choice. The Pro's have done a great job so far with those genres, and they also do well with just about anything electronic, including ambient, and even harsher stuff like metal.

 

I just got an E11 amp in the mail today. It' still charging, but I'll write up something very briefly once I've had a chance to listen to the DJ-1 Pro's amplified. I can already say from a first try that it is capable of boosting the bass significantly.

-Well, to me, coming from K518s, the isolation is not great. Especially for a headphone that is intended for DJ'ing!?

-Agree! 

I understand why he and others would like them... it just seems like their are and should be much better choices for "bass heads" then the DJ1 Pro. If they weren't so uncomfortable... I mite just keep them for gaming myself. 

I also used a FiiO E11 with the Ultrasones and got a bit of clarity and bass in return.. nothing dramatic on my end. But again, one could argue my music quality was too low, or my amp not "high end" enough... ect. I just wanted to get my opinion/experience in the mix, is all. My taste and understanding on what a "bass head" would like leads me to comment.. I mean, do you think these are the definitive headphones a "bass head' should acquire? I have a hard time believing that. They have some perks but nothing game changing.

I'll have to try out some 518's when I get a chance. Perhaps the DJ-1 Pro just wasn't a good fit for your head? I can't even hear my cell phone when it's right in front of me. I have yet to take the Pro's on a bus and see what happens with low frequencies though.

Trying out the E11 was interesting. It adds a slight background hum, particularly in the right channel. This is only noticeable in very quiet circumstances. The bass boost is pretty powerful. The E11 has 3 settings for bass, 0, 1 and 2. 1 is probably going to be enough for most people. Setting the bass boost to 2 is fun, but ridiculous. There isn't any distortion or change in mids or highs when flipping between these settingsm and overall, I didn't notice any change in sound quality apart from the low end. Setting the amp to high gain, boosts the volume significantly, but is unnecessary. Low gain can already drive the phones to ear-splitting levels.

I wasn't sure how much the Pro's would benefit from an amp, considering their impedance is in a grey arey area (64 ohms), while the phones are pretty power efficient at 102 dB/mW . It seems they benefit from bass boost greatly, but that's about it. I certainly wouldn't bother investing in a high end amp for these phones, but the E11 at 65$ was a worthwhile purchase. It provides a large boost to the already strong low end without the disadvantages (clipping, distortion) that can come from adjusting eq in some audio players and DAP's.

Edit: Regarding your comment about bass heads... I don't think I'm qualified to say as I'm not really a bass head! My main point of reference is the ATH AD-900's which are known for being light on bass, as most open backed headphones are. The Pro's add more than enough to the low end for my taste when listening to hip-hop and EDM, but I otherwise prefer a much more balanced sound, especially for gaming where repetitive sounds can get fatiguing. Different strokes for different folks, etc...

I considered getting these instead of the 780s but ended up getting the 780s. I'm very happy with my choice. I didn't really want a very large headphone and these are a bit bigger than the 780s. As for the graphs go, here's a comparison of the pro550s, which I also considered getting.

The 780s seem to do better......I wonder if its those gold plated drivers...haha. IDK for sure though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vheissu 

I'll have to try out some 518's when I get a chance. Perhaps the DJ-1 Pro just wasn't a good fit for your head? I can't even hear my cell phone when it's right in front of me. I have yet to take the Pro's on a bus and see what happens with low frequencies though.

 

Trying out the E11 was interesting. It adds a slight background hum, particularly in the right channel. This is only noticeable in very quiet circumstances. The bass boost is pretty powerful. The E11 has 3 settings for bass, 0, 1 and 2. 1 is probably going to be enough for most people. Setting the bass boost to 2 is fun, but ridiculous. There isn't any distortion or change in mids or highs when flipping between these settingsm and overall, I didn't notice any change in sound quality apart from the low end. Setting the amp to high gain, boosts the volume significantly, but is unnecessary. Low gain can already drive the phones to ear-splitting levels.

 

I wasn't sure how much the Pro's would benefit from an amp, considering their impedance is in a grey arey area (64 ohms), while the phones are pretty power efficient at 102 dB/mW . It seems they benefit from bass boost greatly, but that's about it. I certainly wouldn't bother investing in a high end amp for these phones, but the E11 at 65$ was a worthwhile purchase. It provides a large boost to the already strong low end without the disadvantages (clipping, distortion) that can come from adjusting eq in some audio players and DAP's.

 

Edit: Regarding your comment about bass heads... I don't think I'm qualified to say as I'm not really a bass head! My main point of reference is the ATH AD-900's which are known for being light on bass, as most open backed headphones are. The Pro's add more than enough to the low end for my taste when listening to hip-hop and EDM, but I otherwise prefer a much more balanced sound, especially for gaming where repetitive sounds can get fatiguing. Different strokes for different folks, etc...

^Exactly.

Different taste it is, and the sound sig would work better for games and movies as mentioned IMO. The bass junkie part of the OP's review got me to post... just putting my experience in the mix.

After a small discussion, bcasey ordered a pair of K518s. bcasey said they are good but nothing major(has auditioned many sets). I also feel their might be better then the K518, their should be, but at what price difference? Hey, for $50 bucks, I say give them a go... and post your thoughts after the fact. I have the K518 LE's and I'm waiting for another set I ordered, will give impressions when I receive them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redrider469 

I considered getting these instead of the 780s but ended up getting the 780s. I'm very happy with my choice. I didn't really want a very large headphone and these are a bit bigger than the 780s. As for the graphs go, here's a comparison of the pro550s, which I also considered getting.

 

 

The 780s seem to do better......I wonder if its those gold plated drivers...haha. IDK for sure though.

From what I've been told.. graphs are not the definitive answer to what you will come to expect. Proven to me by looking at the graph of K518 LE(K81 DJ) and DJ1 Pros(Pro 550)... the bass should be where?

Yet the K518 LE's have a noticeably more pronounce bass....

How would know Bass head cans compare for reference in the graph however?

LOFreaking L.

Edit: actually the difference in 100Hz to 400Hz is telling I suppose...

has anyone compared this to the pro 900s yet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dubstep Girl 

has anyone compared this to the pro 900s yet?

I would be interested in this also... the graph is below if it helps anyone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dubstep Girl 

has anyone compared this to the pro 900s yet?

Yes i would like to know this too, been thinking of getting a pro 900 as an upgrade from my pro 550 and hfi 580 (yes i have both) but not too sure if its worth the money though.