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arnaud said:

I actually liked the edition 9 but it certainly took a little while to get accustomed to. More than the s-logic that takes time, it's probably the very colored mid/highs that come across as weird in the first few minutes... You get used to it though (just like some crave grado house sound).
As for this being a deafening weapon, I don't really agree. If anything, I think I would usually listen to the edition 9 at lower levels than other headphones because if its voicing.
Would be cool to see how all the edition headphones measure, this is such a rare set of data we can look at. Congrats again purrin!

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From memory, the ED9, sounded different from the ED8.
 
Based on discussions I've had with people who have heard other ED8s, I suspect these could have some production variances with some (including this one) having more of that treble spike at 14k (which is audible.) I blame it on the titanium driver being driven well into its breakup region.

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purrin said:

Ultrasone Edition 8.

 
As always, subjective impressions first:
 
Wow! These sound like slightly more refined Beats Studios. Recessed mids. Less muddy than Beats. The treble is kind of sharp! Turning up the volume to see how they behave a louder listening levels. Ouch! Ouch! Taking them off NOW. Holy Cow! I think I'm deaf or at least I've lost some high-frequency hearing. To my buddy Questhate: "WUT? These cost $1500? You've got to be kidding!" Since the EU limits volumes on music players, I think the EU should also place limits on treble nastiness. This headphone will kill any high-frequency hearing you have any left - after that - you will be all set.
 
I usually set the floor lower to ~36db these days, but any lower than the -30db used below just shows too much crap. The usual stuff (note frequency and time ranges, etc.) applies.
 
 

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Those are no waterfalls!  I SEE MOUNTAINS!!!!!  That's really embarrassing for such an expensive headphone.  Looks like a friggin mountain range.
 
Saved me $1500 (as if I would've bought them anyway )

 
Quote:

arnaud said:

I actually liked the edition 9 but it certainly took a little while to get accustomed to. More than the s-logic that takes time, it's probably the very colored mid/highs that come across as weird in the first few minutes... You get used to it though (just like some crave grado house sound).
As for this being a deafening weapon, I don't really agree. If anything, I think I would usually listen to the edition 9 at lower levels than other headphones because if its voicing.
Would be cool to see how all the edition headphones measure, this is such a rare set of data we can look at. Congrats again purrin!

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I think the point is that by turning down the volume to bring mids and highs to comfortable levels you'll miss out on all the other frequency ranges.  That's why I don't like that kind of sound, because in order to turn up the volume to the point where I can hear everything the mids and/or highs feel like needles stabbing me in the ear.  (I haven't heard edition 8's or 9's, just commenting on peaky/bright frequency response and poor decay).

 
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purrin said:

Ultrasone Edition 8.

 "WUT? These cost $1500? You've got to be kidding!" 

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Seriously... the nerve of Ultrasone to charge $1500 for these. Although the price must contribute to some sort of "halo effect" considering the number of times I've seen "best closed headphones available" thrown around. 

 
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questhate said:

Seriously... the nerve of Ultrasone to charge $1500 for these. Although the price must contribute to some sort of "halo effect" considering the number of times I've seen "best closed headphones available" thrown around. 

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I'm so glad I did not buy these when I was a noob. Almost did because of the "best closed headphones available" thing.
 
On to the next victim...

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purrin said:

I'm so glad I did not buy these when I was a noob. Almost did because of the "best closed headphones available" thing.
 
On to the next victim...

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Best closed phone just may be a balance Beyer DT1350 (with or without the velour HD25 pads) maybe...I have not heard many though.
 
 

Beyer DT1350

 

Subjective impressions - stream of consciousness

 
Voice comes from left of center. Imaging is kind of wierd. Right channel lacks bass and mids. Oh oh. Possibly another driver mismatch a la T1. 
 
The tonality of the headphone doesn't have anything horrible sounding (in terms of nasty spikes that destroy our hearing), but it just kinda sounds "not good," but it's not bad either. There's definitely some trouble in the treble too - it's uneven. Some dips in FR in the mids and high mids and mid-bass seems slightly recessed. Mid-bass dip is never good. IMO, a little bit of warmth and even bass bump (at least with my measurements) from 100-200Hz is required for headphones to sound right. Think SRH840: it lacks a bump in this region - so it too sounds a little cold and antisceptic - at least for me. "Thin" would definitely not be the word to describe these. "Cold" would be too much. Maybe "cool?"
 

FR

 

 
The channel imbalance thing is odd, I re-calibrated and measured several times to confirm. It's hard to pick up because the higher frequencies are decently matched - compared to the lower frequencies which are totally off. Most spatial information (and the all-important harmonics) is contained in the higher frequencies. The imbalance very obvious with test tones. There's no doubt in my mind that these headphones would sound less "cool" and "off" if the channels were matched properly (that is with the one with the better FR.) It would bring out the overall bass - since bass seems especially missing on the right channel. It's very hard for me (and most others) to detect channel imbalances with headphones anyways when compared to speakers. I know LFF is good at it, probably because he's trained himself to do this.
 

Waterfall Plots

 
CSDs below are very clean other than the spike at ~14k. The noise floor is actually a VERY LOW -40db, so the results are impressive. Other than the tone, it's very clean sounding and is able to reproduce real musical information.
 
As always, note the frequency, time, and amplitude ranges on the axis for these plots before comparing to others

 

 
Finally, what's up with these Beyer QC issues?  I'm sure I would like these headphones if the green (left channel) frequency response line were replicated on the right channel. The right channel response is a little bit too lean for me. But for now, the V-Moda M80 reigns supreme for the supra-aurals - at least for me.

I wonder if all of them have this imbalance or is this a one-off thing?  I can't say that I have notice that kind of behavior in mine.  Wonder how I could check for this?  That imbalance is down-right ugly to see and surprising.  If I had not been listening to mine and enjoying them I would never purchase them based on this report.

Given the fact that the T1 has the same exact QC problems, I think it's pretty fair to assume, and likely, that this is a model wide QC problem or just represents a lack of driver matching.  Basically, Beyer just doesn't give a ****. 
 
If they can't do it with their 1200 dollar flagship how can you expect them to do any better with a 300 dollar portable? 

Too hard to say. This is the only DT1350 I've heard. On the other hand, there's stronger evidence, but nothing I could say with confidence, with the T1 on its QC issues - I've heard half a dozen and measured two of those. But I'm kind of with RD on this, I get the feeling that Beyer doesn't care.
 
Still $300 is a lot of money, and I find it curious why things types of QC issues (very badly matched drivers) haven't popped with other manufacturers headphones. And I've measured a lot of headphones...
 
I hope Beyer is noting these issues.

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If they can't do it with their 1200 dollar flagship how can you expect them to do any better with a 300 dollar portable? 

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Somewhat oddly, the supposedly lower end non-Tesla models are (or at least have been) apparently less prone to this problem.
 

I should probably read the entire thread, but which headphones have measured well so far Purrin?

 
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stv014 said:

Somewhat oddly, the supposedly lower end non-Tesla models are (or at least have been) apparently less prone to this problem.
 

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Figure they have a more mature manufacturing process for the 77/88/990s.
 

rhythmdevils said:

Given the fact that the T1 has the same exact QC problems, I think it's pretty fair to assume, and likely, that this is a model wide QC problem or just represents a lack of driver matching.  Basically, Beyer just doesn't give a ****. 

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Quote:

rhythmdevils said:

Given the fact that the T1 has the same exact QC problems, I think it's pretty fair to assume, and likely, that this is a model wide QC problem or just represents a lack of driver matching.  Basically, Beyer just doesn't give a ****. 
 
If they can't do it with their 1200 dollar flagship how can you expect them to do any better with a 300 dollar portable? 

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this is sad but truth.
 
I havent notie any channel imbalance on mines, how can I test that? it doesnt seem to be obvious in general listening.
 
but still, I prefer the HD25 and M80 to the little beyers, there is something  that always makes me have the "something is weird" feeling, most def I dont enjoy them with metal, guitars sounds off.
 

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jamesmcprogger said:

this is sad but truth.
 
I havent notie any channel imbalance on mines, how can I test that? it doesnt seem to be obvious in general listening.
 
but still, I prefer the HD25 and M80 to the little beyers, there is something  that always makes me have the "something is weird" feeling, most def I dont enjoy them with metal, guitars sounds off.
 

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Well, sounds like my former (imbalanced) T70. With fewer murder spikes in the treble, of course. Hiking those mountains hurts.
 
The easiest way to pick up on imbalancing would be a swept sine.
 
 
Oh yeah, those beyers sounded real unnatural. Nothing I remember clearly: sent it back within the week.