Got My Ultrasone HFI-780 a week ago, so far disappointed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reptile00seven 

I've had the Ultrasone HFI-780's for a week now and the bass just really isn't coming out.  I got these as I had heard so many things about how powerful the bass is and how much it thumps...I've had absolutely zero thump so far.  Otherwise they seem well-rounded and bright. These are my third pair, my last one being the JVC HARX700s [300+ hours], when I directly compare the two, the JVC's have far more bass.  Could this really be the result of burn in?  I had previously opposed the idea of burn-in, but this is kind of ridiculous, going from a $30 pair to a $150 I expected too much maybe?  Anyone have personal experience on the matter?

 Are you running any EQ settings at all?

Quote:

Originally Posted by reptile00seven 

Compared both with a flat EQ and a few varying setting that boosted bass/mids, mids/trebs, etc.

 Have you thought about perhaps getting a cheap pair of Sony XB500's on the side just for that

 occasional guilty 'mega bass' fix?

 They're dirt cheap, add a little bit of EQ ~ if that's not enough bass then no headphone can

 satiate your bass needs 

 Keep the 780 for everything else. Sorted!

You should notice a difference after a ton of hours. Some of the Ultrasones, it's commonly agreed, need a hundred or so hours to start to shine and can be fatiguing at first before that. 

Can you leave them breaking in overnight to speed that up?

This is assuming they are new out of the box.

Don't get rid of them until you get at least 100 or so hours on them. Have a look in some of the Ultrasone threads for further comments on this and how long some results took for people. I definitely noticed a change in my Pro2500's after a while. Highs were a bit much to start with but now have toned down and the bass is incredible.

They should come around.

They're certainly a nice looking pair!

Burn in with ultrasone ( in my case 550 ) was just spectacular. They got trough few phases and sometimes I was like; is this the same can ?!

Good luck

I bought a brand new HFI580 a few days ago, and compared to my fully burned in Pro 900 they are quite light on the bass, even though Ive read the HFI580 have the most bass of all the Ultrasones. So it could definitely be a burn in issue.

Although I have to say people tend to exaggerate the bass quantity on Ultrasones. They are still HiFi cans so they will always be more balanced/analytical than most cheaper headphones which tend to have a LOT of bass to cover up the terrible mids/highs.

It's possible that you might be even more of a basshead than you think you are.  I have the HFI-780 and it is bass-heavy, but not as much as a good number of other cans.  In particular, the HFI-580 and Pro 900 are more bassy than it.  I've had my 780 for probably 300+ hours of burn-in and the change in bass isn't massive or anything.  Maybe it increases more once you hit 400 hours, but so far I doubt burn-in alone would solve the issue.  They do benefit some from amplification, so that's something to look into.  They respond well to EQ as well.  It's also worth making sure that you're feeding the 780 audio from a quality source to make sure you're not hindering it.

Overall, the HFI-780 is not a can that will fully satisfy most bassheads.  It's more for a basshead who wants something a little more versatile and flat, though not as flat as say, the HFI-680, or vice versa, for someone who usually listens to balanced cans but wants something a little bassier and more fun without going totally overboard.  It's possibe you'd prefer another Ultrasone like the HFI-580 or Pro 900, or even something from another brand like Denon or Beyerdynamic.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aizura 

I bought a brand new HFI580 a few days ago, and compared to my fully burned in Pro 900 they are quite light on the bass, even though Ive read the HFI580 have the most bass of all the Ultrasones. So it could definitely be a burn in issue.

Although I have to say people tend to exaggerate the bass quantity on Ultrasones. They are still HiFi cans so they will always be more balanced/analytical than most cheaper headphones which tend to have a LOT of bass to cover up the terrible mids/highs.

HFI-580 might possibly have a little more mid-bass than the Pro 900s, but I highly doubt they have as much sub-bass.

I had both the HFI-580 and Pro 900 and the latter definitely had waaay more bass all around. I'm in the same camp as the OP in thinking that the bass slam on them (580) is fairly pedestrian given how much hype they get as basshead cans. The 580s bass is nicely textured, and pretty good, but they don't slam very hard -- more of a polite tap. You can EQ them up and they handle that well, but as they're voiced stock, it's not that impressive. Maybe I had a defective pair. 

Now the Pro 900.... oh lordy lord. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aizura 

I bought a brand new HFI580 a few days ago, and compared to my fully burned in Pro 900 they are quite light on the bass, even though Ive read the HFI580 have the most bass of all the Ultrasones. So it could definitely be a burn in issue.

Although I have to say people tend to exaggerate the bass quantity on Ultrasones. They are still HiFi cans so they will always be more balanced/analytical than most cheaper headphones which tend to have a LOT of bass to cover up the terrible mids/highs.

 The Ultrasone 580 has a decent amount of impact and good mid bass but it's not a bass king like the Ultrasone Signature Pro 

 Especially in the sub bass!

There's an interesting mod for the 780's:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/501655/simple-ultrasone-hfi-780-mod-to-increase-bass-may-also-work-on-other-models

or just upgrade to the pro900's...which have more bass than the 580's.