Ultrasone edition 8, will I be blown away?

Can't you slowly moving up the ladder? If you're going to spend $1K, you should really know what you're getting youself into. Chances are good headphones sound more similar to each other than different, regardless of price. Since you're inexperienced with headphones, you may not be able to tell the difference between headphones at $50-100, and headphones at $500+ if they share the same signature.

If I could buy super high end headphone, the Ultrasones would be the last choice I would make. 

To show it in measurements, look at the very, very high distortion into the bass frequencies and the oddly unnatural super high energy upper treble frequencies. 

To show it in reviews, here's one from an administrator at Head-Fi. 

More iffy reviews of Ultrasone's top tier headphones. 

Although Amazon reviews are terrible to use for sound quality, the average rating of the Edition 8 on Amazon is brought down by reviews talking about the poor quality control      (Review 2)     and build quality of the Edition 8s. 

Compared to other headphones like the LCD-2, HD800, and other flagships, I see zero reason to every consider buying a flagship Ultrasone. They exhibit the same issues as the lower end headphones in their series and seem to do significantly poorer in reviews on average compared to the other flagships. Look at the rave reviews of the HD800, for example. The amount of complaints is not nearly as high. 

Head-Fi is not just about buying the best or the most expensive gear. It's also about the journey and the experience you gain on the way. 

I can understand where you're coming from if you have that much to spend. But a fair warning, buying only one of the many flagships, is like rolling a die to get a six. Impressions and reviews don't entirely match up to your expectations.

Try to find a shop that has top-tier products for auditions. Nobody can help you find the right signature if they don't have a reference point. Resell values of well-known headphones are high in the for sale section here. You could gain immense amount of experience by buying some of the mid-fi ones, such as HD600, FA-003... or even the budget-fi such as Aurvana Live!, FA-004...

THe Ed8 excels at sounding great with a minimal/portable front end, while the HD800 really needs a full desktop setup and even then it's picky.

This. 

I don't even want to put $200 on the table if I can't hear the headphone before I buy it. Personal impressions trump all the reviews and measurements in the world for personal enjoyment. The more you can hear before you buy, the better.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingpage 

I can understand where you're coming from if you have that much to spend. But a fair warning, buying only one of the many flagships, is like rolling a die to get a six. Impressions and reviews don't entirely match up to your expectations.

 

Try to find a shop that has top-tier products for auditions. Nobody can help you find the right signature if they don't have a reference point. Resell values of well-known headphones are high in the for sale section here. You could gain immense amount of experience by buying some of the mid-fi ones, such as HD600, FA-003... or even the budget-fi such as Aurvana Live!, FA-004...

If you're thinking price is THAT important in finding the right pair, prepared to be disappointed. I have seen quite a few people here who have had tried many high-end headphones, go back to mid-end stuff in the end.

Price is only highly correlational with the technical aspect, NOT the personal aspect, besides there exceptions. Remember, many small brand headphones are as good as the big brands at a small fraction of the cost, because you're not paying premium prices for brand names, high production costs, etc.

There aren't many portable flagships around. If it's portability you want, HD25 is more mainstream, and much cheaper.

Yep that last statement is so true about finding the perfect pair.  There just rarely seems to be such an animal.

But as to the Edition 8 I think this is totally a preference issue.  After all the headphones and buds and IEMS and receivers and amps and everything else I keep spending money on, the Edition 8 is still my favorite of all.  It's not the most accurate or best soundstage headphone but it's the most fun to me.  There is just something about Ultrasone bass that really gets me rockin out.  If you start with a headphone like this though, you should make sure you can get a refund if you don't like them.  Ultrasone seems to have quite a love hate relationship here. 

Also, for what it's worth, I think the S Logic is phenominal on the Edition 8. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lbc213 

Posted before but now I have saved the money I'm looking to buy now. I used to be into music but then off and on again, and now while listening to music or on the computer, I wear headphones alot nowadays.  Tried the Denon D2000, Beats pro etc but very disappointed with all of them. I honestly see no point in them having all them headphones for sale and a big demo when something is wrong, I'm not that knowledgeable as I have said but either their source or whatever had something wrong with it, the beats sounded average, the Denon was distorted at all volumes etc

I feel like your whole post begs the question: why are you willing to spend so much?  Is it because you want the most immersive audio experience, the most accurate to the material, or the most "fun"?  I have known a newcomer who bought an HD800 on a recommendation from someone here and returned two weeks later ranting about the sound.  After figuring out what type of sound he enjoyed the D7000 was suggested and he was a happy camper.  Thats part of why everyone is suggesting you try before you buy.  

Just a note, with closed headphones (which happen to include the vast majority of portable headphones as well) it is really hard to get certain facets of sound right.  If you're up to it you'd be surprised with the sound you can get with IEMs these days.  JH Audio, Ultimate Ears, Westone, Unique Melody, 1964 Ears (full disclosure never owned the last three so can't actually recommend them just giving an idea of the market) all make custom in ear headphones.  The JH13's in particular sound better than just about any closed phone I've heard.  (Haven't heard the new AT's yet, but better than the L3000's)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radio_head 

I feel like your whole post begs the question: why are you willing to spend so much?  Is it because you want the most immersive audio experience, the most accurate to the material, or the most "fun"?  I have known a newcomer who bought an HD800 on a recommendation from someone here and returned two weeks later ranting about the sound.  After figuring out what type of sound he enjoyed the D7000 was suggested and he was a happy camper.  Thats part of why everyone is suggesting you try before you buy.  

 

 

I agree a lot with this, actually. Knowing the type of headphone and the sound signature you want can be worth its weight in gold when trying to buy higher end headphones. 

I like the journey approach. It gives you exposure to different schools of sound. And in the process, you will figure out what you like. Also, it will give you more perspective rather than thinking ED8 is the best/worst can in the world.

You seem relatively new at this. What's wrong with last generation of flagship if you never heard them? HD650/600/580 are still tremendous headphones. HD800 doesn't take anything away from them. With that kind of budget, you can go shop for used SR225, HD650, and HFI-780 all at the same time and figure out what you like.

Or you can save yourself the cash and go to a meet. But you can do the comparison at your own leisure, which I believe should be the whole point of head-fi. Making informed decision about your audio taste.

Btw, I am looking to pick up a pair of ED8 myself.