Ultrasone Signature DJ - Page 31

I'm having issues finding Sig Pro OR Sig DJ reviews on any forums other than here. Any links?

Hi Levaix,

you might want to look into this one:

http://www.digitaldjtips.com/2012/11/ultrasone-signature-dj-headphones-review/

Cheers

Thanks.  I believe I did see that one a couple weeks ago. I was just a little confused when it was said other forums had reviewed the SDJ. All the review really said was that it was an excellent set of headphones, which is fine; I was just hoping to find some more discussion concerning the differences between it and the SP.

 

I wrote this review on Head-Fi back in November :-

http://www.head-fi.org/products/ultrasone-signature-dj/reviews

 

Good review, I gave it a thorough read-over

 

Cheers. Getting the right SigPros to compare the DJs against was a little PITA 'cos the Ultrasone distributors/retailers weren't aware (or didn't believe) of discrepancies in SQ across various units of SigPros until they whipped a few out to demo themselves. 

Yes, I've read your review, and it was certainly helpful! (But added confusion! lol)

 

My thought on the discrepancies... It's well established with Ultrasone fans that most Ultrasones need an extensive burn-in time. I know not everyone agrees with that 100%, but if you go back and read archived messages from the two big Ultrasone threads, what you find repeating itself are skeptics experimenting for themselves and accepting that they DID hear some difference, even if they were being burnt in without being listened to. For some individuals (and depending on the model), this difference is drastic, and for many more it is not dramatic, simply observed. BUT, every once in a while someone would chime in and say that their set changed very little from how it sounded out of the box. In my mind, and reading the experiences of others, it seems very likely that an extensive burn-in not only has a beneficial effect for most Ultrasones, but also a UNIFORMING effect. Now, would three different pairs of Signature Pro's become the same after hundreds of hours of use? No, but I believe they would become closer. Of course, I could be wrong.

 

I want to make an aside here. I'm actually a classically trained euphonium and tuba player. As you can imagine, variance between big horns of the same model are extremely common. But one thing I do find interesting is that for low brass, there is a parallel idea about older horns akin to what we call burn-in on headphones. My teacher proposed this to me and believed it to be true himself. The gist of the idea is that at the factory, the different parts of the horn are subjected to large amounts of heat and pressure when being formed. Then all the pieces are soldered together, and sometimes forced into place, creating more pressure (many tubists prefer to unsolder the leadpipe from the bell due to this). Then the entire horn is either lacquered or plated (hey, sound familiar to anyone with titanium plated drivers?). When the owner purchases the horn and receives it from the store (or sometimes even the factory), the entire horn is tense and tight from being manufactured. Over time as the horn is played and vibrations run through the brass, it relaxes, which results in both being easier to play and having a generally better sound. "But Josh," you (somehow knowing my real name) exclaim, "Surely that's just the player getting used to the tuba!" And here is the interesting part, oh sweet child, because there is also a parallel to "blind" burn-in! In more recent times, some specialists have taken to cryogenically treating brass instruments, in effect achieving several years of the horn settling down in a short amount of time. Many people (including my former teacher, who is EXTREMELY objective [in other words takes no BS]) had this done to one of his newer tubas and did notice a discernible difference. (He also said if he had to pay for it, he would rather just play it for a few more years... lol.)

 

That was a long aside...

 

So where exactly does the Signature DJ fit into this? The Signature DJ is one of the few headphones that Ultrasone does NOT plate the drivers in titanium; they are raw mylar. It could be that the titanium plating process is what causes the pressure on Ultrasones that requires such extensive burn-in. If that were the case, between a similarly unbroken SDJ and SP, the SDJ would sound better. This happens to be what several people have reported, including AnakChan and iAmCalm. However, once broken in, the SP would begin to show its advantages and subtleties over the SDJ, in line with SoundFreaq's experience. This is just a theory, of course, but it definitely seems in line with what we already know about Ultrasones. As to why they would choose mylar for the SDJ's, perhaps the company was aware of this and thought that the professional DJ audience wouldn't put up with a set of cans that didn't sound awesome immediately out of the box.

 

I hope that was at least somewhat enlightening or at least intriguing, because now I'm late to some place I have to be. 

I am waiting for more info or personal demo of the Yamaha PRO 500 and AKG Tiesto K267 before moving forward with the Signature DJ.  These are the only closed portable headphones I am aware of that have the potential to rival the M-100 IMO.
 

 

Sorry for the snip but everything you wrote there (which is somewhat long to quote but others just need to scroll up 2 posts to re-read it) is a highly potential cause. I usually give stuff I review an honorary 48 hr burn in before I begin to listen critically. Usually most of DDs I've tried and demo-ed, 48 hrs is enough (depending on volume and variety of genre of burn in naturally). Very recently I've come across something that has only made me comfortable with it only after 160 hrs of burn in and right now I'm not certain if :-

1) it's the cable that really needs that amount of time

2) the drivers (may it be dynamic or BA) that took that time

- or - (and I'm unfoundedly leaning towards this last option)

3) nothing's really changed after 48 hrs of burn in and the remaining 112 hrs was just my ears getting used to it

 

Having said that, these headphones (SigPro or SigDJ) are larger DD's at 40mm & 50mm respectively, not to mention, different construction. So your proposal is a genuine possibility. More food for thought, more research required.

Interesting! Do you mind sharing which item this was?

 

My thought is, if burn-in is real, it would have to involve the physically moving parts (eg. the drivers). With something like electricity flowing through a cable, the word for any wear I immediately think of is "deterioration" as opposed to "settling."

Did RMC Audio ever send in their orders?

Or did eveyone that ordered from them canceled?

 

:-p

I got my Signature DJ through RMC Audio in early Dec.   It had been great pair as compared to the Shure e5c that I was using beforehand.  But of course the two are very different thing to compare with.

 

How much was it through RMC??

Today i just received My ultrasone signature DJ

Out The box sound very Good , very clean and detail High , mid very Clear too.
Very Good bass impact
I prefer The Sound Quality signature DJ than PRO
Signature PRO sound muffeled and congested and like i heard In hollow Room.

Signature DJ is My second ultrasone headphone and my first is Ed 8 Ruthenium recable With Whiplash twag elite 2

ED 8 Ruthenium vs Signature DJ

Source : Ipod Classic 7 G 160 Gb
Amp : RSA RS 71 A single ended
Headphone : ultrasone ED 8 Ruthenium
Ultrasone Signature DJ

High :
ED 8 : has better extended High and more detail
Sig DJ : smoother High than ED 8 and cleaner

Mid :
ED 8 : a Bit laidback mid but more Clear and sweeter than sig DJ
Sig DJ : mid is warner and more forward than ED 8

Bass :
ED 8 : has better Low and very Deep bass and cleaner Bass , has better Speed .
Sig DJ : has better bass impact but less clean bass and a bit boomy bass.

Separation :
ED 8 : has better separation than sig DJ
Sig DJ : ED 8 has better separation

Soundstage :
ED 8 : not as Wide Sig DJ
Sig DJ : has wider soundstage than ED 8

Conclusion : this two headphone has the same sound zig ,
Give plus and minus for some music genre.
Signature dj sound Warner as ed 8
Overall ed 8 more clear sounding than sig dj
Sig dj sound more clear than sig pro

This is my personal impression

Thanks for your impressions! If you don't mind me asking, under what circumstances had you previously heard the Signature Pro? (Meet, in a store, short-term demo, used to own, etc.)