Ultimate Ears UE 900 Discussion and Appreciation Thread - Page 91

They need a recall! I have read people having so many problems

 

 

Well, I haven't had problem number 1.  I'm not suggesting that your problem isn't important, just saying that it may be premature to call for a recall.

 

Have you tried cleaning/dressing your connections with Deoxit?

Mine has serial # starting with 1245CL, and it did have the connector issues (lost of sound for a second or two) in the beginning but after I applied some Deoxit to the connectors the issue has not resurfaced, although I cannot be sure if the Deoxit cured the issue.

Thanks nelamvr6 for the reminder.
Edited by breadvan - 1/16/13 at 8:53pm

I never had the problem, but Deoxit is a good habit to get into anyway.  I always use a dab on all my connectors, even when new.

for $400 I shouldn't have to use Deoxit

 

So you don't have to fuel a Porsche?

Not a good analogy. It's more like buying a Porsche, attempting to drive it off the lot, and then realizing they didn't bother to add the engine oil. 

exactly

Or you drive it off the lot and there is a strange engine noise and one of the gears doesn't engage

 

Still not a good analogy.  In this case, UE put too much lubricant on the port, so it would be like getting a new car, and finding out it had a little too much engine oil.  Still bad though.  But the solution would be simple, remove the excess oil.  

I have no idea why you're discussing engine oil, but to add my 2 cents( (and be hypocritical with analogies hehe), I absolutely love the UE 900s. Perhaps the sub bass impact isnt as prominent as I'd like but these are comfortably the best earphone I've owned. I say sub bass ain't that great but when i use them side by side, i only prefer the sub bass of the IE7, imho these stand up to the bass performance of the dynamic driver Miles Davis trumpet which I adored, show off how amateur the tuning of the Sony XBA4's are and you dont need an amplifier. If you had one, you'd probably get closer to a problem I will go on to explain.

 

They are VERY easy to drive.

 

Problems: And i have no nice way to say this - That F*C**NG left driver problem that makes a tearing/screeching sound. Bloody pathetic.

If everything about these headphones apart from that wasn't so good, I'd call these the most irritating pair. A bit like XEears driver flex problem. No matter how good the IEM is, you're anticipating the next time you hear that irritating tear and it will ruin EVERYTHING about the song you're listening to. It makes me angry! I would love to fly to their HQ and choke whoever was in charge of this with the UE900! hahaha (I don't mean that literally of course)

 

I hate that I cannot turn the volume up too much as i hear that tear. Ironically it is when i listen to Yiruma. Piano like timbre my arse, it flipping tears at those frequencies!

(For anyone wondering what the hell im on about when i say piano like timbre, that was one of their lines in their advertisements)

 

This earphone is a drug. Everything about using them is amazing; the one crappy thing is the useless driver tearing/scratching issue.

I believe this is no doubt a quality control issue as with my UE700's I have the same problem in the left earphone. I have tried multiple sources (on UE700 too), both cables on the UE900, amped, un-amped. CD, mp3's, flacs, different players. I've come to the conclusion that their left drivers have some sort of manufacturing fault (or i have one hell of an exceptional circumstance)

 

If you listen to Jesse Cook - Ne me quitte pas, Click here for youtube link- it is a  brilliant song. These damn earphones make it sound sooo good, yet ruin everything about the song because it occurs sooo frequently.

 

Emma-Lee's (Emily? haha - bad joke? perhaps.) voice will give you a chill up your spine, and nearly send you into a trance....until UE's rubbish driver problem strikes again.

 

You will come back for a second and third listen. But as I say, this is a drug. Gives you hearing bliss, One hell of a come down too when the inevitable screech/tear happens!

 

Edit: Minor clarifications on what I meant.

Edited by amanp - 1/17/13 at 2:15pm

 

This screeching sound is starting to intrigue me.  I have a feeling it has to do with the 10k spike that is present on both of these IEMs.  Maybe attempt to lower them using an EQ?  Might be a good idea to try.  Let me know if it goes well.  Also, if it is the 10k range, the screech will be worse with the UE700.  

Hi mate,

When I say screeching, I mean the sound you expect to hear a Hi-Fi speaker make when you put the volume too high and your speaker is about to pop, or start "clipping".

I'm going to come straight off the bat and admit I aint the greatest with equalising and I don't have the time to sit down :(

It is definitely something that I will make time for tomorrow (and something I didnt try; thanks for the idea!).

 

To be honest, I can only comment from memory (as my sister has taken my UE700s to uni! - iBud convert ) so I cant test and report back immediately. It may be because the picture these paint and cohesiveness of the sound is so good that I never realised as much with the UE700s. Imho, the UE900 is a flat to mid centric phone so to have clipping in these frequencies is something I did not expect on stock tuning particularly with it being a flagship of the better known brands.

 

If anyone has a Cowon S9, I get it on songs like Joao Paulo - Madeira (From the album "Roda") at a volume of 26/40. This is still a fairly high volume but when you're immersed in the music it aint too bad for short burst and just kills everything of this earphone.

 

On a quick excited test, by reccessing the 13khz a bit, I can get to about 27-29 without it clipping noticably. I'll need to play with the manual EQ a bit more.

If anyone can help let me know how to get over this, it would be very much appreciated. I guess my train ride to work will be one where I equalize the crap out of the cowon! haha.

 

Lastly, tinyman392, THANK YOU for the tip.

amanp - I think you may be on to something.  I take it you sometimes listen on the loud side?  In lieu of the problems I had with my 2 pairs when I cranked it up it definitely sounded harsher.  Didn't clip but sounded harsher.  You mentioning the screeching made me think back to this.  I didn't necessarily hear it on the left more than the right but I noticed it.

 

I think this is one reason I have always been a Westone and Shure fan.  With their IEM's it seem you can crank it up to ear-splitting volumes without them breaking a sweat.  Not that you would want to but many IEM's seem to sound strained at higher volumes...like you are really pushing them to the limit.  Not saying that is the case with UE900 because I did not have enough time with it.

 

I don't have a meter but I would guess I (not always but often) listen at 95-100dB but limit it to 30 minutes at a time.  If an IEM can't take this it is sort of a deal breaker for me.

Edited by Spyro - 1/17/13 at 3:55pm

 

 

Sorry dude, I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about.  I listened to that song in the link you posted, I didn't hear anything even remotely similar to what you described.  Neither have I heard anyone else complain of anything similar.

 

Whatever the defect is that's causing you trouble, apparently  it is not affecting every pair of UE900s.  I suggest you return your pair for replacement, it is most likely a sample defect.