Ultrasone Pro 900... is mine defective?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liqrsicc 

I recently purchased the Pro 900 and have about 100 or so hours. For having the title of a basshead can, this sure has been a disappointment. The sharp highs have become more subtle but the bass impact just isn't there for me. Using the silver pads made some improvement, but not much. Without an amp, I can't really listen to it. Paired with my E17 it's just OK. The Pro 900 connected to the E17 with bass set to 10 is about on the same level as my XB500 un-amped, in terms of bass quantity. Is this about right? The 900 definitely has better bass quality but simply lacks the quantity I was expecting after reading hours of reviews and threads. Now I am no audiophile but I am comparing these to the headphones I own: XB500, Sennheiser HD595, Monoprice $23 cans, Beats SoloHD, and B&W P5. Out of all these the 900 only beats out the HD595 in terms of bass quantity. At this point I'm more content with my $60 XB500 un-amped. Could I possibly have a defective unit?

Heya,

Download Audacity (free; google it). Generate -> tone -> test tone -> 30hz. Test that. Test 30hz tones with the PRO900 and your other headphones. Then get back to us.

(Do the same with some other tones like 100hz and 200hz too to incorporate some mid-bass)

Very best,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liqrsicc 

Well, it's looks like it's working fine. I ran it off my MacBook Pro with the EQ flat and no amp. I tested my HD595, Monoprice headphones, and the XB500 as well. The HD595 had the least bass and started clipping before I could turn the volume past 70%. The bass was present with the Monoprice cans but started to clip at 85%. Bass was there in the 900 but at less quantity than the Monoprice headphones. I was able to crank it up to 100% and it had the best sound quality of course. The XB500 was rattling my head at 50% and was still fairly clear at 100%. 

 

I'm guessing I was expecting a little too much mid bass, in terms of quantity, with the 900. I'll continue to burn them in and see if there's a change. May just give the Pro700mk2 and the D5000 a try. Thanks for your help!

The PRO900 has more mid-bass than those headphones. The XB500 has more bass in general. But the PRO700MK2 and D5000 are going to have less bass than the PRO900 in terms of mid-bass. The D5000 has better sub-bass.

I think the problem may simply be your source. Again, test it with Audacity. See if you hear clipping or distortion.

Also note, it sounds like you're willing to spend hundreds for just bass. I think you should be introduced and become skilled with something free that will alter all headphone experiences for you for the better since you're questing for monstrous bass: equalization. Drop all frequencies in your equalizer except the bass frequencies (200hz and below, or 100hz and below, etc, to taste) by -10db or more. See what you think. Before you go wasting more money.

Very best,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liqrsicc 

Am I asking to much by looking for a headphone with as much bass quantity as the XB500 and still have decent mids and highs?

Heya,

Pretty much yes. It's why the XB500 sounds the way it does, it's all bass, nothing else. Find any headphone with a butt-ton of bass and you'll find it sucks in every other department usually. PRO900 included.

An exception is if you're willing to tweak. Take an ortho, like the Mad Dog, and equalize it so that it's bass is brought up, but not over the top, enough to make you love the slam, and still retain great mids and treble.

Very best,

I have learned the hardware that you really have to calibrate any advice you receive from "audiophiles" when it comes to headphones, especially regarding bass. "Amazing bass" to an audiophile will be downright anemic to most people.

As someone who was in a similar situation as yourself, I've found that the V-Moda LP's were perfect for me. If you read reviews from audiophiles, they will tell you that they have a ridiculous amount of bass--and they're right. But this was exactly what I was going for with bass heavy songs. The great thing about these cans is that they can also handle any genre of music well, with proper equalization. I'm a big classical music listener, and once I got these equalized properly, they blew everything else I had out of the water in terms of clarity across the spectrum. So just create a couple of different equalization profiles for different genres of music and these headphones are top notch with anything.

Audiophiles will tell you to get neutral headphones. But the fact is you cannot equalize more bass into cans that weren't designed for it, it will just clip and sound disgusting. The only thing that works is getting a set that is built for insane bass and then equalize down to taste. V-Moda LP fits the bill perfectly. I can also recommend the LP2 (newer model) as they are just a slight revision on basically the same headphone. The newest M-100's look interesting, and I would bet that they also have great bass response.

One caveat with the V-Moda LP/LP2 is that while they claim to be over ear, the cans are very small. They do not fit over my ear comfortably at all. They are like some hybrid over-ear/on-ear thing. However, I do have a massive head so its possible I just have massive ears to go with it. What I've ended up doing is somewhat sliding my ears into the cups so its somewhat on-ear. It ends up being comfortable enough to last a few hours before needing a break.