Pedigreee’s Ultimate Ears UE-10PRO Review






[size=large]Review Outline[/size]
-Impressions (ear molds) ~~~~~~~~~~
-Audio Setup ~~~~~~~~~~
-Music Tested ~~~~~~~~~~
-Company Quality ~~~~~~~~~~
-Build Quality ~~~~~~~~~~
-Ergonomics ~~~~~~~~~~
-Isolation ~~~~~~~~~~
-Sonic Impressions ~~~~~~~~~~

-Low’s ~~~~~~~~~~
-Mid’s ~~~~~~~~~~
-High’s ~~~~~~~~~~

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-Dissected songs ~~~~~~~~~~

- Billy Joel – Piano Man ~~~~~~~~~~
- Johnny Cash – Get Rhythm ~~~~~~~~~~
- The Who – Behind Blue Eyes ~~~~~~~~~~
- Guns N’ Roses – November Rain ~~~~~~~~~~
- Volare (Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu) Dean Martin ~~~~~~~~~~

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-Value ~~~~~~~~~~
-Conclusion ~~~~~~~~~~

[size=large]Review[/size]

-Impressions (ear molds)

~ My impressions were taken by a doctor of audiology for $10
~ I had two impressions of each ear sent in to insure perfection

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-Audio Setup:

~ Ultimate Ears UE-10 PRO’s (clear/clear)
~New 3g 40gb Apple iPod
~Flat equalization and files encoded in Apple Lossless
~Mp3’s tested yielded highly inferior sonic quality

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-Music Tested:

~Red Book CD’s
~ At least one entire album or compilation of each.
~ Artists including but not limited to Aerrosmith, AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Antonio Vivaldi, Beatles, Billy Joel, The Doors, The Eagles, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Green Day, Guns N’ Roses, Green Day, In Flames, Jimmy Buffet, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johnny Cash, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynard, Motley Crue, Mozart, The Offspring, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Poison, Queen, The Red Army Chorus, Rolling Stones, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Simon & Garfunkel, Steppenwolf, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Van Halen, Warren Zevon, and The Who.

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-Company Quality:

~ Ultimate Ears simply gave me the one on one, person to person rock star treatment every time I talked with them. The Harvey’s are excellent and courteous business people who will make an honest attempt to help or accommodate you in any way. Never in my life have I dealt with a company as beautifully run as Ultimate Ears.

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-Build Quality:

~The UE-10 PROS (Full soft- clear/clear) are not only beautiful, but they also feel solid and durable. The heavy metal case they come in would protect them from a 20 foot fall. So far I have no complaints as to their quality.

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-Ergonomics:

~ They are “sleep with them in comfortable”, it is that simple. Mine fit the first time I put them in and your senses quickly adjust to the pressure on your ears until it disappears. I have them in now, as I do almost the entire day, and I feel like I am simply hearing music emanate from my head. I do not notice them at all.

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-Isolation:

~I can not hear myself type, I can not hear myself walk or prepare food. I can not hear the phone, or traffic or even my dog bark. Almost all low frequency noise is blocked out. Only a tiny bit of high frequency sound like a spoon being tossed into the sink is even barley audible when the UE’s are in.

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-Sonic Impressions:

~ Accurate, this word best describes these monitors. They miss absolutely nothing, and if I may quote Welly Wu, “they are like a surgeons knife.” I have listened to nearly my entire collection through these UE’s and every song yielded some surprise, some detail that my CD3K’s, and HD650’s missed. Whether it be the subtle echo of sound in the very beginning of Queens “Everyone Bites The Dust” that gradually grows louder or the soft yet intentional scrape of a bow dragging across a violin string in Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Season Summer. There is nothing quite like hearing Dean Martin’s breath between verses. They are simply superb in every area as I will go into detail below.

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-Low’s:

~ The low notes on these monitors are accurate, textured, and lively. Often I notice textures and variations in the plucks of a bass in a clear piece such as something by the Buena Vista Social Club. And even hardcore techno, songs like Sandstorm by Dune have lightning quick and controlled bass. Another example of their stunning low end sonic qualities is the powerful initial impact and graceful and convincing decay of the cannon fire in Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. The low end spectrums performance was by biggest concern with this purchase of mine, but I have not been let down in any way.

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-Mid’s:

~The mid’s are sweet, graceful, and detailed. They really make you feel like the voice is in the same room with you. I admit that I have been actually startled when a long gap between songs was ended with the start of a realistic vocal in the next piece. I look around as if someone was in the room with me, only to realize that I am alone. It is this realism and accuracy that stuns me. Additionally, the mid-bass does not sound exaggerated or overpowered by the low bass. Vocals are clearly separated from a bass or guitar. I feel that this area is the strongest quality of the UE’s. Nothing lacks in these monitors, but the rich and flowing vocals in combination with something like the plucking of a string bass sets them apart from the CD3K’s especially. They simply sound more real and convincing.

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-High’s:

~ Liquid quick, smooth, and non sibilance would describe their performance. Piano seems to be one of their strong suits, its not only lively, but its also poignant and powerful. Snare drums are excellently reproduced, you can just feel the beads below the drum vibrate for an instant. Also, diva vocals in genres like trance or techno never sound harsh or overpowering, they are controlled and easy on the ears. In this way, the UE’s are never fatiguing. The must superlative quality that the highs achieve would be that fact that they sound beautifully clear and represented no matter how complicated the music is. Unlike my HD650’s, these never get lost in a piece with complex instrumentation or vocals.

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-Dissected songs (Coming Soon)

- Billy Joel – Piano Man: ~~~~~~~~~~
- Johnny Cash – Get Rhythm: ~~~~~~~~~~
- The Who – Behind Blue Eyes: ~~~~~~~~~~
- Guns N’ Roses – November Rain: ~~~~~~~~~~
- Volare (Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu) – Dean Martin: ~~~~~~~~~~

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-Value:

~With a $1000 price tag these pushed my budget but I now have no doubt that I made the right decision. The amazing personal customer support and care in combination with this exquisite pair of monitors is worth every penny. A soundtrack for my life is priceless.

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-Conclusion

~I would recommend these to anyone who wishes to have the Ultimate solution for portable audio. They also would be excellent for home audio, however I feel there are less expensive alternatives with only minor compromises in detail. They are the best headphone I have ever heard. They have changed my life. And, if you have any further questions or would like me to listen to a specific song, please don't hesitate to PM me. Thank you.

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A very good concise review.

It is reassuring that there have been no bad reviews yet of a UE product. Mine will be with me early next week and I hope I do as good a job of reviewing them as Welly Wu, Gorman, and PedigreeE.

Edit: It's nice to hear from Gorman and PedigreeE how good these are straight out of a DAP. Wonder how much difference a small portable amp will make.

Nice organized review...it makes me look forward to my Ue5c's I ordered.

Could you describe how the Mp3's were sonically inferior on your UE's? Were they VBR (from which program) and what bitrate?

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- I tried to keep it to the point since many aspects of the UE's have been discussed at nauseum like the taking of impressions.

- I will let you know about the amp as soon as my SR71 arives.

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Yes, I can. When using Lame or iTunes to encode 320kbps mp3's I found that details like Eric Claptons fingers scraping acoss the strings of his guitar in Layla were lost. Also a harshness was added to the sound as the musicality and smoothness were lost. The sound also became more fatiguing and overall, less enjoyable.

I think this has conviced me to go with the ue10. Very well organize and easy to get your overall opinions.

I've have been flip flopping back and forth between the ue5c and ue10 but I think am going to with the ue10.

I thought I just wanted a great portable headphone but I've been using my PPA amp again with the etys and it make such a big improvement that I would regret not using it with my next purchase. The ue10 would benifit most from this. The other thing is I thought I'd just use my hd650 at home but it has come to my attention that the sound coming from these can be bothersome considering I use them in the living room. I can also hear the tv bleading into my music when listening as well. The canalphone would solve these problem and I could lay on my side as well. I don't use the etys at home because the hd650 just sound so much better. If the ue10 actually surpass them, all the more reason to use them. I'd still keep the hd650 so my girlfriend and anyone else can have something to listen to. I'd also donate my etys to her as well. I'm still trying to get her more interested in headphones.

I still can't wait to hear lindrone's take on these. I know our taste differ but it would interesting if we found something we agree upon. I also look forward to this complete review as well.

Now all I need is some money. Very soon.

I am confused about the isolation. When you type, wouldn't your bone will conduct sound?

PedigreeE:

Good review! I liked your writing style and organization. If you keep at this review, then I will definitely nominate it be included in the reviews archive. Please post more impresions and reviews once you get your headphone amplifier. Your perspective is perfect.

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That level of isolation sounds scary for using on the street, but excellent for, for example, dozing off to in bed. It sounds like they would be dangerous to use walking down the street or crossing roads. I get the impression that the harder UE-5Cs, which i intend to order, have less isolation. Can anyone confirm this and whether UE-5Cs might be OK to use walking around on the street ?

thx for the review pedigree, enjoy them.

I can say that the Ue-10 PRO has more sound isolation throughout the bottom end up to the upper midrange with a fair amount in the treble region. Yes, when you put them in your ears, you hear nothing outside. Sound is literally wired into your ear canal. It is still the strangest and most relevatory experience: it is the canal phone experience like no other. Yes, it has its' own advantages and disadvantages but it cannot be equaled. The ER-4P/S isolates more but not by a whole lot more. Don't walk around in busy traffic with any earphone or drive with them stuck inside your ears. It's just not good common sense. That's why I only use my Ue-10 PRO at home with my reference system. I never bring them outside for fear of getting killed by a truck.

Another great UE-10 review!

I've been thinking about getting a pair of these since the early days - before Welly bit - before Lindrone got his Sensas - for what seems like forever now! Once we see Lindrone's direct comparisons, this will be even more fun.

Having the option of dozing off with a pair of these is real appealing.

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Well unless UE-5Cs are much different to UE-10s for isolation, it sounds like I ought to hang on to my E5s for use walking around the streets. I feel fairly safe walking around with E5s but normally pull them out to cross roads. Yes i have walked around a few times with ER-4P/S but it is very dodgy and not recommended.

Very concise, why not adding this to the top ^^^ there is only a few members that have heard this beauties, we need more info about them...mods please make it sticky...

I will add the detailed song "walkthoughs" tonight or sometime soon, and I will add digital pictues when I borrow my friends camera, mine is simply pathetic and would look quite poor. And yes, the amp will be added in a month or so.

I take it UE will then post this review our their site as well.

I'm going to take another look at gorman's review since my music selection is almost the same as his.