New to headphones - Just got a Ultrasone Pro 750 - Why do they sound worse then my $20 pair?
Jan 2, 2013 at 4:44 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 10

str1k3r

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So the only headphones I have ever owned have been cheapo $20 pairs. I listen to a ton of music though. I work online so I am always listening to music while working. I decided hey I enjoy music so much on these cheap headphones, I bet it would be pretty awesome to have a real pair of headphones. Anyways hours and hours of research later I went with the ultrasone pro 750's. Unfortunately I couldn't try the headphones before buying so I was just going off reviews.
 
I got it in the mail today and am listening to them now and they sound like ****... Well, it actually sounds like they are too good. Like I am hearing all the impurities of every recording, all the background noise, muffling, a lot of distortion and muffling sounds in the background. It just doesn't sound clean at all. It sounds like I can hear everything.
 
What's the problem? Am I only able to listen to certain pristine recordings? No youtube videos or songs from soundcloud? Even my spotify doesn't sound good though.
 
I am also listening from my laptop, no amp/dac. But from reading reviews, yes this isn't optimal but the headphones will still sound "good", at least better then my $20 pair. Unfortunately that's not the case. The music sounds way better on my cheap-o pair. It's just clean on my cheap pair of headphones. I don't hear all the impurities or distortions or muffling.
 
I also lose the sound everytime I move my head, which is pretty ****ty.
 
Someone tell me it's just a setting I have wrong or something, cause this is pretty disappointing.  I mean on some things it sounds good. Classical music is pretty good. I can really feel the "soundstage", but even still it is not a very clean sound, kind of muffled. Dubstep isn't even listenable and that's what I had read these headphones were good for.
 
Is it just not possible to use these without a amp/dac? Or a better sound card?
 
Jan 2, 2013 at 4:49 PM Post #2 of 10
Lose the sound? Sound cuts out? Might have a lemon. Otherwise amp them. Srs.
 
Jan 2, 2013 at 5:33 PM Post #4 of 10
Quote:
Well, it actually sounds like they are too good. Like I am hearing all the impurities of every recording, all the background noise, muffling, a lot of distortion and muffling sounds in the background. It just doesn't sound clean at all. It sounds like I can hear everything.
 
What's the problem? Am I only able to listen to certain pristine recordings? No youtube videos or songs from soundcloud? Even my spotify doesn't sound good though.

 
The problem is you're using some compressed hack job media streaming from the internet at low bit-rate with poor compression codecs into a high resolving headphone with bright treble. Garbage in, garbage out. What's the point of getting a headphone capable of rendering so much, and then giving it the same quality digital media you were feeding your $20 pair? If you did so much research, I would hope that you would have honed in on the fact that the absolute beginning of any audio rig is the actual source audio itself. You need high quality music to bother spending money on nicer equipment. You can hear everything with the PRO750's. If there's missing information, you'll hear that it's missing. If there's compressed glitches and noise, you'll hear it. If the recordings are just junk to begin with, you'll hear it. Welcome to high resolving audio.
 
Try a few test tracks over at HDtracks.com and listen on there to some FLAC, it will stream. See if it sounds nasty, muffled, noisy.
 
You can't make bad media magically sound higher resolution, higher sampled, and uncompressed just by getting a new air pump. It will render the the same sine wave it's given.
 
 
 Otherwise amp them. Srs.
 
Some of the worst advice. And so typical. An amplifier will only make his situation even more profoundly poor sounding.

 
Very best,
 
Jan 2, 2013 at 5:53 PM Post #5 of 10
It shouldn't be that bad through Spotify though, especially if you're a premium user with high quality streaming enabled, that's how I listen to most my music, it's 320 kbps mp3. If you're using it for free I believe it's 160 kbps, that's noticeable with some tracks but not with all at least to my ears.
 
I'm also a bit surprised you went with the Pro 750 as a first more high end headphone, while I haven't heard them myself they are, to my understanding, very bright and actually not that bassy compared to many other Ultrasones. Going by the reviews it's not a headphone I would dare to recommend as the first more expensive investment. I see people call them very unnatural and metallic sounding, maybe it's just the wrong kind of sound for your ears?
 
Jan 2, 2013 at 6:11 PM Post #6 of 10
If you lose the sound by moving them..... You might have a defective pair.
 
Edit: That or make sure you screwed the cable all the way in. Don't be afraid to push it in with force.
 
Jan 3, 2013 at 12:49 AM Post #7 of 10
My bad mal. I didnt read his post fully. Didnt see he was listening to music through youtube lol. I agree with your points on quality and amping crappy music wouldnt help.
 
Jan 3, 2013 at 1:33 AM Post #8 of 10
From my experience, the Ultrasone Pro 750's need a very long time to burn in (like 200 hours), they open up after a good while.
 
I have read that this is because of the use of titanium drivers the Ultrasone range utilise. Also they definently sound different when they move around on your head as they use angled drivers (something to do with the S logic surround sound) but if the sound is cutting out it is most likely the cable needs to be screwed in tighter.
 
Hope this helps, cheers.
 
Jan 3, 2013 at 6:51 AM Post #9 of 10
Ha, ok, problem solved, I'm just an idiot. As Bboy and Komando pointed out, I was being a ***** with the cable. Just needed to really push - click it in and it actually screws in then too. Should have spent a bit more time fiddling around with the headphones before making the thread. Now everything sounds perfect :wink:.
 
You guys can delete this thread or whatever, wouldn't want anyone to get wrongfully pushed away from these headphones with the title and my dumb mistake. Thanks.
 
Jan 3, 2013 at 6:57 AM Post #10 of 10
Quote:
From my experience, the Ultrasone Pro 750's need a very long time to burn in (like 200 hours), they open up after a good while.
 
I have read that this is because of the use of titanium drivers the Ultrasone range utilise. Also they definently sound different when they move around on your head as they use angled drivers (something to do with the S logic surround sound) but if the sound is cutting out it is most likely the cable needs to be screwed in tighter.
 
Hope this helps, cheers.

Yep my pro 900's sounded like garbage from hours 5-100. I do think an amp will help out quite a bit once your running 320 kpbs or better.
 

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