[helios4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by peteham /img/forum/go_quote.gif For what's it worth, had them a week, running them through a Gilmore Lite. Nice bass, no sibilance, quite comfortable. No, they are no match for my D5000s, but at half the price, and their portability, I am very pleased. I never heard sibilance, and I am quite sensitive to that...Oh, and I much prefer them to my (stock) HD 650s.

Your Denon d5000 sounds better? Interesting.

 

[mrarroyo]

Code:

[left]I know the HFI-780 is brutal for some tracks it is so revealing.[/left]

I agree with this. I am currently listening to Norah Jones and you can hear the raspiness in her voice in some of the passages.

 

[Torzwo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by souperman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Seems like you are a frequent target of buyer's remorse .

Far from it. I usually research any purchase for months. I was able to get the Zune very cheap on closeout but with the 780s I'll admit my long term curiosity about Ultrasones and coming into some money about a month ago got the better of me.

Enough of taking this thread off course...

 

[Jalo]

I am waiting for my alo-780 w/ Jena Lab 18g to arrive in a day or so. Since placing the order, my biggest struggle has been teeter-totter between whether I should be buying the alo-UE9 or the alo-780. The price difference is rather large, something like $1800 to $600. But then I keep finding myself asking what am I missing from the UE9? HeadphoneAddict says its close but that doesn't do anything for me. I asked Ken since I know he has a alo-UE9, but all he can tell me is "going from stock UE9 to alo-UE9 is just like stock 780 to alo-780". And that doesn't do anything for me either. Can anyone help?

 

[slwiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Code: [left]I know the HFI-780 is brutal for some tracks it is so revealing.[/left] I agree with this. I am currently listening to Norah Jones and you can hear the raspiness in her voice in some of the passages.

I actually listened to Norah's Come Fly Away yesterday and at first glance thought there was something wrong with my unit, thinking driver issue. But the more I listened the more I realized that what I was hearing was on the recording. I went over to another CD that is about as hard to reproduce as any I have and later in the day it passed with flying colors. I even emailed Ken about this but had to retrack my email later after figuring out what was going on.

Of course all this is with a unit that is truly broke in.

 

[slwiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jalo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am waiting for my alo-780 w/ Jena Lab 18g to arrive in a day or so. Since placing the order, my biggest struggle has been teeter-totter between whether I should be buying the alo-UE9 or the alo-780. The price difference is rather large, something like $1800 to $600. But then I keep finding myself asking what am I missing from the UE9? HeadphoneAddict says its close but that doesn't do anything for me. I asked Ken since I know he has a alo-UE9, but all he can tell me is "going from stock UE9 to alo-UE9 is just like stock 780 to alo-780". And that doesn't do anything for me either. Can anyone help?

These types of value judgments are very hard to make for someone else. Almost impossible to do and do it with any real reliability. If you want one then go small and if you like what you hear then take the plunge.and..sell the first one.

Indeed that is why I on a whim purchased the HFI-780 stock just to get a feel for the headphone and once I did the rest is history.

Here is the most challenging album that I have:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/bloodshowmusic

 

[Torzwo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slwiser /img/forum/go_quote.gif For you guys that are experiencing un-evenness is this with the same tracks or are you hearing this from different tracks that have been listening to before with pleasure? I know the HFI-780 is brutal for some tracks it is so revealing. Could this be some of it? I didn't have that much change going on with mind. But with bad recordings it really shows them off. Just wondering if there may be something else going on? I thought the HFI-780 stabilized at about 200-250 hours to a stable level but I carefully control what music I listen to to well recorded music. My UE9 took near 500 hours to get there.

I don't really find them revealing I just don't like the treble and I would prefer more pronounced mids. It really just comes down to that they are too forward for me.

I don't really have a choice of recording quality when it comes to my tastes- albums where maybe 300 copies were made that were only available in a West Berlin record shop in 1982. I'm just grateful recordings exist at all of alot of the stuff I like. When it's Bach, Shostakovich...time then I worry about recording quality.

 

[Rickio]

Yes some recordings will make your headphones sound bad and it's not the headphones fault. I have noticed this many times now with quite a few can's. You really need to find a quality recording to make your value judgements and then realize you cannot always get good sound (the best) from all music you might own.

I would like to recommend the mfsl copy of steely dan - aja as a good quality recording to listen to.

The alo-780 really does it for me. I was having problems with the treble and many don't but the mod version just corrects that problem for me. I don't know if it is the cable or the dampening that helped the most. But it is subtle but for me very important change.

 

[Than]

Hi, I've been following this thread. How's the build quality of the 780? I heard some statements that suggested it was poor. Also, thank you for the link to the CD, slwiser. I'm a fan of Mark Ryden's paintings, I'm not sure how I missed this.

 

[souperman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Than /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, I've been following this thread. How's the build quality of the 780? I heard some statements that suggested it was poor. Also, thank you for the link to the CD, slwiser. I'm a fan of Mark Ryden's paintings, I'm not sure how I missed this.

Where did you hear that it had poor build quality????

 

[slwiser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Than /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, I've been following this thread. How's the build quality of the 780? I heard some statements that suggested it was poor. Also, thank you for the link to the CD, slwiser. I'm a fan of Mark Ryden's paintings, I'm not sure how I missed this.

Set back and listen and if you know the movie or book your better off it. It is a real experience with the modified ALO-780 or UE9. The sustained minor bass cords are strong on this CD and come across with power with these headphones.

 

[Than]

Quote:

Originally Posted by souperman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where did you hear that it had poor build quality????

Woah, ok thank you. I'll take that to mean I was mistaken. It was never said outright, I just thought there were some statements that hinted it. If it's not true that's great. I'm just paranoid. I'm pretty sure there's a pair of these for me in the near future.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your recable as well.

 

[helios4]

build quality is very good (heavy weight plastic and aluminium).

I wonder if the treble problem goes away after burn-in or using another cable (alo? copper?).

 

[Rickio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by helios4 /img/forum/go_quote.gif build quality is very good (heavy weight plastic and aluminium). I wonder if the treble problem goes away after burn-in or using another cable (alo? copper?).

It went away with my alo recable but it also is dampened as part of the mod.
I am waiting to hear from anyone who has recable but no dampening and or other variations.

souperman will be able to comment on recable and jamato took his diodes out so far.

I think a few stock burn ins report tamed highs. I am not completely sure about that though.

I still have my stock version along with my alo version and they do sound different. I might recable the stock soon as well with that mogami cable that souperman is getting.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jalo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am waiting for my alo-780 w/ Jena Lab 18g to arrive in a day or so. Since placing the order, my biggest struggle has been teeter-totter between whether I should be buying the alo-UE9 or the alo-780. The price difference is rather large, something like $1800 to $600. But then I keep finding myself asking what am I missing from the UE9? HeadphoneAddict says its close but that doesn't do anything for me. I asked Ken since I know he has a alo-UE9, but all he can tell me is "going from stock UE9 to alo-UE9 is just like stock 780 to alo-780". And that doesn't do anything for me either. Can anyone help?

I have gone into more detail than simply "it's close", if not in this thread then at the other HFI780 thread which I moved to when I got one that were modded by ALO Ultrasone HFI780 ALO Mod - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio - So search for my posts that you missed and you'll get a better idea.

The biggest thing to remember is that the headphone's sound will change a lot with burn-in. So, until you have a lot of hours on them, and they aren't changing any more for you, you can't bank on that being the sound you will have for the rest of the years you own them.