*Will expand over the next few days*
God damn. I don't know what to say. I currently own a pair of Monster Turbines Pro Gold and a pair of V-Moda M-80's. I wanted to get an over-ear to complete the collection for now. I am in no way in expert in sound.
Accessories
The whole thing is packaged quite nicely. It comes with quite a few accessories. A soft carrying case, a gold-plated 3.5mm cable, a headphone splitter (Don't know if that is the proper term), and a pair of batteries already in the headphone. The splitter is used to share your music with others. They just plug there headphones in there and bang. The headphones have a snug fit in the case. The cable seems high quality with a striking blue color. It has a microphone along with a volume up/down and play button. I believe these only work with Apple products. Quick note: I've heard complaints that the cable does stay in the headphones. You must push the cable in a bit for it to lock in with the retention device. These headphones are tough enough to take a light push. Speaking about toughness...
Here is photo which shows the cable. You can see the three button mic also.
Build Quality
These cans are built pretty well. Various materials such as glossy plastic and metal are used. Because of the materials, noise-cancellation tech, and batteries lead these cans to be pretty heavy. This doesn't bother me too much. These just feel nice to hold in the hand.
Here's the soft carrying case.
Here is the case with the UE 6000 inside.
Design
The headphones are quite stylish. They look nice while not appearing aggressive like other rapper endorsed cans. They do fold making them quite compact. An interesting thing to note is that the 3.5mm jack on the headphone is on the right instead of the left. Most cans have them on the left. The left cup pops open to reveal 2 AAA batteries. The part of the cup that pops off those not completely come off with I felt was a strange design choice.
Here you can see the folding mechanism.
Here is the battery compartment. You can see a small button which releases the the cover.
Comfort
These are extremely comfortably. I mentioned before that these cans are quite heavy so that might turn some off. The cushions are quite soft and the cups are very deep. The cloth that covers the driver is thick and soft so if your ears happen to touch the driver it won't be too uncomfortable compared to headphones like the M-100.
Sound Isolation/Leakage/Noise Cancellation
The cans themselves block out a damn good amount of noise. Lower frequencies are blocked very easily such as buses and trains. Leakage can be a problem for some. These do tend to leak quite a bit at around 75% volume, hell even at around 50% if you are in a very quiet area. Since these block out a great deal of noise then I don't believe there would be much reason to turn them up so loud anyways. The Noise Cancellation is decent. It completely blocks out lower frequencies. Buses and plane engines disappear. Even with Noise Cancellation on voices nearby can be heard very easily. I find this to be useful as I can still maintain conversations with these on. If you are buying these cans for Noise-Cancellation, look elsewhere.
Here is the button that activates the noise cancelling function.
Sound Quality
The UE 6000 is warm headphone with slight bass emphasis. The bass has a good punch with some texture but is not as tight as let's say the M-80. The mid-range is quite balanced and everything in it seems quite "natural". I tested these cans on various on various tracks but I'm going to mention The Dark Side of the Moon a lot. Highs are clear and in the The Great Gig in the Sky, the female lead sounds astounding. Nothing really feels laid back. Drums have a nice punch in various tracks while the vocals of Roger Waters are eerie as usual. A few adjustments would make these cans truly amazing but for this price they really are in the end.
Sound Quality w/Noise Cancellation
This is where the UE 6000 falls short. An EQ is activated when the Noise Cancellation is turned on which bloats the bass and cause the treble to be slightly recessed. The bass is much more dominant and a more "U shaped" frequency appears. While these changes might upset the audiophile in us, it makes sense to have this new sound signature in situations in which NC might be used. One might watch a movie with NC on so one won't be distracted. The added bass might make the film feel more lively and if one goes out to a loud area the bass can add a little more "bang" to your music. Damn it was hard to describe that.
Conclusion
The UE 6000 is a great pair of cans for the audiophile on the go. It has a great design, great build, great isolation and most of all, great sound quality. While it certainly isn't the best compared to let's say the Momentum as a portable headphone, for 200 dollars it is. The only headphone I can truly think can compare to the UE 6000 is the M-80 which has it's own ups and downs such as discomfort and lack of a folding mechanism. Enough of that now, that's for another review.
Bonus Photos
The cups are quite deep. There is a thick layer of cloth covering the driver so if your ears happen to touch it, it won't be too annoying.
Here is a size comparison of the cups to a 4th Gen Ipod Touch.
God damn. I don't know what to say. I currently own a pair of Monster Turbines Pro Gold and a pair of V-Moda M-80's. I wanted to get an over-ear to complete the collection for now. I am in no way in expert in sound.
Accessories
The whole thing is packaged quite nicely. It comes with quite a few accessories. A soft carrying case, a gold-plated 3.5mm cable, a headphone splitter (Don't know if that is the proper term), and a pair of batteries already in the headphone. The splitter is used to share your music with others. They just plug there headphones in there and bang. The headphones have a snug fit in the case. The cable seems high quality with a striking blue color. It has a microphone along with a volume up/down and play button. I believe these only work with Apple products. Quick note: I've heard complaints that the cable does stay in the headphones. You must push the cable in a bit for it to lock in with the retention device. These headphones are tough enough to take a light push. Speaking about toughness...
Here is photo which shows the cable. You can see the three button mic also.
Build Quality
These cans are built pretty well. Various materials such as glossy plastic and metal are used. Because of the materials, noise-cancellation tech, and batteries lead these cans to be pretty heavy. This doesn't bother me too much. These just feel nice to hold in the hand.
Here's the soft carrying case.
Here is the case with the UE 6000 inside.
Design
The headphones are quite stylish. They look nice while not appearing aggressive like other rapper endorsed cans. They do fold making them quite compact. An interesting thing to note is that the 3.5mm jack on the headphone is on the right instead of the left. Most cans have them on the left. The left cup pops open to reveal 2 AAA batteries. The part of the cup that pops off those not completely come off with I felt was a strange design choice.
Here you can see the folding mechanism.
Here is the battery compartment. You can see a small button which releases the the cover.
Comfort
These are extremely comfortably. I mentioned before that these cans are quite heavy so that might turn some off. The cushions are quite soft and the cups are very deep. The cloth that covers the driver is thick and soft so if your ears happen to touch the driver it won't be too uncomfortable compared to headphones like the M-100.
Sound Isolation/Leakage/Noise Cancellation
The cans themselves block out a damn good amount of noise. Lower frequencies are blocked very easily such as buses and trains. Leakage can be a problem for some. These do tend to leak quite a bit at around 75% volume, hell even at around 50% if you are in a very quiet area. Since these block out a great deal of noise then I don't believe there would be much reason to turn them up so loud anyways. The Noise Cancellation is decent. It completely blocks out lower frequencies. Buses and plane engines disappear. Even with Noise Cancellation on voices nearby can be heard very easily. I find this to be useful as I can still maintain conversations with these on. If you are buying these cans for Noise-Cancellation, look elsewhere.
Here is the button that activates the noise cancelling function.
Sound Quality
The UE 6000 is warm headphone with slight bass emphasis. The bass has a good punch with some texture but is not as tight as let's say the M-80. The mid-range is quite balanced and everything in it seems quite "natural". I tested these cans on various on various tracks but I'm going to mention The Dark Side of the Moon a lot. Highs are clear and in the The Great Gig in the Sky, the female lead sounds astounding. Nothing really feels laid back. Drums have a nice punch in various tracks while the vocals of Roger Waters are eerie as usual. A few adjustments would make these cans truly amazing but for this price they really are in the end.
Sound Quality w/Noise Cancellation
This is where the UE 6000 falls short. An EQ is activated when the Noise Cancellation is turned on which bloats the bass and cause the treble to be slightly recessed. The bass is much more dominant and a more "U shaped" frequency appears. While these changes might upset the audiophile in us, it makes sense to have this new sound signature in situations in which NC might be used. One might watch a movie with NC on so one won't be distracted. The added bass might make the film feel more lively and if one goes out to a loud area the bass can add a little more "bang" to your music. Damn it was hard to describe that.
Conclusion
The UE 6000 is a great pair of cans for the audiophile on the go. It has a great design, great build, great isolation and most of all, great sound quality. While it certainly isn't the best compared to let's say the Momentum as a portable headphone, for 200 dollars it is. The only headphone I can truly think can compare to the UE 6000 is the M-80 which has it's own ups and downs such as discomfort and lack of a folding mechanism. Enough of that now, that's for another review.
Bonus Photos
The cups are quite deep. There is a thick layer of cloth covering the driver so if your ears happen to touch it, it won't be too annoying.
Here is a size comparison of the cups to a 4th Gen Ipod Touch.
I think i may end up going with the M80s and save $50 bucks unless the rest of Crypto review change my thoughts... By the way, I will be replacing the old Sennheiser HD 570 which was the most comfortable headphones that I have the pleasure to listen to. Thanks guys.
I found the V-Moda M-80 incredibly solid, but my experience with it was very limited and a year or two ago; I remember it being a little more even-handed than the UE, for what that's worth.