Reviews by hifinoob005
In recent years headphones have become more and more popular, but this also means the market is populated by brands that have better marketing than audio quality. And as with most people being drawn by marketing, great manufacturers like Ultrasone are not well known. You'd think for the kind of signature Ultrasone headsets have they'd be wanted. Ultrasone also does not have any wireless models/with assistant/phone call enabled, which many use paired with smartphones. Maybe they still are, but the forum does not reflect it, at least models in the lower end.
A while back I had some Ultrasonne 550/DJ1 rebranded 550, which I shouldn't have sold. They had very punchy bass, great for some genres. The 580i is an upgrade to the HFI-580.
Construction is fine, similar to the Ultrasonne 550/DJ1 rebranded 550.
Cable is not detachable.
Comes with two types of pads, leather and (silver) velour.
Pad dimensions:
Depth 15mm
Interior 56 x 40mm
Exterior 94 x 84mm
Comfortable, the velour pads are more comfortable.
Great sound isolation and little leakage.
Listened for a few hours. Driven by Xonar DGX and Chord Mojo. They are fine from the sound card, but can definitely use an amp.
From what I can tell, they are similar to the HFI-580's in terms of sound. Fast deep tight bass, somewhat recessed mids, ok hihgs. The 6 Khz (or wherever it is) spike is still there, but only noticeable in some moments. Ok soundstage.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ultrasone-hfi-580.6946/reviews
The velour pads dampen the punchiness of the bass, raises the mids, eliminates the spike. Also dampens the higs. Makes certain generes more listanable.
Great for dubstep, trance, drum & bass, and similar generes. Great for dubstep, trance, drum & bass, and similar generes. Ultrasone has kind of an unique sound signature. I also own HD 380 Pro and B&O H9i with H7 pads. I also own HD 380 Pro and B&O H9i with H7 pads.
Not my picture.
A while back I had some Ultrasonne 550/DJ1 rebranded 550, which I shouldn't have sold. They had very punchy bass, great for some genres. The 580i is an upgrade to the HFI-580.
Construction is fine, similar to the Ultrasonne 550/DJ1 rebranded 550.
Cable is not detachable.
Comes with two types of pads, leather and (silver) velour.
Pad dimensions:
Depth 15mm
Interior 56 x 40mm
Exterior 94 x 84mm
Comfortable, the velour pads are more comfortable.
Great sound isolation and little leakage.
Listened for a few hours. Driven by Xonar DGX and Chord Mojo. They are fine from the sound card, but can definitely use an amp.
From what I can tell, they are similar to the HFI-580's in terms of sound. Fast deep tight bass, somewhat recessed mids, ok hihgs. The 6 Khz (or wherever it is) spike is still there, but only noticeable in some moments. Ok soundstage.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ultrasone-hfi-580.6946/reviews
The velour pads dampen the punchiness of the bass, raises the mids, eliminates the spike. Also dampens the higs. Makes certain generes more listanable.
Great for dubstep, trance, drum & bass, and similar generes. Great for dubstep, trance, drum & bass, and similar generes. Ultrasone has kind of an unique sound signature. I also own HD 380 Pro and B&O H9i with H7 pads. I also own HD 380 Pro and B&O H9i with H7 pads.
Not my picture.
Don't use them for the wireless/phone functions, just wired. Battery can be removed for reduced weight.
Musical, engaging, lively, fun headphones. A refined version of the Panasonic HTF 600. Very good for pop/modern music, and other genres.
Great bass, mids and highs.
Narrow sound stage.
Less muddy than the HD380Pro's in distinguishing separate instruments. Still muddy in audio with "crowded" instruments/vocals. But similar to the 380Pro's.
On a Xonar DGX and Chord Mojo. Don't need an amp/dac but will benefit from one.
Ok build, noise isolation and little leakage.
Not that comfortable with the default pads, so I got the H7 pads.
Did not like the sound. Less bass, more boomy, less tight, more distant sound and a general loss of dynamics. Put the original pads to compare. Then when I put the H7 pads again I tried to see if they fit better. So I pressed and they went deeper on the cylinder that hold the speaker. On the cylinder, where the pads go over, there is less space than with the original pads. With the second fitting, the space is not uniform around the cylinder between the pads and where the cylinder ends and a 90 degree piece of the casing.
Managed to get the space between the pads and the 90 degree casing uniform.
With the new fitting, can't tell if there is a difference between the original and H7 pads. There might be less tightness/punchiness in the bass, and the sound might still sound distant. But I can't really tell. They sound great with the H7 pads.
The H7 pads still touch my ears, but are much more comfortable than the original.
I was wondering why the pads still touch my ears. So I measured them. Turns out the depth measurements given by B&O are inaccurate. For the H9i, the total pad thickness is 25mm, but the usable depth (to the mesh) is 18mm. The H7 pads have 22-23mm depth, and total thickness of 29mm.
BeoPlay H9i
BeoPlay H7
Overall very nice headphones.
Not my picture.
Musical, engaging, lively, fun headphones. A refined version of the Panasonic HTF 600. Very good for pop/modern music, and other genres.
Great bass, mids and highs.
Narrow sound stage.
Less muddy than the HD380Pro's in distinguishing separate instruments. Still muddy in audio with "crowded" instruments/vocals. But similar to the 380Pro's.
On a Xonar DGX and Chord Mojo. Don't need an amp/dac but will benefit from one.
Ok build, noise isolation and little leakage.
Not that comfortable with the default pads, so I got the H7 pads.
Did not like the sound. Less bass, more boomy, less tight, more distant sound and a general loss of dynamics. Put the original pads to compare. Then when I put the H7 pads again I tried to see if they fit better. So I pressed and they went deeper on the cylinder that hold the speaker. On the cylinder, where the pads go over, there is less space than with the original pads. With the second fitting, the space is not uniform around the cylinder between the pads and where the cylinder ends and a 90 degree piece of the casing.
Managed to get the space between the pads and the 90 degree casing uniform.
With the new fitting, can't tell if there is a difference between the original and H7 pads. There might be less tightness/punchiness in the bass, and the sound might still sound distant. But I can't really tell. They sound great with the H7 pads.
The H7 pads still touch my ears, but are much more comfortable than the original.
I was wondering why the pads still touch my ears. So I measured them. Turns out the depth measurements given by B&O are inaccurate. For the H9i, the total pad thickness is 25mm, but the usable depth (to the mesh) is 18mm. The H7 pads have 22-23mm depth, and total thickness of 29mm.
BeoPlay H9i
- 18 mm depth, total pad thickness 25mm
- 90mm diameter
- 46mm inner diameter
BeoPlay H7
- 22-23 mm depth, total pad thickness 29mm
- 90mm diameter
- 46mm inner diameter
Overall very nice headphones.
Not my picture.
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