[AreTur]

I checked the different positions of the headphones on my head (the ones indicated as well), and I noticed a slightly change in sound but rather in favor of the normal position of the headphones. Maybe ask for another pair to test, this one might be "badly" twisted (but I doubt it).

 

[TWerk]

The thing is, for me at least, the Ultrasones can sound better (and better) based on positioning and angling those cups just right. You may find a way to get the best sound by simply playing around with the sizing on the sides and even twisting the ear pads a bit around to get the seal just right as opposed to or in tandeem with an angle if that sounds best for you. They sound fantastic regardless, but it is somewhat like speakers in that there is usually a sweet spot you can angle your speakers to your ears to get the best sound (if you do own speakers). I think it is similar to Ultrasones and their S-logic system which decentralizes the driver to give you the best, most immersive sound experience.

Whatever they do, it works for me - as I find the way they image, stage, etc to sound incredible - even more so considering they are fully sealed!

 

[gammarayson]

I have owned the SIgnature Pros for a few years. They are my only closed back, but such fun to listen to with a lot of character. I am curious how the new Signature Masters compare? Are they a worthwhile upgrade to the Pros or only marginally improved?

 

[e-dub]

I'd say they are, yes. The mids and highs are more present in the Masters and the soundstage is definitively wider. I think the Pros beat them on bass, so I still have mine.

 

[Dramlin]

I'd say yes as well. I prefer both the Master and Naturals over the old pro's. My Pro's were a little treble happy and had a metallic sound to them. The Pro's had good quality bass, but barely above neutral quantity. If (big if) your Pro's sound like that, then the Masters are an upgrade in all areas in my opinion. More bass, better bass control, more mids, wider/deeper stage, better overall balance & imaging. There were plenty of reports of Pro's sounding different from one unit to another though, so YMMV.

 

[AreTur]

I got a DAP recently - Hiby R6 III , I've been testing it for 3 days. It's amazing in terms of sound. Signature Masters sound even better. In fact, it's like hearing them for the first time. They play with a deep, fleshy bass, tight, energetic and fast. The midrange with vocals is incredibly clear and the treble are well defined. These are the same headphones, but when connected to the Hiby R6 III, they seem to have received additional energy. It works great.

 

[e-dub]

I find that DAP interesting, as well!

 

[Jack2pot]

Hi everybody. Do I need to replace the hfi 580 with the performance 840? Will there be an improvement in the sound?

 

[Dramlin]

Somewhat, but it's not worth it IMO. Compared to the 580 the 840 has a huge soundstage, and sounds more refined with additional detail and resolution. However it's significantly darker than neutral and has a lot of reflections in the sound that cause a constant annoying reverb. I'd consider it more of a sidegrade even if the sound is more refined. To truly get an improvement over 580 I'd recommend any Signature, old or new. The old Signatures are a solid two levels up from the 580 at a minimum.

 

[TWerk]

The 840 is quite dark and muffled sounding. The 860 or 880 are much better sounding. The problem I had with the performance series was that they always break. My 860 broke, my 880 broke. I rarely see headphones break but the little bolt that holds the cup to the assembly eventually pops and breaks on those. It's not a great mechanism. I would not recommend that line for that issue they have in build.

 

[Dramlin]

I've spent enough time with all of the Signatures now to make some long term conclusions. I've been spending the last few weeks almost exclusively listening to the Naturals. One thing that needs to be known about them is that although they are the middle entry in the series, they do compete head to head with the Masters. A quick rundown of the differences are:

• In stock form the Masters have a deeper and wider stage, whereas the Naturals are a bit flatter in both areas.
• The Naturals are clearer with less warmth since they don't have the mid bass boost. The Naturals tone is very clear, with clarity quite similar to the the Signature DJ's.
• The Naturals have more accurate & realistic mids & treble. It's not a huge jump from the Masters, but it's noticeably more accurate. The bass boost on the Masters causes some distortion into the mids and adds additional warmth into the treble.

So in stock form whether you will like the Master or Naturals more will come down to preference. Accuracy versus stage & bass boost. However in order to get "more" out of both the Master & Naturals I ended up testing nearly 40 different ear pads to see if there could be further improvements. In the end I preferred the stock Merino leathers for the Masters, but I did get additional improvements on the Natural using the GVOEARS Black Leather pads (it's actually Protein leather). Using those pads on the Naturals adds more instrument separation, a slightly expanded stage, and more warmth. This bridges the differences between the Natural and Masters while maintaining the additional accuracy that the Naturals have.

I feel comfortable saying that across the entire Signature series, old and new, the Natural and Masters are the two best headphones from a technical perspective, and also 2 of the top 3 for enjoyment along with the DXP. Which headphone you will prefer will depend on your tastes, but don't skip on the Naturals just because they are the middle of the series.

 

[AreTur]

Hm, have you had any experience with ultrasone IEM, I mean ultrasone IQ? I'm very curious if they sound similar to the signature series.

 

[Dramlin]

Negative, I stick to headphones only so I've skipped that range. Hopefully someone else here has tried them.

 

[TWerk]

I just wanted to echo @Dramlin since this thread is pretty dead and these headphones deserve a shout out.

I've been through a large number of Ultrasones, I generally love the way they are tuned.

The Signature Natural is one of their very best. It has a very clean but tight sound revealing a ton of detail in recordings. They are not bass light - they have a perfect level of bass that is very impactful but does not muddy up any of the beautiful crisp details these headphones provide in the mids and highs. I don't think they need any more or less bass then exactly how they are tuned. The imaging is stellar and the drivers reveal so much detail.

I had a Signature Master and sold it in favor of the Natural. I would put them pretty even with one another, both are great. The Master has some more bass but it clouds up some of the rest of the frequencies vs. these Natural. I preferred the Natural overall and again, would recommend to anyone looking for a do it all closed back. I would say the sound is in line with an improved 780. I really love the 780 and still think those are a great buy for a very fun sounding headphone so that is saying a lot for these.

Out of all the closed backs I have owned or heard, I think these are my favorite and the 780 is a "fun" alternative.

I think it's sad they don't get the recognition they deserve in this community.

Ultrasone just doesn't seem to do any advertising at all for their headphones so you just have to find them to reap the rewards.

 

[lambdastorm]

I just wanted to echo @Dramlin since this thread is pretty dead and these headphones deserve a shout out.

I've been through a large number of Ultrasones, I generally love the way they are tuned.

The Signature Natural is one of their very best. It has a very clean but tight sound revealing a ton of detail in recordings. They are not bass light - they have a perfect level of bass that is very impactful but does not muddy up any of the beautiful crisp details these headphones provide in the mids and highs. I don't think they need any more or less bass then exactly how they are tuned. The imaging is stellar and the drivers reveal so much detail.

I had a Signature Master and sold it in favor of the Natural. I would put them pretty even with one another, both are great. The Master has some more bass but it clouds up some of the rest of the frequencies vs. these Natural. I preferred the Natural overall and again, would recommend to anyone looking for a do it all closed back. I would say the sound is in line with an improved 780. I really love the 780 and still think those are a great buy for a very fun sounding headphone so that is saying a lot for these.

Out of all the closed backs I have owned or heard, I think these are my favorite and the 780 is a "fun" alternative.

I think it's sad they don't get the recognition they deserve in this community.

Ultrasone just doesn't seem to do any advertising at all for their headphones so you just have to find them to reap the rewards.

The natural is indeed a great headphone but I prefer their predecessor, the signature studio. To me the studio is even tighter sounding, and the sound as a whole is extremely clean and precise.