they arrived yesterday and I was surprised how small they are! I have had three decent headphones, Senns HD 555, Audio Technica ATH AD700 (both sold) and my current AKG K702. So the 580's are my first decent "closed" set of headphones.
Immediately, I was impressed with the look and quality of these. I got them for $60 on ebay, they were a display item at a brick and mortart store in Philadelphia but had the original plastic sheathing over the headband, bag, book and cd were not opened and there was no signs of any use at all. I think the seller was a little ticked I won the auction for $60 as it took him 6 weeks to get around to ship them and he hosed me a bit on shipping, but nonetheless, for $60 plus shipping I am happy.
I decided to listen to a FLAC album before removing the plastic sheathing and getting into the Ultrasone demo cd, in case I was really not happy. I decided to plug into my 09 version Zero DAC first, before using my Darkvoice 336i, then I put in New Fang by The Crooked Vultures and was really impressed with the immediate difference between open and closed headphones...I could finally hear deep bass! The last closed cans I auditioned, I felt like the music was in the middle of my head, the Ultrasone 580 was different.
So I cut off the sheathing, broke out the demo cd and put that in, kept the 580's in the Zero and pressed play on Winamp...lol...when the first sound was heard I thought it was coming from my surround sound system and not the headphones...I looked over at my wife and firgured if the music was on speakers she would be giving me a look, but she was reading her book uninterrupted...so needless to say that was a positive sign. I listened to the demo cd, obivously designed to showcase the strengths of Ultrasone products, but it worked, I alternated back and forth between DAC and Amp and could not immediately notice any major differences.
As for comfort...well my ears are not the biggest, but I felt like they needed to be tucked in. They are more comfortable then the clamps that were the 555's, far less comfie then the pillows that are the AD700s, and less comfortable then my AKG k702's.
My ears actually felt like they were sweating after an hour or so of listening to some classical music on itunes radio (which I never do, but seemed nice with these cans).
I can get used to any discomfort!
I made my wife listen to the demo cd and she was also impressed.
So I am happy to have found a closed-can solution for my headphone needs. Now when wifey-pooh is in the same area I can use these effectively without distrubing her and will continue my ongoing love affair with my K702's whenever I can!!
thanks for all the help!
