[sinew4ve]

Hello Fellow Head-Fiers,
 
I have come to realize HEAD-FI is one of the best places (if not the best place) to go to to find information on high-end headphones. During my search for the perfect headphone, I decided on the Ultrasone PRO 750. Of course being a savvy shopper I looked everywhere and came to find the best deal on the most legitimate pair of Ultrasone PRO 750s was from eBay. 
 
There were two sellers at the time that offered similar pricing, both with very good reviews. The seller in my experience was Wild-2010. He still has a 100% feedback score, and may deserve it - however please take note my experience.
 
I received a pair Ultrasone PRO 750s from this seller. The box, box print, headphone build, headphone itself, cables, everything seemed very, very legit. And it may still be the case. However, the sound was not to my expectations. The sound was not exceptional. The sound was good, but it kept me wanting more, wishing I spent my money another way. It sounded good enough that if you didn't know better you may assume it is the way they should sound. I even listed it for sale as I thought it was simply disappointing sound and Ultrasone was over-hyped.
 
I actually tried a second pair from eBay... the sound again was lacking to my ears. I work in production and have exposure to great sound. The headphones sounded good, but not quite worth the +/- $300 retail they sell for. 
 
So I took this one step further and received another pair of the same model directly from ULTRASONE themselves. Here are my findings:
 
- The box, box print, headphone build, headphone itself, cables, everything seemed exactly the same BUT - the sound was MUCH better!!! I am very pleased with these headphones I have received directly from ULTRASONE.
 
At first I thought Ultrasone was all hype due to my eBay experience, however - I TRULY LOVE THE WAY THEY SOUND NOW. I AM VERY HAPPY!
 
No disrespect to the seller. I didn't want to leave negative feedback to him because they may be legitimate sellers (with a bad batch) but the difference in sound from the ones I got from ULTRASONE directly were such a huge difference in my opinion that I wanted to share it with this community. I can truly say I love my Ultrasones now.
 
Good luck to you and safe shopping. Enjoy your upcoming Holidays!!!
 
-sinew4ve

 

[SilentJS]

Same model? I was considering a pair of ultrasone from ebay.....too expensive to get them from Ultrasone directly~

 

[Aizura]

Was the one directly from Ultrasone brand new? People say Ultrasones need a lot of burn in to sound best. So it could be that the one from Ultrasone is already burned in.

 

[kesslerjesus]

 
Quote:

Was the one directly from Ultrasone brand new? People say Ultrasones need a lot of burn in to sound best. So it could be that the one from Ultrasone is already burned in.

That's what I'm thinking probably happened. All he would need to do is have the guts to open up the enclosure and compare drivers. I bought my 2500s off ebay, and have been using them for a year straight with no complaints on my part. They are the closest sounding headphones that I can use and compare to my Dynaudio BM6s


Quote:

There were two sellers at the time that offered similar pricing, both with very good reviews. The seller in my experience was Wild-2010. He still has a 100% feedback score, and may deserve it - however please take note my experience.
 
I received a pair Ultrasone PRO 750s from this seller. The box, box print, headphone build, headphone itself, cables, everything seemed very, very legit. And it may still be the case. However, the sound was not to my expectations. The sound was not exceptional. The sound was good, but it kept me wanting more, wishing I spent my money another way. It sounded good enough that if you didn't know better you may assume it is the way they should sound. I even listed it for sale as I thought it was simply disappointing sound and Ultrasone was over-hyped.
 
I actually tried a second pair from eBay... but not quite worth the +/- $300 retail they sell for. 
 
So I took this one step further and received another pair of the same model directly from ULTRASONE themselves. Here are my findings:
 
...the ones I got from ULTRASONE directly were such a huge difference in my opinion that I wanted to share it with this community. I can truly say I love my Ultrasones now.

Headphones sold directly from the manufacturer have no burn-in time and have never been used. What this means, like the post above states, is that your new headphones will most likely go through changes in their sound signature during the next couple of weeks that you use them...ultimately sounding like those two pairs you disliked after buying off ebay (most ebay pairs are refurbished or used).
 
I doubt that the pair bought from ultrasone had previously been burned in though. In my experience at-least, when I purchased HFI-2400s directly from them, they had no burn-in time on them at all.

 

[oqvist]

I suppose there is a chance headphones rejected by Ultrasone found their way to ebay?
 
I doubt Ultrasone spend any time burning in headphones. I don´t know of any manufacturer that does? Also from my experience I haven´t heard an Ultrasone that sound the best prior to burn in/brain acclimatisation
I must admire that you actually gave it three chances. I would gave up on the first unless there was some obvious distortion in the drivers or anything.

 

[shaggy]

Quote:

Was the one directly from Ultrasone brand new? People say Ultrasones need a lot of burn in to sound best. So it could be that the one from Ultrasone is already burned in.

I don't know if this is possible, but when I first bought my Ultrasone Pro 750s off ebay I wasn't overly impressed because the sound exhibited too many imperfections. However, after extensive burn-in and prolonged listening they opened up nicely and sound quite wonderful now. They are definitely a bargain for the price I bought them for, imo. OP, what gear are you using? They need a solid source and some amplification to sound best.

 

[sinew4ve]

Hello,
 
I just wanted to follow up to the replies. 
 
All three headphones tested were the Ultrasone PRO 750 model. All came in brand new condition. There was plastic on the aluminum and no fingerprints or scratches (I could be wrong, but it appears that if they were handled in any way they would scratch or fingerprint very easily). The cases were all brand new nylon with no dust - covered with unwrinkled protective plastic, in an undamaged box.
 
Of course there is no way of knowing for sure, but if I had to place a bet, I would bet that they were not burned-in.
 
I have read and am aware of the burn-in spoken of about Ultrasones. And I attempted to do so with my first disappointing pair. They did appear to sound better over time but I couldn't be sure... in other words if they did sound better, it was not convincingly noticeable. However my discontent with the purchase price/sound quality remained. I was only able to burn in for maybe 20 or 30 hours (I understand more is recommended), but I couldn't at the time imagine the sound becoming much better.
 
To be honest I did not have an elite high-end source as many of you have. These tests were run primarily on an Apple iPod Touch 4G (The newest September 2010 version). I started looking at headphone amps because I thought the source was the weak link. 
 
Here is the kicker, the 3rd set of PRO 750s from Ultrasone sounded wonderful on the iPod Touch 4G without any headphone amps or a high end source and no burn-in. I'm sure they could sound better, but I am already in a euphoric state by the way they sound straight from the iPod Touch 4G. I think that says a lot, considering both PRO 750s from eBay I received did not please me and made me wanting more/searching for a headphone amp to boost the quality of the sound.
 
I listened to my Ultrasones all last night and today (750s from Ultrasone directly) and I am so very pleased. I even brag to my friends. I did not feel I had anything to brag about with the first two headphones I received from eBay.
 
I don't doubt the possibility that there are great Ultrasones to be had on eBay, but rather wanted to share my experience in hopes to save some of you from going through what I had to. I hope everyone gets a lovely pair, but this is my experience and I feel it should be shared.
 
I would recommend requesting a special deal that you could return the headphones at no extra charge if you are not satisfied with the way they sound. In the case of my seller, they wanted a 15% restocking fee.
 
I'm just convinced that the ones I received from Ultrasone directly were better sounding and felt obliged to share that with the community here at Head-Fi.
 
I would go with an authorized seller if possible. But I also believe that many people who already purchased on eBay in the past did receive a very nice pair of headphones. This is just what my recent experience was and if I can help one person with sharing this, then I would be pleased.
 
I know money can be tight these days so just be careful guys and try to negotiate some kind of return protection in case you are not satisfied (waiving/lowering the 15% restocking fee)
 
Again, it could have been a bad batch, hence I did not leave negative feedback to the seller. I have nothing bad to say about the seller, just sharing a buyers experience.

 

[sinew4ve]

Quote:

I suppose there is a chance headphones rejected by Ultrasone found their way to ebay?
 
I doubt Ultrasone spend any time burning in headphones. I don´t know of any manufacturer that does? Also from my experience I haven´t heard an Ultrasone that sound the best prior to burn in/brain acclimatisation
I must admire that you actually gave it three chances. I would gave up on the first unless there was some obvious distortion in the drivers or anything.

Hi oqvist,
 
Normally, I wouldn't give it three tries, but the statistics didn't seem right. How can so many people praise Ultrasone? I had to try it directly from the source for my own knowledge/curiosity. If Ultrasones were over-hyped, I wanted to know. I gave them another chance. This would either make or break my relationship with Ultrasone (as a consumer), and now I can honestly say I would be happy to purchase another Ultrasone product in the future when the time comes. In the meanwhile, I very much look forward to listening to my Ultrasone PRO 750s again tonight!
 
v/r
 
sinew4ve