[milezone]

I own both of these headphones. I just thought I would provide some of my thoughts in case anyone is interested in buying. The Pro750's are great headphones. They are so involving and musically/emotionally engaging that they ultimately lead me to pay over 1000 dollars for a pair of headphones that are made out of some pretty crappy materials (edition 9s) for the price point. To my ears the Edition 9s are superior at everything. However they are also very different. The Pro 750s certainly suffer from midrange which far from the case with the E9s. The Pro750 are a little more rhythmic and may seem a little faster, perhaps do to this midrange recession. The E9s layer instruments better than I have ever heard yet are so resolving at the same time (more so than any other phone I have). They do color the music a bit but it is for the better in my opinion. I apologize for the somewhat random nature of this post and will elaborate more later.

 

[jamato8]

How many hours do you have on the Edition 9? I find that if anything, what I notice is the 9's are faster than the 750's and are far more focused. I do agree that the 750 are very musical and enjoyable and surprisingly are very different, at least to my ear.

 

[milezone]

I have over 200 hours. The Edition 9's may be faster (I assume they are the same since they are the same drivers) but somehow they seem more laid back to me. The listening experience is not as aggressive and I theorize this is true because the drums aren't as prominent (more blended and layered with the other music). Both have the same sort of style in their engaging PRAT but I find the 9's far more musical and melodic.

 

[yepyep_]

Thanks for the comparison.

 

[jamato8]

What type of amplification? For some reason I find the 750 more laid back so I wonder if it is the different amplification. I mostly use my modified Woo 6 but I also enjoy them with the Predator.

 

[lucky_star]

I agree with you that edition 9 is a very good headphone. The more time you spend with it the more love you will have. However, just small advise, don't listen to OmegaII setup or you will decide to sell your edition 9 setup right away ^_^.
For me OmegaII(with srm-007t which is not a very good amp for Omega) 's sound is more relaxing than edition 9(with rudistor rpx-33). The sound is fuller and has bigger soundstage.

 

[milezone]

Jamaoto I am using a WA6 as well.

Lucky star you may be right. I am about to upgrade my stuff and I am debating whether or not to go the ES rout. It's a hard decision for me. I am tempted to stay with dynamics and buy a good amp to power some K1000's and never have to worry about switching to ES phones. Like I have said before I've had a fair amount of audiophile experience. I worked in a recording studio in the past along side an engineer so I know sound well. Despite all of this at the end of the day I prefer beautiful sound over natural sound. Too much coloration is a bad thing but some is desirable, at least for me. On top of that, detail is secondary to a musically emotional experience (the two aren't linked). One thing I love about the E9s is they present a good soundstage and separate the instruments well, yet they also layer them which enables the harmonies to flourish. My fear is that with ES phones, some of this is lost. The Omega II's have been described as sterile, flat, hollow, etc. This is not what I want. I own the K701s (for reference purposes) which I have been told mimic the 0IIs in their style (obviously cant achieve nearly the level of detail the OII's do. While really like them, I rarely listen to them as they just aren't engaging. The instrument separation almost detracts from the music. That being said, I have heard they K701s amped well and they do sound very good.

 

[analogbox]

I know that PL750 and ED9 share the same driver. If so, what makes them sound so different?

 

[milezone]

The housing for, different metal shielding, I'm not really sure to be honest -- doesn't seem worth the extra money but it is. Honestly the materials are what I would expect on phones in the 500 dollar price range, not 3 times more, but the sound is worth it.

 

[tot]

The driver placement is also very different. I did not need any "brain burn-in" when I got 750's, but Edition 9's sounded totally rubbish at first time I put them on. It took maybe 10 hours of listening before they sounded awesome.

 

[wfranklin]

A lot of people complain about the ED9's construction quality; however, how much would you enjoy wearing them for long listening sessions if the frame weighed 2-3 times as much? The use of the leather earpads adds a lot to the comfort, and I'd rather have a sturdy plastic/composite frame that weighs less, than an aluminum/titanium alloy frame that lasts for centuries (which the drivers surely will not) but adds a pound or so to the HP weight. In the past I've had David Clark and Koss Pro 4AA's as well as the original Marantz electrostatics, so I know what heavy and uncomfortable are, and have no desire to go back there!

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by analogbox /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know that PL750 and ED9 share the same driver. If so, what makes them sound so different?

Just like in speakers, housing and dampening (or lack of) are very important aspects in design. It can change sound dramatically to something completely different. Bad housing can even ruin a speaker/headphone no matter how good driver itself is. And driver placement and aligning plays a role in case of Ultrasones aswell.

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaZa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just like in speakers, housing and dampening (or lack of) are very important aspects in design. It can change sound dramatically to something completely different. Bad housing can even ruin a speaker/headphone no matter how good driver itself is. And driver placement and aligning plays a role in case of Ultrasones aswell.

Yes and the Edition 9 and the Proline 750 show how much this can change the sound.

 

[analogbox]

To me, the housing don't look that different at all. Does that mean most of the effect is due to dampening inside the housing. If so there should be a way do mod PL750 to sound close to ED9. Am I wrong?

 

[tot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by analogbox /img/forum/go_quote.gif To me, the housing don't look that different at all. Does that mean most of the effect is due to dampening inside the housing. If so there should be a way do mod PL750 to sound close to ED9. Am I wrong?

Someone opened their Ed9 and posted pictures here at one point. It showed there is dampening material inside (nothing in 750) and the driver placement and holes around it are completely different.