[The Fire Snake]

I am very new to the whole high end headphone thing, so please take what I say with a grain of salt. I would love to expand my knowledge of what I like and what I don't but unfortunately almost nobody in the area I live in has headphones over $50. I called numerous audio shops and some were willing to order me high end cans, but none had them in stock and almost none allow you to listen to anything.

So the other day I went to an audio store and asked them if they had headphones and they had only a few. The highest end one they had were the Ultrasones HFI-550 Pro marked at ~$250. The clerk let me try them on and I was anxious to hear them. When I put on the headphones I found them to be fairly well made and I liked the fact that they came with a case. The other thing that I really like about them is that they really isolated well blocking out noise. But when he turned on the music I was like "this is it?" Ofcourse the source unit really sucked, it was a little portable discman with a CD. I turned the volume up to full and though the music was clear and undistorted, it was very underwhelming. Then I told him that they might need more power and thats when he plugged them into a amp/receiver that the store was using to play music through it's speakers. It was better obviously, but I came out of there very disappointed. My impression was, "No way are these worth $250". They were boring and nothing special at all. I was expecting to have my jaw drop, since the best headphone I ever listened to were my $20 philips closed headphones.

What do you guys think?

 

[Napilopez]

Never heard them, but it depends on your tastes, and what you're looking for. Not all headphones have that "wow factor" that make people seem immediately impressed. It mighta still been the source as well.

Imo, the 3 things that make people say "wow" the most SQ wise are Soundstage, Clarity and Bass. Soundstage especially. Other cans you have to listen and A/B to see what you were missing before =P

 

[HeatFan12]

Well, Buy.com has some on sale for $1299.00 ultrasone HFI-550 Surround Headphone - HFI550 - Buy.com...Free shipping..

Lol...They usually go for about 120.00-130.00...

The Ultrasone motto...You either love 'em or you hate 'em...

Welcome to Head-Fi...

 

[abellaw]

Yeah heatfan that is very true of ultrasones. I love the cans but each to their own. If i may ask what kind of music were you listening to when you audition the cans.

 

[glac1er]

Don't let it discourage you, nowadays, better choices can be had for $100-$200, even better if you buy used.

I've had the HFI-550 before, it's a slightly darkish sounding headphones with heavy emphasis on bass, which may not be suitable for some people. Not bad IMO, last time I sold it, I could only get $75.

 

[The Fire Snake]

@Napilopez - I wasn't looking for a huge wow but I was expecting more clarity or at the very least some decent volume. The one thing that did make me say wow was the good tight fitment on my head and the very good isolation.

@HeatFan12 - Thanks for the welcome. Thats the wierd thing. I didn't love them or hate them. I was in different to them. They were just boring and I wanted to go to bed after listening to them. Even if they were layed back in sound, I was expecting a big soundstage and good clarity.

@abellaw - I was listening to Steely Dan, which is a group that I like and would be something I would listen to on my new to be cans.

I don't know. I just wasn't impressed. The source wasn't great but even after plugging it into the store amp(not the newest thing in the world), it sounded mediocre. Certainly not something I would pay $230+ for. That was how I felt when I walked away from the store. Do the higher end Ultrasones, like the HFI-780, sound noticeably better? Should I even look at Ultrasones anymore?

The really frustrating thing is that I can't hear any can in person in this God forsaken town where everything is Walmart and Target. I am not a audio expert but I have good ears and can hear very subtle differences in speakers.

 

[joeq70]

I wouldn't necessarily give up on ultrasone (I personally enjoyed the HFI-780), but perhaps you should try a few different brands to get a feel for what you like. The more phones you try, the more things you'll find about headphones that you both like and dislike, which will ultimately make you sharper at picking out phones that will suit you when reading people's impressions. I think a good strategy is to bite the bullet and order a pair of phones based on faith and just resell them if they don't suit you. Most respected phones are easy to resell. When you finally get that feeling of "this is what I've been waiting for!" it's completely worth the hassle.

 

[Palpatine]

Depending on the quality of the recording, so songs can sound rough on the Pro 750 w/o an amp. When amped all the time, I find the sound signature engaging and fun.

 

[The Fire Snake]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeq70 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wouldn't necessarily give up on ultrasone (I personally enjoyed the HFI-780), but perhaps you should try a few different brands to get a feel for what you like. The more phones you try, the more things you'll find about headphones that you both like and dislike, which will ultimately make you sharper at picking out phones that will suit you when reading people's impressions. I think a good strategy is to bite the bullet and order a pair of phones based on faith and just resell them if they don't suit you. Most respected phones are easy to resell. When you finally get that feeling of "this is what I've been waiting for!" it's completely worth the hassle.

I think you are 100% right. That is exactly what I was thinking. I think I will have to purchase a few cans from a few different manufacturers and see what sounds best to me(which house sound that suits me best). I think I will start with Grado as I have a feeling, they will be what I am looking for. But we will see I guess

 

[kool bubba ice]

If music doesn't wow you why would a headphone.. You want a headphone that suspends belief. Seems you prefer more fun and colored.. Try Grado, Denon, or the K601.

 

[Acix]

HFI-550 are one of the most fun hps, a killer bass with a great punch and cute S-logic effect.
I think they are one of the best DJ hps out there, and of course they have the DJ-Pro1.

They are not hard to drive, but a nice sound card will give you more power then the receiver that the store was using.

About the price, if you want to save money you can by used.

 

[Deep Funk]

I hope they had some burn in time.

 

[joeq70]

@ the fire snake


I think giving Grado a try is a must. One piece on advice I have for you on the Grado front is starting off with the SR80 (or higher) rather than the SR60.

 

[Folex]

Assuming you are new there is 4 terms you really need to know. Open, Closed, Colored and Neutral.

These are very vague but I think you'll get the idea.

Open - Open headphones, these allow sound from outside to come in along with sound to leave the headhphones. Open headphones tend to have less bass impact but generally sound better for live recordings.

Closed - These are closed headphones which has better bass impact and not nearly as much sound escapes or enters. The downside is some people say the sounds get distorted.

Colored - These are generally "fun" headphones that exaggerate all or some of the frequency (usually the bass)

Neutral - To someone who is new to headphones most likely will hate these kinds of headphones. No frequency will sound overpowering and what you hear most likely is how the music was recorded.

I'm by no means perfect at explaning those, but that is just how I see it and has helped me pick the perfect headphones I have now in my opinion, Denon 2000's

 

[Deep Funk]

Don't forget 'burn in'.

Walking into a store and random testing an expensive headphone doesn't guarantee the wow effect. A good burn in or should I say warming up the headphones for regular use really is necessary.