Quote:
Originally Posted by takezo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
hi, which would you describe as more appropriate for listening to double bass jazz tunes? i'm into the virtuoso plucking styles of scott lafaro, eddie gomez, gary peac*ck and some mingus...i have the hd 580 and 600 and although they are nice i'm intrigued to know if there are better alternatives to this type of listening...thanks in advance
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To be quite truthful my experience is limited to the Ultrasone Proline 750 model which are closed headphones and a slightly more costly model. In addition I recently had my headphones recabled and you can read all about my impressions of the results in this thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=216399
You might also want to check out this thread for other impressions, including some of mine, on various stock Ultrasone headphones:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=207164
But back to the question at hand, I'm doing an ad hoc listening comparison between my recabled 750s and my HD650 (which have a Cardas cable) as I write this using music featuring several of the bass players you mentioned in your post. Lucky for you that I'm a big jazz fan and have lots of music to chose from.
The equipment I'm using is a Sony SCD-CE775 CDP and a Headroom Desktop amp with the older Desktop module and the basic power supply.
Example #1:
Dave Holland Quintet - Critical Mass, first track "The Eyes Have It" about 2-1/2 minutes in Holland takes a bass solo and this being a 2006 release it very well recorded. On the HD650 the solo comes through very clearly with the notes sounding clean and distinct. The bass has a nice warm sound to it but there is very little reverb. On the 750s the bass is also very clean but there is much depth and greater sense of reverb. Basically it's like with the HD650s you're listening to something recorded in a sterile environment while with the 750s you're listening to something recorded in a real acoustic space.
Example #2:
Keith Jarrett Trio (with Gary Peac*ck) - Inside Out, track four "Riot". This track differs from the one above in that in addition to Peac*ck's bass, Jarrett is laying down some heavy bass lines on the piano with his left hand plus it's a live recording. Many people feel that the sound of the Ultrasones is somewhat "muddy" but I just think that they're just not quite used to the degree of reverb that's present in the bass and it tends to confuse them. All the information is there it's just presented in a different way. Going back and forth on this track the main difference was that the HD650s spotlighted the drums and cymbals while the 750s presented darker image with more emphasis on the bass.
Note to moderator: You guys need to lighten up on the naughty word filter
Peac*ck is the man's name, for crying out loud!!
Example #3:
Kidd Jordan with William Parker and Hamid Drake - Palm Of Soul, track three "Living Peace". William Parker has this really great tone and it's captured quite well on this recording. The track starts with a slow bowed bass intro and through the 750s Parker's bass has real weight and body. About five minutes in Parker switches from bowed to plucked bass and the recording and the 750s really do a great job of getting that feeling of the body of the bass right inside your head. Again when I switched to the HD650s it was similar to the experience in example #1 - all the bass was there but it lacked that real depth and weight that had been there with the 750s, mid you it still sounded incredible and was a sound I would have no problem living with for a very long time but the 750s are just something else when ti comes to the bass.
Example #4:
Ornette Coleman - Sound Grammar, track five "Matador". This live recording features two bassists, the great Greg Cohen on plucked double bass and Tony Falanga on bowed double bass. A real torture test for the HD650s but a breeze for the 750s. At the four minute mark the bass players cut loose with a double barreled solo and with the 750s you hear every note, every string being plucked and most importantly you get the feeling of the space filling up with the sound of the bass. On the other hand with the HD65s hear every note, every string being plucked but there is no real depth to the sound.
And finally example #5 (luckily it's only a 5 CD changer
):
Ornette Coleman - Beauty Is A Rare Thing, disc 5, track 7 "The Alchemy of Scott LaFaro". Featuring the wonderful and mind blowing LaFaro on bass this track was unlistenable on the HD650s - LaFaro just about disappeared!!! He came through loud and clear on the 750s though. For that the Ultrasones win this shoot up hands down.
Well I hope I answered your question
