Hifiman HE-400 vs Ultrasone Pro 900?

[Bboy500]

Mainly whats the difference between the two and each pros/cons?

I'm about to go return the Ultrasone Pro 900's and get the Hifiman HE-400's but Id like to make sure they will still satisfy my needs.

If anyone here owned these both, can you compare the two?

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

Mainly whats the difference between the two and each pros/cons?
I'm about to go return the Ultrasone Pro 900's and get the Hifiman HE-400's but Id like to make sure they will still satisfy my needs.
If anyone here owned these both, can you compare the two?

 
Heya,
 
PRO900 cliff note summary:
 
Tons of mid-bass, very recessed mid range, very very spiky treble. Comfortable, nice sound stage, beautiful build, built like a tank. Great accessories and cable options and case.
 
HE-400 cliff note summary:
 
Flat bass from mids to the end of sub-bass, excellent ortho mids, good treble. Good sound stage, relatively comfortable, build quality is ok, it's metal, plastic and leather. No accessories really or cases or anything fancy. Just the headphone.
 
The big difference is that the HE-400 sounds balanced with everything it does, it's not overly bassy, yet it can dig deep enough with enough volume to sound bassy so it satisfies even basshead folk; the mids are excellent, great separation, right up with you, not distant and cloudy. Treble is not overly bright, but it's not outright dark and missing either, has a nice sparkle to it. The HE-400 is less fatiguing to listen to and it presents music a lot more like how hi-fi attempts to do, the PRO900 presents an extremely colored picture by contrast.
 
Very best,

 

[TMRaven]

Pro900 has bass boost of 20db from 100hz to 40hz.  HE-400 doesn't.  That should about wrap it up!

 

[Bboy500]

Heya,

PRO900 cliff note summary:

Tons of mid-bass, very recessed mid range, very very spiky treble. Comfortable, nice sound stage, beautiful build, built like a tank. Great accessories and cable options and case.

HE-400 cliff note summary:

Flat bass from mids to the end of sub-bass, excellent ortho mids, good treble. Good sound stage, relatively comfortable, build quality is ok, it's metal, plastic and leather. No accessories really or cases or anything fancy. Just the headphone.

The big difference is that the HE-400 sounds balanced with everything it does, it's not overly bassy, yet it can dig deep enough with enough volume to sound bassy so it satisfies even basshead folk; the mids are excellent, great separation, right up with you, not distant and cloudy. Treble is not overly bright, but it's not outright dark and missing either, has a nice sparkle to it. The HE-400 is less fatiguing to listen to and it presents music a lot more like how hi-fi attempts to do, the PRO900 presents an extremely colored picture by contrast.

Very best,

That's about all I needed to know, perfect.

Thank you.

*Sigh* That's what I get for brand loyalty... Just cause Ultrasone was my 1st audiophile headphone I shouldn't have jumped the gun on the Pro 900's. I listen to too much different genre's for this headphone to shine in all of them except a exceptional few (Though I'm not sure if these genres will ever sound as good after I return these T.T).

+Rep

 

[fabio-fi]

Quote:

That's about all I needed to know, perfect.
Thank you.
*Sigh* That's what I get for brand loyalty... Just cause Ultrasone was my 1st audiophile headphone I shouldn't have jumped the gun on the Pro 900's. I listen to too much different genre's for this headphone to shine in all of them except a exceptional few (Though I'm not sure if these genres will ever sound as good after I return these T.T).
+Rep

 
On which genres you dislike the ultrasones? they do benefit from burn in (200+ hours) it helps taming down the treble. 

 

[SoundFreaq]

Bboy500, the Pro 900 is great at a few things, but in my opinion seriously limited to specific genres. I think you'll get much more mileage out of HiFiMAN. 

 

[Bboy500]

On which genres you dislike the ultrasones? they do benefit from burn in (200+ hours) it helps taming down the treble. 

Rock for one, it just sounds..... "Messy" I cant distinguish the sounds from one another when a lot of instruments are being played.

The sibiliance in general, I gave two examples in the recommendation topic. One was a hip-hop song that has too much "Screeching" going on at times that kills the enjoyment. The other was a pop song (Female).

Pop in general is a hit or miss with these.

But my main complaint is the sibiliance. I hear it on dub-step,hip-hop,pop,rock,etc... (Especially at high volumes which I love to do)I think I'm just too sensitive to it for these headphones. When I hear those screeching noises it just hurts my ears and kills the enjoyment of a song. That above all, is why I'm looking for new ones.

The only weird thing I can say.... is my Pro 550's don't sound as bad on that part as these..... Actually besides the Bass of the 900's I prefer the 550's. So my plan was just keep the 550's for my "fun" Ultrasone signature headphones, and for the rest have the Hifiman HE-400.

Then again my 550's are burned in for over a year now, where as these I would say have 20-30 Hours.

 

[ProjectDenz]

Sums up my experiences with the Pro 750 really, terrible for rock, sibilant with some recordings, poor midrange ruining the experience.
 
I love them for Dance/Trance though.
 
Although the Pro 550/DJ1 Pro didn't "wow" me at all as the bass just does not go down deep enough for my liking in a basshead can (next to the Pro 750 at least), so I gave them to my father who now enjoys them.

 

[fabio-fi]

Oh boy, the Pro versions aren't that terrible, they are just source dependant. Poor source = bad SQ. The mids can be annoying at first, but once you use them on a regular basis they settle down. 
 
To the op, whats your source? (associated headphone gear also)

 

[Bboy500]

Oh boy, the Pro versions aren't that terrible, they are just source dependant. Poor source = bad SQ. The mids can be annoying at first, but once you use them on a regular basis they settle down. 

To the op, whats your source? (associated headphone gear also)

.flacs from my own CD's and some MP3's bought from places like Amazon or iTunes.

Fiio E10 as my DAC/AMP. If anything, its my E10 that is causing the trouble.

Edit:

I'm not claiming they are terrible, and I love the Ultrasone signature sound and the designs they make, and wish I could use these but these specific ones just are not for me. Pro 550 suits me better tbh.

I'm actually going to use the Hifiman HE-400's as a stop gap until I get the Ultrasone Edition 8's That's what I am ultimately aiming for, love the design and what I read about the sound.

Pro 900's do have a place and I actually wish I could keep them alongside my HE-400's, I just cant afford it.

 

[designbykai]

I've got both pro900's and he-400s.
 
Very different cans for different purposes IMO.
 
I use the he400s at home and the 900s at work. TBH I prefer the 900s for some things like deep dub and DnB sometimes, but as all round cans the he400s are AMAZING.
I don't think I could do better unless I spent twice as much money (LCD-2 probably, but they they're bloody heavy and finicky anyway from what I've read)
 
I just ordered a pair of Beyer DT1350's too because I miss having a pair of Beyers, and I think they will be an awesome pair of portable headphones and have a different signature yet again.
More subbass extension but flatter response overall, hopefully great for monitoring, DJing but also hopefully Bass music (dub & DnB as mentioned above)
 
Its good to have a range of cans for different things if you can afford it, to compliment eachother, and some headphones do certain genres better.
Certainly for anything that isn't electronic the Pro900s are lacking IMO; not great for real instruments and vocals as the mids are so recessed and metallic.