Today I had a chance to audition the ultra-expensive ($5,000), only-555-in-the-world limited edition Ultrasone Edition 5. It wasn't a bad-sounding headphone, but not surprisingly, the $899 HE-560 won over. The Edition 5's soundstage was quite impressive for a closed-back headphone, but its shrill metallic sound was just as unbearable as the rest of their line-up.
I wonder when Ultrasone will ever learn that their products, in terms of value, have some of the worst performance/price ratio. I wouldn't complain if they are priced at 1/4 of what they currently are, because that's how I honestly feel they perform. I seriously expected some sort of improvement after what they've done with Edition 10 and stuck a price tag of $2800 on it.
If one is to argue that HFM's products are cheaper because they are assembled in China, take a look at Sennheiser; a fellow German company that offers one of, if not the best dynamic headphone called HD800 at only a mere fraction of the price.
