Official Sennheiser URBANITE Australian review tour!
Jan 30, 2015 at 12:11 PM Post #122 of 162
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:29 PM Post #123 of 162
Great write up. Well done for the making the front page too. I'm looking forward to trying these .......
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 6:08 PM Post #124 of 162
Great write up. Well done for the making the front page too. I'm looking forward to trying these .......


Thanks mate! I'm sure you'll have fun with them. Quite refreshing to the eyes as well... I actually love the design.
 
Feb 3, 2015 at 7:11 AM Post #125 of 162
SENNHEISER URBANITES XL - FOR THOSE THAT WANT TO LOOK COOL WITHOUT TOO MUCH COMPROMISES
 
Firstly, I'd like to thank White Lotus for letting me be part of the Australian Urbanite XL tour group.
 
Lets face it. Who doesn't cringe when we see someone wearing BEATS headphones. I always think..hmmm...I'd have only pay $100 for that thing on your noggin...but hey we all seem to be caught up in some new fad so I guess Sennheiser noticed a market for stylish upmarket headphones that the GEN Y'rs will clamour for or so they hope. Now knowing that Sennheiser has got a reputation to keep, my expectations for this headphone is quite high. They promised clarity balance and QUALITY BASSSSSSSS! 3 things I love! (I know balance and BASS may be at odds with each other but its what I look for in headphones) therefore I love my HE 400.....but I digress...
 
NOW THE URBANITES
 
PACKAGING: The Urbanites come in a box, not overly ostentatious but none the less I found it to be a box that you can actually keep because of the pre perforated cut out foam on both the insides of the box to cradle and cosset your new toy. Inside the box you will find the Urbanites with a flat cable connector, proprietary of course but none the less adds to the bespoke nature of the thing but may be a nightmare when trying to replace. Not sure about the replacement costs but it aint gonna be cheap. Also the modders or the upgraders of head fi will not be able to use their more esoteric silver cables on these, not unlike if they were just 3.5mm to 3.5mm standard, but the cables themselves seem to be made well and durable with a 3 button pod close to left earcup. The 3.5mm end is right angled while the 2.5mm end which plugs into the left earcup is a 2.5mm straight jack with a location notch. The Urbanites also come with a stretchy fabric drawstring bag in which to store them in for portability.
 
HEADPHONES: I must say..IM DIGGING THE LOOK OF  THESE!! The use of fabric (but I think its polyester fabric from sport bags, especially my black camera DSLR bag seems to have the same look and feel of the Urbanites headband top layer). The headband also consists of what seems like squishy rubber on the underside of the headband glued together with the top layer. Its nice to touch and play with actually. Im liking it to a stress ball.
 
The style continues with the connection to the earcups swivels which are made of metal lightweight of course. The top bit is silver with the SENNHEISER logo on it, and the lower bits which the earcups slide up and down is metal again but a different colour this time a really dark metallic purple. The earcups themselves are plastic but then again there are 3 different colours on the earcups. The shell is half metallic purple and half black with a white stripe near where the earpads join to the body. I actually think this is some sort of racing stripes for sports cars. Maybe the focus group decided on this particular visual embellishment but it does tie in with the white underside squishy rubber thingy on the headband so its actually very nicely done!
 
Again I must congratulate Sennheiser on the way they have hidden the headphone wires in a black rubber hollow sleeve that slide in and out of the earcups on the top. These holes are also bordered  by metal. The earcup connections to the slide up down mechanism is some sort of ball joint covered in durable thin foam. Nothing creaks or looks low rent.
 
The ear pads are removable which is a good thing. The fabric used is some sort of suede? Im liking it to the suede fabric found on seats but not quite. It’s the first time Ive seen this fabric used in an earcup. I like it. The only thing I believe that lets its down is the size of the opening/circumference of the earpads. I think they could be 10mm larger to actually not touch your ears. Also the foam used is abit hard. As DJ scope found, when he turned his head, he would lose sealing and the sound would degrade. I have experienced the same problem. Perhaps they could have used softer memory foam.
 
Overall, as I said, the URBANITES are stylishly built and the design and stylistic elements come together in a cohesive fashion to form one handsome looking cans with materials that are quality and pleasant to look at and touch. Certainly $399 worth I believe. (then again there are the Bowers and Wilkins and the Bang and Olufsen headphones but I believe they cater to a different demographic but nonetheless offer their own interpretation of style and quality)
 
Stay tuned tomorrow for the impressions when plugged in to my HTC M7.
 
Feb 3, 2015 at 11:23 PM Post #126 of 162
IMPRESSIONS WITH MY HTC ONE M7 PLUGGED IN DIRECTLY.

 
Now the first hurdle is to either use the native android music app or the POWERAMP APP which I downloaded. I listened to this Samsung music file on my phone, 320 kbps only mind you which has this nice bit where a racing car, with differing engine notes seem to cross left to right and right to left one after the other and its meant to be behind the listener. The POWERAMP won so I guess that’s what Il be using.
 
Now my files on my phone are like 320kbps max as it’s really not meant to be a portable audiophile listening station. On Poweramp, I've left the tone controls on it standard position on the bass dial, but i feel the Urbanites needed a treble boost..all the way up in fact. It just made it more clearer in my ears. The equaliser has been left to flat. Right now, Im listening to the Hed Kandi Mixed CD, which is house music, plenty of vocals, beats, percussion instruments etc and I find that i need the volume to be one notch down from full to get to my desired listening level. This surprised me because I had read it’s meant to be 18 Ohm impedance and that it should be easy to drive......or my ears are shot....or i just like my music really loud. In which case then I can say my phone drives the urbanites with as much gusto as it can muster and still sound good. The bass is definitely felt as well as heard on many tracks. It has that nice bass slam to my ears, reaches quite low but has that slow decay that hangs around abut longer than usual but with the type of music the Hed Kandi CD has, It’s quite complimentary. Bottom line: YEP BASS CHECK ALL GOOD!
 
Here Without You: Three doors down: This is a guitar driven pop music and its only 160 Kbps. Hmmm.... i can definitely hear the compression artefacts here, it’s just sounds metallic and grating but I guess this just shows the pedigree of the drivers, its Sennheiser after all and it just forces you to upgrade the quality of music you listen to. But in general, I found the sound to be balanced. The bass is kept in check and not overpowering anything..well there isn’t much bass on this track anyway but it’s nice to know that the Urbanites can be polite in the bass department when needed. Vocals are just right to my ears, not too close or far away, not veiled at all. Treble, maybe just because I have had the treble dial to max may have exacerbated the low quality of the file but I liked it still turned all the way up otherwise it just lost that treble sparkle. Bottom Line: Bass can behave itself on less demanding tracks while vocals and the mids are not drowned out at all.
 
Mariah Carey: Angels Cry: A nice track with a nice simple bass line, sparse instrumentals and mostly concentrating on Mariah's Vocal Talent (if it indeed does still exist, she apparently sounds horrible live now if the leaked audio tapes are to be believed). This is a 176kbps file but for some reason this sounds quite good actually. Makes me think the 160 KBPS Here without you track above was like recorded on radio and just up sampled...but these Urbanites portray Mariah's vocals as I remember them to be in hey heyday, her slightly nasally voice and occasional gravelly undertones are like what I remember them to be. The simple bass line that pervades the track is there and actually provides the ear shake I like to hear as it indeed goes very low. The cymbals, pianos and the other instruments all just seem to be in one spot tho. Where is the soundstage? But then again this might be the recording itself or the low quality file. Nothing piercing in the highs as well. Well controlled and just as I like it. Bottom Line: Highs provide enough clarity and detail for me and I think this will satisfy the majority of  buyers.
 
COMPARED to the BW P5 series 1. have chosen to compare these as they are both aesthetically pleasing to look at, price wise they seem to be in the same ballpark when new and they are meant to be for portable use with low impedance. BW P5's actually note that you should plug them in to your device without any external amps.
 
Now the BW P5 has the one of the best build quality of headphones even by today's standards. If the Urbanites are and Audi, modern clean and sleek, the BW P5's are like the bespoke Rolls Roys. The BW P5's had an original retail price of $449 i believe in the Apple stores but can be had now for lower as a new version had come out a couple of years ago. Comfort wise, I’d give the nod to the P5's due to it being lighter and the way it just rests on top of your ears where all the pressure is shared on all the surfaces of ur ears, unlike the urbanites, while called over ear, I do not find it large enough as the corners of my ear are somewhat forced in the opening and pinched. There are some really nice design touches too, such as the leather ear pads that are held onto the ear cups with magnets for easy replacement and the cable tunnel on the left ear cup presumable to counteract the sudden jerking of wires and can disconnect leaving you with an intact headphone most of the time.
 
Now let’s get to Mariah's Angels Cry: First thing I noticed is the bass seemed fuller and more controlled and again goes lower and deeper. The soundstage seems to be wider on these as Im hearing echoes like she’s in a hall. The instruments are more spatially separate specially the piano which now seems to come from the right hand side and back abit. It’s just a more refined sound to me. Her voice gains another level of smoothness and lushness that the urbanites don’t seem to portray. The highs on the P5 certainly seem more smooth and resolving. The high hats and cymbals seems to have that extra air and sparkle about them.
 
Here Without You: Three doors down: The metallic edge that I noticed in the Urbanites don’t seem to be as pronounced here on this track. It’s more smoother, which leads me to believe there could be a spike somewhere in the frequency graph of the Urbanites which could explain its metallic sounding overtones. Also I noticed another instrument that I couldn't quite hear on the urbanites, a tambourine or a maracas, not quite sure as it’s still pretty hard to make out due to the low quality file. Also the soundstage also appears to be wider to me overall. The lead vocals voice again has this extra level of smoothness and lushness that the Urbanites don’t have. Bass is more noticeable on the P5's on this track even more than the Urbanites but it’s the kind of bass I like.
 
HED KANDI MIXED CD: Just general observations that the BW P5's just seem to be more smoother, resolving, vocals are more natural sounding and it’s just an overall bassier headphone. Soundstage I believe is generally wider on those tracks that have multiple instruments and vocals. That bass tho. Just more fun and controlled for me.
 
OK: Now the pointy end of the stick. Would I buy one myself? YES but when the prices have come down as I think they have to recoup their research and development on these first. They are fine looking headphones, and the target market exists for these. And since the demographic is cashed up Gen Y'ers then yes I believe this product fills the brief. I don't think they're for more discerning ears but they are not that bad. There is room for improvement in the sound department but we move in a fast paced world and who knows? A second version may be around in  a year. 
 
Feb 6, 2015 at 6:59 AM Post #132 of 162
Thanks to all in this tour, especially white lotus for putting this together and Sennheiser for trusting us all :) It feels not just a little special to have these here. Well, I have been staring at the package a bit this evening with only a brief opportunity for a listen. A few thoughts come to mind at this early stage so I thought I would take a moment to write to y'all.

The box is nice, weighty with a nice suction resistance while you lift off the outer section. Just a hint of premium (shame on you Q701box, shame) to lead into the beautiful internals crisply contrasting with the headphones themselves, sitting there in all their glory.

Lifting them out, I was struck with the solid feeling to these. I owned the NAD HP50's and have handled the momentums and p7's and to me, these feel better. The others I mentioned are pretty in their own ways but I really like the finish of these. They don't creak or wobble in your hands and each part looks like it has been well thought through and well finished. I enjoyed the way the cups open out and the adjusting mechanism is nice and smooth with a good resistance. I pulled out the cable at that stage, it is a rubbery piece of fettuccine that one... it feels better than the NAD cable from memory but the grippy finish and rubbery memory means that it speaks its mind when a little twisted or rubbing on something. Not bad, just not as good as the rest of the package to me. I think I would be fine with it long term, I learn to manage these sorts of things alright...

Testing them on my head, I feel the ear cups are a little smaller than I would prefer but I soon learnt that I can tuck my ears in at the top then the rest just slides in comfortably.

Now they are on the head... I should find my source... that is the magnatism of these hps, they just make me want to put them on...
For reference through this I am listening through my new Sony nwz-a15 amped by a topping nx-1 and will do most listening through this combo from here on unless stated.

For first impressions of the sound, I put on Alterbridge ABIII and press play. The temperature is nice, the atmosphere is set (while I hang out the washing for the missus) and the music begins...
Detailed impressions and comparisons will follow later but my first impressions are that it all seems really nice, the sound is nice, the bass is there and solid, the mids are warm and happy and the highs are present and inoffensive... I just am left with a little bit of a feeling that it is all too nice, at this point I miss the real crunch of the guitar, the shimmer of the cymbal or the punch of the bass. It is a bit like these are ready, waiting to take the edges off poorer music but in the process bleach my experience just a little.

In summary for now, I like it all, I really like is all and am excited to explore genres and the sound more but I am a little concerned that I at the end of this all I will still feel like I need a little something, for the sound to stand for something rather than just staying nice...

All just initial opinions, I will check back in later :)
 
Feb 8, 2015 at 6:44 AM Post #134 of 162
@T65design: Im part of the Review tour organised by White Lotus. I believe JB Hifi stock the Urbanites $299 and Urbanites XL $399. Although I saw one JB HIFI (I believe the MT Druitt Store??) where the XL's were $299. Not sure is that was a special or a mis label..In any case try to haggle at least 10% off. HA 
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