[Kernmac]

Need a closed fon, no amp, for DAP and also portable DVD player to watch movies, at night without disturbing my sleeping other half. Looking for bass monster. Not muddy, boomy, doof doof doof, but hard hitting, impactful sub woofer thump. I have researched this quite a bit and am leaning toward the Ultrasone Proline 550. I am also considering the HFI DJ1.

Anyone had experience with either of these phones (particularly the Pro 550) that can offer an opinion. There seeems to be thread after thread on K701 or Hd 600 650, Grado sr60 etc, but there isn't much on closed fons, particularly non top end or non Beyer (need a decent dedicated amp) models.

I know there are a couple of threads on the Ultrasone top end, however I have also heard that Ultrasone suffer big time from diminishing returns and therefore I want opinions on the bass entry level models.

Cheers

 

[tops2]

Hello. I don't know if this would help, but I got the HFI-450 a few weeks ago had have burned them in ~150 hours (pink noise + generally listening to music when not running pink noise) and I love the sound of it. I'm not an audiophile so I can't accurately describe the sound using all the correct terms.

I like the sound of my HFI-450s and it has plenty of deep bass for my ears!

I remember someone mentioned (seems to be true for me anyways..) that Ultrasones seem to bring out the deep bass when the source calls for it. I use them most of the time with my Sansa e280 and find it drives the 450's well. My Acer laptop drives the headphones well too. I get plenty of bass (for me anyways) from these two sources unamped. To me, the 450's is pretty revealing to for any of my low quality mp3's (low quality mp3's sound bad now to me!

)

As I posted in the HFI-450 thread, I immediately loved these when I demoed it in store. Its also inexpensive ($99 msrp). While the 450 is not the PROLINE 550's you asked about, its a "lower" model and there's at least one person on Head-Fi who's really satisfied (me!) I find I'm already fully satisfied with the 450's, but of course hanging around Head-Fi, reading the comments on the PRO 750's, I'm getting tempted to get a pair (but its way out of my budget for now). I should stop hanging around here for now (for my wallets sake)..

 

[Kernmac]

Hi tops2, thanks for your reply. I'm no audiophile either, just a guy with two ears searching for enjoyment through sound. An efficient closed fon with impactful bass is my current mission and the ultrasone fons seem to have a good grasp of this. I've read that Ultrasone vary little the further up the line(diminishing returns), so maybe getting the HFI-450s was a great decision. Any way you look at it, you like them, they give you great bass unamped, so I see that as a big win, congratulations. I have placed an order for the Proline 550s, so in a week or two I will post a review of their performance.

Thanks again for your reply, oh and welcome to Headfi, sorry bout your wallet.
Cheers Kernmac

 

[Contrastique]

Congrats on finally making your decision despite the fact you had little to no answers on your questions. I'm not sure why they're not around here. When I was searching for a hp here my eye fell on the 750s immediately when checking out Ultrasones because of their implemented whity stuff and they fitted my budget perfectly so never looked at the "lower-end"models actually.
Looking forward to your impressions and most of all, I hope you'll like them

 

[shigzeo]

that and the fact that the dj1pro are based from very similar housing as well as drivers at least to the old 550, i can honestly say that they are amazing phones though the dj1pro are more treble tweaked

 

[Kernmac]

Hi shigzeo,
thanks for your reply, it was starting to get lonely around here. I was thinking about stating how much better the Proline 550 is over a K701 or HD 600, just so headfiers would reply to my threads.
Anyway, I accept that few others have had any experience with them, so no replies is better than being swamped by people offering an uneducated opinion.
Good to hear that you have confidence in them being a good purchase. With the praise heaped on the 750 pro I am fairly confident that they will suit my primary purpose and be a contrasting alternative to my MS2is. As I've stated, I will post my impressions and make comparisions musically against the metal Alessandros. I would love to be able to say I have a new favourite fon, however the MS2is rock my boat, so it would be a tall order for the Proline 550 to impress me that much.

Cheers
Kernmac

 

[shigzeo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernmac /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi shigzeo, thanks for your reply, it was starting to get lonely around here. I was thinking about stating how much better the Proline 550 is over a K701 or HD 600, just so headfiers would reply to my threads. Anyway, I accept that few others have had any experience with them, so no replies is better than being swamped by people offering an uneducated opinion. Good to hear that you have confidence in them being a good purchase. With the praise heaped on the 750 pro I am fairly confident that they will suit my primary purpose and be a contrasting alternative to my MS2is. As I've stated, I will post my impressions and make comparisions musically against the metal Alessandros. I would love to be able to say I have a new favourite fon, however the MS2is rock my boat, so it would be a tall order for the Proline 550 to impress me that much. Cheers Kernmac

yes well i am interested to hear how you like them. i have never thought of ultrasones as rock headphones but some people who own them must use them for that. i am a trance listener and try to stay away from vocals. i must say that for vocals, strangely my favourite phones are the beyer dt880 and i love them for trance but usually i do really not listen to vocal musics.

the ultrasones are the first closed phones that i have really been able to cherish for trance and i know that is not consolation for you. the 750 are great for it as well but a bit more refined. the 550 may be more of a rock phone as the mids are somewhat more pronounced. i do not own them but have only heard them basically for a few minutes on some jazz in a store.

i am not sure if they use the quick change pads like the dj1pro do. i changed them for 750 pads which do not sweat. if you find the 550 to be not perfect for rock, a simple pad change (if possible) might make them better.

but then you are coming from a company who decidedly make phones for rock rather than anything much else other than live. i hope you enjoy but ms1 and ultrasone anything are quite a different animal at all bends.

 

[Kernmac]

yes the Proline 550 does have the fast change ear replacement pads, so switching to velour pads is an option. Mind you getting a set may be an issue.
Headphonic (which is the only Aus headphone seller of any substance) can get them but at a quoted price of $50 a pair). I did come accros this review from glac1er which included the HFI 550 (proline 550 direct sibling) which is interesting.
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/hd5...arison-161718/

Anyway you will hear from me once the 550s arrive and I have tested them against my MS2is.

 

[quintron]

I switched from standard pads to velour pads on my proline 650, with very bad results: they sounded very thin and leaked a lot, so I had to switch back to the standard pads. It seems that the headphones are closely matched to a specific type of pads.

 

[Kernmac]

Thanks for your in put quintron. Pleather pads are obviously part of the seal, you have probably saved me $50. Any way Tassie isn't the tropics, so I'm sure Pleather pads won't be a big issue for me, particularly if proline 550s sound as good as some of the reviews on the net suggest.

By the way, how do you like your 650s? I have read that they are slightly more detailed in the mid and upper range than the 550s, with not quite as much bass impact (although reportedly still have heaps). The place I ordered my 550s has a pair of 650s (OEM plain box-not 2nd hand and with all accesories) at the same price as the 550s, I was awful tempted, but my goal is for as much powerful bass as possible, so I went with the 550s.

Cheers

 

[shigzeo]

i find the standard pads give better isolation too but they (on the dj1pro) are way too sweaty and uncomfortable. if you want extras: pm me.