[CrawlingEye]

After not having plugged in my (quite old) HFI 650 Trackmasters in quite some time, I decided to plug them in and give them a listen. I've been using my Beyer DT880's for a while now, almost exclusively.
By comparison, what I'm feeling (albeit the uncomfortable pads) is a massively enhanced sound stage and a bit of warmer highs, without any perceptive loss of detail.

So with this as my motivation, I've began looking at Ultrasone's more recent offerings.
It seems their two top of the line candidates (outside of editions) are the 880's and i900's. Unfortunately, while I've read a bunch of information regarding the two, I have not been able to find a comparison between them.

I generally tend to favor something of an analytical sound that will allow me to uncover details amiss in music. I'm not a fan of symbalance and I do like a quite broad soundstage. The appealing thing, to me, about the 880's is that they seem to use a larger earcup, which should be a lot more comfortable for long term wear.

I do like balanced bass, which I can feel, but not so overbearing that it muddies the sound.

Music: I listen to a lot of folk as well as some punk.
Additional uses: Gaming, whereby the soundstage and isolation can be quite impactful.

 

[CrawlingEye]

After some additional reading, it appears that perhaps the 880's are the better choice.

 

[nishan99]

coming from DT880 you will sacrifice some soundstage going for closed backs.

Ultrasones are great if EQed and bought in Europe. They are very expensive for what they are if you will in NA.

I still recommend going for open backs if you can or stay with your dt880 and save some money and get the focal elex. Or upgrade your DAC/AMP.

 

[CrawlingEye]

Perceptibly, I don't feel that the DT880's have better soundstage / isolation compared to the 650 Trackmasters. They are flatter in the midrange, but the positional sound is far better, coming back to the 650's.
While I do like the Beyer's a lot for music- I feel like the Ultrasone are much better for gaming. My hope is that one of the newer models of Ultrasones can succeed some of these 650 Trackmasters (which were part of the company's first release of headphones to market).

 

[Chris Kaoss]

If it fits your taste and with a good dac/amp, i'd recommend the 880s.
I didn't demo the 900i.
I auditioned the Ultrasone 880 with his brothers 840 and 860 at Ultrasones company home near Tutzing/ Germany.
Along with some higher models like E15, E8, Sig Pro and Sig Dj.

For me, the S-Logic plus works like a charme and i've never encountered a better headstage on a closed back before.
The can beat many open backs with ease.
It's really special if you're used to it.
I'm a midrange guy in terms of sound signature, and the 880 fits in with perfection in this price range.
Comfort is great, except the thin, but comfortable pleader pads.
I did some changes on mine to enhance the bass and clarity. The mods are full reversable so I can change the sound whenever i want it.

If you like Ultrasones S-logic technology, i'd recommend the Performance 880.

 

[CrawlingEye]

If it fits your taste and with a good dac/amp, i'd recommend the 880s.
I didn't demo the 900i.
I auditioned the Ultrasone 880 with his brothers 840 and 860 at Ultrasones company home near Tutzing/ Germany.
Along with some higher models like E15, E8, Sig Pro and Sig Dj.

For me, the S-Logic plus works like a charme and i've never encountered a better headstage on a closed back before.
The can beat many open backs with ease.
It's really special if you're used to it.
I'm a midrange guy in terms of sound signature, and the 880 fits in with perfection in this price range.
Comfort is great, except the thin, but comfortable pleader pads.
I did some changes on mine to enhance the bass and clarity. The mods are full reversable so I can change the sound whenever i want it.

If you like Ultrasones S-logic technology, i'd recommend the Performance 880.

Thanks for the heads up! I hope someone can give me some comparisons between the two. Best I can gather is that the 900's can be a bit harsh in the treble, whereby the 880's are a bit more natural. I'm kind of leaning toward the 880's overall,
their pads seem larger and perhaps more comfortable. My 650 Trackmasters are not circummunal and are a bit warm on the ears after a couple hours of use.
Currently, I'm using a Fiio K5 to drive my DT880's and Trackmasters. I am looking at upgrading to a Meier Corda-Jazz FF in the near future.

Also, for me, the S-Logic has seemed to work wonderfully over the years. I guess I never really considered how impactful it was until returning to the Ultrasone Trackmasters after a year or so of not having used them.