[oqvist]

Curious if any ED 8 owners have dared trying to stretch the headband. If so how would you proceed. The clamping force is getting old.
 

 

[Exit Pupil]

just got the pro900 and giving them a fairly sturdy burn-in. the bass is just phenomenal. i cant believe how light and comfy they are. but that bass, crap a brick bass.  unbelievable. are these phones the kings of decent bass by any chance?
 
the highs are far more forward than my beyer dt150 or 770pro or my turdburger hd650. i'm hoping this will settle down a bit and smooth out, but i can see they're always going to be a revealing type of phone. i just dont want fatiguing.
 
how long for burn in for these? what intensity?
 
i just burnt in my second pair of seemingly faulty and horribly unbalanced dt150 phones. i decided to try to blow them up with the MF amp at full volume, for days this continued with no distortion, and all i was left with was sonic bliss the likes of which i have never heard.  
 
i'm being a bit softer on the ultrasones, but still fairly firm.  i'll wait before i play with the conversion everyone speaks about.

 

[Exit Pupil]

well, i'm going to be a nerd and answer my own post with a few observations of the pro900.
 
 
the bass is fantastic. possibly a touch bombastic, but totally fun on most tracks.
 
i'd like a touch more body and flesh to the midrange
 
i'd also like a touch less energy in the treble
 
sometimes the pro900 has an 'out of phase' sound to the midrange....possibly their design thingo.
 
i really didn't do much research on these phones. bit of an impulse buy. i know nothing of them really.
 
at this stage they are slightly fatiguing and minor headache inducing. at the same time they are very 'fun' and a somewhat exciting listen.
 
by comparison, i can fall asleep with my ugly DT150s playing on my head. i would say the bass on the pro900 is even slightly deeper but no tighter than the DT150. the mids and highs are inferior, not in isolated quality by any means, but in flesh and overall balance compared to the DT150.
 
i'll be interested to see what some more burn in does, or that mod thing everyone talks about.
 
if they're stubborn or misbehave, i'll tazer them mercilessly at full current for a few weeks like the faulty DT150 needed. you do get the feeling that if the pro900s blow or melt down, its going to be big.

 

[haloxt]

I play it safe and only burn-in at low to mid volume, I think after thousands of hours my pro 900 has noticeably lost character or grittiness in dynamics more than I like. Do the mod, but make the cotton pad only 1mm thick, add more after 300 hours of burn-in if you want.

 

[Exit Pupil]

are you saying they've gone a bit flacid on you? worn out sound?  thats nasty, but could suit me. a couple of days of my nasty burn would be the equivalent of years of use.
 
i would still describe them as very fun and extroverted phones, which is partly why i got them. but they do need a bit of civility beaten into them.
 
are they basically a posh DJ headphone?

 

[haloxt]

They sound a bit slowed/faded at the edges of notes now, maybe ~4000+ hours of use. I would recommend doing the Kees mod before doing your burn-in. Imo in stock form they could be used as DJ headphones, more than for critical listening in the studio. Once modded they are good audiophile headphones, but too engaging for critical listening.

 

[Exit Pupil]

i just wrapped them in a king sized doonah and two pillows for the hard burn, and i can still hear them from one end of the house to the other. but i'll call a full scale abort on this for now.
 
can you send me a quick link to this Kees mod?
 
what does it achieve sound wise?
 
Cheers

 

[haloxt]

You do know some people have killed their headphones from too much burn-in right? Hope nothing bad happens.
 
Here's the mod
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/396267/how-bright-is-an-ultrasone-pro-900/60#post_5248583

 

[oqvist]

Yes use common sense. What is the point burning the drivers out when you are not listening to them? A lot of the burn in process is to get used to the soundstaging I suspect. The Ultrasones are truly unique among the headphones I have heard. That is how I explain the 900 being a much smoother affair than the 750 anyway. Burning in at a reasonable SPL will not hurt them much. Mine are still going strong even though the headband joints is starting to quirk a bit.

 

[Exit Pupil]

ok thanks for the felt mod link. i've been doing this for years with loudspeakers to attenuate them for listening environments of varying brightness etc. works a treat especially with ribbon tweeters with a mesh covering and a bit of felt stuck to a driver here or there.
 
the pro900 are coming closest to matching said standmount speakers for bass response. none of my phones are in the same class as a nice modern valve driven standmount speaker for bass depth, power, impact and growl, or the astonishing sweetness of a ribbon trebble and good room acoustics, but the pro900 are good.
 
its the easiest comparison to make in the audio world. you sit in the same chair with remotes in hand and long lead headphones on , match volumes,  then stereo up and headphones off, stereo down and headphones on......the differences become pretty clear fast enough.

 

[haloxt]

I tried that experiment before. Helped me appreciate the pro 900 soundstaging better, and I moved my speakers around a bit to try to imitate the headphones lol.

 

[pataburd]

Have really been enjoying the PRO2500 lately.  Compared to my co-reference open headphones, the UP-OCC recabled DT880/600, the PRO2500 sound much fuller/richer in the mids, more organic and dimensional.  
 
The Ultrasones do concede to the Beyers in terms of absolute detail levels, but overall I have been preferring the PRO2500.  The Beyers have crystalline mids, but they are lean and tipped to the upper midrange.  Treble detail is exemplary with the Beyers, too, but bass lacks solidity in comparison.  
 
The Ultrasones unquestionably render a more solid bass foundation, and bass texture/richness, that the Beyers lack.  After Zombie_X recables the PRO2500 for me, I am looking forward to doing a formal a/b comparison between the two.  

 

[pataburd]

The UP-OCC cable for the PRO2500 is due next week.  : )
 
Can't wait to a/b v. the DT880/600.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

The UP-OCC cable for the PRO2500 is due next week.  : )
 
Can't wait to a/b v. the DT880/600.

You do any modding other than the cable yet?

 

[csokane]

Hey, would anyone who has tried both the Pro 650 and HFI 680 be willing to compare and contrast them? The 650s are $167 on Amazon while the 680s are $193.