UAndy
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2004
- Posts
- 103
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- 0
1. How to get Ultimate Ears in Germany:
In www.ultimateears.com in "Foreign distributors" you find www.fischer-amps.de for Germany. You call them for your nearest audiologist who will then handle all procedures. In my case this is Audimed in Munich. Located very conveniantly in the city center I was accompanied by Mrs. Wiedenmann who is professionally trained for Ultimate-Ears customers to a booth where the ear-impressions were taken. This was just 30,-Euros. Further processing of the order was taken care of by Audimed. About 2 1/2 weeks later they phoned me to pick up the UE10 Pro. When I picked them up I was shown how to insert and remove them as well as a short check to prove functionality over a stereo-system that they have installed. The price is payed as I was informed beforehand by Fischer-Amps: 1099,- Euros. I consider this a very fair offer becuase handling charge from USA and import duties would be approx. the same if you would process the whole order with Ultimate-Ears directly. (Compare the Grado RS-1, this costs about 1100,-$ in Germany while in the US you get them for 700,-$. I have imported my RS-1 from decibelaudio.com from Chicago.) The finish that I have selected is transparent with silver looking short cables. These are long enough for me. It proved that a perfect job was done by Mrs. Wiedenmann: The UE10 fitted perfectly, they fit very tight so that even speaking doesn´t break the seal. For best performance and linearity I keep my head very upright and the mouth a little open - that may sound uncomfortable but really isn´t. It has nothing to do with UE10 it is the same with all Ety´s.
2. Sound check: (Keep in mind that this section covers my personal opinion, others might feel a lot different about certain statements - so no offense intended).
What immediately jumps out is the untamed dynamic of the UE10. Rock music comes over you like a thunderstorm, the bass-impact is overwhelming, the mids very neutral and the hights musical and focussed. The amazing fact is that this characterism remains even a low volumes. At first I would say that the sound characteristic is similar to the Grado RS-1. The AKG K1000 is different: it sounds harder and leaner. The Sony CD3000 is out of discussion because their bass is bloated and the hights are harsh and tiring. What influenced me a little towards the UE10 was Lindrones statement that they are sounding slightly hard (if I got his interpretation right). Well what I think is that for me they could be a bit harder in the bass area, let´s say less flesh more bones. And that leads us to the point of amplification: As important as the amplification is with the K1000 it is also with the UE10. What I immediately noticed was the hiss pickup (current noise) of my stereo system (old Kenwood 1000-Series). With any other phone, not even the Ety´s I heard this before. I put the Oelbach 120 Ohm resistor in line which eliminated the noise, but slightly changed the frequency response - so I took them out again. Next try was the battery operated amp for portable use the Meier-Audio Porta Corda II which is dead silent and seems to be a perfect mobile solution. So to squeeze out the full potential of the UE10 I will look for a stationary amplifier which should have a lean hard bass and soft musical hights and an unlimited dynamic. Definitely a transistor solution - must consult Jan Meier for that. I am lucky that he doesn´t live too far away for my place.
3. Conclusion:
Needless to say that I am very satisfied with the UE10.It is definitely a high-end device, as well as the Grado RS1 and the AKG K1000. (For my Ety 4S and 4P there is still use and they remain in my collection. The Sony CD3000 will be removed.) So the UE10 is primarly a headphone for rock-fans or anybody who prefers an extremely dynamic musical presentation. They can play loud, but also with less volume they do not loose their characteristic. Although they play directly with a standard portable unit (I use Philips Expanium mp3-CD player and Creative hard-disk jukebox) you should calculate a separate headphone-amp for superior performance which the UE10 is capable of.
In www.ultimateears.com in "Foreign distributors" you find www.fischer-amps.de for Germany. You call them for your nearest audiologist who will then handle all procedures. In my case this is Audimed in Munich. Located very conveniantly in the city center I was accompanied by Mrs. Wiedenmann who is professionally trained for Ultimate-Ears customers to a booth where the ear-impressions were taken. This was just 30,-Euros. Further processing of the order was taken care of by Audimed. About 2 1/2 weeks later they phoned me to pick up the UE10 Pro. When I picked them up I was shown how to insert and remove them as well as a short check to prove functionality over a stereo-system that they have installed. The price is payed as I was informed beforehand by Fischer-Amps: 1099,- Euros. I consider this a very fair offer becuase handling charge from USA and import duties would be approx. the same if you would process the whole order with Ultimate-Ears directly. (Compare the Grado RS-1, this costs about 1100,-$ in Germany while in the US you get them for 700,-$. I have imported my RS-1 from decibelaudio.com from Chicago.) The finish that I have selected is transparent with silver looking short cables. These are long enough for me. It proved that a perfect job was done by Mrs. Wiedenmann: The UE10 fitted perfectly, they fit very tight so that even speaking doesn´t break the seal. For best performance and linearity I keep my head very upright and the mouth a little open - that may sound uncomfortable but really isn´t. It has nothing to do with UE10 it is the same with all Ety´s.
2. Sound check: (Keep in mind that this section covers my personal opinion, others might feel a lot different about certain statements - so no offense intended).
What immediately jumps out is the untamed dynamic of the UE10. Rock music comes over you like a thunderstorm, the bass-impact is overwhelming, the mids very neutral and the hights musical and focussed. The amazing fact is that this characterism remains even a low volumes. At first I would say that the sound characteristic is similar to the Grado RS-1. The AKG K1000 is different: it sounds harder and leaner. The Sony CD3000 is out of discussion because their bass is bloated and the hights are harsh and tiring. What influenced me a little towards the UE10 was Lindrones statement that they are sounding slightly hard (if I got his interpretation right). Well what I think is that for me they could be a bit harder in the bass area, let´s say less flesh more bones. And that leads us to the point of amplification: As important as the amplification is with the K1000 it is also with the UE10. What I immediately noticed was the hiss pickup (current noise) of my stereo system (old Kenwood 1000-Series). With any other phone, not even the Ety´s I heard this before. I put the Oelbach 120 Ohm resistor in line which eliminated the noise, but slightly changed the frequency response - so I took them out again. Next try was the battery operated amp for portable use the Meier-Audio Porta Corda II which is dead silent and seems to be a perfect mobile solution. So to squeeze out the full potential of the UE10 I will look for a stationary amplifier which should have a lean hard bass and soft musical hights and an unlimited dynamic. Definitely a transistor solution - must consult Jan Meier for that. I am lucky that he doesn´t live too far away for my place.
3. Conclusion:
Needless to say that I am very satisfied with the UE10.It is definitely a high-end device, as well as the Grado RS1 and the AKG K1000. (For my Ety 4S and 4P there is still use and they remain in my collection. The Sony CD3000 will be removed.) So the UE10 is primarly a headphone for rock-fans or anybody who prefers an extremely dynamic musical presentation. They can play loud, but also with less volume they do not loose their characteristic. Although they play directly with a standard portable unit (I use Philips Expanium mp3-CD player and Creative hard-disk jukebox) you should calculate a separate headphone-amp for superior performance which the UE10 is capable of.
