Ultimate Ears UE 900 Discussion and Impressions Thread

[tinyman392]

arguing about speculation?

Is this a reply to a different post? None of the recent ones were arguments about speculation.

 

[elvergun]

Quote:

  Maybe that doesn't make sense...  LOL... personally I would take these over a tf with a remold.  They'd be around the same price with a cable purchase, impressions, shipping, etc... And these would have better resale value as well.

 
 
Makes sense to me.  You make a valid argument and I can see why you are so happy with your pair.
 
I did have fit issues with the TF10, but nothing that would keep me from buying another pair.  
 
I'm looking for another IEM right now and $400 is my limit.  This time I want something that is noticeably better than the GR07 and the TF10.  I was thinking about the 4.Ai or the GR08 when I read that the UE900 was going to be released.  If they don't sound drastically different than the TF10 I might buy something else and wait to see if they sell them for $99 during the Black Friday sale again. 

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Wait a few years and the 900s will drop in price to.  When it does, we'll be comparing 10-20 dollars...  All the reviews that stated it was overpriced because it was MSRP will become invalidated?  I think not. 

You compare its MSRP with others MSRP (even if it's the same company).  Like saying the TF10 is a much better value at 170 over the AtomicFloyd Superdarts because the AFS costs 300 is a major flawed statement.  The Atomic Floyd may eventually drop in price like the TF10 did. Please note IDK if the TF10 does sound better than the SuperDarts, it's just an example. 

Things only drop from msrp if they can't sell at msrp. We are comparing street price to street price here. It's just coincidence that right now street price=msrp for one of them. If it becomes a runaway bestseller it may well stay at msrp forever.

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

Things only drop from msrp if they can't sell at msrp. We are comparing street price to street price here. It's just coincidence that right now street price=msrp for one of them. If it becomes a runaway bestseller it may well stay at msrp forever.

 
Every product will eventually drop in price.  It's part of the life-cycle.  When it drops, we get street price.  It will drop.  Give any product x amount of years to age and things will drop as supply > demand with just about every production product (there are more products than people want given x amount of years). 
 
That said, we don't know the street price yet.  We only know MSRP.  MSRP isn't street price as street price takes time as the MSRP takes time to drop.  Time isn't short either.  Could be half a year, a full year, etc. 
 
Would you call 600 dollars street for the Phonak PFE?  That is the MSRP as well...  I wouldn't, I forsee that price dropping.  Not now, but definitely in the future when demand shrinks for it. 
 
Do note that I do see where you're coming from Joe.  But I don't agree that we should call MSRP = street just because it's a new product (ever).  With time, street prices will drop, and like the TF10, the 9s will become obsolete. 

 

[Jupiterknight]

Joe's post actually made sense to me. We are comparing street prices right here this moment and forget about ancient and future MSRP prices.
So right now, the TF is $170 and the UE900 is $400 which they should be compared against each other at. Anyone agree or disagree? 

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

Joe's post actually made sense to me. We are comparing street prices right here this moment and forget about ancient and future MSRP prices.
So right now, the TF is $170 and the UE900 is $400 which they should be compared against each other at. Anyone agree or disagree? 

 
I disagree that we should call starting MSRP street price (it's something completely different in my mind)...  That's my disagreement.  Yes, that is the current comparison since the product is new and unreleased.  However, give it six months, then we will get a more accurate street price.  I honestly wouldn't call 170 the TF10 street price.  I would call it the outdated price.  In other words, after so much time, the item becomes dirt cheap (happens to every item released). 
 
Please note I understand exactly where Joe is coming from and his logic. I guess I'm the only one that feels this way...

 

[DigitalFreak]

Well that's rather disappointing, I was hoping for a more UERM like sound and not a more refined Tri-Fi V shape sound. Hey tinyman392 any idea when you'll get your UE900 for a review? I'm curious to hear what your ears think.

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

Well that's rather disappointing, I was hoping for a more UERM like sound and not a more refined Tri-Fi V shape sound. Hey tinyman392 any idea when you'll get your UE900 for a review? I'm curious to hear what your ears think.

 
A few quick notes...  No one knows what the 900s will sound like.  So there is no idea on sound signature (neutral, V shape, balanced, analytical, etc).  So don't rule it out based on some speculation that it'll be V-shaped.  I actually didn't read this anywhere, so I am curious to where you heard that from XD
 
As for the 900s I'm getting.  My sample should be coming in early next week  

 

[Jupiterknight]

I think I understand your point. But some people can't wait six months and may just want to know right now or at least within a few weeks if it's really worth buying the UE900 at $400 or should they go for the TF10 at around $170 give or take. I do assume that this is just a discussion thread and not the final verdict on which one is the best purchase at it's original price.

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

I think I understand you point. But some people can't wait six months and may just want to know right now or at least within a few weeks if it's really worth buying the UE900 at $400 or should they go for the TF10 at around $170 give or take. I do assume that this is just a discussion thread and not the final verdict on which one is the best purchase at it's original price.

 
I understand your (and Joe's) point completely. 
 
I just want to put the idea into a different light.  Value is normally defined in a review.  It's targetted towards the price.  The review should be timeless (hold true intact of time).  If the price changes down the road, then the value score for a given review written at an earlier date becomes invalidated...  It isn't timeless. 
 
My statements come from an extremely review-oriented view.  That the person reading the review can be from a later date well down the time line, but also at current.  The only way this is possible is with MSRP comparison, not street price-MSRP (as street price can never be estimated; it varies from product to product).  Street price to street price isn't possible either since we don't know what the street price of the 9s will be (or any new product for that matter).  In my mind, it's not a fair comparison to take value into account with. 
 
I know I've said it enough times already, but I do want to bring up the person who discredited the Sennheiser Amperiors saying they were basically sh!t compared to the HD25 IIs because he could get the 25s for a couple hundred cheaper.  My response to that was the exact same one I gave here.  We shouldn't compare MSRP to a street price.  We should compare MSRP to MSRP and street price to street price.  Street price is dynamic.  It's never constant, and goes up and down. 
 
Essentially, it comes down to two different ideas about how we should compare headphone's pricing. 

 

[wormsdriver]

Quote:

 
A few quick notes...  No one knows what the 900s will sound like.  So there is no idea on sound signature (neutral, V shape, balanced, analytical, etc).  So don't rule it out based on some speculation that it'll be V-shaped.  I actually didn't read this anywhere, so I am curious to where you heard that from XD
 
As for the 900s I'm getting.  My sample should be coming in early next week  

 
Quote:

 
To me, and I'm just listening to 256 through my iphone, it sounds similar to the triple.fi.  In terms of bass, I'd say it's about the same from what I've heard, the treble is there too... maybe a tiny tiny bit less, and I can hear more mids, which may explain why I think there might be less treble?  I've never heard the reference monitors, but these sound more energetic than the se425's from what I can remember.  I think they extend farther at both sides of the spectrum against both the se425 and 535 for that matter.  Everything is crystal clear and the soundstage seems as good as the triples if not better.  I'd still say they are slightly V shaped in sound signature for my ears, which is what I like.  I listen to a decent amount of techno/dance and dubstep, along with classical, rock and hiphop and these seem to handle everything well so far.  They are not as bass heavy as the she3580's I have, but when the song calls for it I think the bass is very satisfying.  They also pick up the plucking of an acoustic guitar or the chirp of a finger running the fretboard with every little detail.  I think the tf's did that well, but these do it better if that makes sense...  I don't know if there's a category; "How well it picks up random noises"lol.
 
 

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

 

 
He made a statement slightly V...  TF10 is normally regarded as a deep V.  I haven't heard the TF10, but heard the SuperDarts were similar in the depth of the V.  It's a very deep V.  From his words alone, I would interpret that not as having a TF10 V, but a slight one like a Dunu Trident (I know, different price range entirely; used as an example).  We'll see with time though   Please note I won't give impressions until I give them at least a days burn in or until the new toy feeling goes away XD whichever comes last. 

 

[wormsdriver]

Quote:

 
He made a statement slightly V...  TF10 is normally regarded as a deep V.  I haven't heard the TF10, but heard the SuperDarts were similar in the depth of the V.  It's a very deep V.  From his words alone, I would interpret that not as having a TF10 V, but a slight one like a Dunu Trident (I know, different price range entirely; used as an example).  We'll see with time though   Please note I won't give impressions until I give them at least a days burn in or until the new toy feeling goes away XD whichever comes last. 

yeah, I was just pointing out were people got the "it has a V shaped sound sig" from

 

[tinyman392]

Quote:

yeah, I was just pointing out were people got the "it has a V shaped sound sig" from

 
I know.  Thanks for that, I do appreciate it   I wouldn't be surprised if it had a slight V in it.  That tends to be a sweet spot between audiophiles and consumers (an area where neither sees any major flaws in the sound)... 

 

[wormsdriver]

funny how any little comment starts getting blown outta proportion