[Peter Pinna]

  Have you tried them with an amp before? I assume you have. They are good without an amp, but sound really good with one.

I have tried them with an amp and what I found is the Pro 750 sounds better with a neutral (flat) amp than with one that alters the sound ("colored").  They sound great plugged into a sound board which I have done many times. 

 

[whorn]

I prefer mine with my Mk little dot II with Mullard EF 91 tubes.

 

[radioscott1]

Hey everyone!
 
I've been lurking on Head-Fi for many years and I appreciate all of the commentary you guys provide. It has been invaluable to me over the years in learning everything headphones, and also how to appreciate sound and music on a whole new level. Thank you.
 
[Originally posted in the Ultrasone HFI-580 Appreciation Thread]
 
SO... after about 6 years of heavy usage on my HFI-580, the wire -- actually probably the left cup connector -- has died.
 
I knew it would happen eventually. Considering the sheer amount of hours I've logged on them, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner! Goes to show the good quality of Ultrasone headphones.
 
My question to you is: what is the easiest (or best) way of re-cabling the HFI-580?
 
Would you recommend simply taking it to a shop somewhere, or is it an easy enough fix that I could do at home? What's the general cost of having a shop fix it?
 
Also; anyone know the general price range of a new cable? Any reputable brands or types that you'd recommend?
 
And just so you know, I would NOT prefer to outright buy new headphones (yet)... UNLESS the cost of fixing the cable would end up being more than the current price of the 580.
 
This baby is well worn-in and I definitely 100% noticed a burn-in effect, especially over the first year. Moreover, it's gotten even better as the years pass... so I really don't want to have to restart that whole process.
 
Any info very much appreciated! I know you'll guide me in the right direction.
 
Thanks

 

[Peter Pinna]

  Hey everyone!
 
I've been lurking on Head-Fi for many years and I appreciate all of the commentary you guys provide. It has been invaluable to me over the years in learning everything headphones, and also how to appreciate sound and music on a whole new level. Thank you.
 
[Originally posted in the Ultrasone HFI-580 Appreciation Thread]
 
SO... after about 6 years of heavy usage on my HFI-580, the wire -- actually probably the left cup connector -- has died.
 
I knew it would happen eventually. Considering the sheer amount of hours I've logged on them, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner! Goes to show the good quality of Ultrasone headphones.
 
My question to you is: what is the easiest (or best) way of re-cabling the HFI-580?
 
Would you recommend simply taking it to a shop somewhere, or is it an easy enough fix that I could do at home? What's the general cost of having a shop fix it?
 
Also; anyone know the general price range of a new cable? Any reputable brands or types that you'd recommend?
 
And just so you know, I would NOT prefer to outright buy new headphones (yet)... UNLESS the cost of fixing the cable would end up being more than the current price of the 580.
 
This baby is well worn-in and I definitely 100% noticed a burn-in effect, especially over the first year. Moreover, it's gotten even better as the years pass... so I really don't want to have to restart that whole process.
 
Any info very much appreciated! I know you'll guide me in the right direction.
 
Thanks

The easiest way is to order a new cable from Ultrasone.  Here is a link to their cable listing page for the United States. If you are not in the United States, the cable listing page for other countries is easy to find:
 
http://shopworld.ultrasone.com/us/category.php?id_category=20
 
In your comment you wrote "...probably the left cup connector -- has died."  Do you mean the connector on the cable or the connector on the headphone?  If the connector on the headphone cup is faulty, you could send the headphone to Ultrasone for repair.  I would call them first to find out their price for the repair.  If they seem too expensive you could also check other repair services found here on Head-Fi. 
 
Given the way these phones are so sturdily constructed, without seeing your headphone, my best guess is that the problem is the connector on the cable and not the headphone.  I have also owned my Ultrasone headphone for 6 years (the Pro 750) and so far everything still is OK with it. 

 

[TrollDragon]

My question to you is: what is the easiest (or best) way of re-cabling the HFI-580?

 
I have done this to my HFI-780's and I found the cable that Ultrasone provided was one of the nastiest cables on the market, very durable but the bends would not come out of it no matter what I did.
 
I removed the stock cable and installed a 3.5 mm TRS jack which is quite easy depending on you skill with a soldering iron. This way you can use what ever cable you want or even make your own.
 

 

 
You can pick up parts from a local electronics supplier or if you don't mind waiting a month lunashops has everything you need.

 

[Dobrescu George]

if i was to ask, overall what is better, i have dj one pro, and i love them, i have sennheiser ie8 and i love them, what should i buy, ultrasone sig dj, or ultrasone edition 8?... i cannot demo them before... i only tried top tier, hd800 and audeze all versions. i liked hd800, i was not that fancy with audeze in general...
 
is edition 8 too small to fit big ears? [my dj  one pro touces my ear sometimes]
 
i like lots of treble, soundstage, and my headphone should have bass
 
i was going to buy sig dj, but i thought that i might want edition 8 instead. i searched over head-fi, but nobody compared these two in depth...

 

[pietcux]

  if i was to ask, overall what is better, i have dj one pro, and i love them, i have sennheiser ie8 and i love them, what should i buy, ultrasone sig dj, or ultrasone edition 8?... i cannot demo them before... i only tried top tier, hd800 and audeze all versions. i liked hd800, i was not that fancy with audeze in general...
 
is edition 8 too small to fit big ears? [my dj  one pro touces my ear sometimes]
 
i like lots of treble, soundstage, and my headphone should have bass
 
i was going to buy sig dj, but i thought that i might want edition 8 instead. i searched over head-fi, but nobody compared these two in depth...

The DJ1 PRO has much bigger earpieces than the Sig DJ/PRO. I have the PRO 550 (same headphone as the DJ1 PROwith other color)  and the Sig PRO. Had the Sig DJ till 6 weeks ago. If you have small earlobes and your contact is with the baffle board, the Signatures are ok for you. If you have big earlobes that touch the earpad, then you should ook for the new Ultrasone PERFORMANCE 840. It was said that it is the basshead version of the new series and the earpieces are rather large.
Btw. I have the Sennheiser IE80. Had always trouble with the seal and fit, until I found Compy tips for them. Now they really shine on me, you should try that. Great bass improvement.

 

[Dobrescu George]

 
The DJ1 PRO has much bigger earpieces than the Sig DJ/PRO. I have the PRO 550 (same headphone as the DJ1 PROwith other color)  and the Sig PRO. Had the Sig DJ till 6 weeks ago. If you have small earlobes and your contact is with the baffle board, the Signatures are ok for you. If you have big earlobes that touch the earpad, then you should ook for the new Ultrasone PERFORMANCE 840. It was said that it is the basshead version of the new series and the earpieces are rather large.
Btw. I have the Sennheiser IE80. Had always trouble with the seal and fit, until I found Compy tips for them. Now they really shine on me, you should try that. Great bass improvement.

i have amazing seal with them, they are lacking treble, and are having too much bass for me! ie80...
 
about dj one pro, it is too small for my ear... i have big ears! i thought that sig dj would be even bigger, or so it seems in pictures. 

 

[pietcux]

 
about dj one pro, it is too small for my ear... i have big ears! i thought that sig dj would be even bigger, or so it seems in pictures. 

The Signature pad is oval, inner measuremants are 5,5 cm x 4,5 cm 1,9 mm deapth. Whereas the DJ1 PRO is 5,5 x 5,5 cm 2,2 cm deaphs. The Signatures share the body with the Dj 1 and the HFI 580 to 780. You can mount the pads vice versa on all of them.

 

[Dobrescu George]

  The Signature pad is oval, inner measuremants are 5,5 cm x 4,5 cm 1,9 mm deapth. Whereas the DJ1 PRO is 5,5 x 5,5 cm 2,2 cm deaphs. The Signatures share the body with the Dj 1 and the HFI 580 to 780. You can mount the pads vice versa on all of them.

then the size would be more or less the same for me... i was very curious about the sq... how do they sound, and to what can sig dj compare.

 

[radioscott1]

 
The easiest way is to order a new cable from Ultrasone.  Here is a link to their cable listing page for the United States. If you are not in the United States, the cable listing page for other countries is easy to find:
 
http://shopworld.ultrasone.com/us/category.php?id_category=20
 
In your comment you wrote "...probably the left cup connector -- has died."  Do you mean the connector on the cable or the connector on the headphone?  If the connector on the headphone cup is faulty, you could send the headphone to Ultrasone for repair.  I would call them first to find out their price for the repair.  If they seem too expensive you could also check other repair services found here on Head-Fi. 
 
Given the way these phones are so sturdily constructed, without seeing your headphone, my best guess is that the problem is the connector on the cable and not the headphone.  I have also owned my Ultrasone headphone for 6 years (the Pro 750) and so far everything still is OK with it. 

Hi Peter Pinna.
 
Hmm... I had previously taken a look on the US Ultrasone Shop website and after some browsing, I didn't think they offered a cable that could be used for the HFI-580. If they do, my mistake.
 
Now I am fairly certain that the problem is indeed originating from the connector on the left ear cup itself. Before it died on me, I could shift the wire (on the left cup) to the side and it would work fine. After about 30 minutes of that, it died.
 
The TRS connector on the cable was, admittedly, starting to degrade. But it wasn't a problem as long as I didn't move it around too much. All I got from that was some slight static/fuzz in the signal -- never a complete drop out.
 
Thanks for the advice PP. I may give Ultrasone a call just for curiosity's sake, but I have suspect that they're going to go the route of "just buy a new one"... or the price will be too high. We shall see!

 

[radioscott1]

   
I have done this to my HFI-780's and I found the cable that Ultrasone provided was one of the nastiest cables on the market, very durable but the bends would not come out of it no matter what I did.
 
I removed the stock cable and installed a 3.5 mm TRS jack which is quite easy depending on you skill with a soldering iron. This way you can use what ever cable you want or even make your own.
 

 

 
You can pick up parts from a local electronics supplier or if you don't mind waiting a month lunashops has everything you need.

Hi TrollDragon
 
I can't believe I forgot about your unique fix! I remember reading about it some time ago thinking "what a great idea!"
 
Well... looks like I might actually give this a shot. While it may take some extra time and some still hands, ultimately I think it would be the superior fix for a headphone I never want to give up on.
 
Plus, it provides the added advantage that you can switch up cables in a jiff... a very handy feature I've always wanted Ultrasone to incorporate from the high-end models into the lower-end models.
 
So please forgive me if this is a dumb question, as I'm a newbie to Head-FI DYI... what type of solder would you recommend for this process?
 
Any other tips and tricks I should know?
 
Thanks!

 

[TrollDragon]

  Hi TrollDragon
 
I can't believe I forgot about your unique fix! I remember reading about it some time ago thinking "what a great idea!"
 
Well... looks like I might actually give this a shot. While it may take some extra time and some still hands, ultimately I think it would be the superior fix for a headphone I never want to give up on.
 
Plus, it provides the added advantage that you can switch up cables in a jiff... a very handy feature I've always wanted Ultrasone to incorporate from the high-end models into the lower-end models.
 
So please forgive me if this is a dumb question, as I'm a newbie to Head-FI DYI... what type of solder would you recommend for this process?
 
Any other tips and tricks I should know?
 
Thanks!

 
I just use the standard Kester 44 Rosin Core Solder 60/40 for all my work. I would not spend extra for any Audiophile labeled solder.
 
I just removed the cable from the cup and widened the hole with a drill bit by hand as the plastic is very soft. The 3.5mm socket I used for them was salvaged from a headphone extension cable that I did not like. Just cut the plastic away and unsolder the wires for a nice socket you can repurpose, check the size of the socket before you enlarge the hole in the cup just to be sure.
 
There is not a lot of room behind the driver so you sill have to hot glue or epoxy the back side of the socket to keep it in place. Also be careful of what size plugs you want to use. The YARBO above fit perfectly, but the big Pailic plugs with the white band at the top will not as their base is too big around.
 
I don't know how much soldering experience you have but this is not that hard of a project. The Ultrasone drivers are not like the beyerdynamic ones so you don't have to worry about breaking a voice coil wire.
 
Have fun, ask any questions if you are stuck and be sure to post some pictures.

 

[radioscott1]

   
I just use the standard Kester 44 Rosin Core Solder 60/40 for all my work. I would not spend extra for any Audiophile labeled solder.
 
I just removed the cable from the cup and widened the hole with a drill bit by hand as the plastic is very soft. The 3.5mm socket I used for them was salvaged from a headphone extension cable that I did not like. Just cut the plastic away and unsolder the wires for a nice socket you can repurpose, check the size of the socket before you enlarge the hole in the cup just to be sure.
 
There is not a lot of room behind the driver so you sill have to hot glue or epoxy the back side of the socket to keep it in place. Also be careful of what size plugs you want to use. The YARBO above fit perfectly, but the big Pailic plugs with the white band at the top will not as their base is too big around.
 
I don't know how much soldering experience you have but this is not that hard of a project. The Ultrasone drivers are not like the beyerdynamic ones so you don't have to worry about breaking a voice coil wire.
 
Have fun, ask any questions if you are stuck and be sure to post some pictures.

Wow, thank you so much TD for the instructional breakdown! Very helpful. 90% sure I'm going to go this route with my 580's.
 
May take a while to complete though, as it is the busiest time of the year, but will definitely update you and everyone else on how it all turns out... once I get some spare time.
 
Cheers

 

[Edric Li]

Which is the bassiest, most V shape headphones from Ultrasone, SigPro or ED 8 Romeo?