[Richter Di]

Update January 2017: Head-Fi seems not allow links to outside media.
So please copy paste the URL to play, DO NOT CLICK, it doesn't work.
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Sorry that it took more than half a year from starting this thread to the final interview. But listening to the answers of Dr. König I feel it was worth the effort. Many thanks to Contrastique, Chu, HeadphoneAddict, Ericj, Cankin, VerloK, MaloSa, MaZa and my fellows' at the German Hifi-Forumfor posting your questions in this thread.

Dr. Florian König has refered sometimes to different webpages. Here are the links:
Ultrasone
4Sferics
Audio spectrum analysis of natural alternating fields in the atmosphere and some unanticipated results

Lets kick it of with some of my opening questions:
How much do you listen actually with headphones? Do you listend often to headphones when you were young? Which CD-player / D/A-converter / headphone amplifier do you use regulary? Dr. Koenig could you tell us a little bit about your biography? How and why you started to develop headphones? Could you tell us a little bit more about the actual founding of Ultrasone, beside the official internet page information?
 

Dr. Florian Königs answers to my opening questions
 
"www.pilates-contrology.de/Ultrasone/01_F.Koenig_Opening1_32kb.mp3"
Please copy paste the URL to play, DO NOT CLICK, it doesn't work.

Contrastique:
What are the exact construction differences between the ed9 and Proline 750.
The specs seem quite comparable but it is often stated that the sound (and the price) is totally different.
 
"www.pilates-contrology.de/Ultrasone/02_F.Koenig_Contrastic2_32kb.mp3"
Please copy paste the URL to play, DO NOT CLICK, it doesn't work.


I have added some additional questions regarding this topic:
> “Earpads and head pad are made of soft genuine Ethiopian hair sheep leather in dark grey” How huge is the influence on the sound? During the 2006 visit a the Munich High End one person at the Ultrasone booth told me that the quality of the earpads is quite important.
> Edition 9: 40 mm titanium-plated Mylar drivers and PROline 750 Driver 40 mm titanium-plated
Is there any difference in the drivers since you talk of Mylar drivers concerning the Edition 9?
> There were some concerns about the quality of the headphone cable of the Edition9. Is it true that it is an Oehlbach cable?
 
"www.pilates-contrology.de/Ultrasone/03_F.Koenig_Additional3_32kb.mp3"
Please copy paste the URL to play, DO NOT CLICK, it doesn't work.



The next two questions were answered in one go
Chu:
Do you consider the E9 to be a "statement" product? By this I mean a "costs be dammed" approach to audio, just to prove what one can do if freed from economic restrictions.If not, what would you think Ultrasone's statement product would be like, in comparison to the E9's?

HeadphoneAddict:
I am the current owner of the Ultrasone HFI700DVD headphones you previously autographed for head-fi. I really enjoy the sound of these headphones very much, but I was disappointed with my iCans that I bought for portable use. I would like to know, if I ever feel the need to buy another pair of headphones from Ultrasone in the furture, what model would be a noticable or a significant upgrade to these HFI700DVD. I would not want to buy another set and be disappointed again, or discover that I already own better headphones.
 
"www.pilates-contrology.de/Ultrasone/04_F.Koenig_Chu-Heaph_adict4_32kb.mp3"
Please copy paste the URL to play, DO NOT CLICK, it doesn't work.

Ericj:
Dr. Koenig, I am a naturally skeptical person, thus I am curious about your reports of radiation in headphones. A good friend of mine works in magnetic resonance spectroscopy. As I'm sure you know, NMR requires the use of extremely powerful electromagnets. He has two instruments - the smaller having a 5-Tesla magnet, the larger having an 11-Tesla magnet. He spends hours every day fully immersed in their magnetic fields and i can assure you that he suffers no magnet-related health problems. Your own tests show that headphones vary from a couple hundred to a couple thousand nanoteslas, and that shielding the driver face with a grille constructed out of high-permeability metal effectively blocks much of the field, but my friend, who has several advanced degrees, tells me that putting your head between two chunks of high-permeability metal will actually amplify ambient magnetic fields - such as those from power transformers and cathode ray tubes in such a way that wearing shielded headphones would protect you from the headphone drivers but increase your brain's exposure to other fields in your vicinity. He also tells me that the rate of change in the field is a far more reliable indicator of the hazards presented by an electromagnetic device than the total strength of the field - that a 500nT field is far more worrisome at 2ghz than it is at 2khz. How much of a health benefit could shielded headphones possibly offer? Can you comment on this?
 
"www.pilates-contrology.de/Ultrasone/05_F.Koenig_Ericj_EMF5_32kb.mp3"
Please copy paste the URL to play, DO NOT CLICK, it doesn't work.


The next two questions were answered in one go
Cankin:
Is there the possibility to organize a factory tour for forum members?

Richter Di:
There is some speculation how S-Logic actually works. Could you describe this a little more in detail?
Why are the small holes in the baffle at the inner circle of the drive unit complete but at the outside only at the lower half?
 
"www.pilates-contrology.de/Ultrasone/06_F.Koenig_RichterDi_related6_32kb.mp3"
Please copy paste the URL to play, DO NOT CLICK, it doesn't work.


Hifi Forum in General:
Especially in the German Hifi Forum most member who have possessed Ultrasones and became not fans afterwards stated that they disliked the fact that the Ultrasones sounded like a loudness equalizer would have been used. Could you comment on this?
I had some to additional questions regarding this topic:
On your internet page one can find “S-Logic™ Natural Surround Sound allows an up to 40% lower dB output (3-4 dB) for the same loudness sensation. This may significantly reduce the risk of hearing damage while ensuring hours of fatigue-free listening - an absolute must if you spend a lot of time in headphones.”
How does this work? Are there certain frequencies which are lifted through the S-Logic?

"www.pilates-contrology.de/Ultrasone/07_F.Koenig_additionalS_Logic_7_32kb.mp3"
Please copy paste the URL to play, DO NOT CLICK, it doesn't work.



The next questions were answered in one go
RichterDi:
Where do the drivers used in the Ultrasones are coming from? Is Ultrasone contracting a company to develop them or is Ultrasone developing them and they and then produced by another company?
RichterDi:
The market for IEM seems to grow. Has Ultrasone looked into this market?
VerloK:
As we learnt, there will be some new models. Could you tell us a little more about them.
 
"www.pilates-contrology.de/Ultrasone/08_F.Koenig_richterDi_drivers_IEM_8_32kb.mp3"
Please copy paste the URL to play, DO NOT CLICK, it doesn't work.



The next questions were also answered in one go
MaloS:
With due respect, some of us have found many interesting qualities in a Proline 2500, especially in the price range that it is offered - but due to the design of the headphone those qualities get outweighed by the treble characteristic, which has proven to be useful for studio use, but highly irritating for hi-fi users. Taking my understanding that Edition 9 was released with the target at home listeners, as was hfi700, why is there no corresponding model to the sound of Proline 2500, since by all parameter save the treble it could prove as a very popular and pleasant competitor for the status of headphone of choice under $500.

MaZa:
Im also interested in this thing MaloS asked about the PL2500 (and PL750). Both of those headphones show great promise. However the treble characteristics, while obviously usefull for studio, are highly irritating in "audiophile" use. So Im wondering if there ever is a place in Ultrasones lineup for a headphone more tuned for audiophiles, something in same category as Proline 2500 and 750.

RichterDi:
Where is headphone development headding. Is virtual loadspeakers the ultimate goal or a completley different special headphone sound experience?

Cankin:
Which headphones do you use personally?
 
"www.pilates-contrology.de/Ultrasone/09_F.Koenig_richterDi_Cankin_outro9_32kb.mp3"
Please copy paste the URL to play, DO NOT CLICK, it doesn't work.


At least I had some questions when I heard Dr. Koenig's last interview answer so I asked him for clarification. Here is his answer:
Quote:

Against misunderstandings due to "individual HRTF's let me clear up this: "Individual headphones" or "individual transmission frequency reposnes" or "individual HRTF's" are three different things, because my individual headphone at home is a broadband acusto-mechanically adjusted/equalized headphone for me and my tone colouration taste! The individual S-LOGIC headphone was a interaural different adjusted so some degrees more or less rotated buffereboard and it's offset drivers left/right. This left/right differing speaker position produces different filter or frequency responses "interaurally"; so people having a left to right hearing damage got an own individual adjusted headphone ONLY in the nineties ... some sound engineers asked about that as well to tune here hard differing outer ear shapes! This means the HRTF was toooo different ... OK?!

Dr. Florian König, many thanks for answering all our questions. I wish you and Ultrasone all the best!

Reiner

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Original-Post starting the Thread: 10-29-2007, 12:50 PM

Dear all,

I am quite new to the Ultrasones. Although I own a bundle of other headphones (see profile) my contact with Ultrasones has been limited to the short occasions I listened to them at the High End in Munich in 2005 and 2006.

Beginning of October I bought myself a pair of Ultrasone PROline 750 from Jan Meier. Since then they have become my favorite headphones (I hope the new toy effect is already gone).

To learn more about the Ultrasone headphones I started reading a lot of threads. Still some questions seemed not to be answered in full detail.

Since I had direct contact with D.Sc. Florian M. Koenig before (e.g. organizing a German meet this year) I thought if it wouldn’t be a good idea to have a kind of interview with D.Sc. Florian M. Koenig where I would ask him all the questions which the Communities (head fi and Hifi Forum) might have. To my delight Mr. Koenig agreed spontaneously. So here is how I would like to proceed:

I would like to collect all questions and than structure them. This will happen in the German headphone community on Hifi Forum too. I will then send him the English and German questions (in the original language) and publish all answers afterwards in both communities in the respective language.

To make the procedure quite easy I opened this new thread and I ask you to copy all questions which were asked before in your post. By this it is not necessary to try to copy paste from several threads.

Hope you find this a useful idea.

 

[Contrastique]

There is a question where some people seem to be struggling with:
The exact builddiffer between the ed9 and Proline 750. The specs are quite the same but the sound and price is totally different.
This subject has been talked about in the past including anwers but for some it might be nice to have an official answer to that question.

Anyways, I think it's a nice gesture so thanx in advance!

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Dear D.Sc. Florian M. Koenig,

I am the current owner of the Ultrasone HFI700DVD headphones you previously autographed for head-fi. I really enjoy the sound of these headphones very much, but I was disappointed with my iCans that I bought for portable use.

I would like to know, if I ever feel the need to buy another pair of headphones from Ultrasone in the furture, what model would be a noticable or a significant upgrade to these HFI700DVD. I would not want to buy another set and be disappointed again, or discover that I already own better headphones.

Thank you,

Larry

 

[ericj]

Herr Koenig:

"Mu Metal" shielding. You can't be serious. Please explain.

 

[kwkarth]

I see no reason why Richter Di should feel compelled in any way to pass along potentially arrogant and insulting questions, so let's be respectful with our queries please.

 

[ericj]

Advertising that your headphones are lined with special materials that block electromagnetic radiation is a curious tactic for a serious headphone manufacturer.

The Federal Trade Comission in the United States has brought the force of law against companies that sold mobile phone accessories offering similar protection - specifically, small metallic stickers intended to be placed over the earpiece of a mobile telephone.

Ultrasone appears to make claims of health protection about their headphones - specifically so-called "Mu-metal shielding". Ultrasone thus could potentially become the subject of federal regulatory action in the united states if these claims cannot be substantiated.

Since Ultrasone is a totally above-board company, clearly these claims can be substantiated.

Please substantiate them.

 

[markl]

What are the physical/mechanical/electrical/build differences between the Edition 7 and the Edition 9? They look very similar from the outside.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Advertising that your headphones are lined with special materials that block electromagnetic radiation is a curious tactic for a serious headphone manufacturer. The Federal Trade Comission in the United States has brought the force of law against companies that sold mobile phone accessories offering similar protection - specifically, small metallic stickers intended to be placed over the earpiece of a mobile telephone. Ultrasone appears to make claims of health protection about their headphones - specifically so-called "Mu-metal shielding". Ultrasone thus could potentially become the subject of federal regulatory action in the united states if these claims cannot be substantiated. Since Ultrasone is a totally above-board company, clearly these claims can be substantiated. Please substantiate them.

Regardless of whatever claims you deem suspicious, there is no call to be disrespectful. FYI, the entire baffle that the driver is mounted on is made of mu-metal.

 

[ericj]

If it's not just an absurd claim, he should be able to explain in detail how much and what kind of radiation exists in a headphone, and how the mu-metal works to shield us from it.

Edit: And i really can't think of a way to phrase the question that doesn't somehow express my total disbelief regarding the mu-metal claims. I mean, even if i said something like "Can you go into detail about mu-metal shielding; e.g. hard numbers, peer reviewed research, etc?" It still sounds like I'm calling bullshiat, because i am.

I'll leave it alone now. I don't expect that the question will be asked, and i don't expect that it will receive a substantive answer if it is.

 

[gtp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif If it's not just an absurd claim, he should be able to explain in detail how much and what kind of radiation exists in a headphone, and how the mu-metal works to shield us from it. Edit: And i really can't think of a way to phrase the question that doesn't somehow express my total disbelief regarding the mu-metal claims. I mean, even if i said something like "Can you go into detail about mu-metal shielding; e.g. hard numbers, peer reviewed research, etc?" It still sounds like I'm calling bullshiat, because i am. I'll leave it alone now. I don't expect that the question will be asked, and i don't expect that it will receive a substantive answer if it is.

You certainly don't need to be so abrasive about it. You could phrase it like this:
"Dr. Koenig, I am a naturally skeptical person, thus I am curious about your reports of radiation in headphones and how your Mu-Metal techonology might reduce it."

 

[gtp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif If it's not just an absurd claim, he should be able to explain in detail how much and what kind of radiation exists in a headphone, and how the mu-metal works to shield us from it. Edit: And i really can't think of a way to phrase the question that doesn't somehow express my total disbelief regarding the mu-metal claims. I mean, even if i said something like "Can you go into detail about mu-metal shielding; e.g. hard numbers, peer reviewed research, etc?" It still sounds like I'm calling bullshiat, because i am. I'll leave it alone now. I don't expect that the question will be asked, and i don't expect that it will receive a substantive answer if it is.

I am sure you understand how there might be EMFs in speakers:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu...audio/spk.html

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/speaker6.htm

And I'm sure you understand how EMFs are reduced by sheilding:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_shielding

 

[ericj]

I know how EMF works. I also know how mu-metal actually does work to screen it. Those are not issues in question.

BUT

EMF is non-ionizing. It won't hurt you. A strong enough field will ruin your watch, but still not hurt you. A good friend of mine works with superconducting electromagnets with fields strong enough to pull ferrous metal objects from several feet away and send them flying through the air at great speed. He works with these magnets every day. It's his job. I can assure you that he has no magnet-related health problems.

The gauss levels in headphones must be vanishingly small. Especially as so much is done to focus the field.

If a field strong enough to pull a metal bracket off a shelf 20 feet away from the magnet doesn't hurt my friend who is fully immersed in the field for several hours a week, what kind of health benefit could a little bit of shielding in front of a tiny dynamic driver possibly offer?

 

[gtp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know how EMF works. I also know how mu-metal actually does work to screen it. Those are not issues in question. BUT EMF is non-ionizing. It won't hurt you. A strong enough field will ruin your watch, but still not hurt you. A good friend of mine works with superconducting electromagnets with fields strong enough to pull ferrous metal objects from several feet away and send them flying through the air at great speed. He works with these magnets every day. It's his job. I can assure you that he has no magnet-related health problems. The gauss levels in headphones must be vanishingly small. Especially as so much is done to focus the field. If a field strong enough to pull a metal bracket off a shelf 20 feet away from the magnet doesn't hurt my friend who is fully immersed in the field for several hours a week, what kind of health benefit could a little bit of shielding in front of a tiny dynamic driver possibly offer?

Please read what the CDC has to say about this:

LINK

Now neither of us knows how strong the magetic fields coming from headphones might be, but that is the question we could ask Dr. Koenig, right?

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Advertising that your headphones are lined with special materials that block electromagnetic radiation is a curious tactic for a serious headphone manufacturer. The Federal Trade Comission in the United States has brought the force of law against companies that sold mobile phone accessories offering similar protection - specifically, small metallic stickers intended to be placed over the earpiece of a mobile telephone. Ultrasone appears to make claims of health protection about their headphones - specifically so-called "Mu-metal shielding". Ultrasone thus could potentially become the subject of federal regulatory action in the united states if these claims cannot be substantiated. Since Ultrasone is a totally above-board company, clearly these claims can be substantiated. Please substantiate them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know how EMF works. I also know how mu-metal actually does work to screen it. Those are not issues in question. BUT EMF is non-ionizing. It won't hurt you. A strong enough field will ruin your watch, but still not hurt you. A good friend of mine works with superconducting electromagnets with fields strong enough to pull ferrous metal objects from several feet away and send them flying through the air at great speed. He works with these magnets every day. It's his job. I can assure you that he has no magnet-related health problems. The gauss levels in headphones must be vanishingly small. Especially as so much is done to focus the field. If a field strong enough to pull a metal bracket off a shelf 20 feet away from the magnet doesn't hurt my friend who is fully immersed in the field for several hours a week, what kind of health benefit could a little bit of shielding in front of a tiny dynamic driver possibly offer?

Eric,
I don't think any of us take issue with *what* you say, it's *how* you say it. I'm curious too, why Ultrasone has decided to make a marketing issue of EMF radiation and shielding from same. Maybe they were just looking for a marketing niche to get their foot in the door, so to speak. If that's the case, I personally, think their *S-Logic* positioning of the driver is a more marketable scheme, but who knows. Generally, the European community has been more cautious about EMI/RFI exposure to humans, than the US. Maybe there's something tied up in that.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtp /img/forum/go_quote.gif Please read what the CDC has to say about this:

Quite familiar, thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtp /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now neither of us knows how strong the magetic fields coming from headphones might be, but that is the question we could ask Dr. Koenig, right?

I believe i essentially asked that already.