[wolfz]

Is there somebody here who had a chance to do a proper comparison 880 / Sig Pro ?

 

[kawaivpc1]

How does this compare to HD650, HE-400i and SRH1840?? this one is in the same price range

 

[wolfz]

  Ok, just reporting in this thread as I may be one of the first people to have auditioned all three of the new performance series headphones. I dropped into my favourite headphone store here in Melbourne on the off chance that they had received their stock of these and to my surprise they had received all three for display purposes  - they are still awaiting their main stock. They had already had a brief listen to the 840 but the 860 and 880 were still sealed and I was the first person to hear them.......So what did they sound like?? In a word GREAT!! Especially in their respective price points and their position in the pantheon of the Ultrasone range.
 
Firstly I had a brief listen to the 840  - classic bass heavy model along the lines of the hfi580 but smoother overall, much greater comfort and better styling. These will make a lot of bassheads very happy  - a good alternative to the  M100 or DT770
Then came the 860 - a big jump in detail and a much more linear presentation a la the hfi680, same great comfort and styling as the 840 but a clear step up if you like more than just bass heavy genres.
Lastly I grabbed the 880 - wow, another step up again and IMO worth the extra $$ over the 860, especially when you consider that it comes with 2 sets of pads and 2 cable lengths so the accessories alone may justify the increase in price  - but the sound also was clearly more dynamic and rounded while still maintaining a balanced signature, they were a little sibilant out of the box but prior experience with Ultrasone titanium drivers would probably see this calm down with a little playing in.
I was sufficiently impressed by the 880 that I decided to put it up against the 2 Signature models. It was very close in balance to the Signature pro but with a little more space, less thick sound. Next up was the Sig DJ which had a clear elevation in bass from the other 2 but the soundstage was similar to the 880 so it sort of had the balance of the Sig pro with the soundstage of the Sig DJ. Less micro detail than both but not by much and considering the 880 is more than half the retail price of both the signature models it would be expected that it would fall short somewhere. But as I said, not by too much and they were very enjoyable nonetheless.
I only listened to them all directly from my ipod so there is always the assumption that the signature series would probably scale a little better with amplification but you never know, the performance series may improve a bit as well.
Overall, I was very impressed with both the 860 and 880.

They are well worth a listen if you are looking for a mid price closed headphone

 

  A bit sharper but no more strident. Still in balance with the mids. I think it would probably calm down a little as they burnt in a little as they were literally just out of the box. The major differnece between them and the sig pro was the depth to the mids. The sig pro had much more micro detail but also felt much more congested - the soundstage of the 880 was more open, more like the sig DJ in that respect.

First quote you said "Less micro detail than both ( Sig Pro & Sig DJ ) but not by much.........
 
Next quote you said "The Sig Pro had much more micro detail.......
 
What is correct ??

 

[wolfz]

  Unfortunately this isn't the case.
 
I quote from a German site (translated by Google translator):
 
Numerous epidemiological studies show high health risks by low-frequency electromagnetic radiation. The recommended limit for magnetic radiation (50 Hz) is 200 nanoTesla.
Unlike power lines, halogen lamps, or computer monitors headphones have not been thoroughly examined. Recent comparative measurements have now shown that the mean of the so-called magnetic induction close to the head of 60 examined headphones was at 1034 nanoTesla. So the radiation of many conventional headphones is ten times stronger than the upper limits for PC monitors (TOC 99).
 
Source: http://www.risiko-elektrosmog.de/elektrosmog/kopfhoerer/

I have to agree. The HD800 i.e. has peaks fifty times more ( around 100mG or 10.000nT).
 
Apart from Ultrasone , the Etymotic ER4 has very low emfs. But it is an IEM.

 

[gelocks]

  Is there somebody here who had a chance to do a proper comparison 880 / Sig Pro ?

 
880 is nothing like the Sig Pro.
This is based off memory, but the Sig Pro is what you would call the most "neutral" Ultrasone there is. That means, no bass boosting, no treble boosting either. It's like taking something like MrSpeakers Mad Dogs or a Senn HD600, making it less warmer and faster. I liked it a lot.
The 880s can be a bit too bright/harsh at times. It might "beat" the Sig Pros on sound stage and imaging... MAYBE...

 

[pietcux]

 
I have to agree. The HD800 i.e. has peaks fifty times more ( around 100mG or 10.000nT).
 
Apart from Ultrasone , the Etymotic ER4 has very low emfs. But it is an IEM.

Where do you get the EMF number for the HD800 and the ER4 from? Did you measure them yourself? My HD700 as an  example does not add anything to the enviromental field of 7 nT measured with the NFA1000 on peak hold. The same test done with the Ultrasone Signature Pro shows the same result. Not a single nT was added. Maybe the numbers that you have are from the gap where the voice coil gets driven?

 

[wolfz]

I used a Trifield 100XE meter.
 
There should be quite a difference between the HD700 and the Sig Pro.
The SigPro has very low values.
I checked the HD600 and HD650 as well. They are not as bad as the HD800.
The HD700 must have more or your meter is not right.
The Etymotic ER4p has very low values. The ER6i in contrast has a bit more but still
less than the big guys.
I guess the peaks are even higher from the HD800.  The needle goes up to the limit.
Of course it all depends on the volume and kind of instruments and voices.
 
I asked a tech rep from Beyerdynamik about the T1 emf values.
He gave me numbers several times higher than the HD800.
I said you probably got something wrong there. It cant be that high.
He was not interested any further and said I should do my own measurements.
I don't have a T1.

 

[pietcux]

I use this one, it is a little more advaced as the trifield meter:

 

[wolfz]

You measured only 7 Nano Tesla. ? That is 0.07 mG.
I guess your meter is not working properly.
I had a discussion with a tech from Sennheiser about modifying the HD 650 & HD800.
Installing a mu metal shield like Ultrasones.  He came up with similar values as mine.
When you look at Koenigs research papers he also states pretty high emf measurements.
0.07 mH can't be possible.
7 Nano T. is 1/30 of the EPAs emf limit of 2 mG. I would thing it should be the other way
around. The HD700 has probably 30 times as much.
 
Try to measure a few appliances and compare the results to the common values in here:
 
http://www.safespaceprotection.com/electrostress-from-home-appliances.aspx

 

[Dobrescu George]

why would you try to measure this? it should not ever be able to affect anything, so why bother?

 

[hekeli]

Solution:

 

[pietcux]

All b...... aside, I measure it because I can do it. And because all information on the Ultrasone page is more or less blabla. I know lots of people that are afraid of such things. If you only quote the web, then you can postulate everything. The best way is to measure yourself.

 

[Dobrescu George]

then again, why would anyone ever be afraid of a thing like this?

 

[pietcux]

  then again, why would anyone ever be afraid of a thing like this?

If you really want to know such things, you will find out, but rest assured headphones are not harmfull and this place is not the right place to discuss EMF and other radiations.

 

[Dobrescu George]

 
If you really want to know such things, you will find out, but rest assured headphones are not harmfull and this place is not the right place to discuss EMF and other radiations.

exactly. there is no need for us to become paranoid about them. the most that un-shielded magnets can do is have distortion with phones and other electro-magnetic radiation sources. like antenas, and such, but for humans, they are totally safe.