100+ hours later:
We're back to the RAM-modded Samsung HD-841 and the Linn Intek. It's Tuesday.
(Head-Fier's Sordid Still Life)
The Pro 2900 lie alongside the Pro 2500 in a ghastly tangle of stock cable. Aside from the 2900's black motif (cable included), the former's earpads are plumper and plusher. The black is more chic, I think--although sometimes I prefer the notoriety of blue and gray. The DakiOm F203 lies nestled between the Ultrasones, with my (deflated) wallet in the distorted foreground.
I am going to flip a coin. Heads and I grab the Pro 2500 first to order the listening segments.
The Notorious Byrd Brothers/Columbia Legacy (SBM), 1967/1997
TAILS--I grab the Pro 2900.
The opening track, "Artificial Energy" delivers stabbing treble with its shrill, electronically filtered trumpets. Neither SBM recording nor the Pro 2900 relieve listener discomfort. The Pro 2900 certainly does not mask, or make anymore agreeable, this fact of the recording.
"Draft Morning" is very well sorted out and orderly. The rolling bass is well-defined, with warmth and a nicely textured "peel". The mid-bass seems a little more pronounced with the Pro 2900 (this hypothesis will be tested shortly).
Hazarding an early, thematic judgment, I've already said to myself: "the Pro 2900 sound lightly sauteed and delicately seasoned, while the Pro 2500 sound raw, right off the bone".
One of my favorite tracks, "Tribal Gathering". Great bass support and warmth, easy to follow. Vocals have that etched sibilance, which has found its place in the context of this recording and, correspondingly, in my adaptation to and appreciation of it.
Now, it's the Pro 2500's turn. A more stark and utilitarian feel to these headphones. The sound is definitely more forward (which I happen to like), and to me more immersive. The Pro 2900's presentation of Tribal Gathering seems distant now by comparison. The music seems more "cut open", rendered and visceral with the Pro 2500. While perhaps offering less points of spatial distinction, I would say at this juncture that the 2500, in absolute terms, sound more detail-resolving than the 2900. But I will be quick to note that the Pro 2500 do not convey the sort of well-sculpted bass presence of the 2900, either. While perhaps just as extended in the lower registers as the 2900, the bass lines do not seem as fleet or as finely chiseled with the 2500.
(I want to be careful, though, since, in my estimation, the Pro 2900 are barely a third of their way to definitively settling down. As I said before, 300 hours [in my subjective experience with the Proline/Pro 750 and Proline/Pro 2500] is probably warranted).
JVC World Class Music Sampler/Victor Musical Industries,1988
TAILS--Pro 2900 are the first up, again.
I went straight to track 5: Gary Burton's "Fat Lady". Nimble, colorful and--here's an adjective not normally associated with Ultrasone (at least not for me)--"fun"! The apparent edge that the Pro 2900 seem to evidence with their speed makes this composition--admittedly spry and game in its own right--even more engaging. The Pro 2900 manifest a delicacy, too, that is not as much in the 2500's domain. Maybe it's not so much perceived speed as it is a timeliness, a spot-on-queue quality to the Pro 2900 that further distinguishes them from their elder, open-back sibling. That delicacy, that gossamer taut touch is a delight with Burton's follow-up solo track, "Crystal Silence". Quick, deft, tonally sophisticated; the Pro 2900 seem to give me everything that Burton intended, conveying an almost magical quality.
Masahiro Sayama's "Quarter Cooker" arrives with low, plodding bass plucks, quietly joined in succession with small cymbal splashes, quiet woodblock hits, a piano frisk and then kick drum. Everything is--again--very well sorted out, both dynamically and tonally. These headphones have such a welcome, fresh and vivid pulse about them(!). The second block of Quarter Cooker goes uptempo, with the 2900 wonderfully conveying the urgency. The kick drum and electric bass sound extended, clean and easily discernible from one another. Cymbals arrive with a lively tingle.
The Pro 2500 sound richer, thicker and "darker" than the 2900 on Burton's Fat Lady. Perhaps more textured and gutty in the midrange, as well; more introspective compared to the 2900's more extroverted way of connecting with the listener. The mallet strikes on Crystal Silence sound more flat and more "fat" on the key. There's also more of a sense of hearing "all the way through" the mechanical stickiness, pedal springiness and friction of the act of playing the instrument, on top of the music itself. In this respect, I would have to posit that the Pro 2500 are more "analytical" but in a way that--for me, anyway--adds something to rather than takes something from the overall listening experience. (On an autobiographical note, I've always shown an affinity for headphones dubbed "neutral", like the AKG K501 or K701, the Beyerdynamic DT880 and the prior Ultrasone Proline/Pro series.)
Quarter Cooker is equally enjoyable with the Pro 2500, but for different reasons: for the 2500's deliberateness of delivery, not so much for the 2900's speed; for being drawn into the performance by the 2500, not so much for being swept away by the 2900 And the treble, when pushed, while perhaps not rendered with the palatability of the 2900, still holds its ground with an unapologetic--and appreciable--honesty through the Pro 2500.
So, where am I left at this transitory beginning of the review? Do I actually prefer one of these headphones to the other? No. At this point, I find each model equally enjoyable, but for fundamentally different reasons, with those "fundaments", respectively, describing different design or listening approaches from Ultrasone. If this first round of listening has opened my ears to enjoy what is new and exciting in the sound of the Pro 2900, it has also further deepened my appreciation for what was already there in the Pro 2500.
More to come . . .
