[Ahzari]

Quote:

 
Personally, I prefer SS to tube amps with these. There's kind of a stereotype that Ultrasone's don't pair well with a lot of tube amps, and aside from the Editions that has been my experience. Of course, there are always exceptions to rules.
 
Either way though I still can't rid myself of the sibilance I'm hearing on these. I like the sound signature otherwise, which makes it all the more frustrating.
 

totally agree with you, Pro 900s were ultra sibilant and the 2900s are also sibilant (though less)... I think it comes down to peoples ears, some people aren't sensitive to sibilance but looks like we are. Burn in has helped with mine, they were pretty bad straight out of the box, though again less than the Pro 900s.

 

[santsant]

Quote:

Hey guys, I'm going for the 2900, I could use some help about the audio peripherals. Doing almost all gaming, so leaning toward Xonar ST, but not sure if I should get a DAC instead, or stock tubes? Also wondering what amp to get, if any.
I'm also getting 2.0 speakers (swan m200mkiii), maybe that should be noted.
 
Money is not really an issue, but don't want to go too crazy (>$400 DAC or >$300 amp would kinda be too crazy for gaming I think)
Reading your descriptions of the 2900s' quality is awesome btw

Asus Xonar STX is already a good source and you canalso rolls the opamp to match the sound with the pro 2900 sound, the dolby features would make it better for gaming... as  for the amp you can look for the schiit asgard, some people here use the m-stage to drive their pro 2900 but i found the pro2900 sound to warm for my taste with the m-stage..
 

 
Quote:

 
Personally, I prefer SS to tube amps with these. There's kind of a stereotype that Ultrasone's don't pair well with a lot of tube amps, and aside from the Editions that has been my experience. Of course, there are always exceptions to rules.
 
Either way though I still can't rid myself of the sibilance I'm hearing on these. I like the sound signature otherwise, which makes it all the more frustrating.
 

 
i cant quiet agree with those stereotype,, i found the pro 2900 pair up very well with the wooaudio wa6 maybe one of the best amp for the pro 2900, i think it comes down to people preferences and the wooaudio amps are known to have clean and neutral sound for a tube amp that makes it a better synergy for the pro 2900..
 
well the pro 2900 are meant for monitoring purpose so it can be sibilance on a bad recorded songs,, i've done several damping mod to my pro 2900 (like a variation of the kees mod) that makes it much smoother and forgiving, it still can be sibilance on bad source or amp mismatch,, but on my setup the midrange just smooth and clear..

 

[Ahzari]

Quote:

Asus Xonar STX is already a good source and you canalso rolls the opamp to match the sound with the pro 2900 sound, the dolby features would make it better for gaming... as  for the amp you can look for the schiit asgard, some people here use the m-stage to drive their pro 2900 but i found the pro2900 sound to warm for my taste with the m-stage..
 

 

 
i cant quiet agree with those stereotype,, i found the pro 2900 pair up very well with the wooaudio wa6 maybe one of the best amp for the pro 2900, i think it comes down to people preferences and the wooaudio amps are known to have clean and neutral sound for a tube amp that makes it a better synergy for the pro 2900..
 
well the pro 2900 are meant for monitoring purpose so it can be sibilance on a bad recorded songs,, i've done several damping mod to my pro 2900 (like a variation of the kees mod) that makes it much smoother and forgiving, it still can be sibilance on bad source or amp mismatch,, but on my setup the midrange just smooth and clear..

I agree, I've used the 2900s with the Nuforce Icon HDP (an SSD) and my Peachtree  Audio which has tube driven headphone out... and the tube sound does to the Ultrasones wonders.
 

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

i cant quiet agree with those stereotype,, i found the pro 2900 pair up very well with the wooaudio wa6 maybe one of the best amp for the pro 2900, i think it comes down to people preferences and the wooaudio amps are known to have clean and neutral sound for a tube amp that makes it a better synergy for the pro 2900..
 
well the pro 2900 are meant for monitoring purpose so it can be sibilance on a bad recorded songs,, i've done several damping mod to my pro 2900 (like a variation of the kees mod) that makes it much smoother and forgiving, it still can be sibilance on bad source or amp mismatch,, but on my setup the midrange just smooth and clear..

That's why it's a stereotype: it's not necessarily true in all instances, just a belief many people seem to hold. Based on my own experience, I find the PRO 2900 to work best with a solid state amp or a more analytical tube amp like the Zana Deux. One the Leben, an overly "tubey" amp, they sound atrocious to my ears. Like most things in our hobby, it ultimately comes down to personal preference.
 
And I've experienced sibilance on very well recorded songs. I've tried it on a number of tube and solid state amps, and even without an amp, and every time I get sibilance. Our ears are all structured slightly differently, so perhaps it comes down to that, along with personal sensitivity to certain ranges. Some people can't experience the S-Logic effect in Ultrasones either due to ear structure.
 
I'm probably going to end up doing a Kees-type mod to them if I'm allowed. I think that'll help tone it down to my tastes.
 

 

[Leander7777]

I think you're right. I'm rather sensitive to higher frequencies and I can tell that the pro2900 can be pretty bright in the upper midrange, but I never thought they sounded squeaky, which to me is sibilance. The w1000x, on the other hand, is not quite as bright, but is known for being rather squeaky. Ultimately, the pro2900 is a brighter headphone, yet other than that, I never feel that it artificially enhances the "s" like the w1000x does. Thus, I only see the w1000x as being sibilant... That's just how I see it.

 

[DVDRey]

Pro900/Pro2900/W1000x are all bright headphones and all are sibilant headphones, but at differents degrees. Pro900 is the worst af all, can be very piercing, followed by W1000x but especially with womans voice (better midrange of all imo), and Pro2900 sibilant with some songs but in the end much less piercing than pro900.
 
Agree with leander7777, W1000x can be sometimes, with some voices, very harsh.
 
Anyway, we have all a different perception of high frequencies.
 

 

[MuppetFace]

Personally, I find the Pro 2900 to be much more noticeably sibilant than the W1000x in just about every recording. Just goes to show you how subjective our hobby is.
 
Sibilance aside, I like everything else I'm hearing with the Pro 2900. I just got permission via a morning phone call to do a Kees-type mod to them (yay!), so hopefully that will smooth them over for me.

 

[DVDRey]

 
Quote:

Just goes to show you how subjective our hobby is.

 
Yes, its so subjective.
 
I often use many diiferrents sources, like headphone amps, HiFi amps, AV amps, HTPCs sound cards, many HiFi CD players... of course, rendering sound is different with all of them.
 
Pro 2900 is more clear than w1000x, but when i have sibilance with W1000x, its more pronounced imo, but as you say, its subjective.
 

 

[Ahzari]

Ok so weird experience...
 
I accidentally put my 2900s on reversed. So Right cup on my left ear and Left cup on my right ear... I was suddenly amazed by the huge soundstage and complete absence of sibilance!
 
I was like what happened to these overnight?? So then I took them off and realized my error, put them back on the right way and Bam...! soundstage decreased and sibilance was back. Anyone else noticed this, maybe my ears are set up weird. I wonder if there is any problem with wearing these reversed haha.

 

[DVDRey]

 
Quote:

I accidentally put my 2900s on reversed. So Right cup on my left ear and Left cup on my right ear... I was suddenly amazed by the huge soundstage and complete absence of sibilance!
 
I was like what happened to these overnight?? So then I took them off and realized my error, put them back on the right way and Bam...! soundstage decreased and sibilance was back. Anyone else noticed this, maybe my ears are set up weird. I wonder if there is any problem with wearing these reversed haha.

 
I have not still tried, but i'm not surprised because drivers from ultrasone headphones are much different from other brands of headphones. Indeed, because of the S-logic system, the implementation of the driver and holes for S-logic is very different from a normal headphone, so when you return the headphone, the position of the driver and S-logic is reversed and give a completely different song. Its my opinion, i'm not sure if its really true.

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

Ok so weird experience...
 
I accidentally put my 2900s on reversed. So Right cup on my left ear and Left cup on my right ear... I was suddenly amazed by the huge soundstage and complete absence of sibilance!
 
I was like what happened to these overnight?? So then I took them off and realized my error, put them back on the right way and Bam...! soundstage decreased and sibilance was back. Anyone else noticed this, maybe my ears are set up weird. I wonder if there is any problem with wearing these reversed haha.

Huh. I'm going to have to try this!

 

[MohawkUS]

Ok so weird experience...
 
I accidentally put my 2900s on reversed. So Right cup on my left ear and Left cup on my right ear... I was suddenly amazed by the huge soundstage and complete absence of sibilance!
 
I was like what happened to these overnight?? So then I took them off and realized my error, put them back on the right way and Bam...! soundstage decreased and sibilance was back. Anyone else noticed this, maybe my ears are set up weird. I wonder if there is any problem with wearing these reversed haha.

Yes, I accidently did this while gaming once, though they were still burning in at the time. The soundstage seemed better, It took me awhile to figure out that I had them on backwards.
It would be interesting to try it with the channels reversed.

 

[santsant]

well ultrasone have offset driver and its placed slighty in front of the ear, so if you wear it reversed the driver would placed slightly in the back of your ear.. the increased soundstage maybe because the sound didnt directly "shoot" your eardrum instead it hit the back of the outer ear so it gives more "stereo effect" that make it seems it has wider soundstage in expense of missing center channel presence and the bass impact that ultrasone is renown for.. for me i wear it as it should to wear.. 

 

[Ahzari]

Quote:

well ultrasone have offset driver and its placed slighty in front of the ear, so if you wear it reversed the driver would placed slightly in the back of your ear.. the increased soundstage maybe because the sound didnt directly "shoot" your eardrum instead it hit the back of the outer ear so it gives more "stereo effect" that make it seems it has wider soundstage in expense of missing center channel presence and the bass impact that ultrasone is renown for.. for me i wear it as it should to wear.. 

Thats the thing, the midrange and bass impact were just as present as they would be when worn "correctly," it just seemed like an all around better sound to my ears when reversed. I know it wouldn't make sense for movies and games as it would reverse the direction of the sound, but I might play around with this for music... 

 

[Leander7777]

I tried it out, and in my opinion, it definitely worsened the sound. The midrange becomes very recessed, which might account for the perceived larger soundstage, treble doesn't sound nearly as extended, and the bass loses quite a bit of body.