[member1982]

So I'm having the right earpiece cut out as well - did anyone every fix theirs with this issue? If not, what did you 'upgrade' to?

My Pro 900 has been my daily since 2012 and I've really liked them. If they were readily available here in Australia I'd probably just buy another pair.

It's the cable in the headband, there is a kink to it, and the signal is not flowing, i have to jiggle it around at a sweet spot, but without opening up the entire thing to find these kinks, i just gave up. But the last time i got it working, it sounds much better than the DXP that it replaced.

Nowadays i just listen to my Austrian Audio HiX55 (so much detail).

 

[dougms3]

Does anyone know if this headphone is capable of being connected with a balanced cable?

Like with a TRRS to 4.4mm.

 

[Voxata]

It is a screw-in 3.5mm SE cup side so it would require internal rewiring and connector replacement/cable replacement to work.

 

[spr33]

Old post, I know.. but wanted to ask a question.

I bought some Beyerdynamic DT770 80ohm not too long ago, really enjoy the sound when EQ'd to Harman target and IEF - bass is pretty damn good but doesn't quite gave the impact I'm after. Just yesterday I received my 900 Pros which I got used off eBay for £75 which I couldn't pass up after reading many reviews saying how good the bass was and how much impact it had.

I'm pretty disappointed really. Did some side by side comparisons with quite a few different songs last night and it seemed as though the 770's not only had more sub bass and mid bass thump but also had more detail.. which is contrary to most things I've read.

I saw that's there's a 'kees mod' which people do but I haven't yet found the instruction set for this (I'm guessing it's covering some of the holes on the plate under the pad cover) but I'm unsure what difference this will make in terms of bass impact.

Ideally I'd like a can with quite a lot of bass impact/thump but still being detailed - similar to the 770s I guess but with even more impact. Does anything like this exist? (I did try the Nuraphones which do have everything I'm after for my ears, but I can't wear them for longer than 30-45 minutes before they being to really hurt my ears which is why I'm looking elsewhere. I am by no means saying Nuraphones are good, I just like the impact they have).

I'm open to any style of over ears (closed, semi open, open) as I'll be listening whilst working from home.

Any suggestions?

 

[lambdastorm]

I started my audio journey in 2013, and this is the first headphone that truly wow'ed me. Absolutely phenomenal bass, a little metallic sounding mids, somewhat bright but not fatiguing treble, and a truly unique, if not artificial soundstage. Up to this day, this is one of the only two headphones that really pulls me into music. Most people like these for EDM, rock and so on. I like these for pop, epic music and other not so loud stuff.

Over the course of the last 7 years I have bought and sold more than 40 pairs of these. I know, when it comes to Ultrasones I'm probably not right in the head, but hear me out. These headphones have some serious unit variance problems. There's this one pair I got on mercari for $100 that has absolutely no bass, and another pair I bought on ebay has really, really sucked-out mids. Every pair sounds different, not just a little bit different. It's a pronounced difference that's audible for even non-audiophiles. Back then I didn't know any of this, so I sold my first pair on ebay after I acquired the second pair. When I heard that second pair I legit thought they are defective, cuz they sound so much different. You can probably imagine what the rest of the story would be like. For the past 7 years, I've been looking for a pair that sounds exactly like my first pair. After buying and selling more than 40 pairs of these, I now have 2 pairs that I would never get rid of. They both have that 'sounding alive' quality that I've come to associate with my very first pair of PRO900. The rest? I wouldn't say they are all garbage, but they are nothing special. They are the headphones that you would try and take off in 10 seconds at a headphone convention. As for PRO900i, I've only owned 3 pairs. Bought one in 2017, another in 2018, and another one in 2021. I don't think unit variance is nearly as big of a problem on the PRO900i as it is on the PRO900. They all sound similar. None of the i's I've owned has the same 'lifelike quality' that my 2 unicorn PRO900 does, but again none of them are nearly as terrible sounding as some of the PRO900s I've acquired. So I would say they have a lower ceiling than the regular PRO900, but way higher floor.

 

[lambdastorm]

Version differences among the PRO900s:

Ultrasone introduced the PRO900s in early 2009. The earliest units being produced were actually referred to as the PROLine 900 rather than PRO900. They renamed their entire PROLine line to PRO somewhere in 2009 so the change in name makes sense. These earliest units have PROLine written on the headband rather than PRO, and they come with a pair of white spare earpads. Now here is the interesting part. The white earpads have different surface material from the black earpads that come with the headphones. They sound different too. I don't know why Ultrasone would include a different-colored and different-sounding pair of earpads in the package, but my guess is they were trying to get rid of those old velour earpads that come with the PROLine 750. The thickness and the feel of the spare pads are exactly the same as pads that comes with the PROLine 750. When you install them on the PRO900, the 900 starts to sound more like the 750 ----- bass gets toned down pretty massively, and treble gains a lot of extra sparkle. They still have much more bass, but the pad swap brings the 900 not one, not two, but three steps closer to the 750. There's one more difference: these early PRO900s don't have the same 3D logo as the later PRO900s, which are much more common. They still have the flat logo that is essentially in the same vein as the PROLine 750. I will refer to PRO900 being produced from this period of time as the first revision. Things that sticks out: PROLine writing on the headband, white spare pads, flat ULTRASONE logo.

Somewhere in early 2010, Ultrasone started to engrave their logos onto the earcups. The logo is now 3D instead of 2D, and the surface of the earcups now have shiny reflective surfaces. They still come with a pair of white spare earpads, but other than that they are identical to all the PRO900s produced after 2011. This is the 2nd revision.

The third revision comes in either late 2010 or early 2011, I'm not sure. Ultrasone had either got rid of their entire stock of white PROLine 750 earpads, or are tired of users complaining about white 750 pads not sounding as good as the black pads that come with the headphone. The PRO900s now come with black spare earpads, identical to the one that's on the headphone. This is the 3rd and last revision.

There's also a limited run of PRO900 balanced. For whatever reason, Ultrasone thinks that there are actual musicians using these to mix and master tracks, either that or people have been re-terminating the headphones to allow dual entry, so they released the PRO900 balanced. I don't remember the exact price, but it was a lot more expensive than the regular PRO900. What's funny is that these balanced version isn't balanced from the factory. They come out of the factory as regular PRO900s, and are then sent back to Ultrasone's headquarters in Germany for dual entry modification. That's right, the only official PRO900 variant is itself, a mod. What's even funnier is that the connectors on these headphones are angled backwards. Let's not even talk about the cable these things come with. It's long, it's very thick, and it's extremely microphonic. I actually don't know what's worse. The fact that the connectors are angled backwards or the fact that cables like these actually exist and are aimed at the pro market. All I gotta say is, wow. Needless to say, this balanced version does not sell well. Ultrasone produced these for less than a year, and discontinued them in 2012. You can occasionally find NOS of these on the market. I used to own two pair, now I still own one. Due to the above mentioned problem, I don't use them. Or rather, I can't use them.

 

[lambdastorm]

Now that you've finished what I wrote above, you must be thinking, well, the first few units being produced must be unicorns. After all every one in the head-fi community loves to talk about how their early production unobtanium cans sound better than the ones being produced later. Well no. At least in this case, no.

The two unicorn PRO900s I have on hand are both Revision 3. I've bought and sold many Rev. 1, 2 and 3 units. Whether or not they have that lifelike quality has nothing to do with which batch or revision they are from. When you get a special unit these cans really sound like the best in the world. And I mean side by side with an HE6, an Arya and a Signature PRO they absolutely stand their ground. That's how good they are. Mind Blowingly Good. Most of the time though you'll get a dud. It will sound like another regular can that has metal coated drivers. You'll be unimpressed, and quickly move on to other cans.


That concludes my tale with the PRO900s. I'm probably gonna keep buying and selling PRO900s cuz I'm Ultrasone sexual. But yeah, TLDR: buy PRO900i if you want it to sound exactly like the demo unit you've heard at a store. Buy the PRO900 if you like lottery tickets. If you like your PRO900 don't sell them. Cuz no two PRO900s sound the same. Literally. To get your favourite sound back you have to buy back the exact headphone you sold.

 

[oqvist]

Now that you've finished what I wrote above, you must be thinking, well, the first few units being produced must be unicorns. After all every one in the head-fi community loves to talk about how their early production unobtanium cans sound better than the ones being produced later. Well no. At least in this case, no.

The two unicorn PRO900s I have on hand are both Revision 3. I've bought and sold many Rev. 1, 2 and 3 units. Whether or not they have that lifelike quality has nothing to do with which batch or revision they are from. When you get a special unit these cans really sound like the best in the world. And I mean side by side with an HE6, an Arya and a Signature PRO they absolutely stand their ground. That's how good they are. Mind Blowingly Good. Most of the time though you'll get a dud. It will sound like another regular can that has metal coated drivers. You'll be unimpressed, and quickly move on to other cans.


That concludes my tale with the PRO900s. I'm probably gonna keep buying and selling PRO900s cuz I'm Ultrasone sexual. But yeah, TLDR: buy PRO900i if you want it to sound exactly like the demo unit you've heard at a store. Buy the PRO900 if you like lottery tickets. If you like your PRO900 don't sell them. Cuz no two PRO900s sound the same. Literally. To get your favourite sound back you have to buy back the exact headphone you sold.

Well burnin do actually seem to make some difference with the ultrasones. But big variations is probably quite common across the board it´s just that there is a rare breed those that buy multiple versions of the same headphone. I long kind of expected they would sound roughly the same but I haven´t experimented much as my funds are limited Most that do this research find relatively big differences also among other respected brands like sennheisers.

It´s kind of fascinating the pro 900 is more expensive now then when released. Edit: scratch that I checked ultrasones webpage and it´s just they that are totally bonkers Feels absolutely bonkers since research and developement is payed off years ago. I did have quite a fun experience with them early in my head-fi career. I suspect I would not like them at all now though piano I felt it did really well with then and hopefully still do. It had some kind of emotion to it that is generally missing in just about every headphone however the metallic sounding I am not sure how compatible I am these days after all the woodies lol. I had a cotton mod done to them that was quite common to do

 

[lambdastorm]

Well burnin do actually seem to make some difference with the ultrasones. But big variations is probably quite common across the board it´s just that there is a rare breed those that buy multiple versions of the same headphone. I long kind of expected they would sound roughly the same but I haven´t experimented much as my funds are limited Most that do this research find relatively big differences also among other respected brands like sennheisers.

It´s kind of fascinating the pro 900 is more expensive now then when released. Edit: scratch that I checked ultrasones webpage and it´s just they that are totally bonkers Feels absolutely bonkers since research and developement is payed off years ago. I did have quite a fun experience with them early in my head-fi career. I suspect I would not like them at all now though piano I felt it did really well with then and hopefully still do. It had some kind of emotion to it that is generally missing in just about every headphone however the metallic sounding I am not sure how compatible I am these days after all the woodies lol. I had a cotton mod done to them that was quite common to do

Actually, on ebay the average price of a used PRO900 is around $130, so not at all expensive lol. I would go as far as to say that after buying and selling this many PRO900s I've probably lost like $50 total. It's not like I'm buying at MSRP and selling them for dirt cheap.

The real issue though is unit variation. Due to the nature of metal-coated drivers, they are prone to much bigger unit variation than normal, uncoated mylar drivers. Unit variations exist on just any headphone, but coating a layer of metal on the driver makes the variation 10X worse. My best PRO900 can go toe to toe with HE6, but the worst one? I can hand it to any non-audiophiles and they would actually laugh and say they sound like crap.

And yeah, most Ultrasones need ridiculous hours for burn in. Yet another factor that makes each Ultrasone sound different.

 

[Voxata]

I'd agree here, I've had a few pairs and they definitely have sounded different. I had one that had weak bass on the left side even. Kudos for staying on the Pro 900 ride, I just got off at the HD6 series and it was a good decision. As far as the 900 trading blows with HE6 or the like - have to call into question how you are running them. Personal preference and finding more enjoyment in the 900i I can maybe see. Overall technical ability and cohesive FR, I'd say they are miles apart. Though, HE-6 is a dryer affair at times, so I ended up sticking to modded 650 over them.

 

[lambdastorm]

I'd agree here, I've had a few pairs and they definitely have sounded different. I had one that had weak bass on the left side even. Kudos for staying on the Pro 900 ride, I just got off at the HD6 series and it was a good decision. As far as the 900 trading blows with HE6 or the like - have to call into question how you are running them. Personal preference and finding more enjoyment in the 900i I can maybe see. Overall technical ability and cohesive FR, I'd say they are miles apart. Though, HE-6 is a dryer affair at times, so I ended up sticking to modded 650 over them.

Used to drive them with the wells audio milo and headtrip, nowadays I use an audiogd speaker amp. When I say the PRO900 going toe to toe with HE6 I don't mean they are on the same technical level. The HE6 outresolves them easily and is technically a much better headphone. But they both have this ethereal, lifelike quality that I've come to associate with only the highest of high end headphones, you know the extra sparkle on the treble, or the little bit of microdetail in the bass, that really makes music sound alive, like someone's performing IRL. The 900i like I said in the previous post, sounds more consistent from unit to unit, but doesn't have nearly as high of a ceiling as the original 900. I'd take my unicorn 900 over the 900i any day.

 

[oqvist]

I bought it new from thomann for around 150 euro or so

Strange that original would be better how many 900 vs 900i have you sampled

 

[Voxata]

Used to drive them with the wells audio milo and headtrip, nowadays I use an audiogd speaker amp. When I say the PRO900 going toe to toe with HE6 I don't mean they are on the same technical level. The HE6 outresolves them easily and is technically a much better headphone. But they both have this ethereal, lifelike quality that I've come to associate with only the highest of high end headphones, you know the extra sparkle on the treble, or the little bit of microdetail in the bass, that really makes music sound alive, like someone's performing IRL. The 900i like I said in the previous post, sounds more consistent from unit to unit, but doesn't have nearly as high of a ceiling as the original 900. I'd take my unicorn 900 over the 900i any day.

I definitely agree with you there! The 900i when synergy is strong can be really engaging. All that matters is it helps people enjoy the music - and it definitely helped me during my time with it. Was my first 'highend' headphone and I had saved for some time to afford it. I just looked at current retail pricing for the 900i, holy crap! I can buy 2 and a half HD6XX's for that much!

 

[lambdastorm]

I definitely agree with you there! The 900i when synergy is strong can be really engaging. All that matters is it helps people enjoy the music - and it definitely helped me during my time with it. Was my first 'highend' headphone and I had saved for some time to afford it. I just looked at current retail pricing for the 900i, holy crap! I can buy 2 and a half HD6XX's for that much!

haha yeah, it was my first high end headphone too. I got it for around $250 on ebay at the time. Their second hand price kinda plummeted in 2016, after that you can easily get a pair for around $140. By the way, thomann.de now have the PRO900i for $133. Go look it up it's crazy.

 

[lambdastorm]

I bought it new from thomann for around 150 euro or so

Strange that original would be better how many 900 vs 900i have you sampled

Like I said in the post, bought and sold more than 40 PRO900s, 3 PRO900is. And yeah the Thomann pricing right now is absolutely ridiculous. They've actually had that price for a month now. The last sale for the PRO900i was back in 2017 when B&H were selling them for $249 and I thought that's the absolute lowest they're gonna go.