[Mad Lust Envy]

They are fine for games that have no voiced dialogue, but only in stereo or Pro Logic.  They aren't so hot for Dolby Headphone.  Could be due to S-Logic or simply because they aren't balanced, but they just don't do rear seperation very well at all (the rear ends up becoming the front).  For something like the Wipeout series they are excellent, but that has more to do with the music than anything else. 

I'm also not quite sure how "thin and screechy" makes them fine for gaming.  Unless you just mean that are "acceptable".  I'd rather have something that's well balanced, even if it looses a little "oomph" in explosions, because it's a generally more accurate experience and you don't have to turn the volume way up for dialogue and then back down to prevent ear damage due to the sibilance in action scenes.  I guess this is just a matter of "fun" vs "competitive"?  For games all I care about is immersion, and these fail badly at that in games with dialogue.

My DT 880's (600 ohm) are better sounding for my PC (gaming/movies) and music--added lamb skin pads, and my Pioneer SE-DHP800's sound better for movies and games elsewhere.  What I find amusing though is how in your gaming headphone guide (which is why I risked the 880's in the first place) you mentioned how they don't do rears that well.  Compared to my Pioneers, they don't, but compared to the Pro 900, it's night and day.  So, I'm pretty curious to listen to other headphones from your list that apparently do rears well (Q701?).


Now if only I could find a headphone that has the bass of these, but without it drowning out the midrange.

I disagree completely. They work extremely well with Dolby Headphone, imho. By thin and screechy, I meant thay for basic stereo use. DH tends to spread the sound a bit, lessening the bothersome treble a bit.

And good luck with a headphone that has both pro 900 bass and mids. Its impossible. You cant have both.

Yes vocals are recessed on the Pro 900. Its a bass and treble can first. That automatically makes mids recessed.

 

[Sanctuary]

Quote:

I disagree completely. They work extremely well with Dolby Headphone, imho.

 
I don't play FPS, and apparently that's your preferred genre--or at least it's what you emphasize in your posts.  You've obviously played Mass Effect though, and out of the four pairs of headphones I have right now, these are easily the worst; bar none with Dolby Headphone for everything I use headphones for. 
 
It's especially apparent in Mass Effect 2: LoTSB just how wrong the positional is with the pro 900s.  It starts out sounding relatively decent, and then voices that should be coming from behind actually end up in front of you.  It's not a situation with the game either, because none of my other headphones do that and they clearly seperate (some more than others) much better.  The 900s kick so much ass when you are in Afterlife, but then when you try to talk to someone?  Forget it.
 
Maybe it's a genre thing, but they just are not very good for atmospheric, dialogue driven or games where you actually want to listen to the music (non house/hip-hop/techno).  Unless of course you just don't care at all about midrange.  It's more than simply recessed.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

We all hear differently, and it doesnt help that S Logic causes us to hear even more differently. It works for some, not for others.

I had no issues pinpointing rear cues with the Pro900.

Having heard oved 30 headphones for gaming, still felt the Pro900s were solid for that.

If its mids you want first, the Pro900 or any bass heavy can was a bad choice to begin with. Its blatantly obvious that vocals are going to be their weakness. No surprise there.

 

[PanamaHat]

This

 
Doesn't really make sense to me. I've had both the pro 750 and hfi-2200 and with both the best positioning for me was with them in the first position on the graph with the "recessed mids" though I didn't experience recessed mids. I can't really speak well for the pro750 but imo the hfi-2200 doesn't have recessed mids when I wear them in the "wrong" position. Rather, they were adequately present when compared to my other headphones and even when compared with my buddy's dt880. The "optimal positioning" for me results in harsh treble. S-logic works by dissipating the treble and mids through the chamber to create that dimensionality. I guess YMMV in this case but this is my impression

 

[Sanctuary]

Quote:

If its mids you want first, the Pro900 or any bass heavy can was a bad choice to begin with. Its blatantly obvious that vocals are going to be their weakness. No surprise there.

 
It wasn't necessarily mids first that I was after when I started looking for my introductory hi-fi (or whatever the sub $1000+ pair are considered) phones, and they didn't have to be completely neutral either since I was coming from a cheapy warm set anyway.  I ended up with buyer's remorse--for the most part--when picking these up based off of the opinions of others who made outlandish claims about how "great" they were for movies, games and especially rock/metal.  There really wasn't a place to demo them either.
 
I could have dealt with the recessed mids for the bass if it didn't feel like someone was stabbing my ears with an ice pick after only a half an hour due to the awful sibilance these had fresh out of the box.  After about a month, as well as modding that died down somewhat, but they still have never come close to sounding pleasant to me.  My DT 880s were half of the price; and while they aren't a totally balanced set either, they have a much more natural sound for practically everything.  I love the response of the bass on the 900s, but it's simply not worth it to me to give up everything else for it.
 
Like I said before, these are totally specific headphones.  Then again, maybe my hearing is just more sensitive to specific frequencies.  It's been that way anyway compared to the rest of my family and friends.

 

[Lorspeaker]

i am listening to the pro900 with a littledot mk4SE now....
on medium gain, bass is very well controlled, no sibilance in the highs;
very spatial airy sounding. 

 

[rune-san]

Quote:

How would you guys say the PRO 900s compare to the HFI 780?? are they miles apart? in terms of SQ and comfort?

Hey, I have the 900's and my bro has the 780s so we've done side by side testing.
 
The 900s and 780s have very different sound signatures. The 900s have a pronounced midbass, supressed mids, and snippy, rather harsh highs. The 780s have supressed midbass, pronounced mids, and rolled off highs. The 900s have a more linear response (with crazy bumps in the midbass and highs that go up and down as the sub bass is noticeably rolled off as are extreme highs.) The 780s on the other hand are like a very gradual upside down U (very very gradual). They are fairly linear but its pretty easy to tell the midrange / mid-low vocals and instruments are the key parts coming through along with a high pump on things like snares.
 
Ultimately, two very uneven, lively, warm, headphones, but with two different focuses. An amp definitely tones down the shrillness of them IMO. I still enjoy my 900s more than the 780s. Comfort wise they wear and behave exactly the same. Both are very picky about head placement, but when you get it right, you know it.
 
EDIT: I'm a 100+ head-fi'er now! Woo! I do believe in quality over quantity

 

[fjeena]

Hey, I have the 900's and my bro has the 780s so we've done side by side testing.

The 900s and 780s have very different sound signatures. The 900s have a pronounced midbass, supressed mids, and snippy, rather harsh highs. The 780s have supressed midbass, pronounced mids, and rolled off highs. The 900s have a more linear response (with crazy bumps in the midbass and highs that go up and down as the sub bass is noticeably rolled off as are extreme highs.) The 780s on the other hand are like a very gradual upside down U (very very gradual). They are fairly linear but its pretty easy to tell the midrange / mid-low vocals and instruments are the key parts coming through along with a high pump on things like snares.

Ultimately, two very uneven, lively, warm, headphones, but with two different focuses. An amp definitely tones down the shrillness of them IMO. I still enjoy my 900s more than the 780s. Comfort wise they wear and behave exactly the same. Both are very picky about head placement, but when you get it right, you know it.

EDIT: I'm a 100+ head-fi'er now! Woo! I do believe in quality over quantity

Thanks for the reply. I really like my HFI-780, even did the little mod on it to increase the bass. The only issue I have is the pleather pads, and thats why im considering the PRO900 at some point down the road. Initially I did find the 780s highs to be a bit harsh, but they settled down after a nice long burn in.

In terms of the head placement that every1 talks about, maybe im just lucky, but when i put them on normally, they sound great!!

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Can't you just get the velour pads for the HFIs? Correct me if I'm wrong but they are built identically to the pro 900...

 

[Zankes]

Quote:

I joined the Ultrasone club and I like these with my Jpop. Also I'm stupid enough to wear these in public and in heavy rain.
 
I have Fiio E10 AND E11 with these.. Should I upgrade my amps?
 
Also I fear that the chrome things in the phones scratch

Meh. No one welcomed or gave any tips for the amps, even though I'm new family member of pro 900

 

[Roller]

Quote:

Meh. No one welcomed or gave any tips for the amps, even though I'm new family member of pro 900

 
They scale up nicely with better amping. It's not that they sound bad at all with your DAC/amp, but they do improve with better gear.
 
In the event the sides get scratched, they can be polished. If you look around, you can find pics of it.

 

[PanamaHat]

Can't you just get the velour pads for the HFIs? Correct me if I'm wrong but they are built identically to the pro 900...

Yea you can put the Beyer 250 pads on the hfi 580/680/780. The Beyer pads are much softer than the stock Ultrasone pads. There's the hfi-2400 which looks similar to the pro 900 but has a smaller circumference around the earcups.

 

[fjeena]

Yea you can put the Beyer 250 pads on the hfi 580/680/780. The Beyer pads are much softer than the stock Ultrasone pads. There's the hfi-2400 which looks similar to the pro 900 but has a smaller circumference around the earcups.

Yeah I also read on one of the threads that the PRO 900 pads wouldnt fit on the 780s
Do the beyer pads just fit on, or do you have to cut out some foam or something to get them to fit?

are these the pads?




theres no material on the inner ring, so would i have to cut out my own piece for somewhere and sew it on?


EDITED to add image

 

[Zankes]

Quote:

 
They scale up nicely with better amping. It's not that they sound bad at all with your DAC/amp, but they do improve with better gear.
 
In the event the sides get scratched, they can be polished. If you look around, you can find pics of it.

I did google search and headfi search and did not find anything. I searched. Polishing Ultrasone, Polishing Headphones, Polish ultrasone, Polish headphones... If you or someone know any spefic threads or link, please post. I wanna see for reference.

 

[Roller]

Quote:

I did google search and headfi search and did not find anything. I searched. Polishing Ultrasone, Polishing Headphones, Polish ultrasone, Polish headphones... If you or someone know any spefic threads or link, please post. I wanna see for reference.

 
That's found on Head-Fi. I've stumbled upon it a few months ago, but can't recall the exact thread. Basically, the jist of it was that a member used metal polish on the side plates, which eliminated all scratches and at the same time also smoothed out the sharp edges. It looked interesting, and I'm likely to do it one of these days, since one of the plates has some mild scratching that I dislike.