[third_eye]

I have a pair of these coming in as well. Excited about comparing them with my HF-2.

 

[stocklaz]

Ultrasone headphones are special, people already say either you will fall in love with them, or hate them at all. Similar case also happen in other brand like HD800, lover praise that is most hi-fi headphone that ever exist on the world, on the other side that is unhearable if you are a mankind.

ED8 is my first Ultrasone headphone, but luckly I like it very much. I start looking for another ultrasone headphone for a backup.

 

[Chypa_]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenpunk /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess most of the people who hate them haven't spend any time adjusting the headphone on their head. The sound of the PRO 900 can change dramatically when not positioned correctly due to the S-Logic ( they can be harsh and sibilant if the speaker is too close of the ear opening, and the headstage collapse). They are very engaging and immersive heapdhone. My only grip is that I often have to spend the first 5 mn messing around with them on my head before finding that sweet spot. But then.....

Can you please tell me the right way of positioning the headphone

, I am so glad I just received them. I have no amp therefore I will refrain from saying anything critical of them:

1) They are not burned in yet.
2) I have no decent amp to drive them to listening level (so my next journey on the mountain of headfi begins

)

I will just say this I am Just BLOOOWN away by the Ultrasone Demo CD that came along in the Box.
So peaceful and relaxing music, and such high quality

 

[Palpatine]

Yeah, that demo CD is neat, isn't it? The fireworks sound cool!
Glad you are enjoying the Pro 900.

 

[oqvist]

I totally understand why they didnt ship it with the Edition 8 though... As much as I love that headphone but soundstage is not one of it´s merits

 

[zenpunk]

There is a guide here http://www.head-fi.org/forums/2821957-post2902.html
But all it takes is to accustom yourself with the sound of the headphone with music you know well (in fact the demo CD is ideal and I guess that it is one of the reason for providing it) and play with the height and back/front position of the HP on your head until you find the best compromise between balance (between bass and treble) and a sense of space.

 

[se530]

I am receiving a new audio interface this weekend (Focusrite Pro 24 DSP) and now I feel like getting another set of headphones as well.

So far, I've used my Shure SRH840 for a while and quite happy with them. However, I do catch myself thinking that I would like them to have a deeper low end extension (on some tracks it sound just fine however) as well as somewhat deeper/darker(?) sound in general. There is also a minor complaint to comfort since it seems like my ears are a tad too big for them, already after 20-30 minutes I catch myself moving the phones around since they push on my ears with the inside a little (would like the pads to be thicker).

A friend of my has Beyerdynamic DT990 Edition 2005 and I really like them. They seem to fit better for the music I listen to mostly (electronic, trance). I haven't tried wearing them for an hour+ straight, but they feel very comfortable too. Basically, listening to a fresh track streaming out from Cubase just makes me feel like I am on a dancing floor and well - I pretty much love that feeling. Also Bayers can be cranked up louder before sound starts to get distorted (or that just how it feels?).

Maybe it is not correct to compare SRH840 and DT990 Ed. 2005 but those are the only cans I had quite a long experience with.


Right now I am looking at Ultrasone Pro 900 and somehow, from the reviews, I think that they may sound like some kind of blend between SRH840 (but slightly more rich and detailed) and DT990 Ed. 2005 (but with even more refined bottom extension) . I might be completely wrong however.

So, here are couple of question I have:
- Do you think that Ultrasone Pro 900 should be my cup of tea?
- Is it a reasonable upgrade from SRH840? (what areas will I notice improvements in?)
- Will I be able to push Ultrasone Pro 900 from the audio interface without a separate headphone amp? (I know that these are low impedance phones, however some users seems to recommend some extra amplification)
- Do Pro 900 have big comfortable ear pads similar to DT990?
- Should I just wait and save up for some other pair?

Mostly, I plan to use the headphones with the mentioned above audio interface experimenting with Cubase on my laptop. Also, from time to time hooking them up to Marantz AV8003 (just ordered a straight cable for SRH840 to do that with comfort).


Thank you for all your help and advice!

 

[gordonshowers]

I've owned these headphones for a couple of days now. I had HD600s but wanted some bass. The HD600s have almost none.

I like the Pro 900s a lot, to the point that I don't think I'll be wearing the HD600s again.

With the HD600s I was spending time listening to the detail in the sound, fast-forwarding tracks to well-suited music. Now with the Pro 900s I'm listening to every track, listening to the music and not the detail (although the detail is still there).

Overblown bass? A touch maybe, but it's not a problem to me. And at lower volumes (which still sound great) the bass is perfect.

I'm now officially on record as one of those people that loves "the Ultrasone sound".

@se530: I can't compare them with the headphones you mention because I've never heard them. But I'll say that the Pro 900s even sound pretty good straight out of my Nokia phone! The bass is still rich and deep. They sound significantly better through a Total Bithead amp, and ever-so-slightly better again through a Darkvoice 337 (although the difference in sound between these two amps is very small). Compared to the HD600s which sounded a bit harsh through the Bithead but MUCH better through the 337.

 

[Lando3000]

Can anyone compare the bass from the Ultrasone 780 to the Ultrasone 900? If possible, to the Audio Technica M50 as well?

 

[downsize]

Out of the box, I was very dissapointed. After doing the Kees mod to mine, I WILL NEVER get rid of them !!!!! I attended the recent Headfi meet in Boston, and preferred my Pro900s over almost every other dynamic headphone there. Only the Beyerdynamic DT880 600ohm, equaled them to me, and only the T1 bettered them to me ... JMO

 

[downsize]

More on the Pro900s .... In my opinion, out of the box the 900s are not correctly balanced. There is NO DOUBT they have a smiley face frequency response. After placing the two felt pads where they go, shown in the Kees mod, the mids come forward to blend PEFRFECTLY with the bass and highs, creating a VERY flat and balanced headphone.
But it does more than just that : It also brings forth hard to hear details in the mids that you may have missed without the Kees mod. Vocals are improved by as much as 80% to my ears.
As to the bass, I too found it only the slightest bit hot. So I added a layer of cotton batting so thin, you could easily read a page from a book through it ! We are talking 1mm or even less !!! As carzy as this sounds, this made a HUGE difference. It really did not lesses the bass output at all, but tightened it up and brought forth even more tone and definition to the bass. I can not stress enough how tiny of an amount is needed for this though ! Too much, and the bass goes away.
In closing, I just can not understand people calling these headphones warm or dark ... maybe before the Kees mod, I don't remember that well, but after doing the mods I laid out here, these cans sound more like an electrostatic than ANY dynamic can I have ever heard. The mids and highs are VERY transparent and lively, without being overly bright. Fast like an electrostat too.
To me, VERY colse to perfect.

 

[oqvist]

What system do you drive them with?

 

[third_eye]

@dowsize, thanks for your impressions. I too just got my 900's about 2 days ago and have been burning them in with pink noise since. First impressions after a few hours of burn in are very good.
About the Kees mod, how many felt pads did you add? Did you wait until fully burned in? I also think the bass is just a hair excessive, and don't want to remove too much of it.

 

[downsize]

Quote:

Originally Posted by third_eye /img/forum/go_quote.gif @dowsize, thanks for your impressions. I too just got my 900's about 2 days ago and have been burning them in with pink noise since. First impressions after a few hours of burn in are very good. About the Kees mod, how many felt pads did you add? Did you wait until fully burned in? I also think the bass is just a hair excessive, and don't want to remove too much of it.

LOL ... how many pads ? I bought the round cotton pads in a grocery store's makeup aisle. Then tore a single pad, halfing the thickness ... THIS WAS TOO MUCH EVEN, and killed the bass !!!! So I took out that torn in half pad, and peeled off another layer ... VERY, VERY hard to do !!! When I was through, the layer that was used was as thin as a human hair or so.

If I had laid it on the page of a book, you would literally be able to read the words through it. I'm going to guess at the final thickness at abt .5mm

 

[third_eye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by downsize /img/forum/go_quote.gif LOL ... how many pads ? I bought the round cotton pads in a grocery store's makeup aisle. Then tore a single pad, halfing the thickness ... THIS WAS TOO MUCH EVEN, and killed the bass !!!! So I took out that torn in half pad, and peeled off another layer ... VERY, VERY hard to do !!! When I was through, the layer that was used was as thin as a human hair or so. If I had laid it on the page of a book, you would literally be able to read the words through it. I'm going to guess at the final thickness at abt .5mm

Ha, no I meant the furniture felt stoppers. I put one on the middle hole and one under the driver cover. Make-up pad on top of the felt stopper under the driver cover. I'm having a hard time getting the pads down to size, I agree the full pad is killing the bass.....although mine are aren't broken in yet so I'll wait before doing more.