J-Dog
Sponsor Road Dog Online
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- Sep 29, 2008
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Can you feel the tension?! The juggernauts of studio monitoring headphones are in a ruthless battle against each other and I am here to set the score straight. In the right corner of the ring, we have Ultrasone "the German headphone company." To my left we have the German audio "Rockheiser," Sennheiser. If you don’t feel the tension at this point, I don’t know what I can do to help…but please, read on…
First, to settle the confusion between the two lines I have decided to describe the difference between open back and closed back headphones. Closed back headphones, such as the Ultrasone PRO Series (with the exception of the PRO2500) excel at both preventing outside noise interrupting the user while they are mixing or critically listening and preventing unwanted noise from reaching the microphone that you are using to record. Open back headphones, such as the Sennheiser HD Series , do not offer the same level of isolation as their closed back counterparts. Now you ask the question, why would I even want to think about using a open back headphone? Some will argue that the sound quality is much better with an open back design because it allows the space needed for low frequencies to be accurately produced. However, with the quality and truly unique design of the Ultrasone PRO Series, I personally do not notice a low frequency loss or any loss is the quality of the sound. On to the next point before we get swallowed here…
Second, another leveling agent between the Ultrasone PRO Series and Sennheiser HD Series is the placement of the drivers. Sennheiser uses the traditional left and right drivers that fire directly into your ear whereas Ultrasone incorporates their S-Logic technology with uses de-centralized (not center) drivers. The benefit to not have your headphones firing directly into your ear is that you can build an accurate stereo image. Ultrasone is the only company, that I know of, that manufacturers headphones that use off center drivers in order to build a true "studio monitor" headphone.
Lastly, I’ll be done explaining the differences and get down to the skinny. Honestly, you are not comparing apples to apples, oranges to oranges, or crumpets to crumpets with this competition. This makes it difficult to announce either Ultrasone or Sennheiser as the supposed winner. Instead, I will argue that each series is the best product you can purchase within their respective categories. Sennheiser most certainly takes the cake in regards to their open back headphones, more specifically the HD600 and HD650 models. Ultrasone wins, hands down, with their closed back headphones, specifically the PRO550, PRO650, PR750, and PRO900 models.
For my uses, I prefer the Ultrasone PRO Series specifically, the PRO750. I have yet to find a better headphone for mixing. Yes, there are other headphones that isolate better, but for studio monitoring, I have been hard pressed to find a better solution other than studio monitor speakers themselves. I believe in Ultrasone’s S-Logic technology. Never before have you actually been able to mix a project with headphones accurately. Now you can. I am not leaving my opinion here to say that I don’t like the Sennheiser’s. In fact, I think they are great if you have an environment is quiet enough around you. The Ultrasone headphones have produced great results for me in the past and I find them extremely versatile which for my uses, versatility is super important.
First, to settle the confusion between the two lines I have decided to describe the difference between open back and closed back headphones. Closed back headphones, such as the Ultrasone PRO Series (with the exception of the PRO2500) excel at both preventing outside noise interrupting the user while they are mixing or critically listening and preventing unwanted noise from reaching the microphone that you are using to record. Open back headphones, such as the Sennheiser HD Series , do not offer the same level of isolation as their closed back counterparts. Now you ask the question, why would I even want to think about using a open back headphone? Some will argue that the sound quality is much better with an open back design because it allows the space needed for low frequencies to be accurately produced. However, with the quality and truly unique design of the Ultrasone PRO Series, I personally do not notice a low frequency loss or any loss is the quality of the sound. On to the next point before we get swallowed here…
Second, another leveling agent between the Ultrasone PRO Series and Sennheiser HD Series is the placement of the drivers. Sennheiser uses the traditional left and right drivers that fire directly into your ear whereas Ultrasone incorporates their S-Logic technology with uses de-centralized (not center) drivers. The benefit to not have your headphones firing directly into your ear is that you can build an accurate stereo image. Ultrasone is the only company, that I know of, that manufacturers headphones that use off center drivers in order to build a true "studio monitor" headphone.
Lastly, I’ll be done explaining the differences and get down to the skinny. Honestly, you are not comparing apples to apples, oranges to oranges, or crumpets to crumpets with this competition. This makes it difficult to announce either Ultrasone or Sennheiser as the supposed winner. Instead, I will argue that each series is the best product you can purchase within their respective categories. Sennheiser most certainly takes the cake in regards to their open back headphones, more specifically the HD600 and HD650 models. Ultrasone wins, hands down, with their closed back headphones, specifically the PRO550, PRO650, PR750, and PRO900 models.
For my uses, I prefer the Ultrasone PRO Series specifically, the PRO750. I have yet to find a better headphone for mixing. Yes, there are other headphones that isolate better, but for studio monitoring, I have been hard pressed to find a better solution other than studio monitor speakers themselves. I believe in Ultrasone’s S-Logic technology. Never before have you actually been able to mix a project with headphones accurately. Now you can. I am not leaving my opinion here to say that I don’t like the Sennheiser’s. In fact, I think they are great if you have an environment is quiet enough around you. The Ultrasone headphones have produced great results for me in the past and I find them extremely versatile which for my uses, versatility is super important.
