[Dobrescu George]

  I just listened to these headphones at SoCal CanJam at the Ultrasone booth. The guy, Michael, was extremely nice and he said Ultrasone is doing a lot more outreach in their brands and customer relations in the US. They even started an active facebook page, Ultrasone USA, finally to keep people up to date with news. About time. Expect a lot more from Ultrasone in terms of brand and presence in the USA in the months to come. 
 
I listened to the Signature Studio extensively and compared it to their Edition 8 EX, Edition 5 and Edition Ms that they had at the event. I have the SigDJs, Pro900s, and other headphones at home that can compare to as well. Let me know if anyone is interested in impressions of the SigStudios, I can do a write up. 

I'm curious. 
 
Especially how they stack against Sig DJ 

 
I wish they would be trying to get a better reach in Europe as well 

 

[VintageFlanker]

Let me know if anyone is interested in impressions of the SigStudios, I can do a write up. 

Mmmhhh...yes, please DO IT!

 

[UNW209]

  I just listened to these headphones at SoCal CanJam at the Ultrasone booth. The guy, Michael, was extremely nice and he said Ultrasone is doing a lot more outreach in their brands and customer relations in the US. They even started an active facebook page, Ultrasone USA, finally to keep people up to date with news. About time. Expect a lot more from Ultrasone in terms of brand and presence in the USA in the months to come. 
 
I listened to the Signature Studio extensively and compared it to their Edition 8 EX, Edition 5 and Edition Ms that they had at the event. I have the SigDJs, Pro900s, and other headphones at home that can compare to as well. Let me know if anyone is interested in impressions of the SigStudios, I can do a write up. 

 
Yes, please!
To what I might imagine, its sounds should be a refinement of Signature DJ, with no much surprise.

 

[goldenSHK]

   
Yes, please!
To what I might imagine, its sounds should be a refinement of Signature DJ, with no much surprise.

 
 

Mmmhhh...yes, please DO IT!

 
 

  I'm curious. 
 
Especially how they stack against Sig DJ 

 
I wish they would be trying to get a better reach in Europe as well 

 
 
So yes and no, about the refined SigDJ. 
 
The first thing I realized when testing these is that the build quality is extremely good and rugged, even though there is no real leather, the frame is the same as the signature series and the pleather is thick and supple. Michael Prager (the official rep) at the Ultrasone booth told me that one of the main problems with the Signature DJ was that it was white and got dirty very fast on the go. Aside from that, DJs seemed to have preferred black for all things audio equipment so that is why all sig series are now and will likely stay completely black, in case anyone was wondering. 

The sound itself is rather interesting. One thing I immediately realized with the sig studios is that older songs and even slightly poorly remastered songs sound very, very bad. They sound harsh and piercing. This makes the studios really revealing of mastering quality (which I assume is the entire point given their name), but it also makes some of my songs from the 70s and 80s really unlistenable. So take that how you will. This is not a "fun" headphone, but it's also not completely ruler flat neutral either, as in it's not "dry" and analytical. Hopefully that makes sense. The highs are slightly accentuated, but they aren't sharp or piercing unless the song is bright naturally or poorly mixed. I only thought things were uncomfortable on older songs. The mids are quite nice and revealing, better than the Pro 900. The bass leaves something to be desired compared to the SigDJ and Pro 900 in terms of depth, amount, and bottom end, but I assume that is the entire point of this product. It's not meant necessarily for modern and pop music. It's a slightly more nuanced V/U shape, not completely flat, but very revealing of low grade mastering. I liked it. It would be a good upgrade for Pro 900 users if you want a more refined sound signature and give up a bit sub-bass. I might retire my Pro 900 for the Studios. Compared to the Sig Pros, these are a good side-upgrade but these have a slightly different sound signature. These are too different than the SigDJs for me to say that it's comparable. If you want something bass centric, this is not the product you want to get in place of the SigDJ, I'd still recommend the SigDJ, or even the Pro 900 if bass and modern music is most important to you. The biggest factor with this headphone is that it's extremely revealing of audio quality which I assume was Ultrasone's point with this product. It's pretty well done in that regard. 

I was most impressed with the rugged build quality though. Would be nice to see more headphones in the $500-$1000 range have such a rugged feel to them. I felt like if Pelican (the rubber hardcase manufacturer) made headphone it would be the SigStudio. They don't have real leather or the Ethiopian sheepskin™ that Ultrasone is really famous for, but I think that might actually be a good thing, I would be more than willing to toss them around from the very beginning and not think I am tearing up leather that is worth as much as other headphones itself. These are really good for people who like slight U shaped sound, but not exactly scooped out or recessed mids. It was an interesting experience. Would love to see them measured by Tyll or someone in the future, although I am pretty sure he might not be as much of a fan as I was since he is known to prefer predominantly dark headphones like MrSpeakers products. 

 

[ekolite]

Dang, thanks. I am actually happy with your results as I think it sounds a bit too revealing for my tastes and I just ordered some Sig Dj's yesterday and have yet to hear them. This Thursday, baby! Can't wait!

 

[goldenSHK]

Dang, thanks. I am actually happy with your results as I think it sounds a bit too revealing for my tastes and I just ordered some Sig Dj's yesterday and have yet to hear them. This Thursday, baby! Can't wait!

 


You can't go wrong with the SigDJ man. It's one of the best closed back bass-heavy headphones ever made.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Signature Studio wasn't released anymore? Curious why the talk about it died out?

 

[UNW209]

No, it would be released in late May.

 

[Dobrescu George]

No, it would be released in late May.

Ah!

This makes much more sense!

Let's hope for a happy release! I'm curious to say the least!

 

[goldenSHK]

Ah!

This makes much more sense!

Let's hope for a happy release! I'm curious to say the least!

It's a really good headphone, wish I had more time to listen to them at CanJam. Very clear sound.

 

[Dobrescu George]

It's a really good headphone, wish I had more time to listen to them at CanJam. Very clear sound.

It looks like they have been released officially!

We will write an in-depth review about Sig Studio at Audiophile Heaven! https://audiophile-heaven.blogspot.com/

Curiosity got the best of me and I had to hear them first-person! Waiting for them to arrive on Monday - Tuesday now!

 

[pbui44]

I remember during CanJam@RMAF 2014 at the V-Moda table a prototype M-100 with a higher impedance (200 ohms?) and I really liked it and the price point ($500-600?), but those guys were not confident in it taking production and I pointed out that it could compete well against Ultrasone's more expensive offerings. They were even less confident in its possibilities of taking production and reading this thread, I finally see why.

 

[Sylosis]

Hm seems sort of pointless to buy these when the sig pro and dj can be had for 450-700 on the new/used market.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Hm seems sort of pointless to buy these when the sig pro and dj can be had for 450-700 on the new/used market.

Those are around 500$ new and might be here to replace both Signature DJ and Signature Pro in the long run.

Well, My personal take is that if you can have signature studio for 500$ new, you might want to have it over Sig DJ used, or Sig Pro used.

Impressions so far were that Sig Studio is at least at a similar level, but with a different signature when compared to Sig DJ and Sig Pro.

Happily, I'll be able to compare them with Sennheiser ie800, meze 99C, Dunu DK-3001, HiFiMAN RE-2000 and a few other interesting headphones / IEMs, so we will know pretty well how they sound

 

[Dobrescu George]

[Excellent sound and beautiful aesthetics - Ultrasone provides one of the most luxurious headphones with amazing sound]

Full in-depth review and sonic analysis incoming at https://audiophile-heaven.blogspot.com/

My initial impressions are extremely favorable - they are much more coherent and have way less distortion than any other Ultrasone Headphone I listened to in-depth, the fastest way I can find to describe the new Signature Studio is a HD800S, but in closed-back design - Signature Studio has a lot of the excellent characteristics of Sennheiser HD800, including the soundstage, dynamics and details, but without being open-back. The signature is also extremely lively and energetic - a delight to listen to.

Wish I heard those ages ago - would had saved me a lot of search.