what so special about Ultrasone headphones?
May 12, 2010 at 7:46 AM Post #31 of 57
I agree. Stock pro 900's disturbing resonance will probably turn off 80-90% of audiophiles, a small percentage (of which I don't belong) might be immune to head massage stress and reap the spatial data you retain by not dampening.
 
May 12, 2010 at 8:22 AM Post #32 of 57
ED 8 eliminated the resonances 100 % so I guess you are right since it´s better received... It´s more closed in and less open then the Pro 900 but it seems to be a lesser crime :)
 
May 12, 2010 at 8:24 AM Post #33 of 57


Quote:
I agree. Stock pro 900's disturbing resonance will probably turn off 80-90% of audiophiles, a small percentage (of which I don't belong) might be immune to head massage stress and reap the spatial data you retain by not dampening.


I had the Pro 900s for a while, and I loved mine.
 
Still miss them actually, but I did try putting a felt pad into them for a while.
 
May 12, 2010 at 11:37 AM Post #34 of 57
Rythemdevils : I too was skeptical about the Kees mod. Then I did it. I placed a cotton batting piece that was only 2mm thick in the cups, and just KILLED ALL OF THE BASS !  Blew me away, because 2mm is really, really thin man. So then I had the very difficult task of dividing that 2mm thick pad into 1mm thick pads .... Talk about hard to do !   But then after doing this, the bass was just so very perfect ! 
      This taught me a shocking lesson :  Even very tiny amounts of modding can make HUGE changes in the sound. I guessing I shouldn't be so suprised though ... I mean, think about how tiny of an airspace you are working with in those cups. So yeah, it truly is a night and day difference.
       As far as the felt part of the mod ... I still have great staging/imaging. It only took down the spitty part of the treble, and brought the mids up to a perfect level with the rest of the music. While I do not have a way of measuring it, I bet the frequency response line is now ruler flat from top to bottom.
       So in summary, the Pro900 is very, very unbalanced in the frequency response when in stock form, and must be Kees modded. Once Kees modded properly, you get the flat frequency response, along with some of the best dynamics and speed to be found in a colsed back can at ANY price.
 
Edit:  On the SLogic part ... I have owned these for about 6 months now. Only a handful of times have I got the cans positioned just right, so the S-Logic is actually heard and understood. Once that happens, it is fairly amazing. The soundstage really opens up and places the musicians out in front of you like speakers, but NOT at the expense of dynamics or imaging. Problem is, if it is THIS difficult to get the cans in that ever so tiny window of perfect placement, it isn't even worth mentioning.
 
May 12, 2010 at 12:18 PM Post #35 of 57


Quote:
I guess its about personal taste. But although I've just sold my Pro 900s for ED8, it is by far much more superior then tf 10 across the board, with great highs, nice and silky mids, a bit too much but deep detailed punchy bass, and incredible soundstage as a closed phone. D2000 is just not in the same class. Lack of punchy bass, recessed mid and tiny treble might be due to under amped. Pro 900 is a picky phone to serve.


Agreed.  The only ultrasones I have had is the Pro550 and now Pro 750 and both are exceptional at electronca.  The D2000 couldn't really compete with either 1 IMO
 
May 12, 2010 at 12:51 PM Post #36 of 57

 
Quote:
 
Edit:  On the SLogic part ... I have owned these for about 6 months now. Only a handful of times have I got the cans positioned just right, so the S-Logic is actually heard and understood. Once that happens, it is fairly amazing. The soundstage really opens up and places the musicians out in front of you like speakers, but NOT at the expense of dynamics or imaging. Problem is, if it is THIS difficult to get the cans in that ever so tiny window of perfect placement, it isn't even worth mentioning.

 
I totally agree that with ultrasones the proper placement on the headphones is crucial. It really can impact the sound. On certain cds when i have the headphones in the right place the music really does come alive. Sometimes i get scared that someone is standing behind me. Especially on a some songs on Midnight Marauders.

To clarify things the only ultrasone that i have spent any real time with is the ALO-780s which also have some internal modding done i believe. So that may account for some of the differences between my experiences and others. But i love my ultrasones for their strengths i wouldnt recommend them for classical though i have used them for classical. But for music like electronic or hip hop, or even rock(for the times when i want to feel the drums) i think they are great cans.
 
May 15, 2010 at 7:53 PM Post #37 of 57


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Well it brings down the bass considerably and kills the metallic treble. Kills soundstaging some too but for those that S-logic doesn´t work I suppose it doesn´t matter lol Less resonances and more open sounding so what´s not to like :)


That doesn't sound, to me, like the description of a headphone that can hold its own alongside the HD-800s etc, unless we're talking out of an iPod. 
devil_face.gif

 
Maybe someone should persuade Ultrasone to make a version of the Pro 900 re-tuned to be more neutral.  It's pretty silly that they can't consistently get a headphone to sound other than extremely coloured.
 
May 15, 2010 at 8:39 PM Post #38 of 57
My personal opinion is that the excessive resonance is due to them putting two black covers on 2 out of 5 upper holes along the bufferboard. Removing them makes the bass more reasonable and improves directionality, but less focused bass and highs.
 
May 15, 2010 at 9:43 PM Post #39 of 57
Well... as a Pro900 owner, I also have wondered why Ultrasone would not do the very simple and inexpensive mods that make the sound practically perfect themselves ?  I mean, I literally have $3 in mods done to my cans. And i am without any doubt a before and after frequency response graph of pink noise would show the plot go from U shaped to pratically, if not perfectly flat for that $3 in mods.
 
But to the one poster who hinted he would not be interested in a can in which the company couldn't get right from the start, is definitely short changing himself !   Once modded, these 900s are probably THE FASTEST closed cans in existance. I would best describe their sound to be most similiar to a pair of Stax, but with WAAAAAY better bass and dynamic capability. They have a way of just sounding so very lifelike to the original instruments or voice ( judged by playing my own personal band's music which I wrote, played, recorded, mixed, and mastered ).
 
I listened to AKG701s, Beyer T1s, HD800s, and various Stax at the Boston meet, and feel they hold their own against the big boys in most areas. Really only giving ground in the areas of total overall tonality and infinite resolution.
 
And this only by using two felt rounds and a 1mm thick cotton batt round per side. Only bad thing is, it really leaves you with no real upgrade choices unless you do go to the $1000+ cans
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May 15, 2010 at 9:45 PM Post #40 of 57

 
Quote:
That doesn't sound, to me, like the description of a headphone that can hold its own alongside the HD-800s etc, unless we're talking out of an iPod. 
devil_face.gif

 
Maybe someone should persuade Ultrasone to make a version of the Pro 900 re-tuned to be more neutral.  It's pretty silly that they can't consistently get a headphone to sound other than extremely coloured.

 
I wouldn't personally say that until you have heard a properly modded pair. I only like the T1s better, and don't think the HD-800s can even hold a candle to the modded 900s unless you are ONLY playing female voice or chamber music
wink_face.gif

 
 
May 15, 2010 at 9:50 PM Post #41 of 57


Quote:
My personal opinion is that the excessive resonance is due to them putting two black covers on 2 out of 5 upper holes along the bufferboard. Removing them makes the bass more reasonable and improves directionality, but less focused bass and highs.


Well ... Not exactly. The resonance comes from the plastic cups. A felt pad inside the cup completely cures this. The black material you speak of needs to be left alone. Placing a 1mm thick cotton batting in the cup PERFECT the bass !!!  I mean really, really great bass.
 
The single felt you place over ONLY the middle hole on the driver board brings up the mids perfectly in the mix, and also tames the brightest treble bite to oh so just right.
 
Words just can't convey .... I really do with you guys could hear my cans..... Sigh.
 
May 15, 2010 at 10:18 PM Post #42 of 57
I have tried many different amounts of dampening so know what you're talking about, but still I believe ultrasone was shortsighted when they plugged up two of the five holes. That bufferboard is also used in the pro 750 but without the black covers, and people say it sounds more balanced than the pro 900, I venture to guess that the pro 900's overthetop resonance is due to a big degree, the plastic covers. When removed, there most certainly is still resonance, but it is not as overbearing.
 
May 15, 2010 at 11:55 PM Post #43 of 57


Quote:
I have tried many different amounts of dampening so know what you're talking about, but still I believe ultrasone was shortsighted when they plugged up two of the five holes. That bufferboard is also used in the pro 750 but without the black covers, and people say it sounds more balanced than the pro 900, I venture to guess that the pro 900's overthetop resonance is due to a big degree, the plastic covers. When removed, there most certainly is still resonance, but it is not as overbearing.


I agree removing the covers helps the resonance. My problem is that it also screws up other aspects of the sound. Literally ALL of the resonance can be removed by correct placement of the two felt pads, without any other negative effects.
I'm not trying to be arguementative, but am very passionate about letting people know they can have amazing top tier sound, with only a few cheap mods to the 900s.
 
May 16, 2010 at 1:00 AM Post #45 of 57


Quote:
Well it brings down the bass considerably and kills the metallic treble. Kills soundstaging some too but for those that S-logic doesn´t work I suppose it doesn´t matter lol Less resonances and more open sounding so what´s not to like :)


If that is all it does why not just use a K701 which doesn't have metallic treble, has toned down bass to begin with and has gargantuan soundstage to boot?
 

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