Balanced advantages with Ed.9?

[blessingx]

Anyone balance their Edition 9s and if so any comments on the change from SE?

My balanced experience is pretty limited to the Senn line where there is a decent change.

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Anyone balance their Edition 9s and if so any comments on the change from SE?

My balanced experience is pretty limited to the Senn line where there is a decent change.

Sell it while theres still hype.

Biggie.

[Nanoha]

Perhaps blessingx likes them though.

[spritzer]

Get out while there are still suckers who want to buy them...

[blessingx]

Yeah, sorry to disappoint. At a substantially reduced cost, I picked them up after spending time with a couple pairs and owning other Ultrasones. While I prefer the GS1K for most situations, there isn't another closed can I prefer sub-$1K. Apologies AT fans. I agree though they can sound flat with a lot of gear. The recent San Jose meet showed that.

So maybe there aren't enough members here to have one who liked the Ed.9 enough to consider balancing. Last call?

[mjg]

they really didn't sound bad or anything to me, for the momment i heard them... What was particularly striking was how heavy and uncomfortable they were... As dumb as it sounds, that's a big deal to me almost as much as sound...

[purk]

I'm sure that they will improve slightly being balanced, but I'm not sure how much. If the ED.9 has slightly less bass and nicer midrange, they are pretty nice headphone. Oh....and slightly wamer presentation will be nice too.

[en480c4]

Now that Dave (drp) is here, he could probably chime in. IIRC he had his Ed. 9's balanced with his Rudistor at the last Boston meet.

[postjack]

So maybe there aren't enough members here to have one who liked the Ed.9 enough to consider balancing. Last call?

blessingx, I think I'm the only HC "regular" who owns (or for that matter has owned) the ed. 9. I probably don't like them enough to consider balancing. I'm also a fan of the GS1K, which I prefer greatly to the Ed. 9, primarily because the GS1K does timbre and tonality so well, while the Ed. 9 likes to impose its sound signature on everything I play through it. \

[Nanoha]

I'm also a fan of the GS1K, which I prefer greatly to the Ed. 9, primarily because the GS1K does timbre and tonality so well, while the Ed. 9 likes to impose its sound signature on everything I play through it. \

Would you say that the Ed. 9 is one of the worst headphones you've heard in terms of tonality?

[postjack]

Would you say that the Ed. 9 is one of the worst headphones you've heard in terms of tonality?

I would agree with this statement, yes.

[drp]

(into the breach?)

Balancing the Edition 9s did in fact tame the bass a bit; made for less resonance, and I think a little better imaging in the lower regions; what some have referred to as a brain cloud, bass fart, something like that. It also increased the width of the soundstage a bit and fine-tuned the imaging all around, one of the true strengths if these headphones. These were all subtle changes; nothing like the benefits of balancing a HD650.

One caveat is that I did not go directly to XLRs connectors. In order to A/B with single ended (I got all this gear right before the last Boston meet), I created pigtails using small 4-pin connectors and Kimber PBJ. This made A/B'ng easy, but I think it also did affect the sound signature a small amount, because they did sound better with the monster of a XLR adapter cable the Yikes had handy. I think his adapter was worth about twice that of the Edition 9s. Never got around to trying a straight XLR connection.

With the GS-X and then the Beta-22 available, the RPX-100 became much less of a value. On top of this, the HE60 with an Adapter and a T-amp (of all things) was floating my entire flotilla more so than this expensive setup. This made the Edition 9 and RPX-100 a gateway drug to higher end fidelity that I now think of as HE60s and some killer electrostatic amp solution to be determined. The KGSS is a but a stepping stone.

Oh, and, I won't bother to mention the association-by-common-gear issue I had with owning this rig; I'm sure no names are needed, but this was a factor.

One more thing. I never bought into the S-Logic shit, because I've worn all my headphones (especially the PS-1s) forward and down.

I say balance away; you've nothing to loose.

[n_maher]

I'd have to say that my memory of Dave's rig at the Boston Meet (RPX-100 + balanced Ed 9s) was much less offensive to my ears than Boze's this past weekend (Krell + SE Ed 9s). The bass was so overpowering single ended that I just couldn't listen to anything else. It reminded me a lot of the Hifi 700s that I used to have and reinforced my position that there may be no better cans for movies than Ultrasones. Music on the other hand, I have yet to hear sound natural coming from an S-Logic can.

[thrice]

I have yet to hear sound natural coming from an S-Logic can.

You haven't experienced enough pain then.

Seriously though...I heard a pair at the FLA meet and I gotta say, I just don't get it...Fit issues asside (vice grip). It's the least natural sounding can I've heard. bass is bloated and the mids are recessed and colored. Highs are brittle.

[boomana]

The bass was so overpowering single ended that I just couldn't listen to anything else.

I had the same impression at the recent Florida meet when I heard them for the first time, which actually surprised me, as I think I was expecting them to sound like a high-end version of the 2500, and although I had problems with those headphones, I liked the bass. Plus, I'd been hearing about "angels licking my ears" from one usually reliable source (though he's since sold them) enough to make me think I'd at least like them, even if not enough to buy them. The bass was simply oppressive. I tired them with Mike's Cosecant/Woo5, and then with a few of my sources/amps, even trying the Diablo, as it is pretty bright, with decent detail, but nothing helped. I don't know if I'd even like them with movies.

Thrice, what were you using with the Edition 9s?

[philodox]

You haven't experienced enough pain then.

Or you could try listening on the toilet.

[MaloS]

Hm... I do not get the impression of Edition 9 bass being obscenely strong, more so I had another head-fier try it at my place and he replied that he heard far less bass than he expected after all the impressions. Might be pecularities of individual systems/recordings.

Proline 2500 vs Edition 9: I was waiting for the people to cool down a bit on head-fi, more knowledge to be acquired before I take on sovkiller with this hah, then as I was about to post this, head-fi went to the apocalypse... This is the same headphone, no doubts about it. You have to listen a bit more carefully here, but they are incredibly identical. The only difference is that on one the frequencies are shifted towards treble, while the latter is shifted towards bassier, softer sound - basically tuning the tonality by changing the chassis. In all other respects, including extension - the cans are identical.

I don't think this is very obvious, but if you listen to how these cans interpret individual notes, or more so percussion - it becomes fairly obvious.

- Cheers. I sold my Edition 9 for one idiotic reason (apart from buying speakers) -> the bass on it is too much for me, same reason I could never use an HD650.

[MaloS]

Oh - and the primary goodness of Edition 9, the fact that it worked very well with portables has gone to hell now that UE11 is apparently made of angels' tongues. =]

[boomana]

Hi, MaloS. Welcome!

[purk]

- Cheers. I sold my Edition 9 for one idiotic reason (apart from buying speakers) -> the bass on it is too much for me, same reason I could never use an HD650.

The HD-650 with a very good amp should have no problem in bass region. I think you did the right thing with the Ed.9. The bass was certainly way too much and somewhat oppressive. I had a chance to buy them for $1000 and passed. They are not bad but a properly amped HD-650 can sound a lot better.

[MaloS]

Thanks Boomana, I was informed of this place 20 minutes ago =]

purk: Certainly agreed, with enough amplification you can get hd650 sound like anything you want from what I observed. Expensive though :-/ Such expenses warrant getting a TakeT H2, since thats the new hot thing in stupidly-high-end equipment =]

[purk]

Thanks Boomana, I was informed of this place 20 minutes ago =]

purk: Certainly agreed, with enough amplification you can get hd650 sound like anything you want from what I observed. Expensive though :-/ Such expenses warrant getting a TakeT H2, since thats the new hot thing in stupidly-high-end equipment =]

Yes, but you can occasionally get a good deal like Single Power extreme platinum for around $1600. That's a bargain.

[boomana]

Such expenses warrant getting a TakeT H2, since thats the new hot thing in stupidly-high-end equipment =]

...keeping with the theme of bass-overload. I backed out of the group buy after hearing it at the recent Florida meet. It's got potential, but in jp#s words, it's not yet ready for prime time. I'm gonna wait and see what the amp guys can do for this one, and if it changes anything.

[postjack]

Proline 2500 vs Edition 9:...This is the same headphone, no doubts about it.

ack, stop with this talk, don't you know I have to sell my ed9?

[grawk]

ack, stop with this talk, don't you know I have to sell my ed9?

I'll give you a hd580 w/ oracle cable, 4pin for your ed9s