Ultrasone PROline 2500

[TheSloth]

So this rather strange headphone just arrived from HeadRoom. What is even stranger, is that after I ordered it, both it and the 2200ULE disappeared from the HeadRoom site alltogether and have yet to return. Is it something I said?

This headphone is pretty weird, and I have to say that without any burn in it sounds like rubbish for $400. More later!

[tkam]

Sounds about right I've never heard a headphone from Ultrasone that didn't sound terrible.

[ojnihs]

Sounds about right I've never heard a headphone from Ultrasone that didn't sound terrible.

x2

[TheSloth]

I've read recording engineers wax lyrical about how neutral these are. This might be an explanation for the horrific quality of so many recordings since the inception of Ultrasone...

[TheSloth]

OK, I burned them in hard all day, have boxed them up and they will be in the mail to HeadRoom tomorrow.

Firstly, the sort-of-good parts. They have very a very powerful bass response. They might even please a bass head, but possibly not quite up to that level. They are definitely bassier than the 650 though, in a somewhat controlled but slightly boomy way. It sounds a little like a subwoofer set too high next to your ear.

The soundstage is interesting. I don't belive a word of this ULE, or S Logic stuff, however the driver placement at the rear bottom of the ear cup does cause a slightly different interaction with the ear. I did find the soundstage to be quite good, particularly with respect to centre panned instruments that did not seem to be drilled into my head. Of course, not surround sound, and not up to a good crossfeed.

Now, the rest of the sound. It's peaky, and yet subtractive at the same time. It's definitely bright, but more in the upper midrange than anywhere else. Wooden stringed instruments sound like they are made of plastic. Singers sound like they have sinus infections and severely blocked noses. The extension, both top and bottom is good, however it is not in balance with itself. There is a distinct lack of body to the sound, with the midrange sucked out until the high end of its range. There is also a discontinuity between low, mid and high frequencies, none of which blend properly into a believable texture.

For $100 this would be an interesting headphone considering the competition. For $200 it would be overpriced. For $400, it's just plain rubbish. It alarms me that recording engineers who work constantly with real life instruments could possibly believe that what they are hearing from these headphones is what is on the recording itself. It isn't even close.

By the way, as this is just basically an open Proline 750, I covered the outer cups to get a sense for the sound of the closed version, and unsurprisingly everything that was bad just got worse. Especially the bass, that was just monstrous, boomy and uncontrolled, and the rest of the frequencies that were compressed and closed in.

I am finding the current choices in the dynamic headphone world increasingly depressing, with regards to real fidelity.

[bhd812]

these are being used by alot of big name dj's these days..not sure if its ultra giving them for product placement or the dj's really think something of them.

I never listened to them and of course would be up for it anytime but considering dj's are using them tells me there on the sony silver crap v series level...no offense to ultra...

then again that holly chick that works for ultrausa is very bang-able

[TheSloth]

Well it was worth a shot! The went off in the mail today back to HeadRoom, despite the fact that after I ordered it they seemed to stop selling them.

Back to the 650 I go...

[n_maher]

Back to the 650 I go...

Not that it's such a bad place to be, right?

I was actually thinking of trying a pair of Ultrasone's since they seem to be the underdog in the headphone game and I really enjoyed speaking with Florian (the founder) at the Nat'l Meet. My wallett is currently unavailable for such an adventure.

[bhd812]

and now we know why the DJs are using them

lol true

[philodox]

Back to the 650 I go...

What about the K340's?

[tkam]

What about the K340's?

People are allowed to like something more than the K340's

[philodox]

People are allowed to like something more than the K340's

Really!?!?!

I know man, it is just that from his K340 thread, it looked like they were getting more use than his Sennheisers.

[TheSloth]

Really!?!?!

I know man, it is just that from his K340 thread, it looked like they were getting more use than his Sennheisers.

The K340's are bothering me at the moment - I still haven't found quite what I'm after. They have some qualities that are superior to the 650 to my ears, but at the moment the 650 is slightly better balanced within itself throughout the spectrum. I'm still working on it, but I can't afford to keep headphones I don't really use so if not there will be a FS for some darn nice condition modded K340's (having removed the squealing bit of cotton - thanks philodox).

[TheSloth]

And regarding ultrasone, I'm still curious about the Hi-Fi 2200 ULE, because from all accounts these are quite the opposite of the peaky and strident 2500's, with a rounded and supposedly warm response. I've actually never heard a driver with titanium coating that didn't sound worse to my ears than the same driver without the said coating...

[philodox]

The K340's are bothering me at the moment - I still haven't found quite what I'm after. They have some qualities that are superior to the 650 to my ears, but at the moment the 650 is slightly better balanced within itself throughout the spectrum. I'm still working on it, but I can't afford to keep headphones I don't really use so if not there will be a FS for some darn nice condition modded K340's.

You may want to contact looser101 first with your price as I know Renato has been thinking about picking up a pair. Hopefully you get things worked out though.

having removed the squealing bit of cotton - thanks philodox

I knew that is what is was! Glad to hear you fixed that.

[Yikes]

TheSloth, Do you really think that one-day burn in and an hour or two listening time is giving them ?a shot!??

Based upon hearing the Ultrasone headphones at the National meet I?d tend to agree with your assessment, but my assessment is preliminary based upon short term listening. If I ordered a set of phones from a dealer I?d feel obligated to give them a fair shot. To me a fair shot would be playing them for about 5 days non-stop before listening critically, then a couple of days listening to determine the headphones actual measure.

At the National I actually felt sorry for the people from Ultrasone. Either they were foolish enough to bring brand new headphones to the meet or none of the headphones IMO were any good. As I said I don?t disagree with you opinion of the Ultrasone?s, I disagree with your referring to your little evaluation as ?a shot!? Why not keep them for a week to see if break-in makes a significant difference?

[TheSloth]

TheSloth, Do you really think that one-day burn in and an hour or two listening time is giving them ?a shot!??

Based upon hearing the Ultrasone headphones at the National meet I?d tend to agree with your assessment, but my assessment is preliminary based upon short term listening. If I ordered a set of phones from a dealer I?d feel obligated to give them a fair shot. To me a fair shot would be playing them for about 5 days non-stop before listening critically, then a couple of days listening to determine the headphones actual measure.

At the National I actually felt sorry for the people from Ultrasone. Either they were foolish enough to bring brand new headphones to the meet or none of the headphones IMO were any good. As I said I don?t disagree with you opinion of the Ultrasone?s, I disagree with your referring to your little evaluation as ?a shot!? Why not keep them for a week to see if break-in makes a significant difference?

Because they are SO far off that I don't consider burn-in to be relevant. I have never ever heard a piece of audio equipment (and I have heard quite a lot - considering you are in the business, probably not as much as you) that changed from being horrifically coloured to somewhat accurate through the burn-in process. From a design standpoint, it would be nonsensical and impossible for the manuf. if it did. How do you design a driver that only works correctly after it's been used for 300 hours or so, and up until that point produces an unrelated output result?

My issues with the ProLINE 2500 were purely ones of FR, as perceived by my ears. It was un-natural, and not remotely reflective to the instrument/s that I work with 8 hours a day, every day of my life. FR does not change dramatically with burn-in. And I do happen to have some recordings of my own as test material.

On top of that, I have a touch of sensitivity to peaky upper midrange frequencies, resulting in mild tinnitus after any exposure to peaky headphones in that department. I simply cannot audition such a headphone for a long period of time, nor should I need to put up with such to be able to come to a conclusion as to whether it is worth something or not.

I auditioned the K701 over a period of months, for all of the reasons you described, and then decided it wasn't quite for me, despite being excellent in most areas. However I only knew to bother with such time invested with the headphone based on my impressions over the first day of use and burn-in - yes there were small changes to the sound through burn in both of me and it over the following months, but not enough to make my initial impressions baseless.

Moreover, when I read the impressions of people who said their initial impression was negative, but they 'got used to' the qualities it posessed, I see that as having nothing to do with burn-in and more to do with the listener becoming used to and coming to believe in the innacurate presentation of instruments. Without a baseline I can see that happening, but I live and work with the same material that I listen to - there is no getting used to that goes on here.

If someone else wants to leave their money invested in them for extra days, burn them in and abuse their ears to give them a shot, then go for it, but that won't be me!

[Guest Jamey]

If someone else wants to leave their money invested in them for extra days, burn them in and abuse their ears to give them a shot, then go for it, but that won't be me!

That would be my job.

[TheSloth]

That would be my job.

Did the Hi-Fi 2200 ULE sound any better? From all accounts, they are supposed to be less peaky and harsh. I hate sending things back, but I'm still shocked at what they sounded like at that price point. Have they not heard the competition?

[Yikes]

When I spoke to the owner at the National he came off as an arrogant prick. When questioned about his reasoning for certain design characteristics that he has chosen he acted as if I had called his wife/child Fugly.

[n_maher]

When I spoke to the owner at the National he came off as an arrogant prick. When questioned about his reasoning for certain design characteristics that he has chosen he acted as if I had called his wife/child Fugly.

Ethan, I could see how you would think that but I've spoken with Florian (the founder) at length about various topics over the past couple of months and found him to be quite plesant to deal with. I know he gets frustrated trying to explain himself in English because he does not speak it very well and maybe that's what you were detecting.