Ultrasone HFI-580 S-Logic Surround Sound Professional Headphones

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List Price: $219.00
Sale Price: $162.99
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These headphones are a bargain. After countless positive reviews I took a chance on these and am generally impressed. I, like most others, had to purchase based on reviews since Ultrasone has no retailers in my area. The reviews were bang on.

My criteria were:

-closed cans (good isolation, low to negligible leakage, compact enough for travel).

-efficient (easy to drive, high sensitivity)

-FUN frequency response, with engaging sound.

I have a set of open air ATH-AD700's which have absolutely shining mids and detailed highs but are void of bass. They are about as portable as an agoraphobic. I listen to strings and vocals at home though so I needed something for electronic and dub out and about. For this purpose these are fantastic.

Real quickly I'll just say that both style and build quality are absolutely superb. Feels German: tight and clinically engineered. Both isolation and leakage are at least par for the course. Listening to these at moderate to high volume on a red-eye flight will be a non-issue. Some people have commented on comfort but for my average sized head and ears they are excellent. Not as soft on the skull as the ATH-M50 but not as hot either. Overall a non-issue once again. Cord length is a little long for a portable can, but that's by no means a deal-breaker.

Based on reviews I was expecting the following from these headphones:

-good, punchy, accurate bass response.

-life-like, sparkly highs.

-somewhat recessed mids.

-above average soundstage.

-overall a fun and engaging sound.

It was all true.

At first listen these were actually fairly disappointing: hollow and even tinish comes to mind. I have owned them for about 100 hours now and they have been playing for about 90 of them though, and at this moment they have most definitely evolved, and come to life. Bass response is tight and accurate. If you are a bass head you MAY like these but the bass signature is more suited for audiophile tastes. If you want brain-shaking bass you may be better off with the Sony XB product line and just EQ them for any vocal tracks. The highs absolutely shine. Pendulum, daft punk, Benny Benassi...awesome! Adele, Leona Lewis, Frank Sinatra? Craaaaaaap.

Take note: when people love a particular pair of headphones they tend to cushion the weaknesses of the cans by saying things like "mids are somewhat recessed." What they mean is "the mids are totally, totally recessed." Now I'm probably being overcritical because most people say these benefit from a 200+ hour burn-in and I'm not even half way there. They also affirm that it's the mids that finally come into grasp during the process. We shall see. At any rate, if you listen to vocal extensively then don't get these, there are better alternatives (I'm listening to Mia Martina's "Burning" and due to her vocal frequency the song sounds outstanding). If you are doing vocal tracking steer completely clear.

Compared to the ATH-M50 these are such a delightful step up, unless you are monitoring. They have a more exciting sound, and have most, or all of high-end detail of the M50, without the muddy mid-section. Both sets lack mid-range response but the M50 covers it by seeping the bass into the mids and the result is just not enjoyable for most kinds of music in my opinion. These have soundstage making them somewhat less forgiving but also less pretentious. It's almost as if they warn you only seconds into a strong vocal track that they will not perform their best for songs like this. For almost everything else these will be at least good, and for most ears absolutely fabulous. For build-quality, sound signature, and audio quality (for my genres) they give the sensation of much more expensive headphones.

RECOMMENDED.

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Well the Ultrasone HFI-580's came in today. Guess this is a good as place as any to write my opinion. They sounded so good I had to share. :)

First impression of them. They're very meaty, much meatier than the inexpensive Koss UR-15C I was using prior. (A $20 pair of headphones (when I bought them).) The Koss don't sound "bad" per-se, especially since they've been through multi-hundred hours of burn-in, and have settled in to sound as good as they can.

The looks are very bold, and they look very impressive close up. They may be targeted towards the more edgier crowd, as they're very "in-your-face" and don't have as a muted appearance as some other higher-end phones. Could be good or bad on your point of view, personally I really like it.

Now, the sound. Since comparing it to the Koss is a travesty in and of itself (as it utterly dominates them), my other comparison comes from Sony MDR-710 LP ($70 when I bought them, Ultraportable supra-aural headphones. Owned for going on 2 years.)

Now the Sony's sound pretty darn good, but they are supra-aural versus the Ultrasone and Koss which are circum-aural. The Sony are the reason I decided to purchase these Ultrasone, because they really opened up how a decent pair of headphones can really change the way you listen to things. I have also owned a great many cheap earbuds and circum-aural headphones in my life($5 10), so I know how the sound stacks up to cheapy's too.

Being circum-aural has advantages because of attenuation of outside noise. I first thought about gushing about how awesome they sound, but then I decided some actual thought out impressions would be more helpful. :) It's hard to describe since I'm not in the habit of reviewing headphones, so I don't know all of the terms one uses to describe the nuances of headphones to another person, but here it goes.

The sound is very "rich" compared to my other headphones I own, I don't know how to put it, there is more detail and it just sounds "fuller". I intentionally picked tracks I had listened to many times, because I knew how they sounded pretty well from my other pairs. I was picking up pitch shifts in notes and sounds that were previously undetectable. It just seems like it covers a much broader range of sound and the sound is fantastic. I listened both to CD music, and mp3's. I didn't have any DVD audio to test... other than DVD movies.

Bass. As I said the bass notes are very important to me. They actually tie the Sony MDR-710 here, you'd be surprised at how bassy those little Sony's are, and I might go so far as to say they actually have more bass than the Ultrasones. But again, it just seemed like the Ultrasone's convey more detail in bass, probably due to being more isolated from the circum-aural design. (Keep in mind the Sony's have about 40 hours of burn-in, and the Ultrasone's are out of the box.)

On DVD's, again I was picking up more detail. The sound of peoples clothes as they rubbed together was one thing that stuck out. Footsteps, breathing, just overall much more sound detail. I was pretty impressed overall, I watched Matrix Reloaded to test the action scenes. (Say what you want about the movie itself but the action scenes are incredible.)

Gaming. Well what better game to test on than GTA-IV since it just came out. (I chose the 360 to test on because my PC although using optical out to my receiver does not output 5.1 from the optical out.) I figured here is where the much touted "S-Logic" feature pattented by Ultrasone would finally show it's colors. It just sounded like a really good pair of stereo headphones, although I haven't ever listened to a pair of "true" 5.1's (3 speakers & sub in each ear cup). But from what I read, most 5.1 headphones can't deliver other than LTB. I did actually shop around for 5.1 headphones but I didn't find any with the right combination of features and aesthetics that appealed to me (USB-based is automatic disqualification for me).

So maybe S-Logic does work, this is something I will just have to give more than 30 minutes to. I did actually stand stationary and close my eyes and spin the control stick until I was unsure of my position, then slowly started rotating, detecting if sound was coming from left or right is easy as it only plays in one ear, but as it came to front to back, I did manage to accurately pick if the source was coming from in front of me or behind me 3/3 times. This is only a rough test and 3/3 could have just been luck, but I didn't spend much more time testing this.

Ultrasone claims you can achieve the same level of listening volume with lower decibles, due to their S-Logic off-center drivers, this was something I didn't believe and was skeptical of. Turns out it is true and then some, I actually had to turn the volume down a bit from what I usually have it set it.

Overall I am very impressed and think it was money well spent. They won't be replacing the Sony as those are so compact when they fold up and can slip into a pocket easily. Rather they will compliment them mainly for home use and some mixing.

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I have had these headphones for a few weeks now and I absolutely love them, they sound amazing. Put simply they sound like movie theatre speakers/club speakers.

**IMPORTANT** They have a "V" shaped sound curve, which means the lows/bass are forward, mids are recessed and highs are forward. They are FANTASTIC for techno, rap and for my tastes good for hard metal. For music with mostly mids, like jazz, classical, orchastra ect these are not ideal. That being said I still love listening to soundtrack/orchastra music on these, it sounds way better on these than on my macbook pro speakers. The bass is always loud but is not overpowering or muddy.

PROS

Sound quality throughout the sound spectrum, BASS if you love bass get these!! Build quality, 5 year warranty, They go LOUD, decentralized drivers reduces listening fatigue/hearing damage(Ultrasone claims 40% less and I agree), Surround Sound does work well, very good sound isolation (keeps your music in and cuts background noise).

CONS

Comfort is mediocre, they are not uncomfortable but can become uncomfortable if you listen for extended periods of time. Portability, the cord is 10ft long, and is not detachable. Long burn in time, Ultrasone says 50 hrs.

DETAILS

Lows/Bass, As said before the lows are incredible. They can produce a phenomenal loud rumble, that is lower than my macbook pro speakers can go. The bass is loud and VERY punchy, at moderately loud volumes I can feel the bass kick in my ears. They are incredibly fun to listen to, especially with techno music, the BOOM BOOM is addictive. Bass guitar sounds great on these too, loud, punchy and much lower and less flat than it sounds on my macbook pro. The bass is also very clear and tight, I can clearly hear the bass guitar strings vibrating. The bass is loud without being overpowering, this is even more the case when they are burnt in(yes burn in does make a difference)

Mids: The mids are very clear and very, very good (though not quite as good as the lows/highs)and can be intruded upon by the bass, you can clearly hear lows in the background taking center-stage along with your mids during a mids part of a song. This is less of a problem once they are burned in and to what degree this happens to depends greatly on the song. That being said this sound characteristic has grown on me and I like it for metal and most orchestra stuff. If the bass is too much you can use Itunes or another equalizer to turn it down, in my experience this totally solves the problem.

Highs: Fantastic, crisp, clear and never shrill or piercing. In my experience these wont make highs that would hurt your ears in situations where other headphones would. The highs are a bit loud compared to the recessed mids.

Comfort: The earcups are very comfortable, the headband does not have a ton of padding (though the padding there does soften up). After about and hour of listening the headband can bother the top of your head a bit but in my experience a simple adjustment, pulling them back or forward, will fix that. For VERY VERY 2hrs+ long listening sessions you may want to take a break for a few mins. Other ppl complain about the clamp they have on your head, I don't have a very wide head and I never found this to be an issue. They also stretch out and lose the clamping effect.

Build quality: I have only had them for a few weeks but they seem very sturdy, I wear glasses with them and have them on for about an hour each day. The glasses leave indents in the earcups but this goes away and it has not done any damage or left any permanent marks. The cord is very long, 10 ft, and is not detachable, but it is very thick and sturdy, it is thicker than a mac charger cable and almost as thick as a ps2 controller cable.

LACK OF LISTENING FATIGUE: The decentralized drivers eliminate any fatigue on your ears. I listen to them at moderatley loud volumes and they don't bother my ears while other headphones would. Ultrasone claims 40% less pressure on your ear drums and I agree. For those who care about their hearing but like loud music, this is a major +

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In my opinion, these are the best headphones you can get at this price range. It's a steal for what Amazon is selling them for these days. Even after paying duties (I live in Canada), I was more than happy with the price. That said, I haven't tried the famous M50s from Audio Technica, which I think are the basis for comparison for closed cans under $200.

The reason why I chose these over the M50s came down to portability. These aren't THAT much smaller, but they feel smaller and easier to carry. The M50s just seem too big for my liking when listening to my iPod.

In terms of sound, I've tried these straight from an iPhone and they are very easy to drive. One of the biggest things I like is that they leak very little sound, even at high volumes. The bass is deep and very strong, at times even in-your-face strong, but never uncomfortable. Highs are very clear and not too sparkly. Mids are a bit recessed but they are definitely present. The soundstage is great. Since the headphones are easy to drive, using an amp won't make that much of a difference, but I tried them with my Fiio E17 and still they sounded wonderful.

Build quality is superb. Sturdy and stylish. They are mostly made of plastic, but don't let that fool you. I can't hear any creaking on my set. My only two complaints would be that the ear pads fit too tight over your ears. It's as if the head band itself is too tight and closed. But it is definitely not a deal breaker. The other is the HUGE cable. Seriously, I can wrap it around my iPhone until you can't recognize it's an iPhone anymore! But the upside is you can listen to your home setup from a distance.

As of this review, I own three pairs of headphones: the 580s, a set of D2000s, and a set of Shure 535 IEMs. I think I got all my bases covered now. The Denons are great for home listening. The 580s give me my bass fix on the go. And the Shure give me the balance I like when listening to non-electronic music. If only I had more money to spend on headphones...

Either way, get these! You won't regret it at this price ($120 at time of writing).

EDIT: a full month after owning these, I have returned them and got the Audio-Technica M50 instead. The tightness of the Ultrasone clamp, coupled with the poor padding, made the headphones incredibly uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. If you have a big head, these may not be for you. Really happy with the Audio-Technica now. Audio quality is on par with the Ultrasone. The only thing perhaps is that the Ultrasone set had way punchier bass (not to say the Audio-Technicas don't, just not as much).

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After 80 hours of break-in, I'm really impressed with the 580s. They've calmed down and opened up into a powerful and energetic sounding headphone with amazing bass.

I've listened to the 580s on an unamped Clip+, a PC with a Asus Xonar D1, and a PC with a Asus Xonar Essence STX, using a mix of mostly FLACS and some high bit rate MP3s (generally v0 VBR or 320kbps). Obviously, the HFI-580s perform a little better at higher volumes with deep bass with the dedicated headphone amp of the STX, but their low impedance allowed them to even sound excellent with the Clip+. In fact, it's amazing to think about how one could get amazing bass sound out of a Clip+ and the HFI-580s for less than what an iPod Touch costs.

The 580s strong point is obviously with EDM and other bass heavy music, which I listen to about half the time. No contest. The HFI 580s are great, an all around better headphone than my Sony MDR-V6s. When it comes to mid-bass and low frequency bass, the HFI-580s are like a good enthusiast level sub paired with mid level towers in a home audio setup; I know that they are hitting down pretty low. In listening to Ludacris's Get Back, I could feel a slight tingling in my arms from the ultra low frequencies. With other bass heavy EDM tracks, the 580s could put out significant midbass slam pressure that one can feel on the ears.

With other genres where there is any mid-bass or lower, the HFI 580 really does a nice job of foregrounding the bass for those that want that, and pleasurably so given the quality. For instance, last week I watched the Godfather. Since I occasionally get into a classical kick, I decided to listen to Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra's Theme from the Godfather. The bass in that piece is so important for the tone, and the HFI 580 did a marvelous job of conveying the mood of the song. Then when coupled with the nice bass fill, the S-Logic soundstaging also did a marvelous job for me on the new Incubus HQ Live album.

So as others have pointed out, it's all there with a good tight powerful bass sound with plenty of texture. It really is like having an expensive sub built right in your phones. I own quite a few good subs, and the bass in the 580s is of equivalent quality to what you would have to spend $500 to $1000 MSRP for a sub for home audio at BestBuy. For anyone who would consider themselves in the car audio subwoofer SQ group, the HFI 580 would be an excellent choice. Although I could see how those listeners that would belong in the car audio SPL subwoofer crowd might be disappointed. The bass seems to be running a little hot, but maybe not massively enough for serious SPL bassheads (although bass EQ and a headphone amp could cure that).

Finally, I also have seen some comments on Amazon complaining a lot about sibiliance. I think some of those comments are a result of one or more of the following three factors:

1) Not enough break-in. While the treble is a little aggressive and bright (that can be tamed with a little EQ), burn-in greatly improves on what they sound like out of the box.

2) Revealing nature of the headphones. The treble does have some good clarity, and poorly recorded EDM and rock is going to reveal itself. At the same time, I'm also hearing detail that was not there before in good recordings.

3) The recessed mids, which stress the treble. Particularly if listening to something that is bass light where the treble will call even more attention to itself.

All-in-all, I wish I could give these headphones 5 1/2 stars!!!