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I've been in the audio game ever since mid-2008 when I decided to buy myself a pair of JVC HA-RX700. Since then, I've owned four other full-sized headphones, one of them being another RX700. Well, after selling 3/4 of my full-sized collection last month, I decided that my shelf looked empty and that it was high time to get another headphone.
We'll start off with the specs and what's included in the package and build up to the meat of a headphone review: the sound quality and the comfort.
But first...pictures.
On the Amazon page where I ordered the headphones from, it depicted them as being dark blue OR gray and black. I was rather confused. I had no idea which color was expecting until I opened the box. The gray areas are actually coated with a rubbery texture similar to what is found on the back of the original Sansa Fuze and some phone cases.
Tech Specs:
S-Logic: Natural Surround Sound
Dynamic principle
Frequency range 10-22.000 Hz
Impedance 64 Ohm
Sound pressure level 102 dB
MU Metal bufferboard, reduced field emissions
in accordance with ULE (=Ultra Low Emission) standard
Driver 50 mm Mylar
Weight 295 g (without cord)
What's in the Box:
The headphones
one straight (length ca. 0.8 m) cable for use with MP3 players
one coiled (length > 3 m) cable with gold-plated 6.3 mm plug
Spare pair of speed-switch ear pads (pleather)
Demo CD
Instruction manual
Setup:
Creative X-Fi Titanium HD -> RCA -> Little Dot MKII with gain of 3
EQ is FLAT.
One Hour Review:
When I first put this headphone on with some Euro dance music, the thing I noticed was the sheer number of details and the huge soundstage. Out of all the closed headphones I've owned so far, this is definitely the winner. I never thought a closed headphone could do that.
The bass is really prominent with my setup. Coming from the bass-light, treble monster (JVC HA-DX3), this is a completely different animal. It is literally head-pounding bass if you turn it up high enough. Even with the bass presence, it still maintains its posture in the vocals, mids and treble.
The mids can be deemed somewhat tame compared to my DX3 as is the treble. It does not need an EQ to sound balanced to my ears so that's definitely a good thing.
Comfort:
Kind of weird coming from cloth pads on my HA-DX3. The pads are pleather, the headband is as well. There's enough cushioning that my head never touches the plastic portions of the headband. The headphone doesn't also fit on the left side of my head when I first put it on. Some adjusting may be required or the sound may be off a bit. I've heard this is an Ultrasone thing with the S-Logic. Now that I've fixed that issue, I still have yet to keep these headphones on for more than an hour.
Overall, a very enjoyable headphone so far. It maintains the details from my JVC HA-DX3, keeps me happy with ample bass, and has a soundstage to boot.
In-depth gaming and music analysis to follow once I get a chance to give these things some time to burn in.
Headphones Owned (in order):
JVC HA-RX700 (unmodified)
JVC HA-RX900
Sennheiser HD595
JVC HA-DX3
JVC HA-RX700 (recabled, RX900 pads, headband, Dynamat, felt removal)
Ultrasone PRO 550
EDIT:
Update after 100 Hours:
The general sound signature hasn't changed and neither has the sound stage. I think the bass may have decreased in quantity slightly but that may be attributed to me not wanting to use an amplifier for gaming (which I finally got around to doing last night). The sound stage is really vast and details are easily separated. This not only applies in music but very much so in BC2 which is what I used to test the gaming aspect.
The sound stage is definitely noticeable. In the song Eminem - Bítch Please II, there are car horns on the left channel at about 30 seconds. It made me turn my head to my left because I thought there was a car beside me. I don't remember the last time I did that having heard so many headphones. Wow.
Gaming Performance:
Done without the Little Dot MKII amplifier.
The first time I booted up BC2, I was welcomed by a huge sound stage just in the menu. None of my previous headphones have done that. Even more impressive was when I first joined a server and people were spawning. I spectated for a little bit and I was able to hear so many people's footsteps on Nelson Bay.
In actual close quarter combat, nearby enemy footsteps are very noticeable. In one case, I walked upstairs in a house, and heard footsteps beside me. I spun around and found no one there but I knew I wasn't alone. Turns out there was a sniper in the room beside me. Guy didn't even know I was coming. Win. Another advantage of having a large sound stage in BC2 is using enemy voices to point out their location. The PRO 550 does this very well and you get a real feeling of direction and distance.
I do think there is a flaw with the headphone for sounds that are behind you. I think I'm missing about 60º of my rear because the headphone projects most things to the front of the stage. That's still fine for my BC2 gaming purposes, where in most of the cases, I'm playing Rush and rarely have to deal with people behind me.
Overall, I've found a nice headphone. Having never heard an Ultrasone before, I didn't know what I was expecting other than what people have told me and posted on forums. I'm glad I pulled the trigger on this.
EDIT:
Update after 4 Months:
The pads have been swapped for the Ultrasone PRO750's pads. It's a really easy process that involves twisting the old ones off and putting the new ones on. I bought them directly from Ultrasone for $55 or so including shipping. It is quite the price to pay for earpads especially considering the headphone itself was only $150. Hey, it's still cheaper than buying a new PRO750 or PRO900, right?
Overall, the sound signature hasn't changed much. The salesperson at Ultrasone indicated that it might change the sound but in my opinion, it definitely did not make a turn for the worse. In fact, I think the bass is a bit more tame than it used to be and is slightly more refined. No other frequency ranges have changed.
Comfort wise, I think this will definitely make my gaming session tonight not so sweaty. Still will require some time for breaking in but this is definitely an accessory to consider for all you PRO550 owners out there!
EDIT:
2012 Cable Update
A lot of you guys took my advice to get the Aurum cable extension to use with the short straight cable. My Aurum cable has gotten pretty beaten up and now has a bent plug and I realized that ever since my Titanium HD died (leaving only my STX), I've been having to use a 3.5 mm to 6.3 mm adapter. Effectively, I was making a ton of contact points: screw on portion to the short cable -> short cable to the Aurum 3.5 mm -> Aurum to 6.3 mm adapter and then finally into the STX. I decided last Saturday to purchase this cable from Ultrasone, which would effectively reduce the number of connections made to just be screw-on -> 6.3 mm termination to STX. This is what I ended up getting:

That is clearly...not the $27.80 cable I paid for. As it turns out, Ultrasone sent me this one. Wait, $75.60?!
I'm not sure how much success you guys are going to get but this is awesome.
Links to Accessories:
Ultrasone PRO750 pads (black)
Aurum 6' extension cable (3.5 mm jack)
Ultrasone Long Straight Cable (3 m, 6.3 mm jack) - Direct replacement for short cable
Ultrasone Long Straight Cable from PRO900 (3 m, 6.3 mm Neutrik jack) - Direct replacement for short cable from the PRO900
We'll start off with the specs and what's included in the package and build up to the meat of a headphone review: the sound quality and the comfort.
But first...pictures.


On the Amazon page where I ordered the headphones from, it depicted them as being dark blue OR gray and black. I was rather confused. I had no idea which color was expecting until I opened the box. The gray areas are actually coated with a rubbery texture similar to what is found on the back of the original Sansa Fuze and some phone cases.
Tech Specs:
S-Logic: Natural Surround Sound
Dynamic principle
Frequency range 10-22.000 Hz
Impedance 64 Ohm
Sound pressure level 102 dB
MU Metal bufferboard, reduced field emissions
in accordance with ULE (=Ultra Low Emission) standard
Driver 50 mm Mylar
Weight 295 g (without cord)
What's in the Box:
The headphones
one straight (length ca. 0.8 m) cable for use with MP3 players
one coiled (length > 3 m) cable with gold-plated 6.3 mm plug
Spare pair of speed-switch ear pads (pleather)
Demo CD
Instruction manual
Setup:
Creative X-Fi Titanium HD -> RCA -> Little Dot MKII with gain of 3
EQ is FLAT.
One Hour Review:
When I first put this headphone on with some Euro dance music, the thing I noticed was the sheer number of details and the huge soundstage. Out of all the closed headphones I've owned so far, this is definitely the winner. I never thought a closed headphone could do that.
The bass is really prominent with my setup. Coming from the bass-light, treble monster (JVC HA-DX3), this is a completely different animal. It is literally head-pounding bass if you turn it up high enough. Even with the bass presence, it still maintains its posture in the vocals, mids and treble.
The mids can be deemed somewhat tame compared to my DX3 as is the treble. It does not need an EQ to sound balanced to my ears so that's definitely a good thing.
Comfort:
Kind of weird coming from cloth pads on my HA-DX3. The pads are pleather, the headband is as well. There's enough cushioning that my head never touches the plastic portions of the headband. The headphone doesn't also fit on the left side of my head when I first put it on. Some adjusting may be required or the sound may be off a bit. I've heard this is an Ultrasone thing with the S-Logic. Now that I've fixed that issue, I still have yet to keep these headphones on for more than an hour.
Overall, a very enjoyable headphone so far. It maintains the details from my JVC HA-DX3, keeps me happy with ample bass, and has a soundstage to boot.
In-depth gaming and music analysis to follow once I get a chance to give these things some time to burn in.
Headphones Owned (in order):
JVC HA-RX700 (unmodified)
JVC HA-RX900
Sennheiser HD595
JVC HA-DX3
JVC HA-RX700 (recabled, RX900 pads, headband, Dynamat, felt removal)
Ultrasone PRO 550
EDIT:
Update after 100 Hours:
The general sound signature hasn't changed and neither has the sound stage. I think the bass may have decreased in quantity slightly but that may be attributed to me not wanting to use an amplifier for gaming (which I finally got around to doing last night). The sound stage is really vast and details are easily separated. This not only applies in music but very much so in BC2 which is what I used to test the gaming aspect.
The sound stage is definitely noticeable. In the song Eminem - Bítch Please II, there are car horns on the left channel at about 30 seconds. It made me turn my head to my left because I thought there was a car beside me. I don't remember the last time I did that having heard so many headphones. Wow.
Gaming Performance:
Done without the Little Dot MKII amplifier.
The first time I booted up BC2, I was welcomed by a huge sound stage just in the menu. None of my previous headphones have done that. Even more impressive was when I first joined a server and people were spawning. I spectated for a little bit and I was able to hear so many people's footsteps on Nelson Bay.
In actual close quarter combat, nearby enemy footsteps are very noticeable. In one case, I walked upstairs in a house, and heard footsteps beside me. I spun around and found no one there but I knew I wasn't alone. Turns out there was a sniper in the room beside me. Guy didn't even know I was coming. Win. Another advantage of having a large sound stage in BC2 is using enemy voices to point out their location. The PRO 550 does this very well and you get a real feeling of direction and distance.
I do think there is a flaw with the headphone for sounds that are behind you. I think I'm missing about 60º of my rear because the headphone projects most things to the front of the stage. That's still fine for my BC2 gaming purposes, where in most of the cases, I'm playing Rush and rarely have to deal with people behind me.
Overall, I've found a nice headphone. Having never heard an Ultrasone before, I didn't know what I was expecting other than what people have told me and posted on forums. I'm glad I pulled the trigger on this.
EDIT:
Update after 4 Months:


The pads have been swapped for the Ultrasone PRO750's pads. It's a really easy process that involves twisting the old ones off and putting the new ones on. I bought them directly from Ultrasone for $55 or so including shipping. It is quite the price to pay for earpads especially considering the headphone itself was only $150. Hey, it's still cheaper than buying a new PRO750 or PRO900, right?
Overall, the sound signature hasn't changed much. The salesperson at Ultrasone indicated that it might change the sound but in my opinion, it definitely did not make a turn for the worse. In fact, I think the bass is a bit more tame than it used to be and is slightly more refined. No other frequency ranges have changed.
Comfort wise, I think this will definitely make my gaming session tonight not so sweaty. Still will require some time for breaking in but this is definitely an accessory to consider for all you PRO550 owners out there!
EDIT:
2012 Cable Update
A lot of you guys took my advice to get the Aurum cable extension to use with the short straight cable. My Aurum cable has gotten pretty beaten up and now has a bent plug and I realized that ever since my Titanium HD died (leaving only my STX), I've been having to use a 3.5 mm to 6.3 mm adapter. Effectively, I was making a ton of contact points: screw on portion to the short cable -> short cable to the Aurum 3.5 mm -> Aurum to 6.3 mm adapter and then finally into the STX. I decided last Saturday to purchase this cable from Ultrasone, which would effectively reduce the number of connections made to just be screw-on -> 6.3 mm termination to STX. This is what I ended up getting:
That is clearly...not the $27.80 cable I paid for. As it turns out, Ultrasone sent me this one. Wait, $75.60?!
I'm not sure how much success you guys are going to get but this is awesome.

Links to Accessories:
Ultrasone PRO750 pads (black)
Aurum 6' extension cable (3.5 mm jack)
Ultrasone Long Straight Cable (3 m, 6.3 mm jack) - Direct replacement for short cable
Ultrasone Long Straight Cable from PRO900 (3 m, 6.3 mm Neutrik jack) - Direct replacement for short cable from the PRO900