I can’t speak for the other headsets, but the HFI-680 is one grade above the HFI-580 that I listened to, and they were a great pair of headphones. If you’re mainly interested in listening to music and don’t need stuff like surround sound or a microphone, then Ultrasone is a good choice. I thought that the 580s were great but a little pricey; and now that you can get the next model up for far less money, that’s no longer an issue. The original price of $250 gets dropped to $150 — that’s some serious savings, sister.

There’s more info at Ultrasone’s site, of course, but if you just want to dive in, the store is here.

One thing Ultrasone has going for it is portability. Even the bulky 580s folded up into a much more convenient size, so you know that’s one of their priorities. The 15Gs aren’t foldable, but they are extremely light. So light, in fact, that when you pick them up, you immediately think “what is this cheap thing?” Upon closer inspection, you will find that the headband is padded leather (like the armor in D&D) and despite being very plastic-looking, they are well-put together.

The earpieces are soft and have an abundance of foam. You can see the depression in the middle where the sound actually comes out. Putting them on, you can barely feel them; the lightness is noticeable and instantly appreciated. They swivel slightly and adjust to put very little pressure on your ears.

So they’re light, comfortable, and well-built. How do they sound? I’d say they sound quite good for their size. They have a good, balanced sound, a little warmer than the other headphones in my stable, a little more heavy in the mid-lows. Stereo separation was good, but I felt the soundstage extended in a sort of line through my head rather than surrounding me.

They have an open design and sound goes right through them both ways, so these aren’t for use on the subway or anywhere crowded — in-ear headphones are superior in those situations. They also don’t have a microphone so I can’t recommend them for gaming.

The only issue I really had was that the cord is a bit short. It’s actually a little over three feet long, but that’s hardly going to go from your ears to the port on your computer — or if it does, you won’t be leaning back any time soon. It comes with an extender, but that cord is, I kid you not, 12 feet long. Do you want to roll up 12 feet of cable every time you sit down?

I would say that these 15Gs are great travel headphones. They’re light, compact, and seem durable enough to survive plenty of trips in backpacks and briefcases. Working late somewhere or in a hotel, I feel these are the ideal keep-with-you headphones. At $90 I’d say they’re pretty overpriced, though. If you’re not a fan of in-ear headphones (not everyone is built for it), I definitely recommend the 15Gs over any kind of earbuds, although they’re not quite as inconspicuous. They’re nothing revolutionary, but they’re light, comfortable, and have a good, balanced sound.

There’s more info at the Ultrasone site.

The press release is an orgy of superlatives. Do your headphones use genuine Ethiopian sheepskin?

Ultrasone’s Edition 8 Achieves The PinnacleOf Headphone Sophistication

Never before has such attention to detail been given to every aspect of a headphone design; every material and component used in the Edition 8 is second to none…the interior ear cups are covered in fine Ethiopian sheepskin, which provides the most isolation of any leather, while the outer ear cups are covered in Ruthenium…The Edition 8’s drivers provide immaculate detail but are also capable of delivering thunderous bass, the range of these headphones is staggering.

At $1500 a pair, I guess they can afford that sort of decadence. Actually, I think they’re pretty much justified, since these certainly are one of the best-looking pairs of headphones I’ve ever seen. The stats on them are impressive too: 6-42k Hz range, and the new S-Logic Plus technology, which they are debuting. I reviewed a much more moderately priced pair of Ultrasones and found them excellent, but these appear to whup them everywhere, especially in the quality-of-leather department.

I’ve always believed that at about $200 with headphones is the beginning of diminishing returns. And although I’ve had my eyes opened in the last couple years on just what my music can sound like with a good pair of cans, I’m skeptical of the benefits of spending more than this, especially when $200 sounds so good.

Ultrasone is very proud of the technology that goes into their headphones, touting the virtual surround effect, radiation shielding, and lowered sound pressure. I think they have a right to be so, because their S-Logic system for expanding the soundstage works wonderfully.

The HFI-580s reproduced my music very well, and with a feel totally different from the excellent Klipsch in-ear headphones I use with my laptop or pocket player. While the Klipschs seem to put the music beautifully right inside your head, these Ultrasones, as must be expected with a large isolating headphone pair, expand the sound enormously. It seems to be taking place everywhere but your head. Whether you prefer one or the other is a matter of taste, although with movies and games in general I’d say it’s better to go with the “external” sound.

I know my music pretty well, and I’ve found that even with the best headphones there are tradeoffs: songs sound different in one pair than in another, not necessarily better or worse, but depending on what the song has going on, a pair can accentuate or fight against the natural sound. I found this to be the case with the Grails song “Burning off Impurities,” in which I detected a growing theme several seconds earlier due to the way the sound was reproduced, but then a horn part that comes in a minute later (which I love) was much less noticeable than on my speakers.

The sound range was great. I pushed the low end up super high on a few songs to see if the headphones would distort before the equalizer clipped the sound, but the bass remained warm and loud. The high end is powerful, perhaps a bit too much so; when I was testing the headphones out in Far Cry 2, a certain (possibly buggy) sniper rifle’s noise made such a crack every time I fired it that I had to avoid the gun altogether or else turn the volume down when I needed it. The mid range is present but I feel that because of the expanded soundstage, the low and highs overpower it. You can tweak the sound, of course, but the HFI-580s don’t have the incredibly even coverage that my in-ears have.

The headphones also fold up, which is nice. They’re pretty comfortable although you’ll want to take them off occasionally to let your ears breathe. It gets hot in there.

As usual, my review is going on too long. I don’t need to detail the minor shortcomings of these great headphones — it’s more important to say that their best asset is the large soundstage they create, which makes every piece of music simply seem bigger. They’re very powerful and yet, if you believe what Ultrasone says, they produce more loudness with less direct pressure on the eardrum; I think this is because they get that surround sound by bouncing the waves off your pinna. The HFI-580s can be found for quite a bit less than the list price of $200, and if you’re looking for a good pair of closed-type headphones with good isolation and great sound, you can do a lot worse than these.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not an audiophile. I enjoy music and I enjoy good sound but I have yet to be bitten by the high end audio bug. I understand that good audio gear is expensive but have also yet to feel that headphones are worth $1,700.

And yet, why am I so fascinated with the Ultrasone Edition9 headphones, a pair of closed-back cans with natural surround sound and an 8-35,000 Hz frequency range? What makes these headphones better or worse than anything else? What have I been missing?

I began my exploration by just plugging these things into an iPhone and listening to some MP3s. Bad idea. When it comes to audio, garbage-in/garbage-out rules the day so I regrouped and did a little research.

First, my biggest problem with audiophile gear. I cover watches so I understand the luxury gadget industry. When I see a $20,000 watch, I understand, at some visceral level, whether it is worth that much money. Is it handmade? Does it use precious metals or stones? Is the band made from the woven hair of Cuban virgins? Or is the company simply trying to sell a luxury product at a premium price because it wants to part suckers from their money? When I look at high-end audio gear, I see more than a bit of snake oil. While the core gear is nice and sounds great, wooden knobs to reduce vibration and magical electricity straighteners make the entire venture considerably less inviting.

Wanting to come at these headphones with an open mind, however, I asked my audiophile buddies for some advice. They told me to ditch the MP3s and go lossless. I got a few lossless music files, fired them up, and was blown away, with some caveats.

There are two problems I have with high-end audio. First, the brain registers the quality in the first few minutes and then you forget about it. You could stick these cans on my head, make me listen to some Ravel, and then take them off. Half an hour later you could stick ear-buds from a broken Coby CD player into my ears and I’d probably not remember much of a difference. But there’s always that little spot between the first note and forgetting that makes the experience worth it.

The sweet spot on these Edition 9s was right there in front of you, creating a soundscape so detailed that I was amazed at what I was hearing. Best of all, these headphones are designed to offer a sense of loudness even at low levels, ensuring you don’t go deaf while listening to the headphones for most of your life. They are also quite comfortable and filter out most of the surround noise. Now, again, are these worth $1,700, at least to non audio technicians?

I’m up in the air. The audio quality was excellent provided I listened to lossless music in perfect conditions on a good rig. You wouldn’t want to use these traveling or riding the subway. To truly appreciate them you need to sip the music from them in a comfortable setting, like a fine wine. You don’t drink Dom Perignon out of a rinsed out Coke bottle, right? You don’t listen to Mingus on these while sitting in a pool of vomit on the train, either.

So it is with some sadness and mostly relief that I packed these headphones away. Whereas I could recommend a pair of Ultimate Ears or some Sennheisers to any Joe off the street, unless you’re willing to invest in some gold remasters and a smoking jacket, I just don’t feel the impetus to recommend these. If, however, you want amazing sound for an amazing price tag, these are well worth the money. Great audio is a privilege, not a right, and these headphones are proof of that.

Product Page

German high-end headphone manufacturer Ultrasone announced today that it has a few Edition 9 headphones left for sale in the U.S. These limited edition headphones retail for $1,799 and according to Ultrasone are “unrivaled in terms of sonic clarity and transparency.”

We’ve tried a more affordable pair from these guys and the quality is really good. So these are made to be appreciated by true audiophiles and aren’t just one of those fancy-pants pairs that are made to match your Lambo. 

Here’s the press release:

“Wildomar, Calif. – (December 11, 2008) – Ultrasone Inc., distributor for German headphone manufacturer Ultrasone AG, announces the few remaining Edition 9 headphones are available in the U.S. For high-end audio enthusiasts, the Edition 9 headphones are unrivaled in terms of sonic clarity and transparency. The last Edition 9 headphones have a MSRP of $1,799 and are available at select Ultrasone dealers and at www.ultrasone.com.

“The Edition 9s, like the Edition 7s, were among the finest headphones we have ever produced and they have been extremely well received by audiophiles,” remarked Paul Taylor, President of Ultrasone Inc. “To own one of only a handful of limited edition headphones is enticing for audio enthusiasts; I anticipate that the remaining Edition 9 headphones will be sold before the holidays.”

Edition 9

The $1,799 Edition 9 headphones utilize Ultrasone’s finest titanium plated drivers to deliver astounding sonic clarity and transparency. The Edition 9 headphones eye-catching aesthetic is due in large part to the use of the black chrome in both the ear cups and nameplates. The attention to detail in the design of the headphones is made apparent by the use of Ethiopian sheep leather in ear pads and headband pad, ensuring the listener maximum listening comfort. The headphones come in a sleek, metal attaché case for safe storage and transportation.

These much lighter (and cheaper at $109) HFI-15Gs are open-back, meaning sound and air pass through the headphones, although I wouldn’t say it “escapes” from my experience. It uses some of the same tech (S-Logic, a surround sound technique) but has a smaller driver, resulting in the loss of 10Hz at the low end and 2KHz at the high end (range 20Hz-20KHz). I’ll compare them to the more expensive 580s and whatever else I have at my disposal when I get my hands on them.

Ultrasone Edition 9 [Product Page]