[Matkinson121]

Hi there,
 
I've not been into headphones for a while now. I haved owned a pair of HD595 headphones for a few years now and love them, although I haven't used them in ages now as I got into speakers a lot more.
 
Anyways, I'm in Selfridges in Birmingham today and there was a pair of Ultrasone Edition 8 headphones and always wanted to try these out. I listened to Euphoric by James Labrie (it was the demo song...which I love and found odd to be a demo song but certainly wasn't going to complain)
 
It did not sound fantastic at all. I know it's no audiophile grade song but...boy oh boy would I be disappointed if I had just spent over £1000 on these. The bass sounded way over the top and the upper mids and treble sounded thin and odd...almost distant, although I suppose they did sound clear.
 
I then listened to some other demo song on the nearby Grado SR125i headphones which sounded infinitely better (although was with a different song and genre so was a bad comparison)
 
I remember a while back trying some HD800 headphones with an amp etc which was playing 'When I didn't care' by Sara K and remember it sounding absolutely stunning.
 
Strange stuff. Just thought I would throw my brief encounter with these headphones out there.

 

[darkbluemn]

I owned a pair of ED8 romeo. I agree with you to some extent. Actually, it is just different from other headphones, it has wonderful detail and treble, but not in mid. Another disadvantage is its soundstage, too small. But I found some good amps for ED8, now it sound really good in my system.

 

[Aizura]

I've had Pro 900 and HFI 580 and they sounded strange. Mids very distant, exaggerated bass and metallic, shrill treble. They sounded only good for EDM (though painful at times). Comparing them with things like DT48, HD600, K701, HD25 while playing acoustic or vocals was just a joke. The Ultrasones sounded so artificial, they sounded broken.
 
I haven't heard ED8, but since people say all Ultrasone have the same "house sound" I expect ED8 to have this weird sound too.

 

[Matkinson121]

  I've had Pro 900 and HFI 580 and they sounded strange. Mids very distant, exaggerated bass and metallic, shrill treble. They sounded only good for EDM (though painful at times). Comparing them with things like DT48, HD600, K701, HD25 while playing acoustic or vocals was just a joke. The Ultrasones sounded so artificial, they sounded broken.
 
I haven't heard ED8, but since people say all Ultrasone have the same "house sound" I expect ED8 to have this weird sound too.

 
This describes my experience perfectly. I thought I was just having too high standards.
 
They sounded awfully coloured to me.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Half of the cost of the Ed8 is the materials used - the alloy cup and the lambskin leather. At the time it came out though the only competition was a few Sonys IIRC, and for those who need something more stylish and had a lot of money, well...Ethiopian lambskin. Personally, as much as I was alright with the sound, it was too expensive, plus as much as this was the kind of headphones you wouldn't mind wearing in public (slim, sealed cups; Ethiopian lambskin...oooh, Queen of Sheba stuff), there are IEMs and if you don't like them there's the Focal Spirit Classic and Spirit Pro, plus the AKG K550 and 551. Among those I'd likely recommend the Spirit Pro nowadays - it's slim, reasonably stylish, but the material is rugged plastic that can weather the scratches from daily use.

 

[Matkinson121]

  Half of the cost of the Ed8 is the materials used - the alloy cup and the lambskin leather. At the time it came out though the only competition was a few Sonys IIRC, and for those who need something more stylish and had a lot of money, well...Ethiopian lambskin. Personally, as much as I was alright with the sound, it was too expensive, plus as much as this was the kind of headphones you wouldn't mind wearing in public (slim, sealed cups; Ethiopian lambskin...oooh, Queen of Sheba stuff), there are IEMs and if you don't like them there's the Focal Spirit Classic and Spirit Pro, plus the AKG K550 and 551. Among those I'd likely recommend the Spirit Pro nowadays - it's slim, reasonably stylish, but the material is rugged plastic that can weather the scratches from daily use.

Even if they were £500, I would still be disappointed.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Even if they were £500, I would still be disappointed.

 
Especially now with the Focal Spirit Classic and Pro. The Ed8's don't even have the angled driver mounts (S-Logic in marketing-speak).