Dear Headfellows,When it comes to closed headphones the ones made by the small Bavarian company Ultrasone have always belonged to my personal favourites. You might imagine that I got very excited when a few months ago Mr. Zirkel, the general manager of Ultrasone, told me that they would bring a state-of-the-art phone, the so-called Edition7. The phone would be produced in a limited series of 999 devices only. The price of this exclusive item: EUR 2690,- ( > USD 3000,-) !!!!
One of my regular customers ordered this phone and allowed me to give it some extended listening. Thanks Peter!
When the phone arrived my first impression was that of WOW!
The phone comes in a beautiful box, made of Rosewood. A small metal plaque on the top shows the Edition7 Symbol and the series number. Really nice!
The second impression comes when the box is opened and the phone is unpacked. Instead of a nice foam/velvet padding all items are placed in a plastic blister with a velvet-like grey-colored surface. Nice for a headphone that costs a few hundred bucks but in the price range of the Edition7 I would have expected something better.
Placed inside the blister we find the headphone, an extension cable, a ¼" > 1/8" adapter, a small user manual and a small blue towel to clean the phones, everything neatly arranged.
The color grey dominates: Cables and adapter are grey as well as the leather earpads of the headphone.
The cables are surprisingly thin. With a high-end headphone I always associate thick high-end cables. But then, it's not always the size that matters, isn't it? :-) Yet, I somehow feel that these are not the best cables that could have been chosen.
It's not difficult to recognize the phone as a real Ultrasone. The headband is exactly the same as that used for the other Ultrasone models. It's foldable and very sturdy but for a +2000,- device I would have expected it to be made of a material more noble than black plastic.
The shape of the earcups does resemble the earcups of the other models but these cups are flattened and each is finished with a nice metal plate with the Edition7 Logo. The earcups are lacquered with a high-gloss blue coating. Pretty!
The pads are made from leather from the Ethiopian hair sheep and have a nice feeling. The phone does clamp a little bit but this might change with time. Moreover, I'm a true big head!
The phone is rather heavy (310 grams) and the lack of ventilation due to the closed design will become evident at longer listening sessions. Moreover, the pads aren't very thick and the tips of my ears do tend to touch the inside of the earcup. Comfort as such isn't bad but the phone isn't very suited for very long listening sessions either.
The most important aspect of any phone of course is sound. Before I started listening this one got a decent 48 hours break-in. I didn't do very extensive tests so please see my comments just as impressions and not as a very detailed description of a sonic signature.
The first sonic impression given by the phone is that of BASS! Deep, almost visceral bass that has a slight tendency to overpower all other sonic information.
Second impression: This phone lacks those typical colorations that can be found with most closed headphones. Its sound is clean and smooth, even at very high sound levels. More then any other headphone this one can be driven to insane sound levels without getting colored, harsh or grainy. The driver, which is made of titanium and mylar seems to be something very special indeed and resonances inside/off the earcup seem to be very well damped.
It soon became clear to me that this is the best closed headphone that I ever had heard in my life. Instead of a direct comparison with other closed models I therefore decided to compare with one of the best open headphones, the HD600. This phone is a real classic and is known by many. It represents a kind of standard.
In comparison to the Edition7 the HD600 is more airy, has slightly more extended heights and bass is less pronounced. Strong point of the HD600 is a silky midrange that makes the phone very easy to listen to.
Sound of the Edition7 is more down-to-earth. Warm and deep. Details are well defined but the phone will never sound as feather light and sparkling as a well designed open system.
In stereo reproduction the deep bass can be problematic, especially if it is produced in one channel only. To hear low frequencies in just one ear is very unnatural and is one of the major reasons that many people don't like headphones. Since the Edition7 tends to accentuate the lower frequencies I found this effect to be more annoying then usual with various recordings.
The situation becomes different with the use of crossfeed. I never heard any other headphone before that benefited as much from crossfeed as the Edition7. The phone has been listened to by various people and each noted how remarkably spacious and natural soundstage became if crossfeed was activated. The drivers of Ultrasone headphones are slightly displaced from centre position in order to use the individual ear shape to create a more natural soundstage. As such it complements the function of a crossfeed filter. The combined result is truly impressive and highly rewarding.
When I write this down the phone has been collected just a few hours ago by its new owner, and I feel sorry that it's gone. Even though the sonic balance is not completely up to my taste the Edition7 is definitely one hell of a closed headphone and I'm sure many would love it. Whether it's worth its high price is not something that I will comment though. That's what everybody has to decide for himself.
Happy listenings,
Jan
posted 12-14-2003 05:22 PM CST (US) 
