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Early Impressions:
Pros: +No harsh treble +Fun but clear bass +warm lower mids and polite upper mids. +low masking and decent resolution for the price +S-Logic works, fairly clear and good soundstage in a closed headphone +High sensitivity = easy to drive from laptop or smartphone dongle. +cushy headband +lightweight +most of the weight and clamp is distributed. +folding +easy to clean, pads aren’t sticky +my sample came with a 6.5mm coiled “studio” cable, a 3.5mm cable, and another 3.5mm cable with TRRS connector and an inline microphone on the cable for smartphone and gaming use. +sparkling gray circles around “Signature X” logo add fun pizazz. Cons -“No Nonsense” studio build reminiscent of Sennheiser HD 280 Pro, tough and light plastic but creaks when adjusting. -Firm clamp. -Folding mechanism allows earcups to flop around when not in use. -The type of circumaural pads that press the edge of the outer ear flat on your head, so some of the clamp pressure is on your ears. Overall: I think people looking for a closed-back headphone that sounds more open than cheap closed headphones ought to take a look. It’s a good headphone to wear while walking around. The warmer sound signature was not what I was expecting from the brand, the tone is overall a pleasant surprise. The S-Logic 3 does seem to add a more “speaker like” feeling of soundstage, combined with the bass grunt. My first two cons aren’t really a problem while wearing the headphone, and I feel like it would survive school life or most studio life (folds to fit into a small bag, but the included case is nice!). If you want a artsy object, get the Meze Noir… but the rough and tumble Ultrasone sounds less “small space” and more open. I think it’s important people expect this to be a closed headphone that probably touches the outer edge of the ear, making YMMV very true here: I know some people can marathon this style of earpad, but I like to take a break and let my ears relax after every hour of listening. Anecdotally, my wife specifically found these earpads MORE comfortable and less weird than my fully circumaural headphones like the HD 560S. I have kept coming back to it because I’ve been enjoying the sound.
(Edited)
EvshrugSorry I don’t have measurement gear here guys… but I currently don’t have the means to get good measurement gear anyway.
Lerrens
33
Nov 22, 2022
Evshrugany chance if you can share impressions compared to other similarly priced headphones like HD560S or DT770?
LerrensSadly I don’t have a DT 770 or DT 177X, I agree those would be useful comparisons. But I do have an HD 560S, I’ll do some A&B and write some points of similarity and difference after I finish chores.
EvshrugFamily emergencies… grandpa needs to go into memory care and have people available 24/7 so he doesn’t hurt himself or others. Obviously emergencies are priority and difficult, but I still mean to compare this with the HD 560S when I can. I can already say that they’re fundamentally for different purposes (open vs closed) and your needs there will dictate a lot of your choice between them. I greatly prefer the comfort of the HD 560S, I can wear them for many hours, but the Signature X can be used in more environments… like a hospital waiting room, when you really need an oasis to keep you from having a panic attack. Sound Bath playlists are my friends right now. I mentioned before, my wife doesn’t wear any headphones for more than a short time (like 3-5 songs, maybe a full album, listens to music mostly at work while teaching fitness or in her Honda while driving), but as a counter example she prefers the ear contact that the Signature X makes and it’s pleather pads, while she thinks the HD 560S feels weird. Being my wife and a music lover, she has become more of an audiophile than she ever meant to be, haha 😂 The HD 560S comes with one long 1/4” plug headphone cable – if you only have one cable, I like the seating distance options of a long cable, but I had immediately swapped my stock HD 560S cable with my short cable from my HD 599 – while the Signature X comes with a long coiled 1/4” cable that gives connection distance flexibility without too much slack, a straight short cable (which is what I’ve been using most), and a shiny silver mobile cable with an in-line mic in case you want to switch between music and phone calls while on the go. All the cables for both headphones are twist-to-lock. From memory, I think the open back HD 560S still has less resonance/cuppy sound, however I have to give Ultrasone credit here for low resonance and particularly good soundstage perception for a closed headphone. The HD 560S has unusually good bass extension for an open-back headphone, but the bass and sub bass presence of the Signature X will still be louder and more pronounced, the Signature X’s highs will be a bit more relaxed and darker… and while the HD 560S has a more “reference” tuning target, the Signature X has a more “fun” tuning that adds more bass to your music. I will throw out a quick comparison between the Signature X and the Campfire Audio Cascade. Where the Cascade has lots of warmth and extra bass body but also more detail masked due to more resonance and bass emphasis, the Signature X approach to bass emphasis is clearer and has more separation of instruments within the soundstage, probably owing a lot to the S-Logic 3 design. I also own a Creative Labs H7 Tournament, which would be an interesting closed-back comparison to check later, because I remember comparing mine head-to-head against a store’s Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro and finding them to sound nearly indistinguishable. Where I would still want to add more detail to my HD 560S vs Signature X description would be more music listening examples. You can remember generalizations about the character of a headphone, but auditory memory is too brief to call out specific examples. I do expect that the very shrill harmonica blast in Cowboy Junkies “Postcard Blues” will be sweeter on the Signature X and harsher (but more accurate) on the HD 560S, neither adding tizziness, but I can’t add listening notes about unexpected observations. To some extent, the reason our most critical auditory memory is so short is because we get used to headphones with “brain burn-in,” as long as there isn’t a glaring weakness that really stands out. I hope these impressions help hold you over in the meantime, and give you an idea of where the Signature X fits. I’m a believer that there is rarely a “wrong” headphone tuning… I’ve seen so many people with different preferences, and music is often EQ’d away from “accurate” in the mastering studio anyway to emphasize and reduce certain things. Science in making headphones/speakers, art in enjoying music, so what I say is go ahead and season to your taste.
(Edited)
Lerrens
33
Nov 24, 2022
EvshrugThanks a lot for putting so much thought into this, also sorry to hear that you're going through troubled times. I have an HD650 and DT770 pro 80ohm at work and heard the HD560S before, and was wondering will the Ultrasone with S-Logic 3 and unique bass offer a different enough listening experience (like you mentioned, a fun and different tuning) with a more portable form factor. I think what you shared can be very useful not only to me but other people on the fence (impressions from other influencers are scarce at the moment) Really appreciated!
LerrensSure, I own an HD 650. In some ways, the Signature X is like it takes the coloration of the HD 650 / HD 6XX further with more bass (and I think just a biiiit less upper mids, maybe slightly more treble?). Plus, just the fact alone that it is a closed back headphone that isn’t a mess is enough to make it a good complimentary product. It’s easy to “amp” too, the amp built into the apple dongle (for example) is powerful enough. With some amps, the HD 650 /6XX runs out of gas, especially in the bass response. I think the Signature X could fold up and fit on the top of a backpack, but the case is pretty nice like a large hardback book.
(Edited)
Waddie
3
Nov 28, 2022
EvshrugAm I right that these are more of an open wider soundstage than the Cascades ? The Cascades are also more than twice the price, shouldn't they sound better?
WaddieGood question, but “better” is in the eyes of the beholder, and what was the design/purchase priority. FAT BASS was the Cascades goal. Nothing wrong with that, and the Ultrasone will have less bass amplitude on a FR graph and a less meaty sound in practice, but the Signature X has the S-Logic 3 which is specifically designed to improve the perception of soundstage, and they’re bass boosted in a way I personally like. They are also aesthetically and ergonomically different… Just goes to show, rankings and overall scores are inadequate summaries when there are so many traits of quality, utility, and enjoyment. My songwriter friend just said on Saturday that he thinks the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro are too big for him to wear on stage… or maybe he felt some sort of guilt that I was leaving them with him on long-term loan (It was no problem, I didn’t need them and I just hoped he would get good use out of them!)? On the bright side, I now have another headphone for comparison, maybe I’ll try to make a video when I wake up.
Waddie
3
Nov 28, 2022
EvshrugYou're doing a good job of feedback and I thank you for it.. What about these vs Signature DJ/Signature Pro... 177X GO.... ?.. I think i am one of a breed of ANC cans users ( XM3 SONY et al) who want more from their music and its coming down to choices like these.. Easily driven from phone is a big point... But making sure of a sound upgrade is paramount and would consider paying up to Aeon Noires to get that audiophile difference from the previous ANC life. (And if need to get an amp to make sure so be it)
(Edited)
WaddieI should start by stating some news... I just started doing consultation for DROP in December this year!! However, these impressions/descriptions predate this gig, and DROP gives me no sales incentive or kickback, and my opinions are my own and don't represent DROP's. Long term credibility is more important to me, and DROP too. I wish I had heard the Beyer DT177X GO... closest headphone I've heard is the mainstream DT1770. And I don't have it side-by-side for comparison, haha, so take my impressions with a grain of salt. However, Ultrasone definitely does things differently! The biggest, most clear cut difference is the sense of soundstage in a closed back headphone. IF you're used to a DT770 and DT1770, and other mid-fi closed back headphones, that will set these Ultrasone apart. I didn't find the DT1770 to be particularly tizzy or glaring in the treble (which was the main thing I noted as an improvement over the old three-digit models, a small difference that makes all the difference for my enjoyment, and for which I applaud Beyer!), but if anyone was concerned about Beyer highs, this Signature X is probably a safer bet. The DT 177X GO does have more earpads though (velour and leather), and the DT770 and it’s descendants have been trusted studio headphones for a long time (remember, I haven’t heard the DROP version or compared side-by-side). This is the first Ultrasone I've heard, but the DROP team I talked to said they specifically made it less dark than the Signature Pulse it is based (bassed?) on. While it is not enough to make this a V-shaped headphone in my opinion, I do think it has enough highs to better round out the bass-emphasized signature, and prevent too many of those nice spatial cues from being masked. I also just saw Zeos' review of the Signature X... it's a 30-minute discourse, but I will say it got me interested in pad swapping! The pads are my main gripe with this headphone... I understand that the smaller cavity space has a certain, possibly desired effect on the sound, as well as the pads pinning the ears back, BUT I have a bunch of Dekoni Beyerdynamic pads (Maybe the angled Dekoni for Fostex pads will work too?) around from when I used to consult for Dekoni, so why not try different pads out? The Ultrasone has less of the "cuppy" resonance and wooly sound of my G4ME ZERO closed gaming headset, so with more comfortable pads this Signature X may actually take over closed gaming headset duties for me. I feel like ANC cans actually can sound really good... problem is that they tend to be tuned similar to Bose, which has it's appeal, but has given the tech a bit of a stigma by association.
(Edited)
Waddie
3
Dec 11, 2022
EvshrugI have discovered the cheaper Elegia, with pad mod, idea, with EQ too if must and am considering. Just saying this quickly in response and am digesting your kind answer.
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