Ultrasone Edition 9 vs Edition 8 Headphones

I’ve owned Ultrasone’s Edition 9 headphones for nearly two years now. While I do like their sound, the insides of the cups are not quite deep enough for my ears. The sensation of them resting on the tops of my ears starts out annoying and becomes downright irritating before very long at all. Well, I finally decided to give them up. They’re now sold and gone. During the transaction, though, I happened upon an opportunity to pick up the new Edition 8’s second hand for a reasonable price. So, since I’ve been wanting to try them for some time now, I decided to jump in and give them a go. I even had a few days with both headphones as I waited for the buyer’s payment to clear.

The Edition 9’s make no attempt to “disappear” due to their clamping force and weight. They have a long cable, terminated with a 1/4″ plug. They are obviously designed for stationary listening, though many have found use for them as a portable headphone. To me, I hear a bit of a bass exaggeration all through the low frequencies. I feel that the Edition 9’s are better suited to a rocker who wants their basslines slamming. Genres like pop, metal, or hip hop seem like they do well since bass is so important there, and detail is not the most important aspect. I always felt the Edition 9’s were really great headphones for me until I tried the JH13 and Edition 8.

The Edition 8’s are quite a different animal. They are much lighter on my head and the enclosures almost don’t touch my ears at all. This time, it’s the bottoms of my ears that touch the insides of the cups a little. It’s far less annoying, though, and I seem to be able to wear these for much longer without issue. They are terminated with a 1/8″ plug after only 1.2 meters. This, and their weight, make them a much better choice for a portable rig. They also come with a 4 meter extension cable that I have found useful since all my headphones now have short cables.

I have the impression that the sound from the Edition 8 is more polite and balanced. While there is no doubt the sub bass has a somewhat generous boost, everything else seems quite balanced. I find this low bass occasionally annoying, but I think that it is helped with a good amp; my RPX-33 seems to take better control of the bass than my RSA portables. They also have great transients. The speed increase of these drivers mean noticeably improved detail retrieval! Ultrasone’s “S-Logic Plus” on the Edition 8 does seem to increase upon the effect of the “S-Logic” in the Edition 9. The drivers are aimed at the listener’s pinna (the outer ear) so the sound must bounce around the ear before finding the eardrum. This leads to a more “3-D” sound that seems more like a projection. I think the Edition 8 would be better suited to instrumental music like classical or jazz, where neutrality and detail are more important.

It’s interesting to note, though, that I still greatly prefer my JH13 for just about everything. They have much better detail than even the Edition 8. They are more intimate and definite in their view into the recording. The bass, while not lacking at all, is very well integrated and doesn’t stick out as much as the Ultrasones. I’d even go as far as to say that they’re more comfortable. Why do I bother then? Well, I like different perspectives on my music. Sometimes I don’t want to stick my IEMs in my ears, but would prefer to have big, warm pads enclosing my ears and have big bass and a different soundstage.

Thankfully, given that I was already in the process of letting go of the Edition 9, I found that I overall prefer the Edition 8. I really appreciate the increased clarity and more neutral presentation. And the better comfort is icing on the cake.

My Thoughts on JHAudio’s JH13 Pro IEM

Jerry Harvey is a pioneer in custom-molded, in-ear monitors. In 1995, he founded Ultimate Ears and was responsible for engineering their line-up of custom products. After enjoying wild success, capturing 75%+ of the touring musician market, he left to start Jerry Harvey Audio 2-3 years ago. Since Jerry is a pilot, they initially specialized only in aviation headsets — a custom earpiece with an attached boom mic. At the (May) 2009 CanJam event in Los Angeles, though, he proved that he was about to make big waves in the custom IEM market once again.

Now that I have about 2 months of use on my JH13 Pro’s (and a refreshed blog featuring them top and center) I will hopefully be able to share some thoughts on these unique IEMs. › Continue reading

Miro: Internet TV Made Easy

When Miro 1.2 came out, I decided to give it another try after some previously failed attempts due to annoying bugs. Well, I’ve been using this free and open source, next generation video platform on my Mac for a while now, and I must say it’s quite nice if you fancy yourself watching some of the great, free video content available on the internet.

Miro is RSS + Bittorrent. Find sites with cool videos that interest you, subscribe to their feeds, and when new content is published, you can have it downloaded and waiting for you by the time you realize it’s there. It’s just so smooth the way I can play the first video, and all the new content plays like my personal TV station. Cmd+F throws me into full-screen mode. It didn’t used to work nearly this well, and I’m just all so very pleased with today’s offering. (It will even search and play YouTube videos.)

Ok, so you want to try this. Click the “Miro” link above and grab the player. It comes with some default channels, but I’ve deleted all but the Onion News Network. The Miro Guide appears to be a nice index of most/all of the content available for the platform, but please allow me to recommend a few of my favorites.

• Revision3 is The TV Network of Kevin Rose (of TechTV and Digg fame) with great shows like Tekzilla, Systm, and of course Diggnation. I also have come to watch the goofy Internet Superstar… I haven’t even tasted many of the Rev3 shows yet!
• Mahalo Daily is a great 5-day/wk short form (3-5 mins) show with Veronica Belmont. (Although she’s about to leave…) They visit someone and show of something… usually very interesting stuff. I like the one about the dude who makes music with Gameboys.
• WebbAlert is another daily, short form show with Megan Webb. Just a quick overview of the tech news.
• GeekBrief.TV is yet another daily, short form show with the bouncy character that of Cali Lewis. Again, it’s an overview of the tech news. Maybe a product review or interview here and there.
• commandN is a longer form (15-20 mins), weekly show with Amber MacArthur, Will Pate, and others. They talk about the news and share cool website picks. Amber’s brother, Jeff, usually has a longer segment where he usually reviews a product.
• Hak5 Is a great, long standing show with a great crew. They hack stuff and talk about it on the show.
• Cranky Geeks is a talk show with John C. Dvorak.
• DL.TV is a tech show with some of the folks from TechTV.

Also, anything from Leo Laporte is fantastic. I’m a very regular listener of Security Now, TWiT, MacBreak Weekly, Net@Nite, and Windows Weekly on his TWiT.TV (audio) podcast network. While there aren’t any regular, internet-available video shows from him yet, he’s been talking recently about a new studio he’s setting up where he’ll start doing some video shows. He’s a great personality… One to watch.

I hope I’ve captured the interest of some new internet TV consumers. Watching this web-based, independent content has really never been this easy.

Shure E500 vs UE Triple.fi 10 Pro

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything about my audio equipment (or about much of anything) … So allow me to give a short comparison between two of the best universal fit IEMs available. It goes on and on, so allow me to place it below the fold.

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RSA Tomahawk Reflection (Pics!)

I’ve had Ray Samuels’s The Tomahawk headphone amp for about a full month now, so I felt it was about time to report back my experiences. This month gave me time to run it through the first set of batteries and some of a second set. This should have been long enough to fully burn the Tomahawk in. The electronics take 300-500 hours or so to really settle in and emit their final sound signature.

Aside: I can’t bring myself to call this a review because I don’t consider myself much of an genuine audiophile, and I don’t feel I’m really qualified to seriously critique this product. Also, this is the first headphone amp I’ve ever experienced, so I can’t really compare it to anything.

The Tomahawk is a very highly acclaimed headphone amplifier. I’ve read numerous reviews and comparisons – mostly on head-fi.org – about this amp, and everyone seems to think very highly of it. My experience has been just excellent. The amplifier adds smoothness/shininess to the sound that is just a joy to listen to through the E500. In the interest of preserving my hearing, when in a quiet room, I like listening at low volumes. This combo retains thick & juicy dynamics while emphasizing the fact that this little box eliminates ALL hiss/buzz produced by my mp3 player and presents nothing but pure music over a deep, black background.

As for size & build, there is absolutely nothing to complain about here. The Tomahawk is built like a tank… and a very, very tiny one at that. Ray’s amps are built with plenty of TLC, and he doesn’t just throw together these things with whatever chips happen to be cheapest. Each amp is built with the same, high-quality components.

What’s most amazing is the punch that this thing produces. One should not come under the impression that this amp will drive only IEMs. In fact, it will drive all but the most exotic and demanding of headphones with juice to spare. If that wasn’t amazing enough, it will actually perform its duty for over 400 hours solid, about 17 days, or as Ray says, 6 weeks at 10 hours per day. (Apparently, more demanding headphones will start to clip towards the end of the battery life.)

I must also comment on Ray’s customer service. Ray is a really great guy and a pleasure to do business with. He likes to talk to his customers on the phone, so if you’re interested in his products, call him up!

Pics over the jump!

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Shure E500 Review

So I am a crazy man.

I decided I wanted to amp my phones, but my UE Super.fi 5 Pros have been said not to change much with an amp. Plus, from all the discussion on head-fi.org (WARNING: stay clear of that site if you are susceptible to upgradeitus!) I found that it was common opinion that the Super.fi’s, while they are a fine earphone, suffer from some amount of “veil” or lack of balance. Now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing even, depending on your objective, but I wanted something that was well balanced and “audiophile grade” that I could enjoy wherever I am (such as work for 8 hrs/day).

I wanted something that would fit snugly in my ear and not stick out like the 5 Pros. That ruled out the Triple.fi 10 Pros as they have a similar form factor. And since the best IEM amp that I could find, Ray Samuels Audio’s “Tomahawk,” was designed with the Shure E500’s in mind (along with a few other earphones), I knew I would not be making a bad decision in going with these earphones.

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Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro Review

I got my Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro earphones Wednesday (3 days ago). I had been thinking of upgrading from my Shure E2’s for a while. I just knew there was more to the sound, and I wanted to really be able to rock out properly and independently (when there are others around who might not appreciate teh thumpz). And oh man was I right. I’ll explain how I feel about these phones in various areas.

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Need Some Paper?

Just in case you need some blank paper to write on or something, be sure and check out this amazing and free service, blanksheetofpaper.com. You save on ink, too! I tried this service out and I am very satisfied. I highly recommend it.

Why TextMate is So Awesome

It seems TextMate has become quite a popular editor as of late. Some even say it is the best editor on any platform which is quite a bold statement, indeed. Cheat sheets such as this one might give you some idea of the breadth of features available at the tap of a key, but allow me to attempt a bulleted list of my favorites:

• Yes! There are hotkeys for everything! I almost don’t even miss vim at all! Hotkeys to navigate around and manipulate your text are essential, and TextMate doesn’t let you down.
• Moving around couldn’t be easier. Cmd+T brings up a dialog that intelligently figures out what file you’re looking for in your project from what you type. This lets you open up a file with the quickness. Cmd+Shift+T is similar, but you’re jumping to a symbol (class, function, etc) in the current file instead. Bookmarks let you cycle through important lines of code.
• Snippits are amazing. Type a snippit keyword and hit tab. It will be expanded to the full snippit with the first modifiable area selected. Type to replace it with something new, and hit tab to move to the next “hot” spot. With “smart typing” automatically closing my quotes and brackets, the code practically writes itself!
• You can execute a line of code as ruby and insert its result. You can commit code to versioning systems. You can …
• Extensibility. You can add third party bundles such as the that include new commands, macros, snippits, etc.
• It is a native cocoa application with predictable keybindings (Cmd+w closes, etc) and snazzy-clean mac-friendly interface.

People use this editor to maintain their todo lists and weblogs.

My biggest and nearly lonesome gripe with TextMate is how it freezes for a couple seconds when it comes to focus when you’re working on remote files (nfs, samba, etc). The upcoming version 2.0 will fix this issue as well as bring numerous exciting improvements.

Serious respect goes out to the mighty Allan Odgaard of Denmark for this incredible editor.

Cowon iAudio X5L 30Gb Review w/Pics

My iRiver iHP-120’s (now known as H120) power/play button finally gave out the other day, so I’m no longer able to easily turn it on. (I actually since noticed that hitting the reset button also causes it to power on; so it’s still somewhat workable although I have no idea what I’m going to do with it.) With iRiver unwilling to repair it for me, I had to pick up a replacement.

I originally bought the iRiver primarily because of the Ogg Vorbis support that I am so keen on. Since then, though, iRiver seems to have sold out to the almighty Microsoft because their product pages have the M$ “Plays for Sure” badge image and no longer support any open formats. (Add that to the list of reasons I hate Microsoft pls.)

I’ve been using the Cowon iAudio X5L 30Gb for a few days now and I must say, I am quite pleased with it overall. Although it comes from an iAudio fan site, iAudiophile has an excellent review on the X5 that I highly recommend if you want even more detail than I provide. (The X5L differs only in that it is 1) a bit larger, 2) a bit heavier, 3) costs a bit more, and 4) lasts for 35 hrs instead of the X5’s 14.)

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