Review of Logitech/Ultimate Ears UE900s multi-driver headphones w/lots of pics!!!

[twister6]

This is a review of Logitech/Ultimate Ears UE900s multi-driver in-ear monitors. Ultimate Ears 900s Noise-Isolating Earphones | Ultimate Ears Earphones | Ultimate Ears

The original UE900 was my first pair of hi-fi IEMs, the one which opened up my eyes and ears to higher quality multi-driver in-ear headphones. Though I have tested a lot of other headphones afterwards, in different dynamic/BA driver configurations, I still like to visit them from time to time for more listening and comparison. I also noticed comments from people who purchased their pair over a year ago with some early production batch issues (related to the cable connector), though my original UE900 pair from last October with a gold-plated connector never exhibited any of those problems. When Logitech announced UE900s model, it caught my interest because I wasn't sure if it's going to be a simple refresh or an updated version. From all the info I gathered prior to obtaining UE900s review sample, it looked like a refresh with an updated accessories. To my surprise, when I got these (and btw, they do look IDENTICAL to UE900), I found tuning to be slightly different. I can hear a bit more bass quantity and a bit less upper mids/treble brightness. In both pairs, nozzle pinhole port was clear, and I was using a stock audio braided cable. I hear it as a subtle difference, but it's still there, though YMMV. With this refresh and plethora of all new eartips, I decided to write an updated review of UE900s. Here is what I found.

Starting with a packaging, the external sleeve was updated and has a cleaner look with more detailed description of internal headphone components. Once you get to the main box and open its flip cover, you will be blown away by... the amount of eartips! Yes, the first thing that will capture your attention are the included eartips, and you will find more in the bonus tray underneath. You get two identical sets of 6 pairs of silicone hybrid eartips (XXXS, XXS, XS, S, M, L), and two identical sets of 3 pairs of memory foam eartips (S, M, L). The memory foam is not the same as Comply, and it goes in your ear without a need to squeeze it first so it's easier to setup. I assume double of each set is for backup purpose. Each eartip is color coded with a hybrid stem. It's placed in a special tray with a size label and individual removable holder which you can pick up to use in your ear for a fitment without a need to put on the actual headphone earpieces. I honestly never seen anything like this before. The clear plastic tray with a second set of backup earpieces also includes a special maintenance gel for improved conductivity of the connector. Probably a bit of an overkill, but I think UE engineers trying to cover every base to mitigate any future connector problems.

Furthermore, you get two sets of braided cables: one in black with individually wrapped wire shielding for audio only use and the other one with blue wire shielding which includes in-line remote/mic for smartphone control. In there, volume buttons are for iPhone use only while multi-function middle button works with Android phones as well. I tested it without a problem on my Galaxy Note 2 with a single click for Play/Pause/Call, double click to skip forward, triple click to skip back, and long press to start Google NOW. Mic worked great while making calls, though just like with a similar in-line remote on UE600 in a noisy background environment I had to bring it up closer to my mouth for people on the other side to hear me better. You can also use an included shirt clip to move in-line remote/mic closer to your mouth. In addition to a same synthetic draw-string pouch like in UE900, UE900s model also has a brand new hard case. The original UE900 case looked like a jewelry box with a piano finish, while this new UE900s plastic case looks like a folding business card holder. It's slick and more pocket friendly, though you gotta be careful not to snap wires when closing it. And speaking of wires, you still get two braided wires per earpiece with a shrink-wrapped y-splitter bridging 4-wire braided whip going to a headphone connector. The audio cable also has a clear chin-slider. Both cables have right angle 3.5mm gold plated connector and a short strain relief. Earpieces have a short clear tube memory wire with a right piece having a red rubber band for id purpose. The connectors are standard MMCX and the plastic shielding of the connector also has a color marking to distinguish left/right sides. In general, cable felt strong though I would prefer a better strain relief. Either way, cable is removable and replaceable, so no fear if anything breaks.

So how about the sound? The design of UE900s, just like UE900, has 4 separate Balanced Armature drivers and built-in crossover for a better separation and tuning of the sound. Its sound signature is nicely balanced with a bit of a mid-forward emphasis and overall warm feeling. You get a very good layering/separation of instruments and great soundstage in both width and depth. Starting with the bass, it's fast and punchy, accurate, not as deep sub-bass, and a slight mid-bass boost. Low end has a nice detailed quality without exaggerated quantity, but definitely above neutral level. Bass is tight and well controlled without spilling into lower mids. Mids sound natural and accurate. Upper mids are clear and detailed without being too bright, and have a slight boost over the rest of the frequency range. Treble is well extended and detailed, but not peaky or hot. Not even a hint of sibilance. That's where I found it to be slightly different from UE900 which sounded brighter to my ears. It's rare to get combination of mid-forward sound without being too bright, but in this case UE guys nailed it. I also found sound isolation to be not bad, depending on eartip selection for a perfect seal, where outside noise gets attenuated but you are still aware of surrounding. With memory foam tips, you get an even better isolation and deeper low end. Also, I didn't experience any microphonics effect.

Overall, even with subtle sound tuning differences I experienced between UE900 and UE900s (which might even level off after more burn in time), these are still great multi-driver IEMs. They have a very unique look, a great detailed sound, a nicely balanced signature for non-fatigue listening, and come with an uber amount of eartips! Of course, it all comes at a cost if you are willing to pay close to $400 for UE900s. But the good news is that if you can find the original UE900 for sale, you can get it for under $300 which is a great deal when you compare it to competition from Shure and Westone.

Here are the pictures.

 

[twister6]

This is a review of Lunashops silver plated OCC wire replacement cable with a standard MMCX connector. USD$40.00 - Extreme Soft 5N OCC + Silver Plated Earphone Cable For Shure se535 Se846 Ultimate UE900 - lunashops online shop

People have polarized opinion about headphone replacement cables. Some consider these as a "snake oil" and a waste of money, others are too vocal about it being a miracle in transforming headphones into something new. When I approach testing of replacement cables, I try to be more realistic and tested a variety of budget cables with my W40, UE900, and ATH-IM03 IEMs. One thing I found in common, going from a standard copper to OFC cable doesn't yield too much of an improvement, but stepping up to a silver-plated OFC cable indeed produces an audible difference. Doesn't matter if you are a skeptic or an optimist, you are dealing with a higher purity and a higher conductivity replacement which in comparison to a standard copper wire will not introduce as much loss or filtering effect to your audio signal. As a result, you are not really improving a sound from your original audio source, but rather bringing it closer to its original signature without degradation effect introduced by lower purity wires.

Is this a must have upgrade? If you are dealing with a high quality hardware audio source, like a dedicated DAP and/or external amp, and high quality IEMs in $400-$500 and up to $1000+ range, I think it's a must have investment. Once we get IEMs out of the box, the first thing we do is start with a tip rolling to find the best fitment to fine tune the sound. If you have more expensive IEMs, sometime you have an option to change filters. Going for a replacement cable with a higher purity wires is taking it one step further in sound improvement. In the past year I was very impressed with replacement cables from Lunashops, especially their silver-plated cables. Here, I would like to look at their new silver-plated 5N OCC (with OCC having an even higher purity than OFC) replacement cable with a standard MMCX connector which you can use with Westone W- or UM Pro- series, Shure SE- series, Logitech Ultimate Ears UE- series, and other IEMs that use a standard replacement cables with MMCX connector. Keep in mind, VSonic VSD3/3S series does NOT use standard mmcx connector. Here is what I found.

Arrived in a small flat tin box with a clear display, it was packed inside of a small ziploc bag and stored between foam inserts to make sure it doesn't get crashed or damaged during shipment. Out of the box, the cable looks very impressive with a quality workmanship of the assembly. You have 4 separate wires in individual clear thin shielding. Left/Right sides of the wires are twisted in pairs and separated inside of another soft clear shielding until the y-splitter where all 4 wires are twisted together and inside of a common soft clear shielding as well. Y-splitter is also clear with a chin slider (cable cinch) next to it. 3.5mm headphone connector is straight, slim, gold plated, and can be taken apart by unscrewing the cap for a quick access to fix it, if required. At the other end of the cable, you have mmcx gold plated connectors inside of a slim mold. The whole assembly looks clean and professionally done.

As I mentioned before, the cable shielding is very soft, not springy, which keeps the cable tangle free and perfect for either wired down or over the ear fitment. For additional comfort when used over the ear, sliding cable cinch up helps keep the wires together. Furthermore, with a soft nature of the cable, you can use it over your ears without a need for a memory wire or bulky wire guides. The extra clear/soft shielding over the twisted wires also helps significantly with reduction of microphonics effect when cable is brushing against your cloth. This is a very important factor because previously I was using FiiO RC-SE1 similar cable, and microphonics effect was next to unbeareable, not too mention springy effect of wires. This Lunashops cable design solves this problem down to a very minimum cable noise, still present but at a minimum level. So the big question, how does it sounds? I tested it with my W40 and UE900 and found similar results.

With UE900 fitment was perfect, they snap right in and form a solid connection. Connector housing has a good grip to attach the cable to earpieces and also to pull apart when disconnecting. Since you don't have a memory wire anymore, I demonstrated below how it could be worn with both wire up and wire down, though for wire down you might want to swap L/R pieces for a slicker look. Regarding the sound improvement, don't expect your quad-driver to sound like 6-BA driver, but the sound definitely gets brighter, slightly more detailed in upper mids and lower treble, and due to a brighter sound the perception of soundstage opens up as well. The level of improvement will vary depending on source you are using where your return on investment is better using higher quality DAP in comparison to HO from your smartphone. I do have to note that clear/silver color of the cable might not be the perfect color match for blue/black UE900 earpieces which makes cable stand out, but overall with a sound improvement, functionality improvement, and higher durability in comparison to a stock braided cable - this is a great value.

Overall, YMMV but in my personal opinion this is one worthy upgrade to try out with your headphones to push the performance of your multi-driver IEMs even further. This will not make a sound improvement like night'n'day, but it will definitely improve your sound signature making it brighter across entire frequency range and opening up soundstange perception (I use 'perception' because you are not really changing soundstage). This cable has an excellent build quality, feels very durable, and uses high quality wires which an improvement over any stock copper or even OFC cable. This is not a pure silver, but silver-plated cable and it also has a higher purity of copper than OFC (OCC uses a different manufacturing process). For $40 shipped it's a great value which is still a fraction of the price in comparison to $500-$1000 multi-drive IEMs you can use it with. Definitely gets my recommendation!

Here are the pictures.