We are going to check about a pair of headphones that is premium out of everything that I have tested in this Blog. It is the Ultrasone performance 880 and Let us check Ultrasone performance 880 review.
It gave me the best Bluetooth listening experience I’ve had on anything. Now, if you are familiar with these headphones at all, the first thing you’re probably thinking how come you can classify this as Bluetooth headphone.
And you are right Ultrasone performance 880 decided to come up with the Bluetooth adapter and it is made to be the same size as the ear cup. It just plugs right into the headphone jack.
It is made to where it looks like it is not even there. It is just this simple little add-on, but it is not cheap. The add-on cost around $170.
So when you add that to the price of the headphones that are already around $500, we are talking a total of $670, so that is the most expensive Bluetooth headphone setup that I have tested.
If you are somebody in the audiophile world of headphones, you know that headphones can cost two to three thousand dollars.
It is a deal to getting these headphones, and getting the ability to use these Bluetooth for under $700 is a deal in an audiophile world.
Features of Ultrasone Performance 880
The Ultrasone Performance 880 headphones come with a variety of features, including:
- 40mm titanium-coated transducer
- 32 ohms impedance
- 94 dB sensitivity
- frequency response of 7 to 35,000 Hz
- S-Logic Plus technology for natural spatial sound
- 2 Detachable cable
- 2 Sets of Pads (Velour and Protein)
Here are some more details about the features of the Ultrasone Performance 880 headphones:
S-Logic Plus technology
S-Logic Plus is a patented technology that redirects sound waves around the ear, creating a natural surround sound experience. This technology is designed to improve the soundstage and imaging of the headphones, making it feel like the music surrounds you.
ULE shielding system
Ultrasone Performance 880 has introduced Ultra Low Emission technology that reduces low-frequency fields generated by headphones. The ULE technology involves using a MU metal shield, which reduces magnetic radiation at the ear by 98%, compared to regular headphones.
This technology is said to be particularly beneficial for professional musicians who use headphones for several hours.
Detachable cables
Ultrasone Performance 880 headphones come with two detachable cables, one long, and one short, which makes them easy to transport and store.
The plugs are also gold-plated, which helps to reduce signal loss. The shorter cable also has a mic and remote.
Memory foam Ear pads
Ultrasone Performance 880 headphones come with two sets of memory foam ear pads, which provide a comfortable and secure fit. One set is velour-covered, which helps to reduce heat buildup.
Design of Ultrasone performance 880
What you get inside the box and see why I think with this package all together, it is worth the $670 price tag so let’s go ahead and start with the adapter itself.
Now it just simply plugs into the headphone jack, and it is giving you Aptx playback capabilities.
It allows you to have these buttons on the outside. You have your power button, play, pause, and being able to skip your tracks forward, going backward and even volume control all right there on the outside of this adapter.
Now along with the Bluetooth adapter inside the box, you also get a proprietary charging cable and the expected battery life is between 8-12 hours, so it depends on how you are going to use these like sound percentage and other factors.
That is what you get inside the box, so now let us move over to checking out the headphones. These are using the S-logic plus technology, which basically is a way that Ultrasone has designed the audio.
Instead of going straight into your ear canal, it goes more to the top and around your ears, which gives you a 3D effect.
And in my opinion, what it is doing is it is allowing these closed back headphones to sound a lot like an open-back pair of headphones.
It just gives you a lot more space in the audio, and I think that’s what’s different about the Ultrasone headphones compared to a lot of other ones on the market.
Most of them are having it where the drivers are going straight into your ear.
Now, as far as from a design standpoint, if you pick these up and you look at them, they honestly don’t look like much. They look like pretty much every other pair of Ultrasone headphones.
That I have seen out there, it is straightforward. The build is a lot of plastic, which given the price tag, I would have liked to have seen a little bit more metal down around the ear cups, but all of that is plastic.
But the headband itself is made out of metal, so that is going to be the part that you are extending and bending the most, so that is definitely a plus.
They went with metal there. I found these to be very comfortable because they are lightweight. There is a little bit of padding on the headband, not as much as I would like.
I did notice that the headphones themselves do have a pretty tight clamping force.
I did notice that after wearing these for a while, it does loosen up, and it does get more comfortable, so don’t give up on them right out of the box.
Now, as far as the ear cups go, they use protein leather. It has memory foam inside, but a huge plus is they also include a set of velour ear pads inside the box, so if you do prefer the velour ear pads, that does give you a little more breathability.
If you are going to be using these for more extended periods, you might prefer the velour. I didn’t find that the protein leather got warm.
Now other things that they’ve included are two different types of cables. Both of these have 3.5mm plug-ins on one end, and then on the other, they have a proprietary plug-in that is basically like a twist and lock where you put them into the headphones, you turn and lock them.
They don’t easily pull out now; one you can tell is for portable use because it is a shorter cable with a microphone on the cable itself, where the other cable is much longer, and you can tell it is more for at-home use.
Where you would plug it into an amp and sitting in front of your computer or maybe even plugged into like your home receiver, now they also have included a quarter inch adapter so that you can use them in most amps, so it is nice that you have both of these options. All are included inside the box.
I use these is with the Bluetooth adapter. At times, I did find myself using these with my amp sitting at my pc; both are great experiences, but we’ll talk about that when we talk about the sound and then as far as the case.
The case in here is a soft carrying case. It’s not going to protect your headphones that much, so it is nice that they have included a case, but I still would have preferred to have a hard case.
Sound Quality of Ultrasone Performance 880
Let’s move over to talking about the sound, now I want to talk about the sound of these using them with an amp compared to using them Bluetooth because there is a little bit of a difference.
Obviously, if you are going to use these with an amp, it will depend on the amp you are using.
It is a detail oriented headphone. It is not a flat or studio reference style headphone, so if you are looking for that, I don’t recommend them for that, and that is mainly because these do have a little bit of style when it comes to the audio the bass you can tell is boosted.
It is not sloppy, it still is pretty tight and pretty accurate, but you can still tell that it’s boosted the same thing with the treble.
I felt like there is such a focus on getting a lot of details out of these that if you are going to listen to them loud, you might even think they sound a little harsh.
I think it balances out nicely. The treble is nice and clean. The bass is tight and punchy, so when you mix punchy bass and bright treble.
It gives you a pretty dynamic sound, which is far from being flat or reference style headphones now as far as the mids go.
I think they did an excellent job here; mids always sounded natural. It didn’t sound like it was too much in your face. It never got lost in the mix.
So, it is not something that took a backseat to the punchy bass or the bright treble. It really had a nice balance to it, and again the sound stage and the sound imaging are excellent on these.
Because of the audio, you feel like you have an open-back pair of headphones. This is one of the most open sounding closed-back pair of headphones that I have heard.
And I had no issues with being able to tell where instruments were coming from. I had no problems saying where subtle sounds were coming from, so yes, it’s an expensive pair of headphones.
And especially mixed with the Bluetooth adapter, but this could easily be a pair of headphones that you buy. that one will last you for a long time. You can use them for listening to anything.
Plug these into an amp will bring up many subtle things, or if you want to slap the Bluetooth adapter on them and get a very similar sound experience.
But just on the go being able to move around, I was impressed with how close the Bluetooth adapter sounded to plugging these into an amp.
Now I want to point out that using them with the Bluetooth adapter did warm up the sound slightly but not by much again. I noticed with the amp, and it had a brighter feel to it, wherewith the Bluetooth adapter shifted somewhat to the warm side, so the bass had a little more presence.
The treble toned down a little bit, but not much. In my opinion, the mids still stayed the same mids are fantastic on these headphones, so it always sounded natural, and overall, it’s just an excellent sound.
Experience if you are going to listen to them via Bluetooth or if you are going to listen to them wired plugged into an amp and speaking of plugging in into an amp, you don’t need that these are easy to drive.
If you are going to plug them just straight into a phone or a tablet without an amp, I still think that you get enough volume out of that. And I don’t feel like they lack either way that you choose to use them.
Conclusion
The only cons that I have are that the Bluetooth adapter is costly, and I wish it had a hard case.
That way, I would feel better about throwing these in my bag, which’s a pricey investment to have in a soft carrying case.
Overall, this is probably the best listening experience that you can get on a Bluetooth pair of headphones.
Let me know what you think about Ultrasone performance 880 review and What do you think about the Headphone as your daily driver?
Do these justify the premium price tag?
