Ultrasone Edition 15 Design and Performance

Technical Discussion
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Been in this hobby for a long time. Have gone back and forth with various headphone setups that were dynamic, planar, and electrostatic. Have found pros and cons with each approach. One of the issues I’ve run into with this hobby is that regardless of the headphone type, eventually wind up finding something that bothered me to the point of trying a different headphone setup.

One headphone that I’ve always been interested in but never got a chance to listen to is the Ultrasone Edition 15. From a review of the Edition 15:

“As with the open back Edition 15, the new GTC driver membrane consists of a gold foil membrane and a titanium dome as opposed to previously used mylar and titanium, or in the case of the Edition 11, a TruText bio-cellulose fiber compound membrane.
The pitch here is the ability of the driver to extract a lot more detail than previously possible with the mylar edition drivers. The use of less conductive gold however does mean that in terms of specifications the Edition 15 Veritas is less efficient than most of their previous headphones at 94dB SPL”

From the same review:
" The Edition 11 used S-Logic® Plus technology which has been around for a while now. On the Edition 15 Veritas, we have the new patented S-LogicEX® technology which has been launched in tandem with a freshly designed 40mm dynamic driver system using a gold-titanium compound technology, (GTC), for the diaphragm.
S-Logic® technology is basically the decentralized positioning of the drivers in their headphone designs (bottom and front) to create an enhanced spatial characteristic in the sound signature. We have touched on similar concepts with the Crosszone CZ-1 though the application is slightly different in this case.

The concept is to, as far as possible, recreate the feeling of listening to speakers with a sound that is more out of your head and around your ears than a traditional left/right headphone presentation.
There are lateral claims that it also reduces the sound pressure directly into your ear from the decentralized positioning by up to 3-4dB thus reducing the potential damage to your hearing at loud volumes.

S-LOGICEX®

S-Logic® Plus technology was tuned for a more neutral sound than before and a more vivid perception of voices and instruments.
S-LogicEX® is based on a funnel-shaped sound driver arrangement, oriented downwards to the front. This allows for more distance between the driver and ear to create an even stronger spatial perception for sounds coming from the front but retaining the benefits of the Plus tuning."

So, although they are a dynamic set of headphones, they employ a very unique set of technology innovations. I was able to find a pair of the Edition 15’s. After some initial listening, I was extremely impressed. They seem to do everything well, with no real over emphasis on any one area of music reproduction. They have excellent bass, perhaps among the very best midrange clarity and presence I have ever heard in headphones, and detailed treble that is not overly aggressive. Distortion is virtually non-existent. The S-LogicEX technology works (at least for me) very well. The reported attributes associated with S-LogicEX are clearly audible. These have become my go to headphones for listening. They are also lightweight and very comfortable.

Wanted to raise two issues here:

  1. Discuss the approach taken by Ultrasone regarding the Edition 15, and how it compares to other headphones. I’ve had headphones from Focal, Audeze, Dan Clark, Abyss, Stax, etc. Right now, prefer the Edition 15 for long term listening sessions to other cans. Disclaimer: I think ALL high end headphone prices are too high, but that’s the lay of the land. Also wonder about headphone measurements in general, especially ones where the driver is offset like the Edition 15.

  2. Headphone reviews in general. The reviews for this headphone were all over the place. Some reviews praised the Edition 15, while others demurred. This got me looking into other headphone reviews, and I was able to find both positive and negative reviews of just about every high end headphone out there. So why is that? Headphone reviews seem to have more diverse opinions than any other audio component in the chain.

My setup has used the Chord M-Scaler and Hugo TT-2 for a couple of years. So, comparisons referred to with other headphones (less Stax) were used with the same electronics.

Looking forward to thoughts on this.

3 Likes
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Been breaking in the Edition 15 Veritas for the last week. They definitely have improved with time. One thing I’ve learned about these is they are sensitive to placement on one’s head. The S-Logic does work rather well, but in order to get the full effect, they need to be snug in order to get the driver up nearer the ear canal opening. This widens the sound stage, smooths out the frequency response, and seem to extend treble.

Compared the Edition 15 with the Veritas. As expected, the sound signature is pretty close. The open cans have a wider soundstage, treble has a bit more air, The Veritas has slightly more full bodied presentation, a is a bit more analytical.

Both headphones are extremely revealing of low level resolution and ambience. With these headphones, the differences with the Chord settings for sample rate and filters are very noticeable, more so than with other headphones I’ve used with the Chord setup.

When one talks about reference level headphones, personal preferences to me rule the day. Also think our tastes change as we evolve in this hobby. So, I take evaluations and opinions with a grain of salt.