With the Super.fi 5 Pros, Ultimate ears has definitely made improvements upon their high-end consumer line. But was it enough to impress us?
Review summary of the Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro:
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 The biggest surprise we got when testing the Super.fi 5 Pros was not that they sounded great (we expected that), but that highly compressed music received the same treatment as lossless tracks. Ultimate Ears also upgraded many design quality issues that plagued earlier Super.fi models, which we were very happy to see as well. But ultimately, the sound wasn't perfect, getting muddled on certain tracks at high volume. Just as importantly, we didn't like how they fit, and wished for a thinner canal tube and thicker sleeves. But for a person who finds the right fit, these phones are definitely worth the high price tag. Release: November 2007. Price: $250.
Pros: Sounds great with both lossless and compressed music, sturdy connections
Cons: Muddled sound on some tracks at high volume, awkward design
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Full Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro Review:
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Design – Very Good
Our first experience with Ultimate Ears earphones was plagued with design quality problems. Our extended bass model had one of the flimsiest headphone cords we’d ever seen, and we were constantly worried it was going to break. We hated the cheap plastic tubing that they used to provide support behind the ear, and after 5 weeks, the back panel that was cheaply glued on became detached, and the speaker wire broke. The earphones were useless.
So it pleased us to no end to find that every issue we previously had with the design quality had been fixed with the Super.fi 5 Pros. The cord is made of thick, clear plastic, and we were no longer afraid of bending or tightly wrapping it. There is a metal wire paired with the cable near the earpiece, making it both stiff and adjustable to any size ear. Every connection seemed sturdy, and there is no longer a back panel cheaply glued behind the speaker. We had almost no fear that these could be broken, at least not easily.
That being said, we found two fundamental flaws with the design. First, the tube that enters the ear canal is still too large. It forces the replaceable earpieces to be very thin and flimsy, and while they still achieve a seal, they are nowhere near as comfortable as they could be. A slimmer tube for the ear canal would fix this, and possibly allow for a triple flange rubber insert, which is impossible with the short stubby tube . Second, because of the elongated design, the phones protrude from the ear. Not only does this look silly, but it makes the earphones more apt to hit something, and more apt to move if something does hit them. Both of these things made the earphones much more uncomfortable, and we had to remove them after two hours, unable to stand any more discomfort. We also had serious problems with the foam inserts. Foam is usually the best option for in-earphones like these, but the Ultimate Ears inserts are so cheap and flimsy that the foam separated from the plastic sleeve during our first attempt to put them in. We found the best fit with the double flange inserts, but users will have to experiment to find what fits best for them.
Sound – Very Good
The Super.fi 5 Pros were every bit the high-end earphones we expected. They sound great; we got the volume up to ear-splitting levels (50% volume on our iMac, 100% on our iPod) with no distortion or sputtering. We listened to a lossless, FLAC-encoded digital music playlist to test the limits of the Super.fi 5 Pros, and we were extremely pleased. But we can’t say the experience was perfect; for some reason, while listening to Elliott Smith’s “Between The Bars” at high volumes, the low guitar strings got muddled, hurting the sound of the song, half of which is played on the lower three guitar strings. The distortion of the speaker also makes the voice warble when the low strings are played. Oddly enough, only the lower notes caused problems, and at lower volumes the track sounded fine.
The rest of our playlist sounded great, though, with Sam Beam’s steady, soothing voice floating gently over his guitar plucks on Iron & Wine’s "Jezebel," and the violin’s screeching highs on The Faint’s “Southern Belles in London Sing” slicing right through our brain. Ultimate ears promised great sound with the Super.fi 5 Pros, and the dual-driver design certainly delivered.
Unlike most high-end earbuds, the Super.fi 5 Pros actually played nice with low-bitrate compressed music, which surprised us. Normally, 128kbps AAC or MP3 files sound terrible on great earbuds, since the clarity of the drivers tend to expose all the blurry spots left behind by high compression rates. For some reason, we noticed no obvious degradation in quality when listening to 128kbps files; in fact, they sounded better. This is refreshing, and something that will undoubtedly be music to customers' ears, as we’re sure that there are many iPod owners who don’t want to spend all that money at the iTunes store for music that sounds terrible on their headphones.
Included Accessories – Very Good
In addition to the three cable extension options, the package includes a 1/8-1/4 inch stereo adapter plug, a volume attenuator, an assortment of foam, rubber and plastic sleeves and a sturdy metal carrying case. The case was attractive and a perfect fit for the earphones, and could probably even fit the adapter plug and a couple extra earpieces,but not the volume attenuator. We would have liked to see an adapter to use the earbuds with mobile phones, but honestly we'd rather see mobile phones with 3.5mm jacks, and we're skeptical that most phones could drive the Super.fi 5 Pros properly.
Price and availability
The Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro will start selling for $250 () in November 2007.
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