Backstage
About those Ultimate Ears UE-11s
Now that we’ve been able to share the first pictures and details on the Ultimate Ears UE-11 earphones, I’m glad to answer other questions you guys might have about them. Sneak Peeks isn’t an ideal place to go into all the details about something as cool as these.
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1
How does the cable differ from the current (version 2) Super.Fi cable?
Posted by rhythmicmoose on June 1, 2007 at 9:49 AM (PDT)
2
In your sneak-peak you said that the UE-11s had “a sound-signature appropriate for all the “audiophile bassheads”. By this, did you mean that the UE-11s are more bass-heavy than the UE10s, or that they provide more accurate bass? Also, can you elaborate more on the customisations available?
Posted by stadidas on June 1, 2007 at 2:02 PM (PDT)
3
Rhythmic: To make sure I had an accurate answer on that, I checked with UE, which said that they’re roughly the same thickness, but not interchangeable with the Super.Fi v2 cabling. The cables are highly similar to the UE-10 Pro cables.
Stadidas: The differences in bass are night and day between the UE-10 and UE-11. Basically, the UE-11 combines the high- and mid-range accuracy of the UE-10 with what might be understood as judiciously extended bass. When you listen to the UE-10, it’s obvious that there’s a little more bass than, say, the Etymotic ER-4P. The UE-11 is in a different league, sort of like the Shure E500/SE530. It’s as if you’d added a subwoofer to the ER-4P, gaining a bit of accurate warmth on the lows the ER-4P might have strained on, and then going a bit beyond to provide extra bass range you can really hear.
Another way of putting it is that UE-11 provides almost all the accuracy of the ER-4P (it’s a hint shy on the highs; a comment I passed along to UE, which may remedy this) or UE-10, while adding really nice low-end. It actually feels a bit weird taking the UE-11s out of your ears after listening to them, because the rest of the world doesn’t sound quite as interesting as what they’re pumping into your brain.
Customizations are a question mark right now. They will surely be available at least optionally in the same range of art and color customizations as the UE-10s and other custom models, but we’ll have to wait to find out whether Ultimate Ears goes a step beyond, which I’m hoping it will.
Posted by Jeremy Horwitz in East Amherst, NY, USA on June 1, 2007 at 5:45 PM (PDT)
4
Thanks Jeremy for your answers.
Just for further clarification, you wouldn’t say the 11s were bass heavy, just more articulate? Basically, I have the UE-5cs, and was planning to upgrade to the 10s for a more accurate and balanced sound, and was just worried that maybe the 11s were maybe a little too bass heavy to be regarded as reference quality.
Posted by stadidas on June 1, 2007 at 6:10 PM (PDT)
5
We’ll have to see how the final sound signature turns out, but as-is, they are definitely enhanced a bit for bass fans. I’d call them a bit off reference-quality, but in a good way.
Posted by Jeremy Horwitz in East Amherst, NY, USA on June 6, 2007 at 11:41 PM (PDT)
6
Just to clarify, the UE 11’s are quad drivers right? so what would happen if the user had small ears, would he still be able to use the UE 11’s. Also, would you consider the sound signature warm or is it more like harsh and straight in your face like. And do you saying that the amount of detail is shows is more or less than the ER4’s.
Posted by qwerty on June 13, 2007 at 4:47 AM (PDT)