In terms of sound quality and performance, My Morning Jacket's new Evil Urges CD made a strong impression over the HFI-2200s. The bass, midrange, and treble balance were neutral (that's good), while the dynamics were lively. The S-Logic Natural Surround Sound really did open up the sound compared with what we were getting from our Sennheiser HD580 headphones. Not to mention that the Ultrasone headphones' sound was also richer and more fleshed out than that of the Sennheisers.
Our continued testing proved that movies were first rate over the HFI-2200s as well. Their openness became a part of the story as the sound was more speakerlike than the Sennheisers'. We used the plane crash scene on The Flight of the Phoenix DVD--which really pushes the limits of subwoofers when we play the disc over conventional external speakers. The HFI-2200's low bass output remained intact, but no pair of headphones can truly replicate the room-shaking gusto of a potent high-end subwoofer. Still, the twisting metal intensity of the sandy crash in the desert was preserved by the headphones.
To finish up, we plugged the HFI-2200 into our iPod. We were instantly wowed--the sound was big and weighty with exceptional clarity. The iPod had enough power to play the HFI-2200 fairly loud, but nowhere as loud as our reference Ultimate Ears UE-10 in-ear headphones. The HFI-2200's sound was much better than the far more expensive UE-10s, but the HFI-2200s' size will deter customers looking for a portable and practical set of headphones. Still, it's nice to know it can work with an iPod if the need ever arises. The HFI-2200 was a much better match with the iPod than Ultrasone's HFI-580, which we wouldn't ever recommend using with an iPod.
Still, the HFI-2200s are among the best headphones we've ever tested from Ultrasone--they're right in line with the now discontinued HFI-700s. If portability isn't a priority, the HFI-2200s provide a midrange speaker system experience without the actual speaker system.
What You'll Pay
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