Loaner: Ultimate Ears UE18+

I would like to join in after the NYC dudes. I'm down in Maryland.

 

These are on their way to Drumline. Thank you for letting me participate.

 

oh man... only if i could....
hope to read your impressions

 

Hey guys just wondering how this loaner is going? Im interested in the UE18+ but would have to buy based on a short session with my phone. Does It scale well or have any of you used it with amplification?

 

Just got the package with the 18+'s, excited to give them a good long listen.

 

What did you think of them?

 

I enjoyed the UE18+ and preferred it to the PP8 for my tastes. It is has what I think of as a studio monitor type sound with a touch more bottom end warmth. The bass has a nice bloom to it that I enjoyed and a very well extended top end that might be a touch bright on some material. I think it is on par technically to the PP8 - nothing really stands out as wrong or a deal breaker. Both the PP8 and the UE18+ remind me of the UERM in terms of presentation - for a second pair of TOTL IEM's, I want something a little different. In the end, I still prefer the Andromeda as an overall package.

 

They are on the way to @Galm now. Very glad I got the chance to try they, truly a great iem. They were neck and neck with my andros all the way and overall I think I enjoyed them more.

 

So I've been listening to these for a few hours now vs the rest of my gear. Mainly comparing them to the Dita Dreams which are (still) my favorite iems bar none.

First things first is the bass is honestly kinda laughable between the two. The Dreams have fantastic bass, super punchy and full and genres that use it thrive on the Dreams. But this is a balanced armature vs a huge dynamic driver so that was to be expected.

The mids were odd. It almost seemed like they drastically differed between the upper and lower ranges. I've always loved a lot of pop punky rock type stuff*, and the Dreams clearly pulled ahead here on some songs. Bands like Green Day sound way more cohesive on the Dreams with its mildish v shape to my ears. But then Rise Against had tighter guitars on the UE18+... It's like upper mids the UE18+ won and on the lower the Dreams. Of note was that I thought Utopia kinda sounded in the middle between the two on Rise Against tracks. Dunno if that means the UE18+ was more resolving or not.

*Please note I know most of that stuff is recorded like crap I listened to many more genres on these.

The treble is where I could see why people like the UE18+. It was very smooth and yet detailed at the same time. They didn't sound sibilant at all, quite pleasant in fact. So overall songs that were more acoustic in nature I seemed to enjoy on the UE18+. I can clearly here the frequency response difference with the treble dominating over the bass and mids on certain songs. However I will say even though this means it is bright, it's the least fatiguing I've ever heard. It didn't really bother me like it did on other headphones. Though weirdly, I don't think the UE18+ had much more detail in the treble if any, it was very smooth though.

One of the things that I may need some help on is I was listening to Back From The Dead by Skylar Grey. On Mojo the UE18+ sounded better... Crystal clear in the chorus at 1:30ish. However the Dreams had some sort of distorted effect on the vocals throughout a little but mainly at 1:36. So I assumed the Dreams had... distortion. But then I plugged them both into DAVE and they sounded closer to the Dreams? So is Mojo not enough juice? Utopia could also easily hear the... whatever in her voice at 1:36. Still trying to understand it because it sounded to my ears like the UE18+ sounded best out of the Mojo vs any of them but it may have just been wrong?

The UE18+ did reignite my curiousity in BA iems again though. While I still don't think I like the step back presentation they did some things very right. So whens the Tia Fourte loaner?

Also for the record my preferred sound signature is basically flat with a slight emphasis on bass if anything. My main listening is done on Focal Utopia and Focal Twin6 Bes as well, so I'm used to Focal's Beryllium.

I think ideally I'd take some of the treble and mids from the UE18+ and combine that with the bass and forwardness of the Dreams. I understand why people call the Dreams metallic a bit better from this comparison. @shotgunshane I'd be interested in how you'd compare the two from your memories.

Oh also note my dac/amps were kinda crappy. All I have is a V30, iPad Pro, and Mojo with me right now.

@Kunlun pm me your info when you get the chance, I'll send them out later this week. I will also edit my impressions if time changes something.

 

@Kunlun bound! Thanks for letting me try em!

 

The ue18+ is here, thanks.

 

Can't wait to hear your impressions, @Kunlun!