Ultimate Ears Pro Reference Remastered - initial ohmage

Disclaimer: certain headfiers approached me with an irresistible offer: nabbing an Ultimate Ears Pro Reference Remastered in exchange for a review at the usual suspects. Being my privatest of stomping grounds, ohm will get the first words. Many thanks to Ultimate Ears to facilitating it all. 

Subject: UE Pro Reference Remastered - Ultimate Ears: 999$ USD.
Head-fi thread: Ultimate Ears UE Pro Reference Remastered! (UERR) - Head-Fi.org

And the first words go like this: Nice chocolate-box vibing box. In it are two - again chocolate-reminding - thick instruction cards. There’s a magnet holding it all together. Inside, satiny nylon cuddles an environmentally sealed aluminium casket. In that sit the cooperative work between UE and Capital Studios.

Hollow shells keep the UEPRR light in the hand, and in the ear. Signal pathways are split all the way to its snout. It’s pleasantly underdressed. You know who made it. And if your skin is less pink than mine is, it'll wink out like a lightbulb.

While I’ve got just a few hours’s listening under my belt, I’m confident in saying that this earphone presents things like a concert. Viz., with the exception of a textured vocal band, the stage pushes powerfully out like a wall of sound. Vocals are grounded and prominent, bubbling forward at the slightest provocation. The UEPRR errs - however slightly - bright. Crowds in live recordings sound just like you were there. And you? You’re somewhere about a third of the way back from the stage, gathering in one of the widest stages you'll hear in a pair of in-ears. 

Lows are quick and light, and their z-axis transition to mids is deep and 3D. Unlike Noble Audio’s K10, the UEPRR neither amplifies nor warms up the space between instruments. It’s also not as micro-contrasty as the Vision Ears V6. Next to the FitEar MH335’s brunt, its mids are calisthenically toned. And, with the exception of a really 3D bass and lower mid section, it is matter-of-fact, and middling bright. It is responsive, athletic, and surprisingly immersive despite its massive stage. For now I can’t describe it any better than that.

But I’ll be back. For now, I wish you some Bonafied Loving.

Headfi: Noble Audio 4C and Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor comparative review

Mistaken though it may have been at the time, my ejaculation that Thomas Tsai's awesome comparo of the above earphones had hit Headfi's front page became prophesy. Again, read the review. It showcases not only why headfi rocks, but why Thomas is one of the ones to read- that is, if he gets around to writing.

@Headfi: In-Depth Comparison: Ultimate Ears In-Ear Reference Monitor & Noble Audio 4C (Wizard Design)

tomscy2000's A/B comparison of the Ultimate Ears In-Ear Reference Monitor and the Noble Audio 4C clinches head-fi's role as the most complete source for all things headphone.

If you've not yet got a pot of coffee brewing, get one on. If you've yet to shave, don't. Tom's ~7.000-word essay goes better with a beard. 

In-Depth Comparison: Ultimate Ears In-Ear Reference Monitor & Noble Audio 4C (Wizard Design)