Ken Levy's Blog : Ultimate Ears

Ultimate Ears on Channel 10 - Part 1

klevy — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:17:00 GMT

On June 15th, I informally hosted some folks from Ultimate Ears on the Microsoft campus in one of the cafeterias. During their visit, I invited the folks from the Channel 10 team to stop by to do a video interview for on10.net. The video they created is a compilation of edited video material from Ultimate Ears, a short introduction interview with me talking about community around Ultimate Ears headphones (passion for the product = community), and a detailed interview with Mike Dias of Ultimate Ears. You'll see interviewer Laura Foy trying out several UE headphone including listening to Def Leppard on my Zune. There is possible part 2 video on Ultimate Ears coming to Channel 10 in the near future, as indicated near the end of the interview with Mike. The video can be viewed online or downloaded (various formats) at:

Ultimate Ears: How music was meant to be heard
You've never listened to your Zune like THIS before. I used to think headphones are headphones are headphones - but now I know that's not the case. Musicians know their stuff and they need the highest quality, most precise audio in their ears and that's why most on-stage performers use Ultimate Ears. There's actually an insane amount of technology all crammed into that little tiny earpiece. I wish you could all experience what I heard but take a look at this clip and I'm sure you'll get a better understanding of how music was meant to be heard.

Ultimate Ears visits Microsoft in Redmond on June 15th

klevy — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 23:23:00 GMT

Ultimate Ears visits Microsoft June 15th, building 34/35 cafeteria

Mike Dias from L.A. based Ultimate Ears is up here in Redmond visiting the main Microsoft campus on Friday June 15th from 11:00am to 6:00pm in the building 34/35 cafeteria. This is Mike's second visit to Microsoft, and all Microsoft employees are invited to stop by to meet Mike, learn more about Ultimate Ears headphones, and receive a demo of the amazing new Ultimate Ears triple.fi 10 Pro headphones.

New triple.fi 10 Pro headphones

The Ultimate Ears triple.fi 10 pro headphones for consumers are brand new and will be released later in late June. I've been listening to a pair for over a month now and they sound just as good (even a bit more natural deep bass) as the custom UE-10 models. The triple.fi 10s have 3 stereo drivers and a cross-over in each earpiece and are essentially a consumer (non-custom) version of their top of the line UE-10 headphones.

Reviews from users and publications

From a blog post about Mike's last visit to Microsoft in late 2005, Robert Scoble blogged about Ultimate Ears saying his Ultimate Ears the best he's ever heard. I talked to Robert at MIX07 a few months ago and he was still raving about his Ultimate Ears headphones, as does everyone I talk to who is part of the Ultimate Ears community. You can search online and find many other great reviews online including editor and review awards in many technical and audio publications.

Discounts for Microsoft employees

Ultimate Ears offers special discounts to Microsoft employees. Mike will have a limited supply of both black and white super.fi 5 Pro units (30 total) on hand for immediate sale.

Custom UE-10 headphones (free giveaway during visit

Any Microsoft employee who stops by and tries these amazing headphones out can enter for a free raffle to win a $900 valued pair of custom UE-10 monitors (raffle winner will be notified by email later that same evening).

Ultimate Ears used by over 80% all professional musicians world-wide

Ultimate Ears product line significantly dominates the professional music industry world-wide. To see a partial list (over 1000 listed) of professional artist and some celebrities who have Ultimate Ears headphones, check out:

Ultimate Ears artist and celebrity clientele list

Previous postings about Ultimate Ears custom and consumer headphones

For some detailed background information about Ultimate Ears custom and consumer headphones, refer to my previous detailed blog posts:

Quick tour of the Ultimate Ears lab in Irvin, California

In the summer of 2006, I visited Ultimate Ears in Orange County, Calif and recorded some Channel 9 style interviews including the one of Mike Dias below in the Ultimate Ears custom headphone lab.

Video: Ultimate Ears - Lab Tour 1

Ultimate Ears visits Microsoft Nov 18th and Bellevue Crossroads Mall Nov 19th

klevy — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 07:18:00 GMT

Mike Dias from L.A. based Ultimate Ears is up here in Seattle for a few days. Friday November 18th from 11:00am to 5:30pm, Mike will be visiting Microsoft building 25 cafeteria with me to invite Microsoft employees to come check out and receive a demo of the new Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 Pro headphones (extra clean ear bud attachments will be available for trying out). He will also have his laptop computer there with some presentation and technical information for those who inquire more under-the-hood details of the product line.

Microsoft employees are eligible for a special 15% off all super.fi Ultimate Ear products from today until the end of 2005. Mike will have a limited supply of both black and white super.fi 5 Pro units (20 total) on hand for immediate sale, see my recent blog post New super.fi universal fit headphones from Ultimate Ears for information about other locations to obtain them in person, plus they are available directly on the Ultimate Ears web site. Any Microsoft employee who stops by and tries these amazing headphones out can enter for a free raffle to win a pair of $249 valued super.fi 5 Pro headphones and another raffle to win a $900 valued pair of custom UE-10 monitors (winners will be notified by email later that same evening). Microsoft employees who cannot attend who want to receive the 15% discount by buying directly from Ultimate Ears before the end of the year can contact Ultimate Ears directly and ask for Mike Dias for the special offer. According to Ultimate Ears, co-founder of Microsoft and major music fan Paul Allen is one of the many customers of Ultimate Ears headphones, see list of artists who use Ultimate Ears for professional musicians who use them too.

For those in the Puget Sound, WA area who are not Microsoft employees, Mike will be hanging out with me at the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue inside by the chess game area just outside of Silver Platters to demo the super.fi units from 10:00am to 12:00pm noon on Saturday November 19th.

If you plan to stop by for a demo Friday or Saturday, feel free to bring your own portable media device to try them out with (one will be there if you don't bring one) and also your own headphones to compare to the super.fi units. For more information about the new Ultimate Ears super.fi product line, review my recent blog entry New super.fi universal fit headphones from Ultimate Ears.

New super.fi universal fit headphones from Ultimate Ears

klevy — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 07:17:00 GMT

Ultimate Ears provides the custom headphones used by nearly all professional musicians and bands, see list of artists who use Ultimate Ears. I used to have the Bose QuietComfort headphones which are great, but I sold them last year about 3 days after I received my custom UE-5c monitors. The UE-5c models are fantastic (2 stereo drivers per earphone) and the UE-10 monitors which I received earlier this year are even better (the UE-10 models go to 11, with 3 stereo drivers per earphone). Last May I blogged Ultimate Ears deliver on how music is meant to be heard.

Robert Scoble also received his own pair of UE-10 Ultimate Ears earlier this year and he blogged about them which resulted in the article online Ultimate Ears Headphones Are Simply Unbelievable. Scoble recently commented in another blog post:

It’s interesting the little rules society just repeats over and over and over without really thinking them through. That said, it’s going to be a sad day when they allow cell phones to be used on planes. If that ever happens getting Ultimate Ears headphones will be a must. Those things really are great. You can’t hear a baby screaming at full volume in the seat next to you.

Alex Wieder, someone who I have met a few times at conferences over past years, recently read my blog post about Ultimate Ears and then he decided to buy his own custom UE-10 monitors. Once he received them and had a chance to try them out on his recent vacation, he contacted me with the following feedback:

Can you describe it to someone who's never experienced them? I'll write Ultimate Ears saying they should rename them "sanctuaries" instead of using the totally non-descriptive UE-10 name. That's what they really are! Rod Paddock's editorial saying wonders about the Bose QuietComfort headphones in his CoDe Magazine editorial a few months back prompted me to try those, but I was able to hear the noise-canceling signal they create and that bothered me quite a bit - especially on long flights, causing me a headache. The UE's being passive as far as noise-reduction is concerned are absolutely perfect. I ended up returning my pair of Bose's. Took me a few days to get used to having them in my ears, but my experience was exactly the same you described in your blog: I spent quite some time just listening to bits and pieces of hundreds of songs just to experience the quality. "Awesome" doesn't begin to describe it. I have to thank you for a wonderful experience and the UE team have to thank you for a new customer. Have fun!

The custom Ultimate Ears are super high end and expensive, $550-$900US. But earlier this year, Ultimate Ears created a new product line called super.fi. These new portable in-ear headphones are based on the same amazing technology as their custom professional monitors and are packaged in a universal fit commercial package.

I had a chance to try out the super.fi 5 Pro models when I was in L.A. in October and I was blown away at how these far less expensive headphones sounded so much like the high end pro models. So last month I bought my own pair of super.fi 5 Pro headphones which are $249US, I actually bought the exclusive clear super.fi 5 Pro models exclusive at Guitar Center. The super.fi products can be bought at CompUSA in store or online, which I found out recently just browsing around there. The super.fi 5 Pro models are also available from the Apple store, with super high reviews. When I bought the super.fi units at Guitar Center, they sales guy said "These things have been getting GREAT reviews.".

The $99 super.fi 3 Pro models have a great review with photos by Gadgeteer Hands On Review by Judie Hughes called Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 3 Studio Earphones, including showing how to properly use them in the ears. The higher end super.fi 5 Pro models have 2 stereo drivers per ear bud, which I am listening to now as I am typing out this blog post. The review also mentions how many Apple executives use Ultimate Ears headphones with their iPods.

Wired magazine listed them at the top of their headphone reviews recently saying "Pinch in these black beauties after wallowing in muddy iPod Whites for too long, and you'll swear you're hearing Gwen's purr for the first time. Two drivers per bud make for richly detailed stereo sound, and bas is miraculously full and tight, even at low volumes.".

An additional review by PC World. Also the fall 2005 issue of Mobile Entertainment reviewed the super.fi 5 Pro models, which I just happen to pick up off the shelf while reading on some trip out of town last month, and wrote: "Ultimate Ears supplies many rock stars with the custom-fit in-ear monitors they use to hear the rest of the band on stage. Now you can get similar professional-grade accuracy in an off-the-shelf ear bud. The super.fi 5 Pro comes with a five-piece fit kit to ensure that you get a full 26 db of isolation, and you can take your pick of black or iPod-friendly white. For $50 less you can opt for the super.fi 5 EB (Extended Bass), which scarifies some noise isolation but delivers serious thump.".

I use the super.fi 5 Pro models while at work and also while being active, and use the custom fit models when traveling like in a plane or train since they block out sound a bit more (even though the super.fi 5 Pro models are in-ear and do a great job at natural sound block without the distortion of noise reduction audio modification).

I was listening to the soundtrack to Amadeus last hour (Mozart never sounded better) and right now as I type this I'm listening to Van Halen's album 1984. Ironically, see the Ultimate Ears company background: "Jerry Harvey was traveling as a sound engineer with multi-platinum rock band Van Halen in 1995 when drummer Alex Van Halen complained that the earpiece he was using to hear himself and his bandmates on stage wasn’t worth the price of one of his drumsticks. Several months later, Harvey and his then-wife Mindy went into business under the name “Ultimate Ears” with a deluxe in-ear monitor featuring special two-driver engineering for better sound reproduction plus custom fabrication from silicone impressions of the wearer’s ears to ensure a precise fit."

June 2005 event tour trip report - Part 2

klevy — Sun, 03 Jul 2005 04:22:00 GMT

Taking a quick break during my vacation on the Greek Island of Mykonos, here is part 2 of 2 for my central/eastern European speaking tour in June 2005...

Prague, Czech Republic

There is an update to the figures we announced during the Praha DevCon 2005 keynote after Igor Vit did some mining into registration data. Turns out that 60 people have been new to this year's event and 60 have been attending all 8 years (not 50 and 100 respectively as previously reported). I believe the original data was based on Igor's guess or memory, but we wanted to be accurate in the reporting. There was a closing Q&A session on Wed. June 23rd which I was not able to attend being in route to speak in Budapest on June 24th. It was reported that all went well for this year's event and DAQUAS (host and organizer of the event) said "with that feedback we promised we are ready to organize the event next year again.". I am fairly certain that Alan Griver is already packing his bags for Praha DevCon 2006 as he has never been to Prague and he really wants to attend this great VFP annual conference. It was great to see VFP MVPs Andy Kramek and Marcia Akins speaking there again along with all the other speakers and attendees that I've grown to know over the years by my attending 5 years in a row. The Praha DevCon events are held at the Czech Technical University. In case you missed it or did not read it all, the UT Praha 2005 conference report is a must read, plus browsing the archive photos.

Budapest, Hungary

The special VFP event in Budapest was held at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics organized and hosted by Sandor Nacsa and Istvan Kerese of Microsoft Hungary. The event was equipped with facilities for simultaneous translation which was used. It appears about half the audience used the translation headphones while the other half listened to my presentation in English. Budapest is certainly once of the nicest European cities and is getting better every year so I am told. It is very comparable to visiting Prague.

Bucharest, Romania

This special VFP event in Bucharest was held at the very nice and modern Howard-Johnson Hotel conference center organized and hosted by Dorin Badea and Zoli Herczeg of Microsoft Romania. The Romanian language is close to Italian and French and there are a lot of investments from companies from these European countries and others. One of the largest investors in Romania is Renault. There are many VFP developers in the central European and Balkans regions with many Romanians, Bulgarians, Turks, and Serbians who offer VFP development services. Visual FoxPro is extremely popular in Romania and is taught in many schools and universities. Everyone I talked to on the train ride to Bucharest, even non-programmers, and heard of FoxPro. One 21 year old Romanian law student said he first used FoxPro when he was about 12 years old in the early 90s.

Romanians have a great sense of humor, more than any European city I've ever visited. The county of Transylvania which includes Dracula's castle is in Romania. The story of Dracula in Hollywood does not follow the real legend of Dracula, so I included a slide bullet at the start of my presentation that received some big laughter: Hollywood needs new Dracula movie… Dude, where’s my castle? A special thanks to Romanian VFP developers Grigore Dolghin and Sergiu Cazan who helped promote the event and make my visit to Romania as productive and as fun as possible. These guys were also at the Praha event, so it was fun to see them at two events within one week.

Sofia, Bulgaria

On June 28th–29th Microsoft Bulgaria organized the annual Microsoft Days 2005 event for Developers and IT professionals held at the International Exhibition Center. This year a third track was added to the event dedicated to Microsoft's MBS product line (Navision, Axapta & CRM). My participation was organized by Plamen Hristov of Microsoft Bulgaria. English presentations were the norm. Why? There are neither books nor help documentation for any software in Bulgarian. All is in English. If someone wants to be a computer programmer in Bulgaria, they have to at least be able to read English, and most understand spoken English. Most of the programmer speak English too. English speakers just have to talk more slowly than normal just as when speaking in any non-native English speaking locations.

The Dev Days event in Sofia was visited by more than 1400 attendees divided in three tracks: Developers, IT Pros and MBS. The main focus of the event was Technical preview of SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005 and the Launch of Bulgarian Navision 4.0. My sessions were on VFP 9.0 with VS 2005 and also XML tools in VS 2005, topics that I covered at all of the events in my tour. A special thanks to Venelina Jordanova and her husband Jordan for meeting me at the train station when I arrived in Sofia and all the tours, dinners, lunches, etc. outside of the event itself making my visit to Sofia one of the many highlights of my trip. Jordan actually surprised me and met me on the train at some stop in Bulgaria so we met for the first time and chatted for 3 hours or so heading into Sofia. And also thanks to another VFP developer in Bulgaria named Boris, as well as my new buddy Soykan Ozcelik who took a bus from Turkey to the event in Sofia and toured around Sofia with Jordan and I. Soykan is a Greek VFP developer who lives in Turkey. I need to find a way to get Soykan at the same event with some of the Romanian VFP developers to raise the fun and humor factor to 11.

Greece and trip summary

Part of my trip plans this year was to take 5 days vacation in Greece after my central/eastern European speaking tour. Here in Greece, the currency used is the Euro and when late in the day July 1st, the ratio to the U.S. dollar was $1.195 per Euro (via http://xe.com) which is down over 6% more in the past month since my blog post Currency conversions on the go, and down 13% since my previous visit to Europe last November.

During some of my recent travels I had a chance to watch several more Channel 9 videos on my Sony PSP, and loaded onto memory a few new ones for the long trip home to Seattle. Using the PSP Video 9 conversion program, I found a good setting to convert Channel 9 WMV video files to MPEG4 files for the Sony PSP. This setting converts to high quality video and audio MPEG files and are about the same file size as the WMV being converted, setting: Default Profile set to 320x240/29.97fps/QB4 Stereo/96kbps.

I listened to my UE-10 Ultimate Ears headphones for dozens of hours on my trip (music, movies, and videos) while traveling and doing computer work in various locations from hotel rooms to airports to train stations as well as on trains and airplanes. My review of the UE-10 Ultimate Ears was recently added to the Ultimate Ears reviews web page.

I've been exchanging email with a VFP developer named Dimitris who participates on the UniversalThread.com who lives in Athens. Dimitris was going to go to the Sofia event but had a conflict in his schedule and couldn't attend. I will probably be having a drink with Dimitris somewhere in Athens on Monday night, to add to the long list of VFP developers I've meet for the first time on this spectacular trip. While seeing sites and new places is certainly a great party of foreign travel, I would say over half the experience is meeting so many friendly and interesting people along the way (work related, other tourists, locals, etc.). Just waiting outside the hotel this afternoon waiting for the bus to stop to head into downtown Mykonos, people riding by on motor bikes would smile and wave. This is the type friendliness I've experienced over the past 2 weeks of my trip.

This has certainly been the most interesting, educational, and insightful trip of mine to date from a social and historic perspective. My tour had me in 10 countries within 12 days. Including all the stops and visits on my trip between June 18th and June 30th, I was in the U.S., Denmark, U.K., Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece. I will probably spent some vacation time in Italy after my European tour this fall. Later this year I will be speaking at the following events:

Southwest Fox 2005, Phoenix, October 13th
Frankfurt DevCon 2005, Frankfurt, November 8th
Zurich FoxPro User Group, Switzerland, November 11th

Ultimate Ears starts line of consumer in-ear-canal headphones

klevy — Tue, 24 May 2005 12:18:00 GMT

PCWorld.com released an article on Friday called Well-Priced In-Ear Stereophile Headphones with an overview of a new consumer product line from Ultimate Ears.

So it came as no surprise when Ultimate Ears announced it would be entering this growing market. The company recently disclosed the details of its new super.fi series of "consumer" canalphones, with prices ranging from $149 to $249.

What most people using portable media devices should realize is that when it comes to headphones, you pretty much get what you pay for. Which means if you use the earphones that are included free with an iPod or other media player, they are probably worth the extra cost that went into them (about $2 I'm guessing). I've never spoken to anyone who invested in high quality headphones who told me they regretted the investment. Most people don't know what they are missing until they start using a higher quality set of earphones for portable music, movies, audio books, podcasting, etc. I wish the iPod manual would be updated to read: Step 1) Charge battery. Step 2) Throw the included earphones in the trash and get a new pair that actually comes close to producing audio output that matches the nice high quality media player you just purchased.

More on blogging benefits and Ultimate Ears

klevy — Sat, 21 May 2005 05:38:00 GMT

It wasn't that long ago when querying a top search engine on my name (Ken Levy) resulted in many top links to people other than me, I was pretty far down the result page. I notice now that both MSN Search and Google both have the #1 search result linking to my blog, with other top results mostly linking to content related to me. I found the same to be true for many people I know or work with who have been active on their great blogs within the past year. Just a few examples include Calvin Hsia (MSN Search, Google), Rick Strahl (MSN Search, Google), Cathi Gero (MSN Search, Google), and Rod Paddock (MSN Search, Google). A year ago, search results on these names would not have resulted in near as many links to content related to them personally. Having a search result from someone's name link directly to their personal blog is significant.

Ultimate Ears are listed at #3 on Network World: Top 10 Gift Guide insights:

3. Putting goo in your ear is worth it. In order to try the Ultimate Ears personal monitors, we had to travel to an ear specialist who had to take an impression of my ears in order to create the device. While the process was odd, getting something that enhances the digital audio player trumps it.

Good things come to those who blog

klevy — Sat, 21 May 2005 00:20:00 GMT

There are many stories about people who have great blogs and as a result have had a door opened for them to get a better job, obtain new business opportunities, make new friends, and more. Often these opportunities would have have occurred if it wasn't for their blog. Blogging is not for everyone, but blogs are a great free medium for people who have something to say, a desire to educate, and a passionate to communicate.

I recently blogged about how Ultimate Ears deliver on how music is meant to be heard. I am obviously a big fan of the Ultimate Ears headphones and I feel strongly that they are well worth the cost over any other headphones (used for portable or home, office, etc.). I had been reading Robert Scoble blog about how he had thought had the best headphones available (an off the shelf pair). Late last year when Scoble interviewed me for the Channel 9 video on First look at Visual FoxPro 9, I had my Ultimate Ears on my desk at work and pointed out to him that I thought these were the best earphones I'd ever used, by far. That was six months and since then that video interview online has 100,000 views and is now the 6th most watched Channel 9 video out of 445 videos total.

Robert Scoble received his own pair of UE-10 Ultimate Ears last night and he blogged with Unbelievable headphones arrived today. He now shares the same enthusiasm I've had since I first used mine. Scoble's blog post was also picked up today on WebPronews.com.

So is this blog entry about blogs or about great headphones? Well, there three morals to the story here. 1) My friend Robert Scoble can now enjoy music, podcasts, movies on the go, etc. like he has never experienced before using his new Ultimate Ears. 2) As of today, tens of thousands of people have learned that there is an option available for obtaining the highest quality earphones ever designed. 3) It is only around noon pacific time today, and already within the past 12 hours since Scoble's blog entry linked me, the visits to my blog are over 5 times more as normal with a very large number of people reading my blog for the first time.

Ultimate Ears deliver on how music is meant to be heard

klevy — Thu, 19 May 2005 17:02:00 GMT

Do you remember the time you heard the quality of audio coming from a digital music CD and realized how much better it was over analog cassettes and phonograph records? I do. It was when I first bought a portable CD player in 1986 and installed it as an add-on in my car. I recall playing the first CD I ever bought or ever heard, it was from the rock band Whitesnake. The song was Here I Go Again, and the dynamic range and crystal clear sound blew me away. It only took me a minute to realize that I was going to want to convert my most of my collection of about 100 music cassettes to CD. At that time, many people who started listening to CDs realized they could not enjoy music that was not on CD format since they were spoiled with the superb quality of digital music.

Do you remember when you first saw a demo of a high definition TV playing a movie or HDTV program? I do. It was in a Good Guys store a few years ago walking by the TV department. I was stunned. The video playing was some kind of nature type documentary and it looked so like a window into reality rather than a TV. Most people who own an HDTV today would not even consider going back to a regular resolution TV and often question how others can go without HDTV. I recall my parents telling me stories of how they and others saw a color TV for the first time after only watching a black and white TV growing up.

I am a big fan of a wide variety of music as well as a big fan of movies. I have a large collection of music CDs and movie DVDs. I probably listen to music more hours per week than I do watching TV and movies. So music quality is important to me, and I've got a nice 10 year old Bose stereo setup both at work as well as a 10 year old Bose speaker setup at home in surround sound. For both work, travel, and general mobility, I have tried many different headsets and earphones with my music devices. I've owned the MDR-NC11 noise canceling earbud headphones ($150 retail), the Bose QuietComfort noise canceling headphones ($300) which are very good, and I've tried many others. But for me today, those headphone/earphone technologies are black and white and non high definition, so to speak.

Recently I experienced something new in technology that most people have not had the opportunity to even know about. The most perfect sounding earphones on the planet. Just as what digital did for music and what HDTV did for video, I can now hear and enjoy sounds of audio far beyond anything I've ever experienced before.

Nearly the entire professional music industry already knows about the Ultimate Ears custom personal monitors. Check out just some of the professional music artists using Ultimate Ears. There is a common saying "you get what you pay for". In the case of Ultimate Ears, I would say it is a discount because based on years of experience with high end headphones and earphones, I've concluded that the Ultimate Ears are a multiple factor better than other headsets I've used.

I first started using the model UE-5c monitors ($550) last November. I took them on my trips to Europe and Australia. When I was on a plane or train I could not hear the engine or any external noise at all. I could only hear crystal clear audio that you would only normally hear being live in the studio or at the event during the actual recording. I recently upgraded to the high end UC-10 monitors that professional musicians use, and I can say they are at least twice as good as the UC-5c models. The UE-5c model is designed for consumers and great for portable media devices, just fine for most people to experience pure bliss listening to music like never before. The UC-10 monitors allow you to experience pure bliss, nirvana, paradise, and ecstasy all at once.

Today I was wearing my UC-10 monitors listening to a range of music from my favorite rock band the Scorpions to Fleetwood Mac's greatest hits to Beethoven's 9th Symphony to John Williams' theme for Star Wars. I heard sounds and detail that I've never heard before in that music. The sound with Ultimate Ears is so pure and so 3D in your head it is beyond words can describe. When I fly while traveling, I cannot hear people talking or any baby crying even in the row next to me wearing the Ultimate Ears, not even a tiny bit of the airplane engine. There is no better way to enjoy tuning out external noise enjoying your own world when needed.

How it works is that you get custom silicon molds made of your ears as if you were getting hearing aids for both ears. You send those molds to Ultimate Ears in California and they hand craft a pair of ear monitors that perfectly fit your ear. They act as a natural ear plug blocking out all sound. There is no noise reduction electronics at all, so the audio throughput is pure and natural. It costs about $40 to have your ears molded and takes about 15 minutes, totally painless. I had my ear impressions done at a place called Hear USA (map) in Bellevue, WA near the main Microsoft campus in Redmond. The Ultimate Ears web site has detailed information on getting ear impressions.

Ultimate Ears recently released a new lower end super.fi product line ($200-$250) of non-custom earphones that are designed for consumers as ready to go (no custom ear impressions). The list of retailers for super.fi earphones has just started and I was told it will be growing soon with new resellers. The super.fi earphones will not meet up to the highest end audio quality found with the Ultimate Ears custom molded, but they use the same basic electronics and we should be hearing more about their super.fi product line for general consumer use.

There are many great press reviews on the Ultimate Ears custom molded monitors listed on their web site. I've never read a review that included Ultimate Ears against other headphones with Ultimate Ears not coming out on top as the best. Outside Online has a great recent summary with some information that compares the UE-5c model with the UE-10 model. There is also a good recent UC-5c review in Forbes magazine. People who use Ultimate Ears live by them like no other audio headset, as seen on some of the testimonials online. Ultimate Ears are not just great for music, but also for watching movies on the go with a DVD player or portable multimedia device. I've watched a few movies on a DVD player while flying using the Ultimate Ears and it is like hearing the sound system of the movie in a theater or home stereo system.

Randy Brown, who I work with at Microsoft on the VFP team, is who told me about Ultimate Ears a year ago when he ordered them. Randy read about Ultimate Ears and took a gamble at investing in a pair of model UE-5c. When he received them and described to me how they sounded, he kept raving about the audio quality. I ended up ordering a my own custom UE-5c monitors that same week. I didn't play just one song entirely when I first tried them out, but instead played short segments of many songs simply blown away at the unbelievable sound quality output in my head. Recently, Randy and I both upgraded to the highest end UE-10 models. The UE-5c model is great, but model UE-10s go to 11!

Ultimate Ears have been the best purchase of new technology that I've made since I bought my first CD and CD player in the 1980s. My enjoyment of listening to music and even my quality of life has gone up from using Ultimate Ears because of the number of hours per week I use them. I've never enjoyed listening to music more. Any music fan who has experienced using Ultimate Ears would very likely repeat my words here. Maybe over the next year I will hear from more and more people who can describe the moment in their life when they first experienced Ultimate Ears.