Ultimate Buds UB5 iPhone headset (2009 version)
$38.99
It’s Hawk again, and I am revisiting Ultimate Bud’s UB5 iPhone compatible headset. It seems that since their initial release, those of us that gave our reviews were heard. Ultimate Buds kept the speakers, but changed out the housing. How do they compare to the previous version I reviewed? Let’s take a look, shall we?
Before I go any further, I have to remind you, the reader, that I am not a professional sound engineer or a self-described audiophile. I’m just a guy who likes listening to music and can appreciate when something enhances my listening experience.
Design
First thing you will notice is that the buds themselves don’t resemble the previous version with the V-Moda-style buds like before. Now the buds more closely resemble those of the Ultimate Ears SuperFi 4vi
for the iPhone. Main differences would be that the version by Ultimate Ears (different company) have a rounded edge leading to the eartips, and the UB5s have a hard edge. What does that mean? Nothing, really. It’s a difference in design and that’s about it. I also want to point out that these buds are still amazingly light, making for comfortable extended use.
The UB5 earbuds, courtesy of UltimateBuds.com
The plug connector is the same as before, and I personally still wonder about the durability of the rubber portion after the plug housing. It’s a pet-peeve of mine. This time around though, nothing happened like what I showed in my original review, where the rubber seemed to be ready to come apart from the housing, which lends support to my conclusion in my first review that it was the exception to the norm. The area where the cable splits to the left and right channels has an aluminum housing surrounded by rubber ends on the top and bottom. Very sturdy construction, and should withstand some serious strain if you accidentally get caught on something and they get pulled.
The headphones come only in black
The mic/button looks just like the Apple OEM headphones that come with the iPhone, only in black, but there is a slightly different feel to it. It’s a little stiffer, which makes it harder to have accidental clicks. UB5s also boast a better mic than before. I tested this while driving (I own a 2001 Pathfinder and road noise has always been a little problem when on the phone), and the party on the other end reported that they couldn’t tell I was on a headset, and that I was coming through loud and clear. In fact, I rolled the window down on surface streets and they still could barely tell anything had changed, only noting that a faint background noise was audible – till I got a direct blast of wind on the mic. Even then, he said that it wasn’t bad at all.
The Ultimate Buds logo visible on the back of the earbuds
The gold-plated headphone jack
Sound
One of the main reasons for the design changes were from customer suggestions that the sound wasn’t “warm” enough. In other words, the highs were a little too pronounced and the lows were slightly lacking. This really wasn’t my finding when reviewing the original UB5s, but I can see where others would come to this conclusion. I thought that the originals were actually a little bass-heavy compared to my Maximos, but not overwhelming. I guess the best way to describe it was that the original UB5s weren’t “punchy” in the right places. I don’t have my original UB5s right now to directly compare the two, but I can tell right away that there was a difference to be heard, especially after looking over what I wrote in my original review.
If you have read my original review, one of the other things that I mentioned was that the UB5s were not as loud as my Maximos. It wasn’t a big difference, but it was something to be noted. This time around, I played the same songs and there is definitely a step up from before. These buds are as loud as my Maximos, being comfortably loud at only a 3rd of the maximum volume level for most of my music (*note: not every song is going to be at the same level, even with sound check and volume limit enabled in the settings on an iPhone or iPod). I tested all the way up to 75% of the maximum volume level, but at that point it was so loud that it was starting to hurt my ears. Halfway is just on the verge of doing damage, so the 3rd mark is where I continued to listen.
As far as overall sound goes, they are wonderful. One of the first songs I played was Angie Aparo’s Wonderland (link opens iTunes). I could distinctly hear each guitar note and even heard several that I had previously missed completely – this added new depth to an already great song. The highs were slightly subdued, but only enough that you could hear them fine without it hitting your eardrum like fingers on a chalkboard. The bass had a strong presence, but not overwhelming at the same time in the least. It is definitely a warm sound.
As I ran though the tracks used in for testing in my previous review, I was noticing that everything was right where it needed to be. And when pumping a track like Digital Underground’s Humpty Dance (link opens iTunes), you could literally feel the low end when it hit, but it wasn’t hitting your eardrum like a hammer. It’s a little hard to explain, but trust me – it’s a good thing.
Since I don’t have access to my original UB5s (the wife is hording them for her iTouch), and the Maximos made it to the movies with me but never made it back, the only headphones I can use to do a direct comparison to are the original Apple stock headphones. This is kind of a joke though – at the same volume, the Apple headphones were like a whisper compared to the UB5s (this of course is part of the difference between regular and isolation type headphones). I tested the Apple headphones, and went back to Wonderland again with the volume to 100%. I still had a very hard time hearing the subtle guitar notes that were so easy to hear with the UB5s.
Conclusion
Well, it’s a simple one. I think the latest version of the UB5s are a better than the original, and definitely worthy of consideration if you are looking for an isolation type headphone set. The construction is solid, the buds are comfortable and light, the volume is louder than before, and the overall sound quality is light years beyond the stock headphones. I would easily put these in the same category as any $100 set of headphones currently offered for the iPhone. (Imagine what Ultimate Buds actually offers in that price range if your pockets run that deep.) The retail price I picked these up for was $35 plus shipping directly from the Ultimate Buds site. To be honest, you are going to have a hell of a hard time finding a deal on headphones this good for under $70.
By the way, to be clear, this is a completely unsolicited review. The first review was requested by Ultimate Buds in exchange for a pair of UB5s, and I was fortunate enough to be selected to review a pair –and I reviewed them honestly, as I would if I had bought them myself. This time around, I was not approached by anyone and bought these on my own, as I was in the market again for a headset. After researching, this was about the best deal around, especially knowing what the original pair was like. I decided to write a review because I really like the sound, I believe in the company, and I think that in this economy, a deal like this should be shared.
-Hawk Pettengill
Related reviews:
Maximo iP-HS2 iMetal isolation headset
V-Moda Vibe Duo headset
Ultimate Buds UB5 headset (2008 version)