Ultimate Ears UE6000 Portable Headphones and UE18 Custom In-Ear Monitors Review

UE18 Custom In-Ear Monitors

Ultimate Ears designed the UE18 for professional musicians and music enthusiasts who demand nothing but the best. The UE18 was designed to allow one to hear all the detail in any recording. The innovative design features six speakers and three acoustically designed sound chambers.

The multiple crossovers create very wide instrument separation and produce fantastic inner detail. The transparency in the UE18 is something to behold.

The UE18 frequency response is 20-20kHz. Bass is very deep and extended. The UE18 had terrific bass slam on recordings that have deep bass. Their sensitivity of 110 dB makes them a very easy load, and they can be driven with an iPad, iPod or other portable players easily and without using a separate amplifier.

The UE18 has a nice cable that can be removed for those audiophiles who may decide to upgrade the cable. I found the stock cable excellent. It is well built, very durable, low in distortion, and non micro-phonic. The sound is not harsh and the cable in my opinion is excellent, and I saw no reason to upgrade it.

The UE18 has terrific isolation down to -26dB, which makes it very good for listening in any environment. I could hear very little noise on my recent fight to San Francisco. Listening at home was also very quiet as I could not hear any noise coming through and nothing disturbed my listening sessions.

The UE 18 is priced at $1350. The price includes the in-ear monitors, but not the visit to the audiologist to have the ear impressions made.* I visited an audiologist in Philadelphia to have impressions made, which were then sent to Ultimate Ears in Irvine, California. The in-ear monitors were ready and shipped to me three weeks later. The fit was perfect and needed no further adjustments. I have been listening to the UE 18 for about three months for this evaluation. Ultimate Ears kept me updated as to what was going on with the order. They are very committed to customer service.

One can choose from a variety of colors for the UE18. Custom artwork can be used to design or to make the UE18 fit your personal style. The pair I have are in clear plastic casing. Each ear is color coded to distinguish the left to right ear monitor. There is a red symbol on the right monitor and a green one on the left ear monitor. They are designed to have the cable go over your ear. The fit is very comfortable and I have no fatigue or discomfort while wearing them.

Sound

The UE18’s six proprietary speakers make this one of the most dynamic and detailed portable headphones I have used. The sound coming from the UE18 was an out-of-the-head experience. The sound stage was very wide and instrument separation was outstanding. The vocal reproduction was incredibly lifelike and I could hear deep into the recordings. Listening carefully there was no masking and everything that was on the recordings was clearly audible.

Nat King Cole’s Love is the Thing has some of the best-ever recorded male vocals. The outstanding SACD recording let me hear how well the UE18 can do instrument separation. The album, with its full orchestra, let me hear the amazing sound stage that the UE18 was capable of providing. On “When I fall in Love,” Nat’s vocal was front and in the center of the stage and the orchestra was to the rear and I could hear deep into the recording. Every musician had his own space with air around the instruments.

“Stardust” really showcased Nat’s soothing vocal. The orchestration by Gordon Jenkins is incredible. The layering of the orchestra was easily identifiable and sounded as good as any full size headphone I have heard. The inner detail of the recordings was pretty amazing from a miniature ear monitor.

Hugh Masekela’s Hope album is a tremendous album to use to test both bass and treble extension on any piece of equipment. Listening to the “Abangoma” track I could hear the kick drum very clearly. The treble was very extended. Masekela’s flugelhorn was as clear and full as I have heard it reproduced on any headphone. The instrument was not harsh, but I could hear its bite. Masekela’s vocal was also reproduced accurately.

Track three’s “Mandela” was a revelation. Listening to Masekela’s vocal with the back up singers showcased the sound stage again. Masekela was front and center and the background singers were layered slightly to the left. The drummer in the rear of the stage was really hitting the skins and I could feel the impact of the bass drum hitting hard. The bass was really extended and left nothing to either want or give me the feeling anything was missing. The separation was extraordinary and the flugelhorn — the centerpiece of this track — stood out with air and space. The music just came to life. The sound was so good that I easily forgot that I was listening to recorded music.