My polk ultrafocus 8000 review
wii166
Posts: 12
Ill try to review these headphones as well as I can for you guys since i always read reviews myself before I buy products. This review will be judging these headphones on several different forms of music including Country-Rap/Pop-Soft Rock, and Heavy Rock. This review will also cover sound based on movies and gaming, note I owned these headphones since November 2013. All tests were done on my pioneer Receiver as well as my laptop and basic sound output on my desktop.
Sound- Mids-Bass-Treble-Sound stage
Low volumes: Bass seems to stand out more compared to the treble but not in an overpowered way but its definitely more noticeable, the mids are beautiful right now I'm listening to country and the mids sound amazing and definitely realistic.
Normal volumes: Finally the treble comes out to play its not overbearing its really smooth, the Bass still feels a little over noticeable but not in a way thats ruining normal music like country, hard rock. Mids sound great really makes me sing out loud. Maybe these headphones won't be good for others who know me.
Loud volumes: Sound basically stayed at the same quality, the mids start to come alive more while not getting overpowered by the bass or treble, treble also starts to sound a bit more balanced with the mids and bass. Whats really important however is these have very little to NO distortion at these levels the bass is controlled and tight even in the fastest songs with heavy bass.
Soundstage: I used these 2 videos on YouTube for this test The Interrogation Chamber and Virtual Barber Shop. The sound stage sounds open but not as open as other Open-Back headphones this is probably their weakest point but it still does a fantastic job but if this matters a real lot I would have to recommend something else and they will have to be Open-Back headphones.
Gaming/Movies: The Bass really makes explosions sound amazing sounds like youre in a movie theater, and the mids sound great as well with gun shots, I was playing resident evil 4 and the machine gun(TMP) sounded so good I never heard mids that can keep up in such a fast and tight manner. First movie I watched on these headphones was the Man of Steel although the movie was a disappointed the sound wasn't with the voices sounding so clear.
Sound quality with my laptop/desktop vs my receiver: Without using my receiver and just using onboard sound these headphones have less bass and the mids sound less realistic, the treble seems weaker. Really have to recommend a DAC/AMP with these to get the most out of them but they still sound 85% as good with just onboard sound.
Build quality: Although I can tell they used high quality parts I have to admit I had 2 problems with my purchase, my first pair of headphones never turned off completely the blue light was always noticeable and Polk fixed it, but then then they came back with a broken driver so then Polk told me to throw away my old pair and they sent me out a brand new pair of headphones, never had any more problems Polk has the best customer service that I ever used in my life maybe even better than Nintendo.
Noise canceling: The most misunderstood part of these headphones! When nothing is playing you can hear a lot of the outside world, when you play sound at lower levels most of the world sounds goes way and at normal volumes I honestly can't hear anything I'm using them right now at modest volumes I cant hear my self-typing or the heavy wind outside my window or the person yelling in another room (which I can hear when I take these off).
Comfort: I'll never understand why people dont care more about this? I mean I hate when headphones are uncomfortable I don't care if they sound great if I have to take them off every 40min. I wear these for hours at my job and school work, probably easily 4 hours without taking them off if anything their pillows on my head and ears. They do have a slight tight feeling on the head nothing too bad and nothing that discomforts me in anyway and I also wear glasses.
End summary:
Sound: 9.5/10
Comfort: 10/10
Noise canceling: 9/10
Price/Performance: 8/10
I tried many different pairs of headphones and honestly some sound quite good for this amount of money some for even less money, obviously those were not the Bose or the Beats but other pairs that did not offer the features I wanted. Such as a built in Amp, they don't include noise canceling that works really good when sound is actually being played threw them. Those pairs also don't include a mic that actually works quite well. Some were not on the comfort level that I liked and some used lower quality parts. Are these headphones worth 300$ IMO yes I feel no remorse after buying these headphones and honestly the more I buy Polk products the more I love the quality they provide and the way they focus on little things more than other companies.
Sound- Mids-Bass-Treble-Sound stage
Low volumes: Bass seems to stand out more compared to the treble but not in an overpowered way but its definitely more noticeable, the mids are beautiful right now I'm listening to country and the mids sound amazing and definitely realistic.
Normal volumes: Finally the treble comes out to play its not overbearing its really smooth, the Bass still feels a little over noticeable but not in a way thats ruining normal music like country, hard rock. Mids sound great really makes me sing out loud. Maybe these headphones won't be good for others who know me.
Loud volumes: Sound basically stayed at the same quality, the mids start to come alive more while not getting overpowered by the bass or treble, treble also starts to sound a bit more balanced with the mids and bass. Whats really important however is these have very little to NO distortion at these levels the bass is controlled and tight even in the fastest songs with heavy bass.
Soundstage: I used these 2 videos on YouTube for this test The Interrogation Chamber and Virtual Barber Shop. The sound stage sounds open but not as open as other Open-Back headphones this is probably their weakest point but it still does a fantastic job but if this matters a real lot I would have to recommend something else and they will have to be Open-Back headphones.
Gaming/Movies: The Bass really makes explosions sound amazing sounds like youre in a movie theater, and the mids sound great as well with gun shots, I was playing resident evil 4 and the machine gun(TMP) sounded so good I never heard mids that can keep up in such a fast and tight manner. First movie I watched on these headphones was the Man of Steel although the movie was a disappointed the sound wasn't with the voices sounding so clear.
Sound quality with my laptop/desktop vs my receiver: Without using my receiver and just using onboard sound these headphones have less bass and the mids sound less realistic, the treble seems weaker. Really have to recommend a DAC/AMP with these to get the most out of them but they still sound 85% as good with just onboard sound.
Build quality: Although I can tell they used high quality parts I have to admit I had 2 problems with my purchase, my first pair of headphones never turned off completely the blue light was always noticeable and Polk fixed it, but then then they came back with a broken driver so then Polk told me to throw away my old pair and they sent me out a brand new pair of headphones, never had any more problems Polk has the best customer service that I ever used in my life maybe even better than Nintendo.
Noise canceling: The most misunderstood part of these headphones! When nothing is playing you can hear a lot of the outside world, when you play sound at lower levels most of the world sounds goes way and at normal volumes I honestly can't hear anything I'm using them right now at modest volumes I cant hear my self-typing or the heavy wind outside my window or the person yelling in another room (which I can hear when I take these off).
Comfort: I'll never understand why people dont care more about this? I mean I hate when headphones are uncomfortable I don't care if they sound great if I have to take them off every 40min. I wear these for hours at my job and school work, probably easily 4 hours without taking them off if anything their pillows on my head and ears. They do have a slight tight feeling on the head nothing too bad and nothing that discomforts me in anyway and I also wear glasses.
End summary:
Sound: 9.5/10
Comfort: 10/10
Noise canceling: 9/10
Price/Performance: 8/10
I tried many different pairs of headphones and honestly some sound quite good for this amount of money some for even less money, obviously those were not the Bose or the Beats but other pairs that did not offer the features I wanted. Such as a built in Amp, they don't include noise canceling that works really good when sound is actually being played threw them. Those pairs also don't include a mic that actually works quite well. Some were not on the comfort level that I liked and some used lower quality parts. Are these headphones worth 300$ IMO yes I feel no remorse after buying these headphones and honestly the more I buy Polk products the more I love the quality they provide and the way they focus on little things more than other companies.
Pioneer 521-K
Polk monitor 70's Fronts
T15's Rear(upgrading to the monitor 30's)
CS1 center(upgrading to the CS2)
Polk monitor 70's Fronts
T15's Rear(upgrading to the monitor 30's)
CS1 center(upgrading to the CS2)
Post edited by wii166 on
Comments
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Nice review. Glad you're enjoying them.
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ken brydson wrote: »Nice review. Glad you're enjoying them.
Thanks yeah i tried really hard on this review!Pioneer 521-K
Polk monitor 70's Fronts
T15's Rear(upgrading to the monitor 30's)
CS1 center(upgrading to the CS2)
