I've read a lot of reviews on the UE9000s before asking for them as a Birthday p

resent. I've seen the good and the bad. Now, after receiving them as a gift and
using them for several days I have a real solid formulated opinion. I feel that
I owe anyone that reads this some quick background so you can clearly understand
my point of reference. POR means everything in reviews.
First, I have tons of earphones and headphones. Second, my wife and I are both g
eneral aviation pilots and we own some of the best active noise reduction (ANR)
technology available. I have Lightspeed Zulu 2 noise canceling headphones and sh
e flies with Bose A20 noise canceling headphones (proven to be the best ANR head
phones in the world, period). Both have BT pairing for calls and music. The reas
on for this info is that we understand how world class ANR works. Ultra high end
aviation headsets have unbeatable noise cancelation and sound quality.
Second, I like Logitech and Ultimate Ears. I have a pair of UE500s as a beat aro
und set, a pair of UE600s and now a pair of UE9000s to add to my collection of B
ose OE2 and other earphones.
On to the UE9000s. For all the nay sayers, you have to remember that Logitech wa
s real early in this space-Bluetooth, Noise Canceling. Beats is now a player but
not even Bose is there yet. Their BT set is not ANR (surprising since they have
been there in Aviation for a while now) and their ANR is not BT. That still doe
sn't forgive some of the huge omissions and mistakes Logitech made with the UE90
00s but it does force me me to cut them a little slack.
FIT AND FINISH: The UE9000s are big, heavy headphones. Tilt your head forward an
d they will shift and almost fall off. They look great and are well made. Those
that had had them break must be treating them poorly as I have twisted them arou
nd a bit and found them to be as well made as any of their competitors. The fit
is good but not great. My Bose OE2, my Lisghtspeed Zulus, my wife's Bose A20s, a
nd my brother's Bose QuietComfort 15s can be worn all day with no fatigue. Not s
o with the UE9000. After two hours, the weight and side clamping can begin to ta
ke it's toll. Yes, I've worn them for over two hours straight.
BUTTON LAYOUT: I've read a lot on the buttons and the overall layout makes a lot
of sense! If you are wearing the headphones and reach up with your right hand t
o grasp the ear cup, the BT on/off button is EXACTLY where your index finger hit
s. Also, the volume/play/skip button if exactly where you thumb hits. When you l
ift your left hand and grasp the left ear cup, your index finger precisely hits
the pause/listen button. I know that the power and pause buttons are nearly unde
r the hinges but their locations make it easy to hit the buttons blindly every s
ingle time. I can see why they placed them where they did. This is very good log
ic.
BUTTON FUNCTIONS: The buttons might be laid out well, BUT this is where things g
o crazy. When I use ANY and all headphones, even the other UE sets I have, you h
ave three buttons. Vol up, Play/Pause/SIRI/Skip/FF/RW, Vol down. Right? Well the
UE9000's three button layout is Vol+, Play/Stop/Skip, Vol- but you cannot FF or
RW and you cannot press and hold the play button to launch SIRI. Before you sur
mise that this is a BT thing, my Bose single earpiece for talking on the phone c
an launch SIRI. My car can launch SIRI, my corded headsets can launch SIRI but t
hese cannot. Unforgivable for a lifestyle headset. If Logitech wants us to "live
" with these (read their marketing stuff on their website), I need to be able to
sent texts, activate calls and more all with SIRI without having to take my pho
ne out of my pocket! Add in lack of FF or RW and this is an epic fail. Epic!
SOUND QUALITY/ANR: These things sound really good. People write about hiss. Well
, it exists. When the ANR is on, they hiss. When the music is playing I cannot h
ear it. FYI, our aviation headsets do not hiss at all. Some complain that the AN
R is weak, well, it is. Now, before you ask Logitech to go crazy in this area, y

ou really need to understand what you're asking. Aviation, and Bose QuietComfort
15s are SO GOOD at ANR that it makes your ears feel plugged. Superior ANR makes
me want to plug my nose a blow to clear my ears (Valsalva maneuver). Personally
, I don't want this. I want solid ANR that isn't apparent and I think the UE9000
s do this. Give me a 15-20% boost in the UE9001s and they'll be perfect.
One of the ways I use these is to hook up to my iPad and listen to streaming TV
shows like Monday Night Countdown or Football games while vacuuming or doing oth
er chores and they work well. The Vacuum cleaner is not totally shut out but it'
s muted enough that I can clearly hear the TV content. The Bluetooth allows me t
o be untethered from the iPad while working and the range is decent enough that
I can move through half the house without losing the signal.
Something BAD this strange soft click between every song and even during periods
when the music has momentary silent spots. It's not too intrusive but it's odd
and I don't like it. Also, if you double click the play button to skip a song, y
ou will miss the first 1.5-2 seconds of the song as the headphones mute and do t
he clicking thing I just described. I hate that too. I hate it a lot.
Here's another interesting fact, the UE9000s are like two headphones in one. Wit
h ANR on, they boom. The bass is very impressive and the sound is strong, but th
e internal EQ programming they use also mutes the highs and muddies the mid-rang
es. I know they can fix this. Also note that when you turn on the active noise r
eduction that your internal iPod/iPhone EQ setting don't work very well. They ar
e almost totally overridden by the UE9000s internal programming. Turn the ANR of
f and you have a completely different headset with really nice, mellow full soun
d without being boomy at all. The highs are crisp and the mids are smooth but th
e lows are a little thin. Unfortunately, you have to use the cord with the power
off but they do sound great...and you're internal iPod EQ works great. BUT, thi
s is the second epic fail. I should be able to use BT and not be forced to use t
he powered phones with the preset, heavy bass EQ. This is Logitech thinking that
their EQ setting is perfect. It isn't.
OVERALL JOY AND USEFULNESS: I like them. I really do. I know we will see the UE9
001 show up soon and I hope Logitech addresses some of these shortcomings. I als
o hope they allow a trade up program (as aviation sets do) for us early adopters
that went out and dropped a lot of money for relatively new technology in consu
mer audio.
$399 is a lot to spend to be on cutting-edge with technology that isn't fully ba
ked. At the same time there aren't, as of now, many other choices. I'm a happy o
wner that is also frustrated that a company like Logitech, that makes some of th
e best products in the world (I'm typing this on an iPad using the awesome Logit
ech FabricSkin Folio) didn't get the UE9000s right like they get so many other t
hings right. With keyboards and mice, Logitech beats Apple at it's own game so I
'm surprised that these headphones are not up to that level. It tells me that th
e Product Development team was either pressed on time, doesn't fully understand
the market, doesn't understand the integration between the device and the headse
t and/or doesn't realize that people the drop $400 on headphones are audiophiles
that expect near perfection. No matter the excuse, it's inexcusable.