[groovyd]

I have always loved watching the world through rose tinted glasses...

 

[BlakeT]

   
Though I have found its possible for tubes to be both very resolving or rolled off and even have treble that is grimacingly painful with the T1's.
 
Finding ones own harmonic balance is the quest and that is a very personal thing.

 
This is my experience as well.  I recently swapped in a certain tube and initially really liked the clarity and more pronounced detail.  A few days later I noticed this particular tube was causing hearing fatigue and even some ear ringing.  Tube replaced and voila....  no more problems.
 
That is one of the reasons I love tube amps.  It gives the user so much flexibility to season their system to taste.

 

[punit]

   
This is my experience as well.  I recently swapped in a certain tube and initially really liked the clarity and more pronounced detail.  A few days later I noticed this particular tube was causing hearing fatigue and even some ear ringing.  Tube replaced and voila....  no more problems.
 
That is one of the reasons I love tube amps.  It gives the user so much flexibility to season their system to taste.

For people who do not want to spend money there is a cheaper way to modify the sound to their taste - EQ. But where's the fun in that

. I have found that, Its all about the Journey not about the Destination. That's why Its so much more fun owning tube amps (for me atleast). I have one SS amp, I can switch it on & off, how boring.

(No complaints about the sound, I like it a lot)
 
With my tube amps, I can roll Rectifiers, Driver tubes, Power tubes, plug in adapters .. so many permutations & combinations ...makes life so much more interesting

 

 

[JamieMcC]

My headphone rig is in the bedroom. With the light low looking over at those tubes glowing is kinda cool and has a certain feel good factor about it. We all like central heating but sitting in font of a real fire feeds the soul. It sure makes the music sound better
 

 

[headwhacker]

  My headphone rig is in the bedroom. With the light low looking over at those tubes glowing is kinda cool and has a certain feel good factor about it. We all like central heating but sitting in font of a real fire feeds the soul. It sure makes the music sound better
 

 
lol, No doubt you enjoy tubes much. But as one on the other side of the fence, I enjoy the transparency, minimal distortion, less heat, lower electricity bill, portability and the absence of distraction staring at the beautiful night skyline while listening with my music using T1 driven by a SS amp.

 

 

[mva5580]

Got mine yesterday, they sound fantastic. I had no idea there was clapping in Ticket To Ride during the "Don't know why she's ridin' so high..." portions of the song, it's those little things alone that make headphones like this worth it to me.  Great stuff.
 
Anyway, so I guess what I'm trying to figure out now is quality source players to use going to the headphone amp.  I have a Cambridge Azur 640p phono preamp that goes into the Little Dot headphone amp and I think that's probably fine, but does anyone have recommendations for a CD/Digital file/etc player?
 
Right now I'm using my PC and I have an X-Fi Titanium HD sound card, and the RCA's go from that to the headphone amp and I use Foobar for my digital files.   Is this good enough as-is, or does anyone have suggestions on a better "source" player? 

 

[JamieMcC]

   
lol, No doubt you enjoy tubes much. But as one on the other side of the fence, I enjoy the transparency, minimal distortion, less heat, lower electricity bill, portability and the absence of distraction staring at the beautiful night skyline while listening with my music using T1 driven by a SS amp.

 

lol

 

 

[Loquah]

  Got mine yesterday, they sound fantastic. I had no idea there was clapping in Ticket To Ride during the "Don't know why she's ridin' so high..." portions of the song, it's those little things alone that make headphones like this worth it to me.  Great stuff.
 
Anyway, so I guess what I'm trying to figure out now is quality source players to use going to the headphone amp.  I have a Cambridge Azur 640p phono preamp that goes into the Little Dot headphone amp and I think that's probably fine, but does anyone have recommendations for a CD/Digital file/etc player?
 
Right now I'm using my PC and I have an X-Fi Titanium HD sound card, and the RCA's go from that to the headphone amp and I use Foobar for my digital files.   Is this good enough as-is, or does anyone have suggestions on a better "source" player? 

 
That's probably not a bad setup, but you might find improvements with an external USB DAC. Depending on your budget there are plenty out there and they all offer slightly different things. Personally, I think the Matrix Mini-i Pro looks (and sounds) great for the dollars as does the Matrix X-Sabre (for more dollars). The Audio-gd and Yulong stuff is good too, but I found the Audio-gd drivers not as fool proof as the other gear I've used.

 

[dxanex]

Hi guys,
 
I've been looking at the T1 for a while now and I may take the plunge soon. Thing is, I would need to sell my HD 700 to fund it, and I actually really enjoy the HD 700, especially with electronic music. Is the T1 a true upgrade? I understand the signature is different but I want something that truly sounds "high end". How does the bass compare to the HD 700? With my tube amps I like the detail and punchiness in the low end on the HD 700. Finally, is the T1 much more detailed and resolved compared to the HD 700? I've also heard people say the T1 sounds lush, which I would not say about the HD 700.
 
I've done a little searching but I can't really find any in-depth comparisons between the two. The T1 appeals to me because I can drive it with current setup, unlike the HD 800 which I would want(need) to upgrade my entire chain, which I just can't do right now.
 
Thanks!

 

[elvergun]

  Hi guys,
 
I've been looking at the T1 for a while now and I may take the plunge soon. Thing is, I would need to sell my HD 700 to fund it, and I actually really enjoy the HD 700, especially with electronic music. Is the T1 a true upgrade? I understand the signature is different but I want something that truly sounds "high end". How does the bass compare to the HD 700? With my tube amps I like the detail and punchiness in the low end on the HD 700. Finally, is the T1 much more detailed and resolved compared to the HD 700? I've also heard people say the T1 sounds lush, which I would not say about the HD 700.
 
I've done a little searching but I can't really find any in-depth comparisons between the two. The T1 appeals to me because I can drive it with current setup, unlike the HD 800 which I would want(need) to upgrade my entire chain, which I just can't do right now.
 
Thanks!

Geez...nobody is going to hold a gun to your head demanding you upgrade your chain if you buy the HD800.  Your equipment should be able to handle the HD800 until you can upgrade your amp and DAC.
 
On the other hand, the T1 are just as luscious as the HD800, so you can't go wrong either way.

 

[dxanex]

True, but I've heard the HD 800 and I'm more interested in the T1 at the moment, so any insight is appreciated. I don't plan on purchasing the HD 800 anytime in the near future.

 

[Loquah]

  Hi guys,
 
I've been looking at the T1 for a while now and I may take the plunge soon. Thing is, I would need to sell my HD 700 to fund it, and I actually really enjoy the HD 700, especially with electronic music. Is the T1 a true upgrade? I understand the signature is different but I want something that truly sounds "high end". How does the bass compare to the HD 700? With my tube amps I like the detail and punchiness in the low end on the HD 700. Finally, is the T1 much more detailed and resolved compared to the HD 700? I've also heard people say the T1 sounds lush, which I would not say about the HD 700.
 
I've done a little searching but I can't really find any in-depth comparisons between the two. The T1 appeals to me because I can drive it with current setup, unlike the HD 800 which I would want(need) to upgrade my entire chain, which I just can't do right now.
 
Thanks!

 
It looks to me like your chain would work really well with the T1s.
 
Unfortunately I haven't heard the HD700s, but wanted to jump in and share that I don't find the T1s particularly lush. They have great bass and are a little warmer than neutral, but don't overly "romanticise" the music (which is what I think of with lush headphones). I would describe something like the HD650s as lush (just for context) while I find the T1s revealing and transparent, but still musical and enjoyable on almost everything I listen to them with (both in terms of source, amps, and music / genre).
 
Of all the quality headphones I've tried for any period of time (HD650, HD800, HE-500, TH-900, TH-600) I think the T1s strike the best balance between enjoyment, musicality and transparency. No doubt the HD800s are superior in some ways, but I just found myself looking forward to returning to my T1s.

 

[JamieMcC]

Lush is definitely not something I would associate with my T1s.  Bass wise I would say they are more about quality than quantity, it does fast, tight and under control extremely well.

 

[Chodi]

  True, but I've heard the HD 800 and I'm more interested in the T1 at the moment, so any insight is appreciated. I don't plan on purchasing the HD 800 anytime in the near future.

Your amp will be great with either the T1 or the HD800. I have both headphones and I also have a LF332C which is very similar to your DV3322 and it sounds great with both headphones. You will want to upgrade your dac at some point but it would get you by for now. 

 

[dxanex]

^ Thanks guys for the input. I'm leaning heavily towards the T1 now. One other question, how forgiving is the T1 with less-than-stellar recordings? I'm guessing they are more forgiving than the HD 800 at least.