[This is copied from the Music City Meet #3 Pics and Impressions thread, post here.] 
 
A Few Impressions of the Woo Audio WA22
 

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Intro: Mike at Woo Audio was kind enough to lend me the use of his WA22 for the Music City Meet #3 and a few weeks before. As it happened, and to my dismay, I did not get to spend the amount of time with the WA22 that I would have liked to have had-- the non-HF world was pretty crazy for me there for a while prior to the meet. I finally got a chance to sit down and spend essentially an entire day listening to the WA22 and taking notes, so I hope there is still some value in my notes, even if they weren't the result of as many listening sessions as they probably should have been. Many, many thanks to Mike and the Woo Crew for their generosity and support!! From the feedback I got at the meet and afterwards, I'd say that the three Woo amps in attendance (WA7 with WA7tp, WA5, and of course the WA22, all with upgraded tube sets) were overwhelming successes with the guys at the meet-- although the WA5 definitely upstaged its smaller (and less expensive) siblings, naturally befitting its reputation as a truly world-class amplifier. 
 
I kept trying to make time to sit down and type up a more formal review, but other stuff kept coming up and forcing me to postpone, so I'm just going to go with the experiential model for reviewing and provide you with my actual listening notes (with some editing for clarity, spelling, etc). With that in mind, please excuse the rather haphazard 'organization' to the notes below-- I would often listen for something, compare, and then go to something completely different to determine how another parameter sounded, or how the same parameter sounded with very different music. 
 
Note: I am not certain precisely what tubes were sent with the device (Mike might be able to chime in with more info), but there was one Sophia tube, two Westinghouse tubes, and two of something else I managed to miss jotting down... 
 
Personal Preferences: I do want to take a moment to point out my own listening preferences, as I find that to be a crucial (and often overlooked) datum in a review that allows the reader a little better context for determining how one person's impressions would line up with their own. I have found that I tend to value texture, tonality, and transient detail very highly when listening, while I give very little weight to soundstaging (I often cannot place instruments particularly well, probably due to califlower ear from sports). I should also mention that tend to prefer solid state over tubed gear, as a good bit of the (admittedly narrow) experience I've had with tube gear in the past strikes me as a bit too lush at the expense of accuracy, although I do not have the technical knowledge necessary for a preference beyond the sound itself. 
 
When I listen for enjoyment at home on the HE-6, I do so from the Pass Labs F5 speaker amp clone (using the Audio-gd Master 8 as preamp). When I listen to basically anything else, I use either the HP out on the M8 (balanced when possible, SE when necessary) or the SE HP out on the Hilo. Although, to be frank, I didn't even have my setup functional for about a month prior to listening due to various digital gremlins and the aforementioned other time constraints. 
 
Also, there will be some test tracks used that many of you probably will not be familiar with, and probably would not care for much. Understand that although it might seem utterly random which track follows which, there was a logic in the moment of tracking down some quality I was attempting to better understand. And the tracks I used were generally ones I'm very familiar with-- while Kind of Blue would have certainly been a better reference for many Head-Fiers, it's not an album I've listened to enough to be able to use as a critical listening tool-- yet, anyway. A few tracks were just oddball picks in the moment (like the Daughters track) based on something I was trying to better delineate. 
 
Frequency Preferences: I believe Tyll would describe my tastes as tending towards the slightly bright side, but I don't hear the cans I particularly like (HE-6, T1, T5p, LCD-XC, ASG-2, etc) as being bright, but as being more accurate than headphones with (to my ears) a more veiled or 'laid back' approach. I find a lack of treble extension and articulation particularly distracting, and it often decides which headphones I keep and which ones I don't. The midrange is crucial for nearly every type of music, of course, but I particularly gravitate towards gear that nails the tone and texture of guitars (electric and acoustic), as most of the music I typically listen to is guitar-driven. If something can't do guitars well or sounds wrong to me (like the HD800), I generally find I can't move past it. With bass, I prefer (again) texture and tone over emphasis for the sake of emphasis, and dislike it when an overemphasized bass affects the midrange (as it generally flabs-up the guitar sound that I love). I do, however, appreciate a punchy bass when called for. I occasionally listen to bass-heavy music, but not often. 

 
Setup: Dell Venue 11 Pro running JRMC 20 > Lynx Hilo > Audio-gd Master 8 > Woo Audio WA22. All listening was done on Hi output setting.
 

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Listening Notes: 
 
Started off listening to a few tracks on the Master 8 with the Alpha Dogs (stock balanced cable) to establish a baseline for comparison. 
 
Tool, "The Pot," 10,000 Days: listened to the M8 into Alpha Dogs in the background while messing around on the internet for a few minutes to allow my ears to acclimate to the sound. I made an attempt to avoid analyzing the sound during this time and just let it play. 
 
Steely Dan, "Brown Cow," Aja
-M8 to WA22 switch: Immediate switch impression: a bit more organic, more cohesive, a touch more smooth/rounded sounding, possibly more immediately enjoyable? 
"Deacon Blues"
-WA22: The light guitar strumming sounds really good. Vocals a touch recessed? Might just be the track, as the vocals aren't particularly forward in the mix. 
-Switch to M8: a touch cleaner? Less organically cohesive, slightly. Less midbass emphasis? Strummed guitars sound good, but not as good. Don't know that it's any more detailed or textured than the WA22 in direct comparison. Don't know that I have a strong preference between the two amps with Steely Dan. 
 
Umphrey's McGee, "Anchor Drops," Anchor Drops
-Starting on M8. Sounds hollowed-out, like it's being played in a box, sensation disappates a good bit after vocals start. Good delineation of different instruments and things going on. (Alpha Dogs, while excellent headphones in general, have a bit of an artificial sound in the treble that is more apparent on some tracks than others). 
-Switch to WA22. Touch warmer, more cohesive, vocals sound a bit better. Various instruments don't sound so dramatically separated, which actually sounds more natural. This music suits the WA22 pretty well. Song moved over to "In the Kitchen" and I just let it play for a minute. Surprisingly, I preferred the WA22 here. 
 
Masada String Trio, "Tufiel," Azazel: Book of Angels Vol 2:
-Starting w/ WA22: Everything sounds very pleasingly connected and cohesive, but does sound just a touch smoothed-over, like a touch of the texture of the strings isn't there. Very, very pleasing though. 
-Switch to M8: Touch more sterile sound, but slightly better texture to strings. Definitely a touch less organic sounding, but doesn't sound as almost aggressively disconnected (in terms of instruments relationships to one another) as Umphrey's McGee did with the M8. Kind of expected this to be better on the WA22 than the M8, but it's actually pretty close. 
-Switch to WA22: transients slightly less well-defined, but that organic sound is very nice. Bassline seems more three-dimensional. Just a very slight bit less string texture. 
While this one would ultimately come down to personal preference, as it's quite close, I somewhat surprisingly preferred the M8 here. 
 
Clutch, "The Mob Goes Wild," Blast Tyrant: 
-Start w/ WA22: immediately very engaging. Guitar tone and texture sounds good! Percussion sounds very 3D. 
-Switch to M8: very close. Drums not as 3D sounding. Guitar tone and texture is very good, although it might actually be a bit better on WA22. Sounds maybe a hair cleaner? Guitar distortion sounds maybe a touch less tonally accurate than WA22? 
Again, very close, and it could come down to the preference on a given day. But I give the WA22 the slight edge. 
 
Note: Switching to Beyerdynamic T5p (modded w/ dual mini-XLR inputs, clear gel pads, Q-Audio cable). Note: I feel that the T5p has significantly better treble articulation than the Alpha Dogs, but does not have nearly the bass presence of the ADs. 
 
Jerry Cantrell, "Cut You In," Boggy Depot: 
-Start w/ M8, sound is immediately different after switching from such a different sounding headphone. After some acclimation, guitar texture sounds absolutely excellent. Cymbals are a bit splashy, don't have great tone, might be the recording. Listened to whole track here to begin with, switching over only after song is completed. Bassline sounds somewhat buried. 
-Switch to WA22 (restarted song): Warmer, more bass impact than M8. Cymbal crashes still sound splashy and indistinct, and still have poor tone, so must be the recording. Guitar tone is maybe a touch more accurate, but slightly less textured. 
Too close to call here. 
 
The Mars Volta, "The Widow," Francis the Mute: 
-Starting with the WA22: heard some kind of noise within first 8 seconds (sounds kind of like the sound of an ocean through a cardboard box) that I haven't noticed before (haven't listened to this track in quite some time). Sounds good. Vocals are a hair recessed. Something about track sounds slightly artificial, can't put my finger on it. 
-Switch to M8: vocals are brought forward again, artificial sound isn't there anymore. Sounds better on the M8 than the WA22. Sound is a touch more delicate, maybe? 
The M8 edges ahead here. 
 
Daughters, "Recorded Inside a Pyramid," Hell Songs: 
-Started off w/ M8: Guitar tone and texture is very good. Differentiation of instruments is very good. Cymbals are a bit falsely crystalline sounding and decay much too quickly, but I'm pretty sure that's the recording. Drums sound a hair muffled or overdamped, again probably the recording. 
-Switch to WA22: more organic and cohesive, but not quite as sharp, transients not as well defined. I'd imagine which is better here comes down to individual preference. Cymbals still sound like s__t, definitely the recording. Drums are still not great, but sound a bit better here than on M8. Maybe a touch less extended in treble than M8? Guitar tone is really good, guitar texture a touch smoothed-over. 
 
Radiohead, "Jigsaw Falling Into Place," In Rainbows: 
-Starting w/ WA22: wow, this sounds really, really good. Organic, warm, cohesive, just really good. Not fully extended in the treble. Vocals are still just a hair recessed. 
-Switch to M8: immediately a touch more clear, sounds more open on top end. Vocals still a touch recessed, sound vertically higher in soundstage slightly? Got kind of lost in the music and my thoughts for a minute. Again, I think preference here will come back to what one prefers. I think I actually prefer the M8 just slightly. 
 
Note: Had to power cycle the Hilo, so took a quick break. Decided to do a little reading while listening to headphones to fully acclimate to the sound. Listened to a bit of Tool's Lateralus, and a lot of Masada's Live in Sevilla 2000, all while still listening to the T5p on the M8. 
 
Protest the Hero, "C'est La Vie," Scurrilous: 
-Starting w/ WA22, definite midbass bump. Instrument separation is very good. Bass gets a touch woolly and a bit buried in the mix as a result. Guitars sound very good, not best texture I've ever heard, but very good texture. Cymbals are somewhat indistinct and harder to pull from the mix, but sound tonally decent as long as they aren't crashing, at which point they get a bit splashy. 
-Switch to M8: Immediately more clear, no midbass emphasis. Texture is better here, and tonality may be a touch better too. Bass is still buried, probably the fault of the T5p. Cymbals are significantly easier to distinguish, and actually have a little tone during crashes (although still not great). Overall instrument separation and balance is better with M8. In general, while I like the sound of both of them, M8 is better here. (This is a track with which I'm exceedingly familiar across a number of different setups). 
 
Cryptopsy, "Carrionshine," Once Was Not: 
-Starting w/ M8: Drums sound a touch cardboard. Cymbals sound good though. Guitar texture is great. Double bass sounds good. Sound gets a bit congested around 1:20 with a lot going on. 
-Switch to WA22: Guitar slightly masked, but overall sound is very good. Sounds just a touch veiled in comparison to the M8, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing here. Again, everything is more of a cohesive, organic whole here. 
 
Dillinger Escape Plan, "Farewell, Mona Lisa," from Option Paralysis: 
-Starting w/ WA22: Midbass emphasis is back here, tends to thicken up sound a bit in a way that I don't think does well with the music here. Bass drum kicks when music gets more sparse around 1:50 sound slightly off somehow, kind of cardboard and echo-y. 
-Switch to M8: expected it to be a lot clearer with this track based on my impressions w/ the WA22, but it's just a touch clearer than the WA22. Vocals are definitely better though. Lack of midbass hump is helping guitars come through more clearly. If you could have a touch of the organic cohesiveness of the WA22 with the articulation and clarity of the M8, you would have a world-beater. Double bass drums still don't sound great (again, attributing this to the T5p, as bass is not its strong suit). 
 
Note: Switching to Beyerdynamic T1 (single-ended, no mods): also listened to some DEP after the switch, and it sounded much better with the T1 than the T5p. 
 
Clint Mansell, "Winter," Requiem for a Dream OST: 
-Starting w/ M8: Sounds damn near perfect. Keyboard in 'Full Tense' sounds really good. Bassline and keyboards sound great!
-Switching to WA22: Also sounds great... Not sure which I like better here. Started back from the beginning, although I didn't finish "Winter" on M8. 'Full Tense' sounds maybe a touch less crystalline than M8, but still sounds very good. Man, I don't know which one I like better here. 
-Switch back to M8: during 'Fear,' definitely clearer, more accurate, sounds maybe a bit more tonally correct. Okay, I think I prefer the M8 here. But if I didn't have the M8 on hand, I'd absolutely love the WA22, and still think it sounds great.  
 
Juana Molina, "Quien?" Segundo: 
-Starting w/ M8: Her voice sounds basically perfect, guitars sound really good. Percussive sounds are right in your ears, as JM often does. 
-Switching to WA22: sounds a bit fuller, more tonally accurate? Guitars have a bit less transient clarity. Vocals sound great, more about nailing the tone and emotion, doesn't get all the texture, but gets the gist quite well. Percussion is less distracting and annoying here, still in your ears, but rounded into a more pleasing form. 
-Switch to M8: Transients are a bit better, but percussion in ears goes back to being more annoying. Sounds really good, but I think I prefer the WA22 here. 
 
Marcus Miller, "Bruce Lee," Silver Rain: 
-Starting w/ M8: sounds great! Bass is in front, while percussion and other sounds are more to the sides. Background voices that follow the musical lines are something I hadn't noticed before. Not wanting to switch to other amp, just because I'm enjoying the groove!
-Switch to WA22: bit warmer. Non-bass instruments don't sound so jarringly separated from the bass guitar as on M8. More emotionally enjoyable than M8, if less technically able (transients, etc). Horn sounds really good though! Leading edge of notes is well defined, sounds solid state with horn on leading transients, but has that tonal accuracy and warmth on the actual note itself. Very, very nicely done on the horns. Still feels a touch closed-in due to the less extended treble, but only in comparison. Too close to call, love them both here. 
 
Juana Molina, "Rio Seco," Son: 
-Starting w/ WA22. Sounds absolutely great. Guitars sound just a touch closed-in still due to lack of extension. Other than that, guitar sounds really, really good. If this amp had a touch more solid-state-esque articulation (transient detail, texture detail, treble extension), it would be a force to be reckoned with. 
-Switch to M8: transients better defined, more clear. Percussion does not sound quite as good though. (Restarted song b/c it ended). Guitars still sound a touch closed-in, so not the fault of the amp. Voice definitely has more texture, but does not have same organic smoothness. Something about this sounds a little less spiritually accurate and alive than WA22, although only in directly comparison. Transient sharpness in vocals is a definite improvement though. Music sounds a touch more confused than with WA22. 
 

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Conclusions:
 
So, did the WA22 wipe the floor with the less expensive Master 8? No, and neither did the Master 8 show up its tubed counterpart. Had I been a WA22 owner reviewing and comparing the Master 8, I think I would come away wishing the WA22 had a couple characteristic strengths of the Master 8, but I would have not felt compelled to make the change. Similarly, there are a few qualities (that seemed especially strong on several tracks) of the WA22 that I wish my Master 8 had. Ultimately, as was probably reiterated ad nauseum in the notes above, I strongly feel that one's preference between these two comes down (as it so often does with excellent gear) to taste. I suppose if I had to greatly oversimplify and tag the comparative sounds of the WA22 and M8 with pithy labels, I'd say the M8 is generally more technically accurate, while the WA22 is generally more spiritually accurate. I realize 'spirituality' is a poorly defined concept in this context, but it's the closest I can come in a bumper-sticker summation. And frankly, as something of an avowed solid state guy personally, I think it is very high praise to say that the WA22 is absolutely on the same level as my beloved Master 8 in many ways, and actually better in some. 

 
TL;DR Summary: 
 
Pros: 
-Excellent tonality with essentially everything
-Very pleasing, slightly warm sound
-Very articulate, not stereotypically "tubey" or overly lush
-Surprisingly good bass punch and control
-Excellently cohesive, organic sound, which just kills with a lot of tracks
-Great "pride of ownership" piece, looks beautiful
-Feels like it could survive a nuclear war, build-wise
 
Cons:
-Leading edge transients not quite as well defined as M8 on most tracks
-Treble extension is very good, but a hair shy of the M8
-Texture, while very good, occasionally takes a back seat to a slightly smoother sound
-Temptation to slippery-slope one's way into vast tube expenditures (for me, anyway)
 
I hope this makes sense, and helps someone to a better understanding of some of the differences between the Master 8 and WA22. I very much enjoyed the (embarassingly truncated) time I got to spend with the Woo Audio WA22, and would again like to thank Mike and the guys at Woo for allowing us to check out their beautiful amp!!

 
Introduction: 
 
I have been researching closed-back portable headphones for a couple of years, off and on. I sometimes have to drive a few hours to see family or travel to events, and I've found that the better the music I listen to, the more likely I am to remain awake at the wheel. Also, I recently gained a part-time roommate, as one of my very good friends is having marital difficulties and stays at my place about 50% of the time. We very rarely work the same shifts (we both work retail), and sometimes need to do our own thing in the same room. I have a pair of LCD-2s that I absolutely adore (one of my absolute favorite things I own), but if he is talking on the phone (or doing whatever), I can obviously hear him. Also, I tend to listen to music (or watch TV shows on my tablet) as I lay down to go to sleep, and I prefer to use headphones in deference to both audio quality and the poor SOB trying to sleep upstairs. 
 
I find myself using my HD25 pretty frequently for different things in different settings (even sometimes at work, if I'm trying to box everybody out and really gear down into a project or something), so the utility of a pair of portable, closed headphones is pretty apparent to me. And being an audio nutjob gear whore, I naturally had a strong interest in the top-of-the-line offerings from a number of different companies. While the Fostex TH900 sounds like it would be absolutely amazing, that's simply a significant amount more than I'm willing to spend at the moment, so my search really came down to the T5p and Signature Pros. Each seems to have a lot of conflicting feedback from users, and both seem to incite both strong affection and strong distaste, so it was a bit difficult to figure out which way to go. Ultimately, I leaned towards the T5p, particularly after reading NZTechFreak's notes on how they sounded on metal in direct comparison to the Sig Pros. But I resolved to keep my mind open to whichever came up as a good deal first, and lo and behold, last week I saw a pair of T5p in the classifieds at a reasonable price, and pulled the trigger. 
 
These thoughts were captured at various times throughout the day in different situations with different combinations of gear. This should hopefully explain the somewhat haphazard and disjointed nature of some of the comments below. To be clear: I am not a professional reviewer; I do not claim to have an absolute understanding of what these or any headphones sound like to anyone else; and my impressions do not undermine or invalidate the impressions of anyone else. I'm just a guy who loves music, headphones, and being a bit verbose at times. Anyway, I hope this helps point somebody in the right direction!
 
 
Background Info and Gear Used: 
 
I have plugged these into: 

1. Samsung Galaxy S3 straight (no external amplification)
2. iBasso D6 as amplifier w/ JDS Labs ODAC from S3
3. Yulong D100 (both low and high outputs)
4. Schitt Lyr w/ Mullard E88C tubes
5. JDS Labs O2 amplifier (from D100)

 
When listening to the T5p on the Schitt Lyr, I enjoy the sound quite a bit, but there is a very noticeable amount of hiss even at low volumes. Probably predictable given the 6 watts of power going to a 32 ohm set of cans. 
 
These work well out of my S3 without additional amplification, but they improve noticeably when plugged into an external DAC and amp. Things get clearer, more involved, and the upper or midbass (not sure which is technically accurate) gets significantly less congested. 
 
I tend to listen at pretty low volumes, and the volume control on the D100 was not nearly granular enough to suit my needs here. I've got them plugged into the D100 as I type this, and I've got it literally three notches up from the absolute bottom, and both of the two notches below this one have severe channel imbalance. On the O2 I ended up listening a bit louder than I really wanted to due to the channel imbalance at low volumes. I would also add that the O2 sounded a touch more brash and less clear than the low output jack on the D100, so if you're listening to busy music (massed strings, or Thomas Giles' 'Pulse' in my case), the O2 might not be the best match. Not a huge difference, but enough to notice when paying attention. 
 
My source for all my desktop amps is my computer, a frankenbox running Windows 8 Pro. I use JRiver MC18 (currently 18.0.106) for all my listening. I have a several terabytes of music that I've purchased, ripped, and downloaded through the years. Most of it is CD quality, as usual. All my rips were done to WM Lossless using EAC. I have some 24/96 and 24/192 stuff, but I tend to listen to the music I'm in the mood for, not the bitrate and whatnot. When I do listen to MP3s, they are typically 320kbps. 
 
My S3 is running stock 4.1 (Jelly Bean), but it's rooted. I use Neutron for all the music I have stored on the device and MOG for most of my streaming music. (As an aside, I was really quite surprised by how much poorer the music quality was when running AOKP on my phone than stock... Apparently Samsung did spend some time on audio quality, even though they did end up leaving us Yanks out in the cold when it came to the Wolfson DAC they used in Europe). 
 
I listen to a lot of music, and while my tastes in a single day can run from light vocal jazz to small string ensembles to grindcore to triphop to god-knows-what-else, I listen to more metal than anything. I tend to prefer music that uses nonstandard (= not 4/4) time signatures, complex rhythms, and often a lot of dissonance. (Arguably my favorite 5 bands are Opeth, Dillinger Escape Plan, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, and Nine Inch Nails, if that provides any insight). I do tend to listen to entire albums, and almost never just listen to one song. (I've only done the one-song thing today once, and I'm auditioning a new headphone). 
 
I tend to value tonality and texture pretty highly. I don't care a lot about soundstage (I think my many years of wrestling and subsequent surgery on my ears has probably diminished my ability to pick up on spatial cues somewhat). I gravitate towards more driving, engaging sound (most of the time). I (apparently) like bass more than I realized before I got this headphone, although I have never been a guy to crank up the bass on anything, and actually am typically the guy who hates it when people crank up bass for no reason other than to irritate everyone for a quarter mile in every direction. 
 
 
Build Quality: 
 
Very good. These look and feel like a quality, high-end product, and I love the understated modernist aesthetic. They are quite comfortable (with some caveats below), and are surprisingly lightweight. 
 
I frankly find these to be borderline gorgeous in their understatement. These are the hot librarians of the headphone world for sure.
 
It does drive me crazy that these headphones don't have removable cables. The cable that comes with it is about 6 inches too short, and as I often use my phone as a source when I'm on the go, having the ability to use a cable with a phone mic is fantastically useful, but nonremovable cables make this a pricey and time-consuming affair. Manufacturers: there is just no reason to do this. Ever. [/tirade.]
 
The cable looks a little bit skimpy for a high-end headphone. Not a big deal, but I would have liked something a little nicer on a can this expensive. It is very pliable though, and microphonics aren't an issue at all (as you'd expect from a circumaural). I didn't know how well the dual-entry cables would work out when out and about, but I had zero problems with them. 
 
The tactile element of these are just great-- they feel great in the hands and on the head. 
 
These are sharp-looking enough that I would feel perfectly comfortable displaying them on a nice stand in my home. 
 
My unit came with the zippered carrying bag, but no metal box. The bag seems like it would be useful for avoiding scratches, but as it isn't reinforced, it doesn't seem like it would be much good defending my cans against the rest of the stuff in my backpack. Something like the V-Moda carrying case here would be perfect and a substantial upgrade. I'm thinking of looking into a Pelican case or something to carry them in, but it would have been nice to have one included. I personally imagine I'd find the metal case to be impractical for daily use, so again, a molded V-Moda style case would be a slam-dunk here. (Anybody wanna make one?)
 
 
Comfort: 
 
My ears got fatigued a couple of times in places where they were touching the earpads, but a simple position adjustment easily fixed this. It seemed to happen either almost always our always outright with my left ear... But again, this probably has more to do with my biology than anything with the Beyers. 
 
I would have liked slightly bigger space for my ears, as I do find myself readjusting every so often to try to keep the sides from wearing my ears out. But the more I wear them, the less this is an issue, so it probably is simply a matter of getting used to how to best situate them on my noggin.
 
I picked up these cans from the post office this morning at approx 9:15am. As I type this, it is 5:30pm, and the only time these have been off my head was for about 45 mins as I tried out a local Indian restaurant for a late lunch. (Worst Indian I've ever had btw... Who would have thought Cookeville, TN wouldn't excel in foreign cuisine?) I can say that although I've had to make a few adjustments throughout the day, these are exceptionally comfortable cans. I could never wear my HD25 this long without my ears really starting to hurt from the pressure. (Update: I had to take them off for roughly an hour for a phone call later, but it's now 9:00pm, and I'm still wearing them without physical or aural discomfort. Pretty damned impressive.)
 
 
Isolation: 
 
Noise isolation on this definitely leaves something to be desired. While it's not reasonable to expect the T5p to do as well as custom IEMs, it still reduces outside sounds significantly less than the HD25. 
 
I rode around town running a few errands today, and due to the inexplicable decision of my vehicle's previous owner to drill a screw into the door near the window, the wind noise is noticeably higher in my car than most. While the sound was obviously diminished, I could still hear the wind noise while riding around town. Not enough to be a major irritation, but definitely enough to keep one from critically listening. (As if anybody does that while driving, but I digress). 
 
 
Sound Quality: 
 
Certain parts of songs sound absolutely AMAZING, and other parts are very underwhelming. Listening to Opeth's 'Heritage', some of the 70s-sounding electric guitar parts sound just fantastic. Mikel's vocals, however, seem somewhat pushed back at times. I found this occasionally on different vocals (Melody Gardot is another). Also, this is one of those cans that makes reverb pretty obvious on a song-- not so obtrusive that you can't ignore it, but the clarity of the sound makes it fully apparent when present. 
 
These manage to be very detailed without being bright or fatiguing. I disagree with the comments that I've read that call the T5p a bright can. It sounds smooth in a very pleasant, non-veiling way. The more I listen to it, the more I think this is (along with the suitability to both portable and high-end sources) one of the more impressive engineering marvels I've encountered recently. I'm not as well versed as many on Head-Fi, but I'm not sure there is anything else out there that matches the T5p on the portability and listenability fronts while presenting such impressive sound. 
 
These have GREAT tone and texture to them!! Guitars have an awesome crunch to them (just not much weight in the bass). As a metalhead, this is hugely important to me, and well-recorded metal sounds GREAT. An overwhelming amount of metal, however, sounds like it was recorded in a shoebox on a cassette player (I'm looking at you, Norwegian black metal). Fortunately, these manage to be revealing without becoming ruthlessly so, and they don't make poorly recorded music miserable. Again, this strikes me as some kind of engineering miracle. 
 
At one point, the sound got really fatiguing while listening on my desktop station. I then realized that I had the music up WAY too loud. Turning it down a good bit solved that, and the sound hasn't been even remotely fatiguing since. But do heed the warnings elsewhere on HF of the danger of volume creep with these bad boys.
 
Melody Gardot's vocals on 'Worrisome Heart' seem somewhat recessed. They don't sound bad, but she isn't crooning right to me like she does on my LCD-2 and iE8. Note the use of the qualifier "somewhat" here-- it isn't a major thing by any means. 
 
These things capture the energy and technicality of Protest The Hero's 'Scurrilous' extremely well. They ROCK!!! (These moments of exuberance seemed to come mostly during well-recorded fast-tempo metal music... which is just great for me. I was literally belting out every line of almost every song on the album-- which is a good sign IMO.)
 
 
The Bass Controversy: 
 
Perhaps my expectations were off (my other headphones tend to be a touch bassier than the norm: Sennheiser iE8, Sennheiser HD25i-II, Audeze LCD-2 (rev 1), Klipsch X10), but I don't see how anyone could listen to what I'm listening to and try to say the bass is not very seriously lacking. While the bass that's there is clear and well textured, there's just shockingly little of it. I know this has been said before, but it's worth repeating, because this is by far (IMO) the Achilles heel of this design. UPDATE: as I continue listening, I realize I'm acclimating to the sound more, and find the lack of impact and bass less objectionable. I'm sure that if I were to put on my LCD-2 for a moment and switch back, the lack of heft to the bottom end would become painfully obvious again, but for now... it's not so bad. 
 
EQing the bass up a bit helps out, but while it increases quantity, it seems that nothing actually gives the bass that punchier quality on aggressive drums and the like. With the bass turned up in Neutron as much as I can without causing distortion, I can hear the bass line at the beginning of Massive Attack's 'Angel,' but it doesn't really have any impact. As it stands, it doesn't look like the T5p would be great for listening to trip-hop, which I do on occasion. (I later found at least a moderate improvement in the visceral punch of the bass by going bananas on the EQ in JRiver, as noted elsewhere).
 
Additional messing around with the EQ has made things better, but there still doesn't seem to be the impact that some songs should have. I've read some reviewers and posters talk about the lack of impact being somehow more true to life-- but I cannot recall a single metal concert I've been to where there wasn't a kick to the drums and a deep-in-your-guts mandate to move when the bassist digs into an awesome groove. Perhaps the T5p sounds exactly as a solo violinist would, and that's great-- I'm sure my Masada String Trio and Kronos Quartet stuff will sound great as a result. But the bass does, in my opinion, lack the quantity necessary to really engage  you on a bass-driven groove sometimes. In the long term, this will probably be the thing that determines whether I keep these or not. I LOVE the guitar tone, the detail, the clarity, the amazingly versatile nature of the cans, their impeccably clean looks, etc etc ad nauseum. But the bass is simply less present than I'm used to, for better or worse.
 
Update: I've dramatically increased the bass in the DSP Studio in JRiver, and the bass does sound much better, and starts to sound like it has a bit of impact to it when listening to Puscifer. The problem is that I could still use a touch more bass presence, and this is with it damn near maxxed out on a very powerful EQ application, which I won't really have when I'm on the go. So I'm not sure this is going to be the saving grace of the T5p bass.
 
 
Miscellaneous: 
 
These are SO CLOSE to being the perfect high-end portable headphones for rockers and metalheads... the bass problem is a real killer though. And better isolation would help out a good bit too. 
 
Considering bass quantity and isolation are two of my issues, I wondered if changing out the pads would make any difference. After reading the stellar review given to the earpads Jaben uses in their mods (from NZtechfreak here), I sent them a message inquiring about the cost of the full suite of modifications and of the pads by themselves. I'm hoping I can get the pads at a reasonable cost, as they sound like they might be right up my alley... I should also note that when I press in on the cans slightly, isolation gets noticeably better. Bass does too, as long as I don't press in too hard. So maybe some new pads could help!
 
I have had my T5p for less than 24 hours, so some New Toy Syndrome is to be expected. I've tried to temper it somewhat, but as an unabashed gear whore, I have to admit that I want to love these babies. 
 
 
Conclusion: 
 
I have had the T5p in my position for a very short period of time thus far, so my opinions are going to be thusly colored. But I can say that in a LOT of ways, beyerdynamic really nailed it with these. While no headphone can be all things to all people, this one come damn close. Ultimately, the (to my ears) de-emphasized bass is a shortcoming that keeps these from being the mind-blowing slam-dunk they would otherwise be. I have a few other minor niggles (no replaceable cable, insufficient carrying solutions available, isolation could be a good bit better, cable is too short, it's too expensive at retail price, and a few others), but they would all be washed away if the bass was simply more enjoyable by being more there. But that doesn't keep me from lauding these cans for their many successes (listed at great length above), and as it stands right now, I intend to keep these. I am still interested in hearing the Sig Pros, but I'm not sure the assumed improvement in bass would offset all the strengths the T5p possesses. 
 
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope this helps somebody out!!