[pataburd]

Quote:

Wow .... This is almost too good to be true. I would love to take you up on the offer sir. It will be a couple of weeks before I am freed up completely, but I will get in touch with you at that time, and we will see if we can plan something.
Thanks

downsize,
Shoot me a PM and, God willing, we can schedule something.  I'm sure the Missus will understand.  Just give me time to sweep the dust under the rug.  : )  Unemployment has left a disorganized trail through the house and my life.  But it looks like my wife and I might be headed to TN after all.
 
pab
 

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Don't take my word, check it out at a meet for yourself.

  You may not agree with me.

 
Well, I didn't see any '03s at canjam, so who knows when I'd get a chance to listen to a pair!  Until then I've got nothing but other people's word.  If I do get a chance It's not like I'm gonna disbelieve my own ears in favor of some guy on the forums.

 

[upstateguy]

Quote:

 
Well, I didn't see any '03s at canjam, so who knows when I'd get a chance to listen to a pair!  Until then I've got nothing but other people's word.  If I do get a chance It's not like I'm gonna disbelieve my own ears in favor of some guy on the forums.

I also wouldn't recommend buying '03s unless you know the person you're buying from very well.  How 7 yr old phones are going to sound will be dependent on the conditions under which they were kept, including environmental factors, like humid, wet or sea shore climates.  I keep all my headphones in large zip lock plastic bags when not in use to try to keep them in as pristine a condition as possible, but I doubt many people go to that extreme.....  the same goes for used equipment.... you never know how it was kept..... 
 
USG

 

[pataburd]

I unplugged the T1 from the AVR-1905.  At this point they have about 100 burn-in hours.  They sound edgy and smallish again--smaller than they did at 80 hours--compared to the DT880/600 (w/150+ hours).  Really.  Paul Desmond's alto sax was almost unbearable over the T1 at this point.
 
I'll probably fire up the DV336SE and listen to the T1 again before going to sleep.  Right now they sound like they need a lot more hours before opening up.
 
Did check the R/L impedance on the T1: 570 ohms/570 ohms.  Which makes sense, since they require less volume than the DT880/600, which measure in at 615/615.
 
Last night I a/b-ed the UP-OCC K501 and the DT880/600 with some early Nanci Griffith (Little Love Affairs).  No contest in the midrange department: the K501 emerge the clear winners with more lifelike and believable vocal rendition.  The Beyers sound thin in the midrange.
 
I'd like to get a hold of a pair of DT880/2003 for more comparisons.  : )

 

[Bilavideo]

Quote:

Agreed. For me the T1s have the best/smoothest treble of all the headphones I've owned to date.
 

MH, you're haunting me.  I thought to stick my toe into the water, if only to avoid a messy thousand-dollar buy again, but the more I try to escape, the more you keep pulling me back in.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

in, but the more I try to escape, the more you keep pulling me back in.

ala Michael Corleone.

 

[Bilavideo]

I was going to buy a used Beyer - and was sifting through the choices: DT770, DT880, DT990 - but now I can't.  Admittedly, the intricacies of the three former top dogs were enough to keep me busy, and that's before the arrival of the impedance questions (32 ohms vs. 250 ohms vs. 600 ohms).  But when the word came back that people are selling off their 880s and 990s because the T1 is just that good, I felt that familiar quivering in my belly.
 
To keep up with my habit, I am now "driving by liquor stores that aren't on the way home."  (Guess THAT movie.)
 
You're making it really hard for me to hold onto my money.

 

[pataburd]

I listened to the T1 briefly this morning.  The midrange is definitely coming together, deepening and filling out, bass is better pitch-articulated, highs are smoothing without loss of extension.  Listened with the WeeeeeSquirrel up-graded Darkvoice 336SE, first with Mullard 6080 and Amperex ECC33, then with Svetlana 6H13C and Toshiba 6SN7GTB.  
 
The T1 definitely has the leg up on the DT880/600 in terms of detail refinement, tone and pitch articulation, dynamics, bass extension/articulation and now has surpassed the DT880 in the "midrange completeness" category.  Another 50 hours on the T1, then I would like to do formal comparisons.
 
Again, the T1 and the DT880/600 definitely bear a family resemblance in basic sound signature, like the AH-D2000 and the AH-D5000, but with a greater disparity or gap in improvement.  Still, I am very much enjoying the DT880/600 with the DV336SE (now with a Sylvania 6AS7G and the Toshiba 6SN7GTB).  
 

 

[bhanja_trinanjan]

Quote:

I listened to the T1 briefly this morning.  The midrange is definitely coming together, deepening and filling out, bass is better pitch-articulated, highs are smoothing without loss of extension.  Listened with the WeeeeeSquirrel up-graded Darkvoice 336SE, first with Mullard 6080 and Amperex ECC33, then with Svetlana 6H13C and Toshiba 6SN7GTB.  
 
The T1 definitely has the leg up on the DT880/600 in terms of detail refinement, tone and pitch articulation, dynamics, bass extension/articulation and now has surpassed the DT880 in the "midrange completeness" category.  Another 50 hours on the T1, then I would like to do formal comparisons.
 
Again, the T1 and the DT880/600 definitely bear a family resemblance in basic sound signature, like the AH-D2000 and the AH-D5000, but with a greater disparity or gap in improvement.  Still, I am very much enjoying the DT880/600 with the DV336SE (now with a Sylvania 6AS7G and the Toshiba 6SN7GTB).  
 

Wow! I feel tempted to reach out for my wallet!
 

 

[pataburd]

Trinanjan,
The T1 vs. UP-OCC K501 midrange comparisons will also be forthcoming.  It's been about 120-130 hours on the T1 so far, and the midrange is finally beginning to fill out.  Whether it's up to snuff compared to the K501 standard is TBD.
 
HF is still settling down.  My test tracks for that are Henry Mancini's "Baby Elephant Walk" and "Your Father's Feathers" from Hatari!  Those tracks have massed piccolos that can be tricky to sort out as well as to render without smearing or harshness.  
 
I listened to the T1 for just 30 seconds or so this morning while still hooked up to the Denon AVR-1905 for burn-in on a local FM station.  They sounded appreciably smoother and warmed up in the midrange, even compared to yesterday--very promising.
 
Should make for an engaging audition later today!  : )
 
PAB

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

You're making it really hard for me to hold onto my money.

I'll take some off your hands for you!  : )
 
To reiterate: I think that--dollar for dollar--the DT880/600 are the better bargain.  But if you can scrounge up the extra money, the T1 do everything that the DT880/600 do, except noticeably much better.  
 
If you can't come up with $1295 for the T1, then at street prices of around $300 (that's 23% of the cost of the T1) you can be very happy with the DT880/600.  Although at 4x the cost, I do not believe that the T1 offer 4x the performance of the DT880/600.

 

[SleepyOne]

Not sure what headphone is truely 4X better than 701 etc unfortunately.... Diminishing return is steep on premium phone.

 

[shane55]

Quote:

To reiterate: I think that--dollar for dollar--the DT880/600 are the better bargain.  But if you can scrounge up the extra money, the T1 do everything that the DT880/600 do, except noticeably much better.  
 
If you can't come up with $1295 for the T1, then at street prices of around $300 (that's 23% of the cost of the T1) you can be very happy with the DT880/600.  Although at 4x the cost, I do not believe that the T1 offer 4x the performance of the DT880/600.

 
@ patabird...
 
Your open minded and 'objective' comparative evaluation is extremely refreshing and enlightening. Having scaled the ladder of the Beyers, I can't help but wonder... what's next?
This re-confirms my suspicion that my DT880/600 is as far as I currently need to go in this direction.
 
The only other cans I currently covet are the Audeze LCD-2. Being that they are in a slightly different direction, they are more justified... but still a long way off.
 
I'll see how the incoming LA2000's are once they arrive. Maybe they'll satisfy my upgraditis just enough to keep me from this forum for a while. 

 
(yeah, right...)
 
shane
 

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Not sure what headphone is truely 4X better than 701 etc unfortunately.... Diminishing return is steep on premium phone.

True.  
Diminishing returns are an everyday part of my head-fi experience.  : )

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Maybe they'll satisfy my upgraditis just enough to keep me from this forum for a while. 

 
(yeah, right...)
 
shane
 

"Yeah, right" . . . is right!  : )
 
The T1 are still burning in, but I am expecting stellar things from them inside the next day or so.
 
Saying that one needn't go any farther than the DT880/600 is like saying that one needn't go any farther along the upgrade path from the AH-D2000 to the AH-D5000, or D7000.  It's a very owner-specific decision that is not universally applicable to all owners (including myself).
 
Something akin to their "introductory pricing", at $995, I think is more equitable.  At that price, Beyer could capture another 20%-25% of the market share.  I think T1 sales are already ahead of the HD800; at $995, they could be much further ahead.
 
The T1 are unquestionably a significant step up from the DT880/600; my present contention is that the T1's performance boost is not directly proportional to their 4x price tag relative to the DT880.
 
But that could change within the next few days, too, after the T1 are done cooking!  I am discovering that the more time I spend with the T1, the more I am being slowly, but surely, drawn in to becoming a long-time T1 owner.  : )