[Emilsinclair9]

Sorrodje, your post was extremely helpful, even though I couldn't do a Google Translate yet, as I'm on lunch at work.
 
Overall I think I'm drawn more to the sound on the T5P's (from everything I've read), than to the Sig Pros. It's just that the Sig Pros are so portable...they'd be perfect for me if they kept the look and had the T5P sound. Another consideration of mine is that I like to fall asleep with headphones on. This has never been a problem with the QC3's, as they're quite good at isolating and are very light-weight and relaxing to me. With the T5P's....is sleep even possible with those huge cans on your head? With the Sig Pros, I'd imagine it's quite possible.
 
In terms of sound quality, I know at this level, there won't be much of a significant difference, just preferential differences, but for Enya, post-rock, and classical (I also like Rattatat, bands like the XX, Bon Iver, and various others) it seems like the T5P's are probably the superior cans. If that is the case, I will forego that bit of portability and convenience and aesthetics and choose the T5P's.
 
Do the T5P's surround you with sound the same way the Sig Pros are supposed to? And I do apologize for all the questions, I just like knowing what to expect, or at the very least, accumulating enough information to make an informed puchase.

 

[gelocks]

Ultrasone Signature Pros FTW!!!!
 
I believe you will like the Sig Pros approach to reproducing music. There's not 1 genre I don't like with them on. The thing for me that I see as a "con" is the comfort factor. They are NOT as comfy for me when compared to other "closed" headphones such as the Denon D5000 or the Mad Dogs (interestingly, both of these don't clamp as much...).
 
But among my headphones and the ones I have tried, the Sig Pro is top for me. I still need to try the Fostex TH-900s and Audio Technicas W1000X and W3000ANV but for now I'm good and in fact I have gotten rid of most of my other headphones!
 
BTW, if you are thinking about the TH900s, just follow this flowchart!!
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/595683/fostex-th900-impressions-discussion-thread/2175#post_8833999
 
LOL
 
Quote:

Bumping just because I'd love one or two more opinions on great, portable amps for the Sig Pros (i.e. one that balances them well).
 
Would also love to hear another case of why T5P are superior or inferior to the Sig Pros (assuming quality amps provided for both). Lastly. are the T5P's all that portable? The more I look at them, the more bulky/heavy they look, compared to the Sig Pros. In other words, would it be easy to walk around in T5P's? Or would Sig Pros be way easier to wear on the move?

 
Regarding amps, I just wrote this today on another thread.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/627321/portable-amp-for-ultrasone-signature-pro#post_9114510
 
 
Thanks.
And enjoy!

 

[NZtechfreak]

Quote:

The T5p review by a french owner ( who owned other very Hi-end cans too) : http://www.tellementnomade.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=94&t=4020 . you could maybe try google translate to understand what he wrote ?
 
 
There's a paragraph where he compared T5p and Sig pro and I sum up the main points:
 
- T5p is far more comfy but less mobile
- T5p cups stay on cheeks when the heaphone is around the neck so it a bit cumbersome
- Sig pro is more balanced than ed8 , has proheminent bass and trebles. Still V-shaped but less than ed8.
- T5p has  better, clearer, more detailed mids  and better soundstage .
 
He prefers T5p because his priority is mids but SP is a very good headphone too and is more mobile . as you can read , he compared T5p with many other cans
 
I personnaly not consider that SP is so V-shaped . Less than my he-400 for sure.  and SP mids are IMO better and more forward than he400 ( drived by my Hybrid tube Amp which help a lot for midrange ) .. I'm currently listen to Amy Winehouse and Amy's voice sound amazingly with my sig pro.
 
I've used E17 for few weeks too and it sounded good but less than with my Aune T1 .

 
Very good description of the differences of the sound - I would agree completely. The fact that the Sig Pro sound is more balanced than the Ed8 is why I brought them to the OPs attention (well, that and the portability factor). Also spot on description of the differences in comfort and portability. I note the OP was wondering about the weight of the T5p in comparison to the Sig Pro - just to chime in on that and say it is not an issue. If anything the T5p feels lighter to me because of how much more comfortable it is. I see the OP also mentioned the looks of the two headphones - maybe the T5p is more impressive in the flesh, or maybe our tastes are just different, but I think it is a vastly better looking headphone than the Sig Pro - beautifully understated elegance.
 
I think the French reviewer prefers the T5p for the same reasons I do, and the same reasons why I think the OP might like it too. If you're into rock and classical the T5p sounds exceptional, for me it is just much more engaging than the Sig Pro for those genres. In comparison the Sig Pro is 'just there', it doesn't do anything poorly, and it does some things better, but it doesn't have the same engaging quality for those genres that the T5p has. For the OPs stated needs I find it hard to really place an emphasis on either headphone, I think the T5p will suit his listening preferences better overall, and it is more comfortable, however the Sig Pro will probably do the female vocals a bit better and has superior portability aspects.

 

[Emilsinclair9]

@ NZTechFreak: T5P and Pico HeadAmp it is .
 
Comfort is very important to me, so the comfort factor being better on the T5P's is huge for me. Do you think it would be relatively easy to fall asleep wearing these? (obviously laying on my back).
My long commutes make it so that comfort is a primary concern.
 
As for sound, I'm sure the female vocals will still sound outstanding on the T5P's, so I'm not overly concerned there.
 
As for portability, considering the T5P's feel as light (if not lighter), and have a subtle, but elegant design...I like the combo there. The Sig Pros look really cool to me in a sort of classic way, but the T5P's, I'm sure, still look great.
 
 
Thus, considering all of the gathered evidence, I'm making the move for the T5P's and Pico HeadAmp. NZTechFreak, considering my music tastes, do you think this amp will do wonders for post-rock, female vocals: Enya, Lana Del Rey, Amy Winehouse, or classical?

 

[NZtechfreak]

Quote:

@ NZTechFreak: T5P and Pico HeadAmp it is .
 
Comfort is very important to me, so the comfort factor being better on the T5P's is huge for me. Do you think it would be relatively easy to fall asleep wearing these? (obviously laying on my back).
My long commutes make it so that comfort is a primary concern.
 
As for sound, I'm sure the female vocals will still sound outstanding on the T5P's, so I'm not overly concerned there.
 
As for portability, considering the T5P's feel as light (if not lighter), and have a subtle, but elegant design...I like the combo there. The Sig Pros look really cool to me in a sort of classic way, but the T5P's, I'm sure, still look great.
 
 
Thus, considering all of the gathered evidence, I'm making the move for the T5P's and Pico HeadAmp. NZTechFreak, considering my music tastes, do you think this amp will do wonders for post-rock, female vocals: Enya, Lana Del Rey, Amy Winehouse, or classical?

 
I like the sound of the Pico with everything, quite frankly.
 
The soon to be available and currently at a very reduced pre-order price Pico Power (reviewed at Innerfidelity) may also be worth a thought.

 

[Emilsinclair9]

NZTechFreak, I've looked around to figure this out, but I can't find a clear answer either way. Is the Pico Power an amp + DAC or just an amp? If just an amp, I would need a separate Pico DAC too, right? And would I need to purchase any separate cables or wires to hook up all this to my iPhone 3GS?
 
iPhone 3GS -> Pico Power Amp + (DAC?) -> T5P's.
 
Also, I'd like to add that as of the last 24 hours, the Fostex have moved up on my board. After doing tons of research, it seems like alot of people prefer the TH-900's to other h-fi headphones, including surpassing the T5P's and T1's to many people's ears. What that tells me is that these deserved at least a closer examination.
 
I've read that the TH-900's are a little bassy, with slightly recessed mids. Tbh, that doesn't really sound in line with my music tastes, but if these perform (on the whole) better than the T1's....then maybe these would be better overall. Imo, these seem equally (perhaps slightly less) portable than the T5P's. They're not much larger, and they probably isolate only a bit worse than the T5P's. Plus, I don't listen to volume particularly loud.
 
I like that the TH-900's have been compared in the league of the Stax 009's and other really hi-fi headphones, even though these two headphones are radically different in sound.
 
NZTechFreak: Are the TH-900's + HP-P1 portable amp significantly better than the T5P's + Pico HeadAmp? How would you say it would affect the presentation of my favorite music genres? Specifically, in what ways would female vocals and post-rock be influenced by the TH-900's in comparison to the T5P's?
 
Thank you again for all of your help. I love that I'm learning about the differences between these cans, and I'm excited to finally narrow the list from 2 pairs to 1 pair for the timebeing.
 
-- Sig Pros are off the list due to issues of comfort, lack of excelling supremely in any particular area, and from what I've read, they don't have the mids/treble of the T5P's, which is important to me.

 

[gelocks]

I thought you wanted something "portable"?
The TH-900s are NOT the epitome of portability!!! Also, they are similarly "U-shaped" like the Denons which means, mids might be detailed but NOT as forward as the Beyers...
 
At this point, you are better off buying all of them (or find someone in your area that has them) and trying them yourself... there's no better critic than your own ears...
 
 
Good luck!

 

[Emilsinclair9]

In what ways are they so un-portable? The cans look to be roughly similar in size to the T5P's. I don't care that they don't fold up nicely like the Sig Pros.
 
For me, portability is about comfort and isolation, primarily. Is the isolation on the TH-900's that much worse than the isolation on the T5P's? I'm okay with semi-portability...

 

[gelocks]

Quote:

In what ways are they so un-portable? The cans look to be roughly similar in size to the T5P's. I don't care that they don't fold up nicely like the Sig Pros.
 
For me, portability is about comfort and isolation, primarily. Is the isolation on the TH-900's that much worse than the isolation on the T5P's? I'm okay with semi-portability...

 
Well, I don't have them nor own them, but their design is basically the same as the Denon series (they were Denon's OEM) with better materials. Anyway the Denon D5000/D7000 did NOT clamp as much, meaning if you moved your head to quick, they could dislodge from your head, so walking about with them might be "dangerous", especially for a set with a price of $2000 . Also, they will leak if you listen to music at loud volumes... I don't even listen that loud and my co-workers sitting near me (cube environment) were singing along to what I was listening to (lol). Due to the clamping, isolation will not be the best, but they should isolate 'Ok'.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Quote:

NZTechFreak, I've looked around to figure this out, but I can't find a clear answer either way. Is the Pico Power an amp + DAC or just an amp? If just an amp, I would need a separate Pico DAC too, right? And would I need to purchase any separate cables or wires to hook up all this to my iPhone 3GS?
 
iPhone 3GS -> Pico Power Amp + (DAC?) -> T5P's.
 
Ah, a 3GS, I had asked earlier what your portable source was, since that has a bearing on things too. I'm not an Apple guy, so I can't 100% answer this for you, but I know a little. Firstly, the iPhones actually have a pretty good DAC and DAC implementation onboard (or at least I know that is true of the 4 and 4S). You may find the sound perfectly satisfying with only an amp in the chain after the iPhone, which is why I mentioned something like the Pico Power, being an amp only. In order to get the best connection between iPhone and amp you need a LOD cable (line-out dock), in order to bypass the phones internal amp (or you could simply double amp by going from the 3GS headphone jack into the amp, I have no experience or knowledge about the pros and cons of double-amping though, so you'd need to do some research about whether you'd want to do that). So it would be 3GS --> LOD --> amp --> headphones, or 3GS --> HP-out --> amp --> headphones. If you want to use an external DAC then things get trickier. There are a few that are specially made to work with the iPhone with the right connection, although I am unsure if they work with models older than the 4. I believe jailbroken iPhone users are able to use other USB DACs also. Whether to just get an amp probably depends on your use-case scenarios a bit. If you'll also be using a DAC/amp combo with your laptop, for example, then it makes a lot more sense to get a combo unit, but if it will only be used with the 3GS it may be better to just get an amp. If you went that route it would be worth doing some more research about dedicated headphone amps, since I only have experience with DAC/amp combos (and even there only using the DAC and amp together, since my phones do straight USB audio into the DAC/amp).
 
I've read that the TH-900's are a little bassy, with slightly recessed mids. Tbh, that doesn't really sound in line with my music tastes, but if these perform (on the whole) better than the T1's....then maybe these would be better overall. Imo, these seem equally (perhaps slightly less) portable than the T5P's. They're not much larger, and they probably isolate only a bit worse than the T5P's. Plus, I don't listen to volume particularly loud.
 
If that is indeed the sound signature then I suspect it may not be quite as much to your liking, as you speculate. 
 
I like that the TH-900's have been compared in the league of the Stax 009's and other really hi-fi headphones, even though these two headphones are radically different in sound.
 
NZTechFreak: Are the TH-900's + HP-P1 portable amp significantly better than the T5P's + Pico HeadAmp? How would you say it would affect the presentation of my favorite music genres? Specifically, in what ways would female vocals and post-rock be influenced by the TH-900's in comparison to the T5P's?
 
Apologies, no experience whatsoever with the Fostex myself.
 
Thank you again for all of your help. I love that I'm learning about the differences between these cans, and I'm excited to finally narrow the list from 2 pairs to 1 pair for the timebeing.
 me.
 
You're welcome. If you do get the T5p I am going to sweat bullets about whether you like them or not!

 

[Emilsinclair9]

NZTechFreak, I want to again thank you for all of the great advice. Yesterday I finally found exactly what I was looking for. This is what my portable rig will look like:
 
iPhone 3GS -> LOD cable -> Pico Power Amp -> Beyerdynamic T5P's with attached SAA Endorphin cable.
 
The cans should arrive on Friday, and I'm not sure when to expect the amp. I know the pre-order ends 02/17, so I guess I'll expect it within a month after that point. I'm so excited just to try the cans with the cable upgrade, and will be even more in awe when I receive the amp too. Do you think I need to get a DAC too? I intend to use this rig basically only with my iPhone 3GS. Maybe very occasionally with the laptop, but most definitely more often with the iPhone.

 

[smpie]

Hi EmilSincleir9,
 
i was surprised and relived that others where looking at the same hardware i was
i ordered my Beyerdynamic T5p's over 6 weeks ago..And still waiting the store is telling me that Beyer is starting production on a new batch of T5p's ..
 
I have bin reading like crazy about how to proceed from there. Meaning what do i get with my first high-end headphone to make them sound as good as they possibly can !
 
The Fostex (TH-900) was also on my list but i liked the T5p's better because of the warranty and the store is not far from where i live in the EU.
 
Looking for a good amp / DAC was almost impossible to do!
Everybody has a different opinion and uses different ways to explain the sound of a amp/dac.
On Head-fi i did find a nice post called "The Sub $200 Portable Amp Shootout".
 
Reading much much more i came to a list of three names. I'm most impressed with these.
- ifi iCan +iDac   (to bad the iCan has no build in power)
- JDS Labs  with the O2 amp and the more portable C5 headphone amp.. And the new ODAC cool stuff..
- FiiO E17 the all in one solution that is so well priced one can almost not skip it hahaha..
 
On my second list was the Big jump to something like the " Burson Conductor" 
first i wanted to go for the " Asus Essence One Muses" But the output impedance is 10ohm and i don't like this..
This should be no more than 2 or 3 (or less). For example the Burson Conductor has an Output impedance of <1 Ohm.
i did get a great deal from the store if i wanted to get the Asus Muses ..but i don't like the this high impedance..
If you do sum research you will find that the 1/8 rule applies.
 
 
All this reading did not bring me to a final conclusion or choice / selection..
ok ok a bit then.. The thing is this.. How can i as a newbie in audio world say something about what i like in reference to a sound signature ?
i have no comparison.. sum call it reference i'm just looking at a starting point..
I started googling the words "Objective Review" because that is basically what i was looking for !
After googling this "Objective Review FiiO E7 USB DAC & Amp" i decided to get the FiiO E17 as a starting point..
 
i wanted to get the O2 amp as a good reference amp..But that would mean i also needed to get the reference DAC..
This opened up a whole new can of worms hahahha because i just discovered the "ifi products".
 
 
Here is my final conclusion from what i read the Fiio E17 has more than enough power for the T5p's
The Fiio E12 (just amp) has a not so good (narrow) soundstage (according to a couple of reviews).
The Fiio E10 has impressive hardware and specs for a little DAC but the implementation of this hardware is not well done.
 
The better choice would be the Fiio E17.Looking at the sound graphs / charts of the Fiio E7 i'm very impressed.
i do love the option to colour to taste hahah adding Bass/treble and so on..That's why i like the iCan from ifi.
But that's a bit more expensive..
i now that i should get equipment that is neutral and colour with an EQ. But i'm lazy hahaha..
 
 
hope to get my new T5p's be four i go nuts from all the waiting

 

[smpie]

Almost forgot i just discovered this article that i wanted to share with you ..
Neil Young and Apple's Steve Jobs discussed offering digital music downloads of 'uncompromised studio quality'.

it's a rather lengthy article so i don't now if any one has the patients to read it all hahahah..

 

i do  like this type of articles the problem is that they are kind of hard to find..
 
This of course does not change my opinion about getting one type of hardware or an other..
 
i think that i enjoy good build hardware to much for that hahaha..
For example i'm REALY impressed by the new " Astel & Ker Ak 120 " hahahhaha
does it make sense HELL now ..Do i just like it to like it HELL yes…
hahahah
Carpe diem..
 
I read an article stating that the Sennheisers HD600 and the HD650 are already approaching the point of diminishing returns.
Don't you love that line hahahaa..
Well what about what i'm getting hahaha the T5p's ?
 
 
yesterday i walked in to a store that had the Beyerdynamic DT800 or 880 and they felt light the construction is more than ok..
but nowhere near the T5p's so i'm happy spending a lot more and sitting here with a big smile on my face..
even if the return is not all that well in balance..
That is not to say that i can go overboard ! 
i have sum $$ to spend, but i can't go out and just buy like crazy hahahha …even if i could the fun would probably go out the door ..
Doing sum research dealing with the pros and cons is fun..limitless funds is boring