[kman1211]

So the T1 is warmer, meaning more lower mid energy and forwardness? And then the upper mids on the T5 are greater than that of the T1, correct? I'm sorry, just a little confused, as you then stated that the T5 has less extended treble.
Which comes across as the brighter headphone? I'm planning to eventually pick up one of the two. My preference would be the warmer of the two, and fairly close to neutral in the upper mids and lower treble, with some extension in the high treble. I'd also prefer the one that has the least bloom down low, yet still tight and somewhat visceral with a decent amount of decay. And I most definitely don't want the bread and butter portion of the mids not being overly recessed.
Based on this, which one do you think I would prefer? 90% of my music consists of classic rock, hard rock, and a hair metal if that helps.

A more forward upper midrange can come across as brighter or more abrasive to some people. When people say ‘bright’ it can be a variety of factors but excess upper mids and up, etc. can cause a headphone to sound brighter to me as I’m very sensitive to upper midrange and due to this I often refer to a strong upper midrange, lower treble leaning headphone as bright because that’s literally how it sounds to me. Mid to Upper treble emphasis comes off more as ‘sharp’ ‘sibilant’ and ‘piercing’ to me than ‘bright’ though it does add to perceived brightness just not as much as lower treble and upper mids to my ears.

Honestly neither are what I consider bright. But in terms of treble the T1 is the brighter of the two. And as to which you would prefer, that's hard to properly say. For metal and rock I would personally prefer the T1.3 of the two but it's possible you may find the upper mids too relaxed on the T1.3. If possible I would try both and return which you like less.

 

[technobear]

So today at Canjam London I had my second audition of the T1.3 with the dCS Lina System. The source was my PR2 on the optical input of the Lina. It seems this was the only T1.3 at the show so I only hear it with the Lina. Thank you to dCS for bringing it.

So... this is a headphone of two parts - one brilliant and one laughably ridiculous - depending on the genre of the music.

First the bad. As you have all read by now, this phone has a lot of bass. On already bassy material, it is quite ridiculous. The bass overpowers everything. "Clubbers Guide To Trance"? Forget it. "Leftism"? No way. Just crazy. This headphone is no all-rounder.

But then there's the good. With blues or pop (older pop at least) or classic rock, it's fabulous. It has great resolution, a great depth to the sound, excellent treble that is well extended and well defined and is well balanced for these genres so long as they are not too bass heavy to begin with. Most importantly, this is one of only two headphones, maybe three, at the show that stopped me from interrupting a track to play something else. It is musical and interesting and involving. It has the toe-tapping, chair-dancing quality I love in my T1.1. This may well end up on my Xmas list as a complement to the T1.1. It's high time I gave the LCD-X the heave-ho and replaced it with something more musical as I very rarely listen to it.

I'll add something about comfort. People have said that the T1.3 has smaller ear-openings than T1.2 or T1.1. I normally have to spend a minute ot two with the T1.1 finding the sweet spot but once found I can wear it for hours and forget it's even on my head. I had no problem getting comfortable with the T1.3. It was a close fit but the sweet spot wasn't hard to find and it didn't press on my ears so comfort is good for me. If however you do have large ears (and mine are quite big), you might try out the Meze Empyrean or the HEDDphone or the Raal models as they both have plenty of ear room and I found them very comfortable.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

So the T1 is warmer, meaning more lower mid energy and forwardness? And then the upper mids on the T5 are greater than that of the T1, correct? I'm sorry, just a little confused, as you then stated that the T5 has less extended treble.
Which comes across as the brighter headphone? I'm planning to eventually pick up one of the two. My preference would be the warmer of the two, and fairly close to neutral in the upper mids and lower treble, with some extension in the high treble. I'd also prefer the one that has the least bloom down low, yet still tight and somewhat visceral with a decent amount of decay. And I most definitely don't want the bread and butter portion of the mids not being overly recessed.
Based on this, which one do you think I would prefer? 90% of my music consists of classic rock, hard rock, and a hair metal if that helps.

If you're considering the T5, consider trialling the Fostex TH610. I picked one up recently, and it's replacing my T5p gen 2. I really like the T5p, I love the TH610.

 

[John Buchanan]

So today at Canjam London I had my second audition of the T1.3 with the dCS Lina System. The source was my PR2 on the optical input of the Lina. It seems this was the only T1.3 at the show so I only hear it with the Lina. Thank you to dCS for bringing it.

So... this is a headphone of two parts - one brilliant and one laughably ridiculous - depending on the genre of the music.

First the bad. As you have all read by now, this phone has a lot of bass. On already bassy material, it is quite ridiculous. The bass overpowers everything. "Clubbers Guide To Trance"? Forget it. "Leftism"? No way. Just crazy. This headphone is no all-rounder.

But then there's the good. With blues or pop (older pop at least) or classic rock, it's fabulous. It has great resolution, a great depth to the sound, excellent treble that is well extended and well defined and is well balanced for these genres so long as they are not too bass heavy to begin with. Most importantly, this is one of only two headphones, maybe three, at the show that stopped me from interrupting a track to play something else. It is musical and interesting and involving. It has the toe-tapping, chair-dancing quality I love in my T1.1. This may well end up on my Xmas list as a complement to the T1.1. It's high time I gave the LCD-X the heave-ho and replaced it with something more musical as I very rarely listen to it.

I'll add something about comfort. People have said that the T1.3 has smaller ear-openings than T1.2 or T1.1. I normally have to spend a minute ot two with the T1.1 finding the sweet spot but once found I can wear it for hours and forget it's even on my head. I had no problem getting comfortable with the T1.3. It was a close fit but the sweet spot wasn't hard to find and it didn't press on my ears so comfort is good for me. If however you do have large ears (and mine are quite big), you might try out the Meze Empyrean or the HEDDphone or the Raal models as they both have plenty of ear room and I found them very comfortable.

Regarding the bass, Electronic Dance Music is meant to be extremely bass heavy, and yes, to a ridiculous extent. Most phones simply can't reproduce the bottom end and sound bass light - which balances out the EDM bass overload. I say the T1.3 is simply playing it like it is, but with a slight, but not excessive, boost.

 

[Stevko]

Perfect:
https://tidal.com/track/27417837

 

[Mhog55]

If you're considering the T5, consider trialling the Fostex TH610. I picked one up recently, and it's replacing my T5p gen 2. I really like the T5p, I love the TH610.

Both the T5p 2nd and 610 were too bright for me, unnaturally so, causing fatigue in short order. That being said, I also do not like overly dark presentations, such as the NightOwl/Nighthawk, and Denon ah-d7200. I'm just looking for a fairly balanced sound in the upper frequencies. I'll take slightly mid forward over recession, and I'm okay with a pronounced low end, so long as it doesn't over shadow or become distracting. Just trying to figure out which 3rd generation would be the better fit.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

Both the T5p 2nd and 610 were too bright for me, unnaturally so, causing fatigue in short order. That being said, I also do not like overly dark presentations, such as the NightOwl/Nighthawk, and Denon ah-d7200. I'm just looking for a fairly balanced sound in the upper frequencies. I'll take slightly mid forward over recession, and I'm okay with a pronounced low end, so long as it doesn't over shadow or become distracting. Just trying to figure out which 3rd generation would be the better fit.

Shure SRH1540? Very balanced tuning. Also excellent.

 

[Mhog55]

Shure SRH1540? Very balanced tuning. Also excellent.

I've considered it more than a few times, but I'd like the better resolution, imaging, etc that these flagship Beyerdynamic cans bring to the table. Not a big fan of the MMCX connections on a full sized headphone either. I'm sure one day I will eventually try it though. Seems like a good bang for the buck set of cans.

 

[jdlafleur]

Does an EQ'd T1.2 match it fairly? I have the T1.2 and wanted to know if the T1.3 is really that much different with EQ

 

[Stevko]

Congratulations. I hope you like them. I am looking forward to read what you think about them.
I see you also have brighter headphones in your collection as I do and they just did not fit into the rest of my gear. But wow they do sound great once your ears get adjusted to the darker signature.

Still like them. No problem swapping between T1 and RS2e.
But sometimes too much bass…

 

[gazzington]

Trying to decide a t1 3rd gen or a used t1 2nd gen. I listen to lots of different genres so not sure which to go for

 

[Stevko]

Think you will like the G3, since you own meze 99 and hd650

 

[Bret Halford]

T1.2 are more flexible across genres for me, whereas 1.3 excells on specific areas. I'd go with 2nd gen if they are in good shape and you want a jack of all trades.

 

[Stevko]

Anyone with G3 and a THX amp?
Considering the new BTR7

 

[Bret Halford]

Anyone with G3 and a THX amp?
Considering the new BTR7

I have Gen 1.3 and a THX 788 from monoprice, it is OK single ended but there's an audible hiss from balanced as is often the case for THX with high sensitivity. I wouldn't recommend it, but YMMV.