[exhale]

Just got these today (mainly, because everyone seems to hate them and since "everyone" generally includes treble happy, bass shy "audiophiles" i thought they might just be for me).
Will come back after a few days with the listening impressions (just to be clear, no burn-in on my side, just simple listening since day 1) but as far as initial impressions go, these are everything that the LCD-2s failed to be and then some. One small complaint is that mine, although bought new, came with some minor scuffs on the ear cups, exactly where they meet with the ear pads and it made me think that either someone tried to swap the ear pads or they came like this straight from Beyer (which would be a shame). Waiting on the retailer to see how can this be sorted without the lengthy return / resend.

Well, i guess it just wasn't meant to be. Sadly, i cannot go through my usual ~1 week of solo listening only to the new pair of headphones simply because the way they're tuned makes my tinnitus shout "Stop it, i'm dead already!!". Sigh.

Here go my (very brief) impressions with the Beyerdynamic T1 3rd gen. First of all, i LOVE their sound. From the first second i've put them on, i thought (as i wrote in the quoted post) that they are everything the LCD-2 were supposed to be. Well, i was both right and wrong. I chose to compare them to the LCD-2 because that's the pair i'm currently looking a replacement for and honestly, comparing them to some of my other headphones would simply be unfair (Arya SE, HD800S, IE 900).
They have bass. This is an understatement since it seems like all the bass in the world has gathered and decided "You know what? We're all gonna go inside the T1.3's drivers". So much bass that, sadly, it leaks into the midrange and this is what destroys my ears by making them ring like a school bell on a lunch break.

They got good towards great headstage with good (not great) instrument separation. They are devoid of a proper midrange and while this might not be a bad thing (basically, an intended V-shape(ish) sound signature), the bass leakage ruins some songs while others, it makes them more pleasant. I also have a pair of Amirons around and chose to compare these 2 together. They are very much alike, with the treble spike more present on the Amirons and with extra bass on the T1.

I usually have a rotating playlist of a babel tower sorts of songs. I start with Infected Mushroom's Deeply Disturbed and carry on with a few tracks from Enigma. Then, i switch to some 90's pop and rock (Leonard Cohen, Madonna's Ray of Light album, etc.). After that, i go down the chill route and play some Vangelis, Zimmer and Two Steps from Hell. Further on, i switch to Astrix, Ranji, Vini Vici and Juno Reactor so get my blood pumping and i keep it there with tracks from Airbase, Leon Bolier, Hiver & Hammer, etc. In total, i'm talking about 40-50 songs which i rotate, based on mood, mostly, at around 3-4 months. Out of all these songs, i could barely listen and enjoy to 8-10 of them. And these are comprised almost entirely out of pure progressive tracks (which are bass heavy, light on the mids and sprinkled with high freqs due to the usual effects used in the genre). I never had a pair of headphones ring my ears while listening to Madonna's The Power of Goodbye or Gregorian's Join Me. Ever. Unless i really pumped up the volume (which shouldn't even matter since this might be the case for every headphone out there).

I normally stay away from any other headphone when i buy a new pair, just to make sure that i get accustomed, properly, to its new sound signature and be able to appreciate it at its full value. Today, after ~3 hours of playback, my left inner-ear started hurting and i had to stop and swap them for my Arya SE just to see if the same song (in this case, Gregorian's Join Me) would make my ears ring. Not even close. Perfect rendition of the track, exactly as i knew and heard on multiple other pairs of both headphones and iems.

I'm gonna touch a bit on its bass, since it seems to be the T1s forte. It's a lot of bass so from a quantity point of view, it has more than probably any other headphone i have ever listened to (besides the MDR Z7 but a few good years have passed since i have listened to those). From a quality point of view, i tried comparing it to that of the Arya and the IE 900 (i know, it's apples to oranges since these are IEMs but at the end of the day, they both have the same job - blow sound towards and inside my ears). Different sorts of emphasis on these: the T1s, while not lacking sub bass, have a clear mid-bass emphasis while the Arya and IE 900 have both a very clean, powerful and distinct sub bass with the IE 900 being my personal favorite, as far as this goes.

I found the highs muted, in some way. It didn't bother me and as i wrote, i wanted them to be a complimentary pair of headphones so i wasn't looking for huge soundstage and clarity. Still, some sounds in some of the songs i listen to, for over 15 years, in some cases, were either missing or barely present and noticeable.

Alas, i could have overlooked everything about these, since i really wanted to love them at least as much as i have loved the Amiron Home (which i haven't used for 2-3 years, Jesus!) but it seems this was a very short honeymoon. I understood perfectly what others love about the T1.3 and i, too, would have felt the same but unfortunately, they didn't check too many points on my list. As a final conclusion: they are incredibly high quality made headphones with a lot of bass which, depending on the recording, can be either a blessing or a curse; they have surprisingly good headstage with a decent instrument separation but the bass leaking into the otherwise absent mids makes them less than perfect for accurate reproduction of bass-heavy songs (trance, progressive, psy/goa, etc.). The package is a bit lacking, for a 1000$ headphone and sadly, it does not make up for it through sound quality. Personally, i will find it hard to recommend them to anyone else besides bass heads and casual listeners and as far as their retail price is concerned, i think they would fit better in the 5-700$ category (as RRP, not discounted price).


P.S. These are my own, personal impressions of the Beyerdynamic T1 3rd gen. I, as all of you out there, have personal preferences when it comes to sound and although i consider myself a very versatile listener, i still drift toward certain genres which make my choices easier. Your mileage might vary.

 

[kman1211]

Well, i guess it just wasn't meant to be. Sadly, i cannot go through my usual ~1 week of solo listening only to the new pair of headphones simply because the way they're tuned makes my tinnitus shout "Stop it, i'm dead already!!". Sigh.

Here go my (very brief) impressions with the Beyerdynamic T1 3rd gen. First of all, i LOVE their sound. From the first second i've put them on, i thought (as i wrote in the quoted post) that they are everything the LCD-2 were supposed to be. Well, i was both right and wrong. I chose to compare them to the LCD-2 because that's the pair i'm currently looking a replacement for and honestly, comparing them to some of my other headphones would simply be unfair (Arya SE, HD800S, IE 900).
They have bass. This is an understatement since it seems like all the bass in the world has gathered and decided "You know what? We're all gonna go inside the T1.3's drivers". So much bass that, sadly, it leaks into the midrange and this is what destroys my ears by making them ring like a school bell on a lunch break.

They got good towards great headstage with good (not great) instrument separation. They are devoid of a proper midrange and while this might not be a bad thing (basically, an intended V-shape(ish) sound signature), the bass leakage ruins some songs while others, it makes them more pleasant. I also have a pair of Amirons around and chose to compare these 2 together. They are very much alike, with the treble spike more present on the Amirons and with extra bass on the T1.

I usually have a rotating playlist of a babel tower sorts of songs. I start with Infected Mushroom's Deeply Disturbed and carry on with a few tracks from Enigma. Then, i switch to some 90's pop and rock (Leonard Cohen, Madonna's Ray of Light album, etc.). After that, i go down the chill route and play some Vangelis, Zimmer and Two Steps from Hell. Further on, i switch to Astrix, Ranji, Vini Vici and Juno Reactor so get my blood pumping and i keep it there with tracks from Airbase, Leon Bolier, Hiver & Hammer, etc. In total, i'm talking about 40-50 songs which i rotate, based on mood, mostly, at around 3-4 months. Out of all these songs, i could barely listen and enjoy to 8-10 of them. And these are comprised almost entirely out of pure progressive tracks (which are bass heavy, light on the mids and sprinkled with high freqs due to the usual effects used in the genre). I never had a pair of headphones ring my ears while listening to Madonna's The Power of Goodbye or Gregorian's Join Me. Ever. Unless i really pumped up the volume (which shouldn't even matter since this might be the case for every headphone out there).

I normally stay away from any other headphone when i buy a new pair, just to make sure that i get accustomed, properly, to its new sound signature and be able to appreciate it at its full value. Today, after ~3 hours of playback, my left inner-ear started hurting and i had to stop and swap them for my Arya SE just to see if the same song (in this case, Gregorian's Join Me) would make my ears ring. Not even close. Perfect rendition of the track, exactly as i knew and heard on multiple other pairs of both headphones and iems.

I'm gonna touch a bit on its bass, since it seems to be the T1s forte. It's a lot of bass so from a quantity point of view, it has more than probably any other headphone i have ever listened to (besides the MDR Z7 but a few good years have passed since i have listened to those). From a quality point of view, i tried comparing it to that of the Arya and the IE 900 (i know, it's apples to oranges since these are IEMs but at the end of the day, they both have the same job - blow sound towards and inside my ears). Different sorts of emphasis on these: the T1s, while not lacking sub bass, have a clear mid-bass emphasis while the Arya and IE 900 have both a very clean, powerful and distinct sub bass with the IE 900 being my personal favorite, as far as this goes.

I found the highs muted, in some way. It didn't bother me and as i wrote, i wanted them to be a complimentary pair of headphones so i wasn't looking for huge soundstage and clarity. Still, some sounds in some of the songs i listen to, for over 15 years, in some cases, were either missing or barely present and noticeable.

Alas, i could have overlooked everything about these, since i really wanted to love them at least as much as i have loved the Amiron Home (which i haven't used for 2-3 years, Jesus!) but it seems this was a very short honeymoon. I understood perfectly what others love about the T1.3 and i, too, would have felt the same but unfortunately, they didn't check too many points on my list. As a final conclusion: they are incredibly high quality made headphones with a lot of bass which, depending on the recording, can be either a blessing or a curse; they have surprisingly good headstage with a decent instrument separation but the bass leaking into the otherwise absent mids makes them less than perfect for accurate reproduction of bass-heavy songs (trance, progressive, psy/goa, etc.). The package is a bit lacking, for a 1000$ headphone and sadly, it does not make up for it through sound quality. Personally, i will find it hard to recommend them to anyone else besides bass heads and casual listeners and as far as their retail price is concerned, i think they would fit better in the 5-700$ category (as RRP, not discounted price).


P.S. These are my own, personal impressions of the Beyerdynamic T1 3rd gen. I, as all of you out there, have personal preferences when it comes to sound and although i consider myself a very versatile listener, i still drift toward certain genres which make my choices easier. Your mileage might vary.

The mids and treble do come more forward with break-in with my experience and the bass eases some. My experience with the T1.3 and the T1.2 (owned two) as well is they can be very warm and the mids/treble a bit muted before they break-in/adjust to them; at least to my ears. I’m not sure if it’s the pads breaking in and how it relates to the driver angle or what but they changed dramatically with use to my ears. Didn’t experience changes on the Amiron Home or DT 1990 to anywhere near the same degree, so assuming it’s related to the angled driver. I can swap between them and the Hd 6xx series without any issue personally. But yes they have a lot of bass.

I’m sorry to hear they aggravated your ears, I know your pain, I had that experience with the HD 660S2 and had to let go of it due to that, which bummed me out as I really liked that headphone. Odd because the other Hd 6xx headphones didn’t bother my ears.

 

[andrecb]

I'm gonna left some songs for the ones that want to test the T1.3. In my honest (and nothing technical) opinion they make this headphone shine.

 

[OnlySoMany]

In my opinion, I think the 1990 Pro is the best set Beyerdynamic makes. The t1 is good, but flavored. I guess it depends what you are going for.

 

[feverfive]

Well, i guess it just wasn't meant to be. Sadly, i cannot go through my usual ~1 week of solo listening only to the new pair of headphones simply because the way they're tuned makes my tinnitus shout "Stop it, i'm dead already!!". Sigh.

Here go my (very brief) impressions with the Beyerdynamic T1 3rd gen. First of all, i LOVE their sound. From the first second i've put them on, i thought (as i wrote in the quoted post) that they are everything the LCD-2 were supposed to be. Well, i was both right and wrong. I chose to compare them to the LCD-2 because that's the pair i'm currently looking a replacement for and honestly, comparing them to some of my other headphones would simply be unfair (Arya SE, HD800S, IE 900).
They have bass. This is an understatement since it seems like all the bass in the world has gathered and decided "You know what? We're all gonna go inside the T1.3's drivers". So much bass that, sadly, it leaks into the midrange and this is what destroys my ears by making them ring like a school bell on a lunch break.

They got good towards great headstage with good (not great) instrument separation. They are devoid of a proper midrange and while this might not be a bad thing (basically, an intended V-shape(ish) sound signature), the bass leakage ruins some songs while others, it makes them more pleasant. I also have a pair of Amirons around and chose to compare these 2 together. They are very much alike, with the treble spike more present on the Amirons and with extra bass on the T1.

I usually have a rotating playlist of a babel tower sorts of songs. I start with Infected Mushroom's Deeply Disturbed and carry on with a few tracks from Enigma. Then, i switch to some 90's pop and rock (Leonard Cohen, Madonna's Ray of Light album, etc.). After that, i go down the chill route and play some Vangelis, Zimmer and Two Steps from Hell. Further on, i switch to Astrix, Ranji, Vini Vici and Juno Reactor so get my blood pumping and i keep it there with tracks from Airbase, Leon Bolier, Hiver & Hammer, etc. In total, i'm talking about 40-50 songs which i rotate, based on mood, mostly, at around 3-4 months. Out of all these songs, i could barely listen and enjoy to 8-10 of them. And these are comprised almost entirely out of pure progressive tracks (which are bass heavy, light on the mids and sprinkled with high freqs due to the usual effects used in the genre). I never had a pair of headphones ring my ears while listening to Madonna's The Power of Goodbye or Gregorian's Join Me. Ever. Unless i really pumped up the volume (which shouldn't even matter since this might be the case for every headphone out there).

I normally stay away from any other headphone when i buy a new pair, just to make sure that i get accustomed, properly, to its new sound signature and be able to appreciate it at its full value. Today, after ~3 hours of playback, my left inner-ear started hurting and i had to stop and swap them for my Arya SE just to see if the same song (in this case, Gregorian's Join Me) would make my ears ring. Not even close. Perfect rendition of the track, exactly as i knew and heard on multiple other pairs of both headphones and iems.

I'm gonna touch a bit on its bass, since it seems to be the T1s forte. It's a lot of bass so from a quantity point of view, it has more than probably any other headphone i have ever listened to (besides the MDR Z7 but a few good years have passed since i have listened to those). From a quality point of view, i tried comparing it to that of the Arya and the IE 900 (i know, it's apples to oranges since these are IEMs but at the end of the day, they both have the same job - blow sound towards and inside my ears). Different sorts of emphasis on these: the T1s, while not lacking sub bass, have a clear mid-bass emphasis while the Arya and IE 900 have both a very clean, powerful and distinct sub bass with the IE 900 being my personal favorite, as far as this goes.

I found the highs muted, in some way. It didn't bother me and as i wrote, i wanted them to be a complimentary pair of headphones so i wasn't looking for huge soundstage and clarity. Still, some sounds in some of the songs i listen to, for over 15 years, in some cases, were either missing or barely present and noticeable.

Alas, i could have overlooked everything about these, since i really wanted to love them at least as much as i have loved the Amiron Home (which i haven't used for 2-3 years, Jesus!) but it seems this was a very short honeymoon. I understood perfectly what others love about the T1.3 and i, too, would have felt the same but unfortunately, they didn't check too many points on my list. As a final conclusion: they are incredibly high quality made headphones with a lot of bass which, depending on the recording, can be either a blessing or a curse; they have surprisingly good headstage with a decent instrument separation but the bass leaking into the otherwise absent mids makes them less than perfect for accurate reproduction of bass-heavy songs (trance, progressive, psy/goa, etc.). The package is a bit lacking, for a 1000$ headphone and sadly, it does not make up for it through sound quality. Personally, i will find it hard to recommend them to anyone else besides bass heads and casual listeners and as far as their retail price is concerned, i think they would fit better in the 5-700$ category (as RRP, not discounted price).


P.S. These are my own, personal impressions of the Beyerdynamic T1 3rd gen. I, as all of you out there, have personal preferences when it comes to sound and although i consider myself a very versatile listener, i still drift toward certain genres which make my choices easier. Your mileage might vary.

This is very close to how a buddy of mine describes his ~4 months with the T1.3. The kindest thing he could say was "maaaayyybe if the T1.3 was the only cans I own, I'd learn to like them, but I just don't think these are for most people who have multiple sets." Still....I have maintained a level of interest in these. They're just down on the list of cans I consider blind buying (since trying before I buy isn't likely for me).

 

[CTR640]

I'm torn between the T5.3 and T1.3. I would like a warmer sounding headphone. If T1.3, are details hidden or still hearable?

 

[jprenaud78]

There are definitely many people who do really like the T1.3. They’re more appreciated than it may seem at first glance. It’s just those who don’t like it tend to be vocal about it.

Think it’s great with modern Music. And good with others

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

I'm torn between the T5.3 and T1.3. I would like a warmer sounding headphone. If T1.3, are details hidden or still hearable?

I preferred the T5.3. I had them both here at the same time. It's still bass heavy but despite being the closed back it sounded a bit more open.

But I'd take the T5p.2 over either.

 

[CTR640]

I preferred the T5.3. I had them both here at the same time. It's still bass heavy but despite being the closed back it sounded a bit more open.

But I'd take the T5p.2 over either.

How's the T5.3 compared to the Amiron Home?

I had the T5p.2 in the past and while I loved it, I didn't like its shrill treble. Vocals were too loud for example.

 

[Twizzleshnizzle]

How's the T5.3 compared to the Amiron Home?

I had the T5p.2 in the past and while I loved it, I didn't like its shrill treble. Vocals were too loud for example.

I haven't had the Amiron in a very long time, so I couldn't make a fair assessment.

T5.3 has the good elements of the T5p.2, but is warmer. So more bass and less treble. Sounds like it could be a winner for you.

I understand why the T1.3 has it's fans. But for me the T5.3 showed a bit more control over everything. I didn't feel the need to EQ it, I did feel that with the T1.3.

That's my opinion of course, others will tell you it's perfect.

In regard to the T5p.2, I put Dekoni leathers on mine and I felt they improved things by a nice margin (for my tastes).

 

[kman1211]

I haven't had the Amiron in a very long time, so it's I couldn't make a fair assessment.

T5.3 has the good elements of the T5p.2, but is warmer. So more bass and less treble. Sounds like it could be a winner for you.

I understand why the T1.3 has it's fans. But for me the T5.3 showed a bit more control over everything. I didn't feel the need to EQ it, I did feel that with the T1.3.

That's my opinion of course, others will tell you it's perfect.

In regard to the T5p.2, I put Dekoni leathers on mine and I felt they improved things by a niceargin (for my tastes).

I would say the T5.3 had a more even FR response overall and more present mids than the T1.3 but it also had less powerful dynamics and less excursion than the T1.3. Haven’t spent enough time with both to say which I like more. The T5.3 is one of the few closed-backs I want to buy in the future.

 

[Bret Halford]

Amiron Home is very different to the Tx.x models, it's closest to a 1990 but would be more similar to the T1.2 than 1.3 to my ear accordingly.

I agree T5.3>1.3 (although I'd also go T1.2>5.2). The 5 is less of a specialist, I really like my T1.3 for live music (particularly 'live' electronic lol) but it's a struggle in many other genres.

 

[Disadadi]

Well, at least to my ears they sound way better and more natural than headphones targeting diffuse field response.

 

[Beagle]

The thing is, ALL headphones will eventually sound natural - that’s how our brains work

So why do we keep wanting/buying headphones if we’re going to eventually arrive at the same place? Why not just get one, call it a day and enjoy music?

Asking for a friend

 

[Stevko]

Im pleased with the sound.now Im looking for an easier setup
So far: airpod pro is a great alrounder.plug and play

T1 G3 pluged into an ipad sounds great. A step above airpods

And my Grados with an Apple dongle sounds great.

My G3 needs a bit more power than an Apple dongle.
Considering to try a Fiio KA