Beyerdynamic T1 3rd Gen out now

[exhale]

Hello, folks!
I never thought i'd come back to head-fi, since finding my sweet spot in the headphone domain but here i am, again, with a few questions that might help me clear some stuff with regards to Beyer's 3rd gen T1.

I first auditioned them (actually, bought them blindly) around 2 years ago and i quickly ended up returning them. While they weren't as peaky as Beyer's other offerings, the mid bass bloat was too much for me to handle. Ear ringing, lack of clarity - everything was (not) there and this was from someone that was coming from a pair of LCD-2. They did have bass but quality wise, that bass was as bad as it can get from a kilobuck pair of headphones.

After living in peace and harmony for ~2 years, enjoying life, i decided i needed another complication in it and i (re)bought the T1s. I've read that Beyer has done some silent revisions to the headband's clamp, the pads, etc. and i kinda wanted a pair of phones for easy listening. I already own the HD800S, HD820, HE1000se, IE900 so i have no clue why i did this, honestly. I got all the musical genres covered, from acoustic / orchestral to the lowest of the EDM pool.

They arrived yesterday and until today, i have been exclusively listening to them, alone. Tried all genres and one of the first things i've noticed is that the ringing that comes with the mid-bass/lower mids bloat is still there but at a much lower intensity. They have the kick (mid bass, that is) but the slam is... absent? I mean i thought it had slam until i tried a quick A/B with the HD820, today. Now the Sennheisers can slam and there's no joking about it. I was flabbergasted! What happened to the T1s? Did Beyerdynamic make any changes to them? The kick's still there but there's no deep slam. I'm not expecting planar deepness, i know the differences but they used to sound...different, from a bass perspective?

They are easy listening, i agree with that. I can "tolerate" them at very high levels on either the WA6 or the Violectric V202 with very little fatigue. They are a pleasant audition, especially for trance music (which is notoriously a badly mastered genre) but whenever i swap to the HD820, it feels like there's some deep rumble that comes back into music. Yes, they are much more forgiving than the Sennheisers but the beach is narrow (only a few, very old, vinyl ripped tunes are impossible to listen to, on the HD820).

My entire chain is more on the warm-neutral side (D400ex DAC) but i have no complaints regarding the mids and highs (well, i do but those are trade-offs that are to be expected, i guess, with the T1's current tuning). Furthermore, the lower notes should be more emphasized, shouldn't they? I mean there is a slight difference with more presence in the low end, on the WA6 but even so, i expected more? Basically, i wanted a pair of headphones that can give me the lowest of ends possible without bloating all the neighboring frequencies. I care not for highs and mids since i have cans that satisfy the genres that float around them but even so, i feel like i'm gonna repeat the experience from 2 years ago and return them, again. Which is NOT what i want! They are comfortable, they sit on my head nicely and they are pleasant, warm and very light. Not that the other headphones aren't but again, i really want to like them enough to keep them.

To not be misunderstood - they DO have bass. Slam, punch, rumble, etc. but i thought they're the LCD-2 of the dynamic realm? I owned the LCD-2s and from what i can remember, they used to hit (obviously) much deeper with a much more powerful slam.

Am i missing something, here? There's no ****ery going on with the chain, there are no mods (i bought them new) applied, the audio files are all of the highest quality possible (except those vinyl rips lol). I like listening to them but whenever i pick up the HD820, i feel like i'm being pranked and someone's keeping the sub-bass away from me, with the T1s.

Edit: grammar, wording

I decided to return them. Sadly, i didn't have the same luck i had with the HD800S, which i also bought once then returned, only to purchase them a second time and be able to properly "understand" and feel them. I cannot kid myself that the sub bass is there when it's almost entirely absent. If i didn't have the HD820 to test against, i would have probably kept them. I still suffer from a tad of ear ringing due to the relatively bloated mid-bass/low midrange but i could have looked past that if only the rest of the low end would have satisfied me.

Sorry Beyer, i really wanted to like and love them alas, it was not meant to be! They are perfect for someone who's never experienced other types of headphones (especially higher-end ones). For me, they've got no place in my collection, even as easy listeners (i realized that for "easy listening" i could probably get a much cheaper pair of wireless headphones and call it a day).

 

[jprenaud78]

I have experience and I keep them
For my way of life

 

[John Buchanan]

Surprisingly enough, it's the upper midrange to treble problems with the Beyerdynamic T1.3 that keeps it from top tier for me - I can hear distortion with cymbals that isn't apparent with the Focal Utopia, the Mysphere 3.2 and the AKG K812. The bottom end isn't an issue for me.

 

[ShreyasMax]

Hey everyone! Time for a long-term use update. For three years, I paired my Beyerdynamic T1.3 with a SoundBlasterX G6. Back then, my priorities were gaming and casual music listening. I wanted something portable and affordable, and I blindly bought into the "low impedance means easy to drive" myth.

Recently though, I decided to move beyond the G6 for something more technically competent (while still budget-friendly), both for my T1 and my older headphones. Something just felt... off about my old setup.

Enter the SMSL RAW-MDA1. To my complete surprise, the improvement was far greater than I'd ever expected (or even wanted ).

The T1's core signature remained intact - that warm, smooth yet spacious and detailed character I love. But the transformation was undeniable:

• The bass became far more present yet perfectly controlled - powerful but never bleeding
• Vocals, string instruments, even in-game footsteps sounds gained presence and crispness
• The imaging improvement shocked me - sounds now float in pure black space, hyper-precise and distortion-free

The result? An incredibly comfortable yet technically impressive listen. All the detail and clarity I loved about the T1, now with added weight, control and - most importantly - pure musical fun.

I'm torn between satisfaction and temptation. Satisfied because I achieved this with relatively modest spending (proving my earlier assumptions wrong). Tempted because... well, now I wonder what even higher-end gear might reveal. But for now, I'll happily stop here!

This post of yours is a pleasant surprise as I’m currently waiting on my T1 order to be delivered. I already have the RAW-MDA1 but it’s not getting much use after I upgraded my sources (Shanling EH2, iBasso DC-Elite). Maybe this is a good time to get it out of the shelf, and have a good comparative session or two once I get the T1 delivered.
Cheers