beyerdynamic T5p: Photos and first impressions.

[Szadzik]

One more thing I am noticing is that these are brightish but when used with Corda Stepdance a lot of that brightness is neutralized.

 

[googleli]

I am still waiting for the earpad fix for Edition 10 and at the same time waiting for my LCD2 order to be ready. I have just completed my ear mold for ES5 and is about to send out but that's going to take a month or so I guess. Wait, wait, wait. And it's Chinese New Year. I decided I have had enough wait and went out to buy a pair of T5P for fun today, after reading all the reviews of HD800, T1 and T5p.
 
I have to say thery are quite good but some of the mids sounds a bit artificial. I tried it on my Leben CS300XS and my RSA Black Bird SR-71A. It sounds good - but much less natural than the ED10. On tracks where ED10 does not have a problem, ED10 beats the T5P in every way. Bass, mid smoothness, naturalness, sound stage, airyness. Even on my Leben tube amp with Telefunken tubes installed, the sound of the T5P is kind of "hard", if you know what I mean. The only upper hand T5P has over ED10 is the mid treble where ED10 is having problem with at this moment. Otherwise, I think even my UE18 Pro has better SQ than the T5P. I also don't know how far is the T5P behind the T1 - if T1 is just barely better than T5P, then it has a long way to be even close to ED10 on tracks where ED10 doesn't have a problem.
 
This impression is, of course, subject to further change - this is my first pair of Beyerdynamics headphones and the T5P is just fresh out of the box.  I will give it another week of burn in. That said, I think the T5P will fit my collection as a "half-portable" phone. I won't carry it to work or commute every day - my UE18 Pro serves that purpose much better. But I guess it is good for short trips and on planes - man I hate it when stewardess on planes come to talk to me and I have to take out my 18 Pro in advance, everytime I see that the dinner cart is near. With the T5P at least they would know I am listening to something and that I am not wearing a hearing aid.
 
Quick question - I can't find any Beyer cables on the websites of Whiplash, ALO or Moon Audio. Does the T5P have to be recabled or just unplug and plug like the HD800 cables? Why is there no such cable on these websites?

 

[immtbiker]

Is the Beyer T5P a customer removable cable, or does it have to be re-wired internally. That might answer your question.

 

[googleli]

Further impressions after near 24 hours burn in.  The phone sounds best when the singer breathes or exhales. You can actually feel her breath. That is a feeling that the ED10 can't give me. Flute sounds extremely good with these. Y axis sound stage is also good. Bass starts to improve but still not as clear or clear crisp as the ED10. And definitely not even close as the bass of UE18 Pro. The 18 Pro has very good, controlled, and deep bass, definitely not loud though - just right - and the most perfect bass in 2 channel listening IMO. Of course I still have to listen to the bass king, LCD2 , which I have signed up for preorder adn still waiting, but I will have to say that the T5P's bass is a tad less controlled than my ED10 or UE18 Pro.

 

[Szadzik]

Quote:

Further impressions after near 24 hours burn in.  The phone sounds best when the singer breathes or exhales. You can actually feel her breath. That is a feeling that the ED10 can't give me. Flute sounds extremely good with these. Y axis sound stage is also good. Bass starts to improve but still not as clear or clear crisp as the ED10. And definitely not even close as the bass of UE18 Pro. The 18 Pro has very good, controlled, and deep bass, definitely not loud though - just right - and the most perfect bass in 2 channel listening IMO. Of course I still have to listen to the bass king, LCD2 , which I have signed up for preorder adn still waiting, but I will have to say that the T5P's bass is a tad less controlled than my ED10 or UE18 Pro.

What amp are you using with them? They seem to lose a lot of the brightness if you use them with a neutral amp. I am also thinking about trying them with a warmish amp to see how they do with that but have no other way of trying than by buying an amp. 
 
The bass I would say is not prominent but not sure about the 'not-controlled' comment.
 
I just got a linear power supply for my Stepdance and it makes the phones even better with higher voltage. I am using Sony X>LOD>Stepdance>T5p combo and I am truy happy now. 
 
BTW. Sony X gives me zero his when connected through the LOD.

 

[googleli]

I am using the Leben CS300XS, a very good set of tube amp, if tube amp sounds cold with them I don't know what can sound warm.

 

[isuperfish]

little more bass will make it perfect for me.

 

[fhuang]

Quote:

I am using the Leben CS300XS, a very good set of tube amp, if tube amp sounds cold with them I don't know what can sound warm.

from previous experience, most low, lower impedance beyer sound better with ss amps and most high, higher impedance beyer sound better with tubes so maybe t5p sound better with a ss amp? 

 

[googleli]

Yes, but I hooked it up to my SR71A which is almost as good as portable amps can get (and T5P is for portable use if I understand correctly) and it doesn't sound that much better either. It definitely has its strong points but overall I am disappointed by it as a flagship / sub-flagship.
 
Quote:

Quote:

I am using the Leben CS300XS, a very good set of tube amp, if tube amp sounds cold with them I don't know what can sound warm.

from previous experience, most low, lower impedance beyer sound better with ss amps and most high, higher impedance beyer sound better with tubes so maybe t5p sound better with a ss amp? 

 

[fhuang]

sr71a is good and everything but i'm thinking maybe only a home amp do it some justice?  like ed8, a stationary amp sound much better.  if that's the case, maybe t5p isn't a portable can at all/after all.......
 

 

[Szadzik]

 
Quote:

sr71a is good and everything but i'm thinking maybe only a home amp do it some justice?  like ed8, a stationary amp sound much better.  if that's the case, maybe t5p isn't a portable can at all/after all.......
 

I am using them with Corda Stepdance and they sound very good. I would never go as much as to say they are not worth to be a flagship. I think they just have a sound sig that not everyone will like.

 

[googleli]

After two days of burn-in, magic happened. The T5P now sounds great with both the SR71A (portable amp) and my Leben CS300XS (desktop tube amp, with Telefunken tubes installed). The once exaggerated low mids which sounded "artificial" has now become buttery smooth. I guess I am starting to get the sound signature of Beyerdynamics. Very smooth. Compared with the "after-fix" ED10, the T5P has less details, but at the same time it is more forgiving to poor recordings. The ED10 is so revealing that anything bad will not escape. However with good and very good recordings, the ED10 is definitely a gem. The T5P may not be able to reveal the details which the ED10 does, but at the same time it is good to be able to just plug the T5P to my iphone 4 / ipad with or without my RSA Blackbird and still sounds great on almost any music. A lil' more bass would be even better though.

 

[Szadzik]

 
Quote:

After two days of burn-in, magic happened. The T5P now sounds great with both the SR71A (portable amp) and my Leben CS300XS (desktop tube amp, with Telefunken tubes installed). The once exaggerated low mids which sounded "artificial" has now become buttery smooth. I guess I am starting to get the sound signature of Beyerdynamics. Very smooth. Compared with the "after-fix" ED10, the T5P has less details, but at the same time it is more forgiving to poor recordings. The ED10 is so revealing that anything bad will not escape. However with good and very good recordings, the ED10 is definitely a gem. The T5P may not be able to reveal the details which the ED10 does, but at the same time it is good to be able to just plug the T5P to my iphone 4 / ipad with or without my RSA Blackbird and still sounds great on almost any music. A lil' more bass would be even better though.

Good to hear you are liking them. 

 

[googleli]

I read from another forum that T5P sounds better than T1, both on the A1 and other amps, is that true? I haven't listened to the T1 so I'm not sure. If that is the case I am glad that I got T5P.

 

[googleli]

Can other owners confirm whether the cable is detachable / replaceable or must be re-wired? Doesn't say in the manual and I don't want to pull the connector to test it out...