[Proglover]

Quote:

I was bitterly disappointed with the P5. I'm far from a treble teak, but the P5 was just WAAAY too dark. I prefer the T50p, but as Duncan put quite well, there is a strange coloration to them that sometimes I completely forget about, but sometimes I can't. I liked the HD25-II a lot when I had them, except for the comfort, which I thought was much too vice-like.

Sadly, the perfect $300 portable headphone has yet to avail itself, at least to me...

 


completely agree on that
the only thing I wasn't dissapointed about, was the looks of the p5, that thing is beautiful. I tried to love the sound, I really tried, but I just can't. Too dark, too slow, reminded me of the sound of my B&W 603 speakers and frankly, that's not a good thing.
 
Also agree on that coloration the t50's have, sometimes I'm very aware of that, sometimes not. Although the perfect top range portable doesn't exist probably, I wouldn't want to miss the t50's anymore, they have something special going on that I want to have available to me.
 
p5's are gone, going to sell or trade for ES10/ESW10.

 

[yliu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sceptre /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
If you are ever in London, you are welcome to try them.
 
Regards
 
Sceptre
 

Thanks for you kindness, but I'm not in London so I can't try them.
 
Thanks again.

 

[Proglover]

anyone experienced with t50's who could compare with ES10/ESW10?

 

[monsieurguzel]

Why do people keep associating the ES10 and ESW10 together whenever I listed on head-fi.  I have the ESW10 (for 2+ years) and have heard the ES10...they are very different headphones.  Their sound signatures are not at all the same...and it seems the general concensus is that the EWS10 is a better headphone due to the non-overemphasized bass compared to the ES10 (which lends itself more to electronica, etc)

 

[mywallethurts]

esw10 is not superior to the es10 imo. more of sidegrade. i prefer the latter

 

[monsieurguzel]

It's a matter of taste and what your musical preference is.  I personally didn't care much for the emphasized bass of the ES10
 
Quote:

esw10 is not superior to the es10 imo. more of sidegrade. i prefer the latter

 

[Proglover]

Quote:

Why do people keep associating the ES10 and ESW10 together whenever I listed on head-fi.  I have the ESW10 (for 2+ years) and have heard the ES10...they are very different headphones.  Their sound signatures are not at all the same...and it seems the general concensus is that the EWS10 is a better headphone due to the non-overemphasized bass compared to the ES10 (which lends itself more to electronica, etc)

I listed them both because they're the only 2 portables in this price range that I didn't hear.
I'm very aware of the fact that they have different sound signatures.
 
I have no thoughts on which would be better for me, but I asked if someone is in the position to make a comparison between one of those models, or both, and the t50.
 
I don't know where the sound signature sentence from you comes from, but I didn't mention anything about them being the same, I only listed them together.

 

[plainsong]

And I keep reading that the TMA-1 is the best thing sliced bread, that they're better than the t50p. They aren't. They aren't worse either. Like everything in this price range, it's a compromise, and it just depends on personal preference or what fits your needs better.

 

[Proglover]

Quote:

And I keep reading that the TMA-1 is the best thing sliced bread, that they're better than the t50p. They aren't. They aren't worse either. Like everything in this price range, it's a compromise, and it just depends on personal preference or what fits your needs better.

very true, it's personal
 
I tried the TMA1, and I couldn't stand it's sound signature, but there are many people who like it.

 

[BlackbeardBen]

I gave the T50p a listening today - gotta say I was quite unimpressed.  Very unimpressed, actually.
 
The bass and mid-bass seemed overbearing and uneven in response - and not well controlled, either.  I'm not sure if I'd call it boomy; but it was unlike anything I've heard before and it didn't sound that good.
 
The highs were pretty nice - smooth and detailed without being overbearing.
 
The mids though - in particularly, the upper mids...  Well, lets just say that it sounded like there was a gaping hole in the frequency response to me - and there is, of course:
 

 
Almost a 20 dB difference between 4k Hz and 8.5k Hz...
 
In terms of portable 'phones I was comparing to my Alessandro MS-1i - the Grado SR-80 was the closest I could find in terms of the graph, just for comparison's sake.
 
I was a bit disappointed in the soundstage as well.  Perhaps that's just down to expectations - the "air" I was hoping for that the Alessandros still provide (even if they don't do have much depth) wasn't even there.
 
I guess I'm really an open headphones kind of guy.
 
The build quality is indeed fantastic.  The headband is amazing, although i don't really like the looks of the pivot or the cans.  Regardless of the looks, they're still built better than any other portable headphone I've seen.  The cable is super-thin as you all know, which of course doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot.  At the very least though, the right angle plug is tiny and rather annoying.
 
Anyway, that's my quick impressions from a dozen minutes or so listening.  I'm sure with more time I might have gotten at least a little more used to the sound signature - but I can already say it's definitely not for me.

 

[emdubya]

New head-fi'er here. I'm fully on board with those that find the t50p a little weird. I listened to all sorts of cans today with my 3g iphone (EQ off, vol approx 60%) before settling on the HD-25s. Compared the beyerdynamic t50p, sennheiser hd202 , grado sr80, beats solo, beats pro (actually pretty impressive, like an enclosed sr-80 lol!), and sennheiser hd 202(?) which was pretty good. The test tracks included James Blake's cover of limit to your love - it goes from a quite high vocal intro to a monter bass line within one minute, as well as some tracks off the new Kanye West album, and Filibuster X off of Antibalas's Security album.
 
first off - the cheapo hd-202 did surprisingly well - competent all over and comfortable to wear. I compared them directly to the beats offering and kept coming back to them for their overall smoothness and bass. I'm almost kicking myself for not bringing some home for the hell of it. As I said the beats pro model was very good, but the price is insane and the cans themselves are definitely not in the portable-friendly category. The t50p and sr80 were compared back to back in another shop. The sr 80s really blew away the t50p offering. The t50p has very tight, controlled bass, but everything sounded a little electric - really having trouble putting it into words (sorry, I'm a beginner) - and mids to highs were just kind of harsh. The SR-80 provided me with more bass than I expected and everything sounded as it ought to, and then some. The HD-25s were a half-hour drive across town and seemed to offer something approaching the smoothness of the sr-80s but in an enclosed can, which is what I need so I don't disturb those studying beside me in the library. If I were a psychopath and didn't care about bothering my neighbours, I'd have the sr-80s, though.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

The B&W P5's are real marmite headphones (love it or hate it for anyone not familiar). For me they're perfect, size, sonically and looks or, are with my favourite genres; Electronic, Breakbeat, Hip Hop, Tech House, Minimal and as a bonus they work perfectly with my iphone/pod and mac
 
Personally, I couldn't stand the sound of the HD25, I found it dull and lifeless
 
I think plainsong put it best that in this price range and style (portable cans) you're always going  to have a compromise - Just find the ones that suit your needs the best and enjoy the music

 

[emdubya]

I'd love to give the P5s another try. I suspect the display models in our local apple stores have taken a beating. But dang are they expensive.
 
You really have to do an A - B test with the HD-25s to appreciate how good they are because they present everything very competently from high to low, so nothing stands out in particular. They don't really have a "character" in the sense a more bass friendly can like the P5 does. I'd say I'm most impressed with how the HD-25 presents strings (cello), closely followed by the presentation of singer-songwriter rock - Lou Reed, Nick Cave, etc. 

 

[Coolsax]

I picked up some P5s used for a great price this week and I must say i'm digging the sound personally, but I also didn't pay $300 either so that may color my impressions.  I like the warm signature of the p5s and I think they are nice for relaxing and just enjoying the music while on the go.  (I use them in my work breakroom at lunch).  I'm currently listening to mostly acoustic folk stuff like Alison Krauss, Jim Croce, mumford and sons, etc.  I wouldn't use these for critical listening sessions but that's not why i got them anyway.. I have my ATH AD 700s for that for home use, if i don't feel like powering up my amp and speakers.  These are meant for work and travel use for me and work well in that format.
 
 

 

[Duncan]

To add to the confusion, last month I bought myself another pair of Beyer DT250-80's (after about a five year absence)...
 
To me it changes daily, yet todays favor-o-meter reads as...
 
Senn HD25 -> Beyer DT250 -> B&W P5 -> Beyer T50P...
 
...I think that the T50P could've been pretty much at the top of the tree if they'd have had bigger earcups (now I know the T5P is in the mix there somewhere, but they're a whole lot more expensive!!)...
 
To me, the DT250 would be perfect beyond all compare if they had the bass of the HD25, but hey - I guess you can't win them all!