The Solitare for me is the winner for classical in particular. Is it $600 better, not sure. If you are running BT only, then no. If you are running it wired in passive mode, then absolutely yes. It scales much better than the 5909.
Indeed.. As wireless headphones alone I would say the SolT are a tad overpriced... But if you add into the equasion also the wired use with some good amplification (they're slightly less sensitive than my Stellia and need to have just a tad more juice, I'd definitely recommend driving them in balance mode) they become worth every penny... I ended up selling my ML 5909 because of that
Indeed.. As wireless headphones alone I would say the SolT are a tad overpriced... But if you add into the equasion also the wired use with some good amplification (they're slightly less sensitive than my Stellia and need to have just a tad more juice, I'd definitely recommend driving them in balance mode) they become worth every penny... I ended up selling my ML 5909 because of that
On to a final price hunt, then. At least the Bathys are finally out of the picture. They may be the cheapest, but they also lack wired passive mode, which puts them at a serious disadvantage in my eyes, plus they seem to be the least neutral and most bassy of the lot, making them not very suitable for classical music.
On to a final price hunt, then. At least the Bathys are finally out of the picture. They may be the cheapest, but they also lack wired passive mode, which puts them at a serious disadvantage in my eyes, plus they seem to be the least neutral and most bassy of the lot, making them not very suitable for classical music.
I can confirm the Bathys are inferior for classical music, but fun for electronic music. Haven’t yet tried the ST, but so far the ML 5909 are the best wireless headphones I’ve heard for classical. They reveal a lot of orchestral detail.
Indeed.. As wireless headphones alone I would say the SolT are a tad overpriced... But if you add into the equasion also the wired use with some good amplification (they're slightly less sensitive than my Stellia and need to have just a tad more juice, I'd definitely recommend driving them in balance mode) they become worth every penny... I ended up selling my ML 5909 because of that
I agree with @WDitters. I also own the Stellia (and Utopia). The Solitaire T most certainly competes with the Stellia. At least enough for me to have them in a drawer as opposed to on the headphone stand. The Stellia is certainly better--but not massively so.
For my situation, the ability to switch on ANC and tune out the world is key. I do this with the 5909 frequently as well. The issue with the 5909 is tonal balance. It's amazingly good, but has a little too much treble energy due to beryllium driver. If I hadn't heard the ST, I would be blissfully ignorant and still have the Stellia in the drawer.
Because the SolT are so good that I sometimes simply don't feel the need to bother with getting my cable box out, selecting a balanced cable, selecting a pair of headphones from the wall and prepare for an extensive listening session... When the SolT are within reach I sometimes simply grab those and get going instead... Pure laziness...
I agree with @WDitters. I also own the Stellia (and Utopia). The Solitaire T most certainly competes with the Stellia. At least enough for me to have them in a drawer as opposed to on the headphone stand. The Stellia is certainly better--but not massively so.
For my situation, the ability to switch on ANC and tune out the world is key. I do this with the 5909 frequently as well. The issue with the 5909 is tonal balance. It's amazingly good, but has a little too much treble energy due to beryllium driver. If I hadn't heard the ST, I would be blissfully ignorant and still have the Stellia in the drawer.
We do not know what causes the resonance peak at high frequencies but the engineering team behind the headphone does. It is not just the material of the driver. It is a complex matter and definitely intetional but reasons are not known for us.
One detail that Sean Olive admitted on ASR forum (and later on edited his message...most likely thanks to marketing department...) that the Harman Target matching for the 5909 was done only up to 10kHz. He mentioned that they may consider matching it up to 15kHz in the future.
Because the SolT are so good that I sometimes simply don't feel the need to bother with getting my cable box out, selecting a balanced cable, selecting a pair of headphones from the wall and prepare for an extensive listening session... When the SolT are within reach I sometimes simply grab those and get going instead... Pure laziness...
My 5909s arrived on xmas. Really enjoying them so far. Build is good enough (if slightly underwhelming at the price). Comfort is good. Sound is great (no complaints). The only gripes so far are that they really don't play loud enough with my iphone 12 pro (on my ipad pro M1 they play loud enough), the app is pretty limited (I hope ML upgrade it at some point) and the noise cancelling isn’t up to much. Looking forward to spending more time with them. Interested to try them wired out of my Chord Dave and HP amp setup.
My 5909s arrived on xmas. Really enjoying them so far. Build is good enough (if slightly underwhelming at the price). Comfort is good. Sound is great (no complaints). The only gripes so far are that they really don't play loud enough with my iphone 12 pro (on my ipad pro M1 they play loud enough), the app is pretty limited (I hope ML upgrade it at some point) and the noise cancelling isn’t up to much. Looking forward to spending more time with them. Interested to try them wired out of my Chord Dave and HP amp setup.
Agree! They are very solidly built but don't have that impressiveness that the PX8 have. I did think they felt better than the Bathys. That being said after having them for a long time now I do really appreciate how solid they are.
One thing I'll say is I personally do not like the wired non Bluetooth sound signature of the ML. They seem too flat and anemic. I think this is due to the overly flat bass response they naturally have and because whatever DSP magic they are doing isn't at work.
It's not an issue for all tracks but I particularly notice it on Panic Room by Camelphat.
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