New Beyerdynamic T1 (2nd Generation)

[Pingupenguins]

   
If erotic blowing doesn't help, try using the tip of a soft badger shaving brush. If it really worries you that much and none of this works - this may sound rigorous I know - you could use the vacuum cleaner on low(est) power, holding it at a distance while holding the cup upside down to have gravity help you. - AT YOUR OWN RISK - 

 
 
Sucking is as good as blowing. 

 
Risky maneuver always...

 

[hanselmann]

  Just finished re-terminating the stock cable. Looks really ugly because of a lot of heat shrinks have been used, but all for the durability lol.
 


Cable's length is about 2M now, and it's so much more comfortable.

Beautiful (and rugged!) version of it available from beyerdynamic without destroying your stock jack cable.

 

[EvilKillaruna]

Very soft brush always did the trick. And that is only dust cover fabric, not membrane itself.
 
Quote:

   
So with the new pads on the T1.1 there'd be crappier bass quality, less monitoring (neutral/analytical?) sound, less forward mids AND less brightness?
 

 
More bass actually. With less forward mids came more depth but also slight hollow effect. The rest of changes is correct. 
 
 
About BAL cable, I've used this one during evaluation of my own pair:
 

 

[bokes]

Picked up a pair of T1g2's.
Out of the box I am very impressed.
I haven't had much time with them yet, but so far I do not hear any of the shrill treble some comment about. All is quite smooth.

One question
I am running the phones straight out of my Rotel RA 1570 Intergrated Amp.
I was going to add the Beyerdynamic A2 to the set-up.
I called Rotel- the unit will accept an external amp via pre-outs, but they claim I will not get much benefit. They insist I stick with front jack and save $$$.

I'm curious- what type of improvement -if any- would an external give me?

 

[Wildcatsare1]

The google chrome translation wasn't that bad actually. German translates pretty well into English while still retaining some of it's even most figurative language and special context. They are very similar languages after all.

The snap-on or plug-in type adapter cable for the AK T1p is the same Beyerdynamic 1.4m (not 3m) cable for the T1.2 that you can buy straight from the Beyerdynamic website.

Edit: I just realized the joke, you're from Austria so you probably already took or understand German. :-D

May have something to do with English having Germanic roots....

 

[plakat]

Picked up a pair of T1g2's.
Out of the box I am very impressed.
I haven't had much time with them yet, but so far I do not hear any of the shrill treble some comment about. All is quite smooth.

One question
I am running the phones straight out of my Rotel RA 1570 Intergrated Amp.
I was going to add the Beyerdynamic A2 to the set-up.
I called Rotel- the unit will accept an external amp via pre-outs, but they claim I will not get much benefit. They insist I stick with front jack and save $$$.

I'm curious- what type of improvement -if any- would an external give me?

While I like the A2 best with all my Beyerdynamic cans, realistically don't expect too much improvement over another well built solid state amp. Problem with many normal amps is that their headphone out is just there to be feature complete, with the amp b hind not bein designed for the unique electrical requirements of headphones (I.e.
able to feed into impedance so between 16 and 600 Ohm, wide gain range etc.). I can't comment on the Rotel amp, but with many speaker amps this holds true. If in doubt test your headphone out and if you find it sufficient stay with that and invest your money otherwise. Otherwise try to demo the A2 before buying it.

 

[The Walrus]

While I like the A2 best with all my Beyerdynamic cans, realistically don't expect too much improvement over another well built solid state amp. Problem with many normal amps is that their headphone out is just there to be feature complete, with the amp b hind not bein designed for the unique electrical requirements of headphones (I.e.
able to feed into impedance so between 16 and 600 Ohm, wide gain range etc.). I can't comment on the Rotel amp, but with many speaker amps this holds true. If in doubt test your headphone out and if you find it sufficient stay with that and invest your money otherwise. Otherwise try to demo the A2 before buying it.

Solid advice. I'm sure a lot of people would disagree, but I cannot hear any significant difference between FiiO E12 and iFi Micro iDSD. 

 

[TJ Max]

  Solid advice. I'm sure a lot of people would disagree, but I cannot hear any significant difference between FiiO E12 and iFi Micro iDSD. 

 
I've always felt that all well built hi-fidelity equipment should sounds pretty much identical to each other. The idea behind hi-fi is about the accuracy of reproducing the sound of the original source, not to create a new sound. Am I right?
 
I have a Fiio E18, I'm suprised that they can drive the T1 reasonably for portable use.

 

[The Walrus]

   
I've always felt that all well built hi-fidelity equipment should sounds pretty much identical to each other. The idea behind hi-fi is about the accuracy of reproducing the sound of the original source, not to create a new sound. Am I right?
 
I have a Fiio E18, I'm suprised that they can drive the T1 reasonably for portable use.

Quite right.
HiFi means high fidelity to the sound created in the studio. Unfortunately people are getting ripped off by 24 Bit downloads, USD 3,000 CD Players and so on...
All you need is a decently built transparent enough system that has enough power to drive your speakers /headphones. If you want coloration, EQ, XBass, 3D and all sorts of other tools are at your disposal. (either in your DAP or your DAC/AMP) You can choose your equipment accordingly. 
If there is one thing that will make the biggest difference in your enjoyment of music, they are the headphones and they are a matter of taste. 
Honestly, I don't understand why people stack all sorts of DAC's, tube AMP's, preAMP's and spend thousands of dollars. But hey, after all I'm not judging anyone. Everybody can experiment all they want. 

 

[bokes]

Great that settles it for me.
I'll save my $$$ or spend it on more vinyl.
The T1 sounds real sweet to my ears right from the RA.

I really don't understand all the nick picking about boxy mids and harsh treble.

Thanks!

 

[plakat]

I'll save my $$$ or spend it on more vinyl.

 
Thats what I was talking about
Its about the music after all... Enjoy!

 

[Naim.F.C]

I've always felt that all well built hi-fidelity equipment should sounds pretty much identical to each other. The idea behind hi-fi is about the accuracy of reproducing the sound of the original source, not to create a new sound. Am I right?

I have a Fiio E18, I'm suprised that they can drive the T1 reasonably for portable use.

The O2 Dac/Amp powers my T1's/HD800 as well as any of the other far more expensive units I've tried. Artificially colouring the sound for added synergy is not the same thing as actually providing honest amplification. I think people often forget that.

 

[The Walrus]

The O2 Dac/Amp powers my T1's/HD800 as well as any of the other far more expensive units I've tried. Artificially colouring the sound for added synergy is not the same thing as actually providing honest amplification. I think people often forget that.

I think it works both ways. First they create "The more expensive the better" mentality. And when people buy into that and create demand, companies are glad to oblige to supply EUR 99 headphone cables!
I gave this example because it involves T1, Beyer and the new 1.4 mt cable. When I saw the price, I decided to cut the stock cable in half and solder a $5 high quality jack. I'm glad I did. What are the two qualities that would make a good audio cable? The gauge (thickness) and the isolation. Have you seen how thin the cables are? I don't care what material they used, with that gauge, I don't think 24 carat gold would make a difference. 
I'm very curious as to how Beyer will justify the cost of this cable....

 

[Packdemon]

I think it works both ways. First they create "The more expensive the better" mentality. And when people buy into that and create demand, companies are glad to oblige to supply EUR 99 headphone cables!

I gave this example because it involves T1, Beyer and the new 1.4 mt cable. When I saw the price, I decided to cut the stock cable in half and solder a $5 high quality jack. I'm glad I did. What are the two qualities that would make a good audio cable? The gauge (thickness) and the isolation. Have you seen how thin the cables are? I don't care what material they used, with that gauge, I don't think 24 carat gold would make a difference. 

I'm very curious as to how Beyer will justify the cost of this cable....

While isolation is important, I don't think that wire gauge matters as much with headphones, and I would say that that actually only matters with some high watt speakers. In fact, I'd argue that I higher gauge would act as a thicker, and with 24 carat gold a more conductive antenna which would introduce more distortion to your audio overall (although I could imagine that it would practically be inaudible overall). I think the best route to go would actually be getting the least conductive lowest gauge wire that you could possibly use, up until the point before where you would get a degradation of sound quality or volume (of course also taking into account the little bends in the grain of the wire over use throughout time). All of that stuff for me isn't that big of an issue however, that is just what I would assume would be the best theoretical input to give the best theoretical result. For me, my most largest concerns would be first and foremost cable microphonics (an actual audible issue that should be attempted to be minimized as much as possible), and then maybe cable strength (I've actually never had an issue with breaking audio cables though), soft touch cables (again ties with cable microphonics), and non-tangle cables. Lastly, more options for cable length is always good. Personally, I dislike cables that are longer than 1.2m, and I can't find a practical headphone use for them. 1m is probably my favorite length.

 

[plakat]

  I think it works both ways. First they create "The more expensive the better" mentality. And when people buy into that and create demand, companies are glad to oblige to supply EUR 99 headphone cables!
I gave this example because it involves T1, Beyer and the new 1.4 mt cable. When I saw the price, I decided to cut the stock cable in half and solder a $5 high quality jack. I'm glad I did. What are the two qualities that would make a good audio cable? The gauge (thickness) and the isolation. Have you seen how thin the cables are? I don't care what material they used, with that gauge, I don't think 24 carat gold would make a difference. 
I'm very curious as to how Beyer will justify the cost of this cable....

I'd say most of the costs actually comes from the manual work, not the materials. As I understand Beyerdynamic anticipates only little demand and outsourcing would not be cost-effective (like the standard cable, of which they need many more).
 
Regarding gauge: I second @Packdemon in that the diameter is not that important with 3m overall length at the power level of headphones. In addition to that the T1 is 600Ohm, i.e. not much current is part of the equation.
 
Of course cutting the original cable is an option. I do some soldering myself, creating various adapters and such, but don't want to fiddle around with sheeted cables as, depending on the structure of the sheet, it can get a bit too involved creating a clean fit with my preferred Neutrik connectors. So I simply ordered the balanced cable from Beyer... Given the prices of many third party cable options it seems more than reasonably priced to me.