I got a set of the T1's 2nd gen for Christmas and have been a T90 owner for over a year.
I have several amps and dacs and always wondered what the differences between these two really were.
The only way to tell is to have them side by side and quickly be able to swap them out in a few seconds with the same material
being played.
They are very different.
Here is a take on what they are like to me....I wrote this in another blog a week back:
First Impressions are lasting ones.....
The Beyer T1's exude a very well made device...they come packaged in a small retail package inside of the newer, smaller black carrying case. Its much more portable than the large T1 1 gen case.
The Cable is detachable of course, and its a really nice long flexible cable made out of some rather expensive copper etc....I am not a metallurgist!!
They plug into the headphones with a gentle push, I worry over time if these connections would become worn or loose, but I dont intend to be swapping out cables in the future....so they probably will be ok fine. I thing I read that Beyer did this in case you trip on the cable and it easily would disconnect to prevent any real damage to the headphones.
I only have an hour or so of listening on them. So the usual let them play for 10-100 hours etc does not apply here (yet).
I am using a really wonderful headphone amp that I built, its an ODA desktop version of the O2, with a lot more current/voltage capability. My good friend at agdr audio designed this amp and its been one of the best that I have had, its transparent, does'nt add to or take away from the signal. It allows me to have (2) sets of headphones in use at the same time to do quick comparisons. It also allows dual selectable dacs as well!
I also have a Bottlehead Crack with Speedball, O2 amps stock and two with "upgrade" mods, like the O2 Booster board and with OPA1688 op amps.
So I have been going back and forth between the T90s vs the T1's and across a few amps.
The T90s have over a hundred hours on them and they are well worn in "friends".
Having done this so many times, its fairly easy to tell the differences between devices rather quickly...
Both are stellar headphones IMO, but they are indeed sounding different, soundstage and presentation are really different.
The weight of the bass or its "fullness or body is different".
The clarity is different....
The T90s at 250 ohms vs the 600 ohm T1's require less power to drive them to a realistic " without blowing your eardrums out".
Most of what I have read is true to me when people compare the T90 vs the T1.
That said, let me talk just to the T1 first, and at the end I will tell you my opinions about the two and was it worth it to me......
The T1 soundstage is stellar. Wide, easy articulation of instruments and placement, but it depends on the quality if the recording for sure. A well done pieces is presented well. These cans do not like mediocre stuff for sure. Easiliy besting many other cans I have had in the past.
The tonality of a piano is difficult to reproduce, listening to George Winstons, December and the "Holly and Ivy" will make a grown man cry, its that good. The notes on the piano are crisp, clear, and sound so much like a real piano...just 'gorgeous". The Ivory keys sound "Ivory-Like".
In comparing to the T90s (and I said I would wait to the end!) the sound here has more weight or heft or fullness or sounds "right" I dont know how else to describe it. The T90s do sound believe it or not "clearer" and "clinical" this is with most recordings so far...going back and forth they are so much alike and so much different IMO.
The soundstage and presentation is wider with the T1's IMO "a lot"...so when paired with a well recorded piece its really wonderful..
The bass....Brian Brombergs "Wood" and Freedom Jazz Dance is spectacular....the T90s do this cut very well, clear, tonality etc..but the T1's seem to be more warm and musical and just right...this isnt subjective to me , there is a difference in the way the bass is articulated and presented. Which on to you is the better is definetly a personal taste thing.
The bass is fuller and has more body or heft than the T90's.
A BIG thing is I dont seem to have to crank up the volume to "make" the cans sound "good"...I can listen at lower levels and not think I am loosing something or content.....They hold that nice presentation at low levels very well. With the T90's I find myself cranking up the volume to achieve a better presentation.
I find that listening to the T1's on the Bottlecrack makes them even more warm and less clear...wanting to listen musically and technically at the same time (my akin to having your cake and .....) The T'1's to me dont need any more warmness added, they are warmer that the T90s which IMO are brutally crisp and clear (you may not like that).....the T1's are abit less clear like they have been toned down to give them a more musical presentation. You may or may not like that.
It may not be fair to say they are less clear, the overall sound is one of the best to me, its they did something to make these I think more listenable to more people? The clarity is there, but the toning down of stuff is evident...in a good way to me.
With the T90s' I am always listening to whats there in a song, instead of just enjoying the music. With the T1's I am finding myself more lost in the music and just enjoying the sound....and thats a good thing!
So was it worth it with only an hour or so of listening...YES.
Would I sell my T90's absolutely NO.
I think I have found my end all headphone.....or at least until the next time!!
Hope some of this makes sense!
Merry Christmas!
