[borrego]

I highly recommend T5p owner to try the DT1770 velour pads (available on amazon UK/DE). Great increase on comfort as they are made of Coolmax fabric. Just 2dB reduction in sound isolation according to the DT1770 spec sheet.

The T5p stock pads have 4 holes on the back and the DT1770 velour pads have no hole. FR is about the same to the stock leather pads when I put them to my T5p Gen 1.

 

[TJ Max]

@tjmax: i've read that Beyers phones are intended to be used with an amp with higher output impedance. How did it change with different amps? Did you achieve a little "warmer"/"fuller" sound signature with the A2? How well did it work with the bass boosts of both HA2 and fiio e18 (if you have tried it)?
I'm generally really pleased with the phone, although I have to admit that the new toy syndrome has worn off a little and I might be more critical now. Sometimes, especially if I'm listening deep house tracks or other electronic music, I would wish for some more midbass and heft in the lower registers.
I'm currently using it with a Dragonfly Red equalize it sometimes, but I guess some other amps might be a better combination.

 
 
Beyerdynamics's answer as to why the A20 has a 100 ohm output, was simply that it created less of jump in volume when switching between headphones with different impedances, and  that it prevents shorts.
http://support.beyerdynamic.com/hc/en-us/articles/201847362-Why-does-the-A-20-have-an-output-impedance-of-100-ohms-
I've heard some say that the headphones are Tuned for 100ohm, but I haven't read anything official from Beyerdynamic about that. Plus the the bigger A2 amp has the option to switch from 0 to 100 ohm, and Beyer suggests using 0 ohm output for their low impedance headphones.
Without good amping I found that both the 1st and 2nd gen T5ps where dull and lifeless sounding with no visceral impact and added no rhythm and pace to even the most driving music. When amped however the bass becomes tighter and more forward, the treble provided more air and details of the instruments. However I don't think they are all genre purposed headphones. I like electronic and synthwave which have interesting things going on in the sub bass region that only a "Fun" sounding headphone can capture. The T5p may be a little too "serious" for that genre, but for well mastered Pop and Rock and Jazz they are great.
 
 

Why would you buy headphones that boast about a relatively flat response and neutrality and then be disappointed because they don't have a mid bass bump? If that's what you want and that's the type of music you listen to, it seems you could have chosen a better pair of headphones for that sound; maybe something like the B & W P9's. I'm not criticizing, just curious.

 
Well compared to the 1gen they do have a bass hump. They just don't treat every genre equally.

 

[ductrung3993]

if you have a spare $200, what would you do to improve the sound of the T5P? Pad changing, recable, amp, DAC....or $200 wont be enough to make a noticeable difference?

 

[doraymon]

if you have a spare $200, what would you do to improve the sound of the T5P? Pad changing, recable, amp, DAC....or $200 wont be enough to make a noticeable difference?

Can you tell us what's your actual setup?

 

[ductrung3993]

Can you tell us what's your actual setup?

The headphone is only thing I have for now, and flac/320kbps files on my laptop and note 5. 

 

[doraymon]

The headphone is only thing I have for now, and flac/320kbps files on my laptop and note 5. 

In this case definitely a USB DAC! It will bring the most significant improvement.
I would consider Meridian Explorer 2 or similar solutions. Or something of a higher category second hand.

 

[erics75]

Audioquest dragonfly red dac/amp. Will do the digital to analog conversion instead of whatever you're playing it from, and amplify the signal for the headphones. Its a super easy way to improve the quality of your audio, since you don't seem to be running a dac/amp.

 

[ductrung3993]

In this case definitely a USB DAC! It will bring the most significant improvement.
I would consider Meridian Explorer 2 or similar solutions. Or something of a higher category second hand.

 
 

Audioquest dragonfly red dac/amp. Will do the digital to analog conversion instead of whatever you're playing it from, and amplify the signal for the headphones. Its a super easy way to improve the quality of your audio, since you don't seem to be running a dac/amp.

Indeed I'm considering dragonfly red vs Oppo HA-2

 

[blablablack]

I've never heard the PSB M4u2's, but I'm a former owner of the PSB M4u1's, and I feel like they were a pretty neutral headphone, too. The highs on the T5P's are just as detailed, but a little smoother and a little less strident. I haven't owned the T5P's very long, but they're incredibly well balanced and I'm liking them a lot. They're everything I hoped the P9's would be. But the P9's had that annoying mid bass hump that I hate and you want! Haha.
It's too soon to say, yet, but I may have finally found a closed back headphone that can keep up or even surpass my Shure 1540's. Time will tell.
Anyway, you're one of many people on here that swayed me to try these because of some of your posts that I read. And I'm thankful for that because these are really comfortable and really competent cans :thumbsup_tone2:

 can you compare the t5p.2 to the shure 1540's more?

 

[shurealltheway]

 can you compare the t5p.2 to the shure 1540's more?

The T5P's are tuned differently. They have less bass but more treble and I'm still trying to decide if I like that or not. If you're not treble sensitive, the T5p tuning can give you more micro details in a song. If the T5P's simply had less bass, I'd call them more neutral than the Shure's, but they have north of neutral treble so it's a wash to me. At this price point, it's a mattter of preference. They both sound great but the Shure's are definitely more comfortable due to being lighter and because their cups are actually shaped more like an ear instead of being perfectly round (what are you thinking Beyerdynamic?).
For some songs, I prefer the Beyers, for some songs I prefer the Shure's. They're both easy to drive and no amp is needed. They're both built very well. I'd say the main difference is the Shure's more gentle treble makes everything sound good, where the T5P's treble can get hot on poorly recorded/compressed songs. I'd also say that the timbre of the 1540's is simply unrivaled. They're one of the most natural sounding headphones I've ever tried. The T5P's are not unnatural, but sometimes the treble can sound metallic. Hope that helps!

 

[svemo]

Beyerdynamics's answer as to why the A20 has a 100 ohm output, was simply that it created less of jump in volume when switching between headphones with different impedances, and  that it prevents shorts.
http://support.beyerdynamic.com/hc/en-us/articles/201847362-Why-does-the-A-20-have-an-output-impedance-of-100-ohms-
I've heard some say that the headphones are Tuned for 100ohm, but I haven't read anything official from Beyerdynamic about that. Plus the the bigger A2 amp has the option to switch from 0 to 100 ohm, and Beyer suggests using 0 ohm output for their low impedance headphones.
Without good amping I found that both the 1st and 2nd gen T5ps where dull and lifeless sounding with no visceral impact and added no rhythm and pace to even the most driving music. When amped however the bass becomes tighter and more forward, the treble provided more air and details of the instruments. However I don't think they are all genre purposed headphones. I like electronic and synthwave which have interesting things going on in the sub bass region that only a "Fun" sounding headphone can capture. The T5p may be a little too "serious" for that genre, but for well mastered Pop and Rock and Jazz they are great.



Well compared to the 1gen they do have a bass hump. They just don't treat every genre equally.

Thanks for this very comprehensive answer! I've read the info about the amps and their impendance on the DT1770Pro thread and was just curious whether there is any noticeable change in the signature with Beyerdynamics own amps.

I'm going to try some other earpads soon, because it would be great to have a little bit more isolation when I'm on the train or subway. Also curious on how it would affect the frequencies.

Do you guys think I should order angled pads (like Alpha Pads) or regular ones?

I wonder if angled pads would mess up the soundstage due to the already angled driver. I will probably try Brainwavz pads

Update:after reading twister6s comment on the alpha pads, which are angled too, I went with the angled ones.
I'm going to report about the experience

 

[ductrung3993]

While 95% says that the T5p.2 is a significant improvement over the first gen, I have not heard comparison to the AK T5p itself. Can anyone chime me in? Thanks!

 

[TJ Max]

  While 95% says that the T5p.2 is a significant improvement over the first gen, I have not heard comparison to the AK T5p itself. Can anyone chime me in? Thanks!

I'm not sure why the AK T5p exist. 
From the look of it I see it's based on the Gen 1 design, no detachable cable and a the real leather that Beyerdynamic replaced due to early decay.
By their own description; "Tuned to amplify the sound of Astell&Kern to create rich low-pitched tones and clear high notes for a truly unique listening experience." It sounds like they're going with their own personal sound signature. They mentioned Lows and they mention Highs but they didn't mention Mids (the most important sound of a speaker), so I assume this is more of a V shaped sound than the Gen 2. Oh and they're asking for a few hundred dollars more than Beyerdynamic! FAIL!

 

[strangebru]

I have read pages 1-56, hundreds of posts, and I am kinda shocked that no one mentioned this until now !!! JumboHashish, My Congrats !!!  I am an electrical engineer and a bit of an audiophile, and I find that frequency response curves are usually quite telling of how its going to sound.  I have a DT770 and have compared its curve to curves to other cans I've owned (hd600, hd650, PM-3, M50x, etc)  and found that these measurements really are valuable predictors.  Especially when comparing to what u already have.  Recently, I plotted the curve for the t5p1 on top of the DT770 and it was very similar but with some of the high frequencies cleaned up a bit, matching a little closer to the "target response curve", which made me curious about buying it, not knowing it was replaced by the T5p2.  But theT5p2 modified the sound a bit and now I'm hesitant to buy it, because without the measurements (or the actual cans), I don't really know how it changed except for some comments about more bass, less treble, whatever.  So, instead, without actually listening, unfortunately we are left somewhat blind, with just personal opinions.  I don't understand why the manufacturers no longer put these curves in their specifications (they used to, and microphones still have these curves in their specs).  I did notice that Tyll doesn't review many Beyerdynamics, and I wish he did, apparently he doesn't like them ??  I'm pretty frustrated and surprised.  Oh wells.

 

[DoctaCosmos]

There's is a FR hart of the t5p.2 online somewhere.