New Beyerdynamic T5p 2nd generation

[gearofwar]

Question of interest, does anyone here use t5p2 with QP1R and what kind of gain setting do you have on it ? 

 

[Subhakar]

Beautiful shot.

 

[The Walrus]

  If my memory serves me correctly, Tyll didn't care much for the T-1 and as far as I know he never reviewed it. I'm not sure if he cares for any Beyerdynamic product for that matter. I do not agree with him sometimes but to each his own.

It's about who pays more I guess. He's been telling that the HD 800 is the best headphone in the world for years now, so I guess they have a quite cozy relationship with Sennheiser. 

 

[Svatopluk]

 
It's about who pays more I guess. He's been telling that the HD 800 is the best headphone in the world for years now, so I guess they have a quite cozy relationship with Sennheiser. 

Actually, I agree with Tyll on the HD-800 as long as it's paired with the right amp. Though I'm afraid the HD-800's time has passed now that he's all yummy on the Utopia.

 

[JumboHashish]

I also own a Dragonfly Red but haven't had the opportunity to try that combo and tbh I can't imagine anything good can come from that pairing... . So again, I am right behind you and your assessment - the  T5p.2 needs proper pairing with source! 

Was seriously considering getting a Dragonfly Red myself for the T5p.2 (currently running it direct off the iPhone 6 and MacBook Pro). Do you think the T5p.2 would be better off with the Dragonfly Black? Would the Red be so terrible? I got the impression from the Red's reviews that it would only enhance the T5p.2's inherent qualities even further!

 

[Traveller]

 

I also own a Dragonfly Red but haven't had the opportunity to try that combo and tbh I can't imagine anything good can come from that pairing... . So again, I am right behind you and your assessment - the  T5p.2 needs proper pairing with source! 

Was seriously considering getting a Dragonfly Red myself for the T5p.2 (currently running it direct off the iPhone 6 and MacBook Pro). Do you think the T5p.2 would be better off with the Dragonfly Black? Would the Red be so terrible? I got the impression from the Red's reviews that it would only enhance the T5p.2's inherent qualities even further!

 
I was comparing the "synergy" of the T5p.2s with my Chord Mojo DAC compared to the AK320 DAP and it was clear to me that the T5p.2s need the most resolving DAC possible. The T5p.2 is (imho) on the warm side and being a closed can, has limited "air". The AK320 seems to my ears to also be on the warm side; the combination in turn leads to an overly warm and slightly more "dense" soundstage. Compared to both the AK320 and Mojo, the Dragonfly is even warmer and the soundstage is more compact. This is no real issue for my Grados or my Etymotics because these are brighter and have a wider soundstage (and almost too much air). Even the Angies work fine with all three DACs/DAP.
 
Now I have not compared using my Android LG G4 (with UAPP) to drive the T5p.2s directly and with the Dragonfly. I would do you the favor but unfortunately my G4's at the shop and my old smartphone cannot run UAPP. I am however convinced that the Dragonfly's DAC will sound better than any Smartphone's and so you should be GTG.

 
 

... The clamping on the dt1770 is noticeably higher, probably resulting in a better resolution...

 
Speaking of "clamping", the T5p.2s sit quite comfortably on my head and I use them while simply chilling on my couch as well as when working at my workstation.
HOWEVER... the moment I start moving my head up / down too quickly they have a tendency to react to gravity and start to slip downwards. What this implies is using them during a commute, walking briskly and / or staring down at a smartphone might be problematic. As Beyerdynamic is pitiching their "p" series as portable, I have to ask if anyone really uses it while commuting and if so, do you ever find yourself pushing the phones back in place?
fwiw, I have both sides on the second~third "dot" in order for them to cover my ears and my head is maybe 18cm (7") wide

 

 

[TexasBuck]

   
I was comparing the "synergy" of the T5p.2s with my Chord Mojo DAC compared to the AK320 DAP and it was clear to me that the T5p.2s need the most resolving DAC possible. The T5p.2 is (imho) on the warm side and being a closed can, has limited "air". The AK320 seems to my ears to also be on the warm side; the combination in turn leads to an overly warm and slightly more "dense" soundstage. Compared to both the AK320 and Mojo, the Dragonfly is even warmer and the soundstage is more compact. This is no real issue for my Grados or my Etymotics because these are brighter and have a wider soundstage (and almost too much air). Even the Angies work fine with all three DACs/DAP.
 

I think you may be on to something there.  That is consistent with my experience.  My previous warm/musical/forgiving DAC was not nearly as good of match as my current more resolving DAC.

 

[JumboHashish]

 

   
I was comparing the "synergy" of the T5p.2s with my Chord Mojo DAC compared to the AK320 DAP and it was clear to me that the T5p.2s need the most resolving DAC possible. The T5p.2 is (imho) on the warm side and being a closed can, has limited "air". The AK320 seems to my ears to also be on the warm side; the combination in turn leads to an overly warm and slightly more "dense" soundstage. Compared to both the AK320 and Mojo, the Dragonfly is even warmer and the soundstage is more compact. This is no real issue for my Grados or my Etymotics because these are brighter and have a wider soundstage (and almost too much air). Even the Angies work fine with all three DACs/DAP.
 

I think you may be on to something there.  That is consistent with my experience.  My previous warm/musical/forgiving DAC was not nearly as good of match as my current more resolving DAC.

So much easier to decide on a DAC/Amp for the T5p.2 now!

 

 

[Traveller]

OT? (DAC/DAPs)
 

I was comparing the "synergy" of the T5p.2s with my Chord Mojo DAC compared to the AK320 DAP and it was clear to me that the T5p.2s need the most resolving DAC possible. The T5p.2 is (imho) on the warm side and being a closed can, has limited "air". The AK320 seems to my ears to also be on the warm side; the combination in turn leads to an overly warm and slightly more "dense" soundstage. Compared to both the AK320 and Mojo, the Dragonfly is even warmer and the soundstage is more compact. This is no real issue for my Grados or my Etymotics because these are brighter and have a wider soundstage (and almost too much air). Even the Angies work fine with all three DACs/DAP.

I think you may be on to something there. That is consistent with my experience.  My previous warm/musical/forgiving DAC was not nearly as good of match as my current more resolving DAC.

So much easier to decide on a DAC/Amp for the T5p.2 now...

I can highly recommend the Mojo in terms of sound quality - amazing given the size and yes, the "reasonable" €600 price tag. It's not the end game though; the battery manages on average 7~8hrs (closer to 7 with my specific unit) and as small as it is, it's huge compared to the Dragonfly. I always have both with me; it's already happened a few times that I forgot to charge the Mojo and out comes the trusty little Dragonfly. The amount the Dragonfly draws from a Smartphone is relatively low (<40mw) and unless you are using your Smartphone Apps that much that you already need to make several "pit-stops" daily to charge your phone then I would venture to say you won't even notice the additional consumption from a few hours of music with the Dragonfly.
 
Red vs. Black. With red you get more output (2.1 vs. 1.2V*) and a [slightly?] improved DAC (ES9016K2M vs. ES9010). As I've never had the Black I cannot say much more than that. More importantly, these DACs are purposely limited by AQ to 24b/96KHz as it is the current limit for native Windows OS (without the need for additional drivers). Granted, my music collection is 95% Redbook but I still find it unfortunate given that the DAC chips are designed to process up to 32bit 384KHz / DSD256 (but may not do so "natively"). Thus if you try to play anything higher than 24b96K "bitperfect" you will get an error. And I'm not interested in feeding any DAC a down-sampled source (which will be the only way to get the Dragonflys to play anything above 24b96K.)
 
*I sometimes run the Mojo to my preamp and setting it to ~1.8V** means it is as "loud" as my CD Player (also going to the preamp). Still, the preamp vol is sitting around 9~10 o'clock so I bet even 1.2V would manage to produce a decent volume without clipping / losing [too much] "impact". **Mojo default "line.out" mode is 3V which is way too much for the typical preamp. Hell, you could probably feed the amp directly at that level... Impedance-matching is a whole other story...

 

[435279]

Please amazon.co.uk put the price back down again, around £650 will be OK.  I was getting these as a Christmas present but not at £849 

 

 

[gab840]

So much easier to decide on a DAC/Amp for the T5p.2 now!  

More on the synergy side , we had a meet where we had T5p gen 2 and bunch of dac amps - mojo, burson soloist , fiio alpen n ifi ican.
And the best synergy T5p's were having was with alpen , we were amazed that a normal priced epuipment compared to other being much higher in price range is handling so well.Its all abt synergies of a hp with other equipments.
Similalrly dt1990 was at a good synergy with mojo of all other gears.

 

[kelly200269]

 

I also own a Dragonfly Red but haven't had the opportunity to try that combo and tbh I can't imagine anything good can come from that pairing... . So again, I am right behind you and your assessment - the  T5p.2 needs proper pairing with source! 

Was seriously considering getting a Dragonfly Red myself for the T5p.2 (currently running it direct off the iPhone 6 and MacBook Pro). Do you think the T5p.2 would be better off with the Dragonfly Black? Would the Red be so terrible? I got the impression from the Red's reviews that it would only enhance the T5p.2's inherent qualities even further!

 
I was comparing the "synergy" of the T5p.2s with my Chord Mojo DAC compared to the AK320 DAP and it was clear to me that the T5p.2s need the most resolving DAC possible. The T5p.2 is (imho) on the warm side and being a closed can, has limited "air". The AK320 seems to my ears to also be on the warm side; the combination in turn leads to an overly warm and slightly more "dense" soundstage. Compared to both the AK320 and Mojo, the Dragonfly is even warmer and the soundstage is more compact. This is no real issue for my Grados or my Etymotics because these are brighter and have a wider soundstage (and almost too much air). Even the Angies work fine with all three DACs/DAP.
 
Now I have not compared using my Android LG G4 (with UAPP) to drive the T5p.2s directly and with the Dragonfly. I would do you the favor but unfortunately my G4's at the shop and my old smartphone cannot run UAPP. I am however convinced that the Dragonfly's DAC will sound better than any Smartphone's and so you should be GTG.

 
 

... The clamping on the dt1770 is noticeably higher, probably resulting in a better resolution...

 
Speaking of "clamping", the T5p.2s sit quite comfortably on my head and I use them while simply chilling on my couch as well as when working at my workstation.
HOWEVER... the moment I start moving my head up / down too quickly they have a tendency to react to gravity and start to slip downwards. What this implies is using them during a commute, walking briskly and / or staring down at a smartphone might be problematic. As Beyerdynamic is pitiching their "p" series as portable, I have to ask if anyone really uses it while commuting and if so, do you ever find yourself pushing the phones back in place?
fwiw, I have both sides on the second~third "dot" in order for them to cover my ears and my head is maybe 18cm (7") wide

 

I have the T5P V1, and I wouldn't regard them to be that ' portable'. For a start, they don't fold, and I've had to result to shelling out yet again for the official Beyer black hard case that originally came with the T90 anniversary's. After all, the cases that are supplied with the T5P's can hardly be regarded as portable, especially so the stupid aluminum one that came with the V1. The black Beyer case makes these cans just about 'portable', with a largish rucksack.
As to the fit, they are fine if you sort still on a train, in a cafe etc. Pretty useless of you want to walk with them, as they keep falling off my head. They just don't clamp tight enough, which also affects the level of sound isolation when on a noisy train etc. In this respect they are poor IMO, and I find my B&W P7's much better for both passive sound isolation, and balance/security of fit when moving.
HOWEVER, all is forgiven when I start to listen. The clarity of these things is amazing, and they really shine a spotlight on the music. A little analytical and bass-light in character, especially compared to P7's, but this is really 'edge of the seat' listening, and they remind me a lot of my HD800's in character.
They partner perfectly with my Hugo, and are especially great for classical.
Not everyone's cup-of-tea, but an enthralling listen of you persist, and give them a good source.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

 

[GoSUV]

If you find the clamping force not enough, you can always adjust the curve of the headband by gently pushing it inwards to be more of a "U" shape. Mine came new in the box with the headband more open, and 1) it was not clamping enough; 2) the headband was more like "resting" on the top of my head and it made my head ache after only half an hour of listening, until I did this adjustment and the curve of the headband now follows roughly the contour of my head, which made it confortable enough to wear on a long haul 12-hour flight.

 

[nick97]

I bought a pair of these A few months ago and I love them to death but I want to try and open pair of headphones, what do you guys think would be a fair price for a like new condition pair of these?

 

[JumboHashish]

  OT? (DAC/DAPs)
 

I was comparing the "synergy" of the T5p.2s with my Chord Mojo DAC compared to the AK320 DAP and it was clear to me that the T5p.2s need the most resolving DAC possible. The T5p.2 is (imho) on the warm side and being a closed can, has limited "air". The AK320 seems to my ears to also be on the warm side; the combination in turn leads to an overly warm and slightly more "dense" soundstage. Compared to both the AK320 and Mojo, the Dragonfly is even warmer and the soundstage is more compact. This is no real issue for my Grados or my Etymotics because these are brighter and have a wider soundstage (and almost too much air). Even the Angies work fine with all three DACs/DAP.

I think you may be on to something there. That is consistent with my experience.  My previous warm/musical/forgiving DAC was not nearly as good of match as my current more resolving DAC.

So much easier to decide on a DAC/Amp for the T5p.2 now...

I can highly recommend the Mojo in terms of sound quality - amazing given the size and yes, the "reasonable" €600 price tag. It's not the end game though; the battery manages on average 7~8hrs (closer to 7 with my specific unit) and as small as it is, it's huge compared to the Dragonfly. I always have both with me; it's already happened a few times that I forgot to charge the Mojo and out comes the trusty little Dragonfly. The amount the Dragonfly draws from a Smartphone is relatively low (<40mw) and unless you are using your Smartphone Apps that much that you already need to make several "pit-stops" daily to charge your phone then I would venture to say you won't even notice the additional consumption from a few hours of music with the Dragonfly.
 
Red vs. Black. With red you get more output (2.1 vs. 1.2V*) and a [slightly?] improved DAC (ES9016K2M vs. ES9010). As I've never had the Black I cannot say much more than that. More importantly, these DACs are purposely limited by AQ to 24b/96KHz as it is the current limit for native Windows OS (without the need for additional drivers). Granted, my music collection is 95% Redbook but I still find it unfortunate given that the DAC chips are designed to process up to 32bit 384KHz / DSD256 (but may not do so "natively"). Thus if you try to play anything higher than 24b96K "bitperfect" you will get an error. And I'm not interested in feeding any DAC a down-sampled source (which will be the only way to get the Dragonflys to play anything above 24b96K.)
 
*I sometimes run the Mojo to my preamp and setting it to ~1.8V** means it is as "loud" as my CD Player (also going to the preamp). Still, the preamp vol is sitting around 9~10 o'clock so I bet even 1.2V would manage to produce a decent volume without clipping / losing [too much] "impact". **Mojo default "line.out" mode is 3V which is way too much for the typical preamp. Hell, you could probably feed the amp directly at that level... Impedance-matching is a whole other story...

If only we had the Mojo's performance available in a Dragonfly-sized body! But alas... I'm even more torn apart now between the convenience of the Red and the quality of the Mojo!  
 

 

So much easier to decide on a DAC/Amp for the T5p.2 now!

 

More on the synergy side , we had a meet where we had T5p gen 2 and bunch of dac amps - mojo, burson soloist , fiio alpen n ifi ican.
And the best synergy T5p's were having was with alpen , we were amazed that a normal priced epuipment compared to other being much higher in price range is handling so well.Its all abt synergies of a hp with other equipments.
Similalrly dt1990 was at a good synergy with mojo of all other gears.

So it's not just about finding the highest resolution DAC/Amp one can find for one's budget but also what kind of resolution? (If I'm understanding the concept of audio equipment synergy correctly

)

Frankly, I splurged on the T5p.2 (spending $950 in my country hurts one's wallet as much as $3700 in the USA) so that I didn't to carry an additional device apart from my iPhone to enjoy my music with a fair amount of realistic detail and not suffer from the famed 'upgraditis' that typically follows after owning high quality gear for a few months. But with the advent of the iPhone 7 and what's going to follow in the consumer electronics world...my 'immune system' has failed me 

. 

This FiiO Alpen sounding nicer than the Mojo on the T5p is a very interesting find, but does the Alpen+T5p.2 surpass the realism in sound that the Mojo is so often praised for?