[DarginMahkum]

Was this sent here before, about the T?

"Inside each earcup and running in Bluetooth mode, the Solitaire T runs a Qualcomm QCC 5127 chip that handles incoming LDAC and aptX HD streams – and presumably AAC streams for iOS users – before handing off the digital signal to an ESS 9218 Sabre DAC chip for conversion to analogue; an in-built amplifier then uses that analogue signal to move the drivers.

At the heart of the Solitaire T is a 4.2cm driver with a cellulose diaphragm whose stiffness and low mass, according to the press release, “generate an incredibly lively and dynamic performance, without prematurely degenerating into eigenmodes.” An eigenmode refers to self-oscillating behaviour that isn’t too dissimilar to the build-up of standing waves in a room at certain frequencies. For closed-back headphones like the Solitaire T, we can think of the earcup as a room next to the ear.

T+A reportedly built both cups with damping materials that seek to minimise the intrusion of mid-to-upper frequency noise by passive means before leaning on DSP-powered active noise cancellation circuitry in order to tackle low-frequency disturbances. Per many consumer-grade ANC headphones, the T+A feature a transparency mode but the feedback ‘voice’ messages aren’t computer-generated. Battery runtime has yet to be specified.

On fit, finish and design language, the Solitaire T reportedly borrows heavily from the passive-only Solitaire P (£5000) where the housing is made from aluminium, plastic and vegan-friendly artificial leathers."

https://darko.audio/2022/06/ta-solitaire-t-the-worlds-most-expensive-bluetooth-headphones/

 

[ThanatosVI]

Was this sent here before, about the T?

"Inside each earcup and running in Bluetooth mode, the Solitaire T runs a Qualcomm QCC 5127 chip that handles incoming LDAC and aptX HD streams – and presumably AAC streams for iOS users – before handing off the digital signal to an ESS 9218 Sabre DAC chip for conversion to analogue; an in-built amplifier then uses that analogue signal to move the drivers.

At the heart of the Solitaire T is a 4.2cm driver with a cellulose diaphragm whose stiffness and low mass, according to the press release, “generate an incredibly lively and dynamic performance, without prematurely degenerating into eigenmodes.” An eigenmode refers to self-oscillating behaviour that isn’t too dissimilar to the build-up of standing waves in a room at certain frequencies. For closed-back headphones like the Solitaire T, we can think of the earcup as a room next to the ear.

T+A reportedly built both cups with damping materials that seek to minimise the intrusion of mid-to-upper frequency noise by passive means before leaning on DSP-powered active noise cancellation circuitry in order to tackle low-frequency disturbances. Per many consumer-grade ANC headphones, the T+A feature a transparency mode but the feedback ‘voice’ messages aren’t computer-generated. Battery runtime has yet to be specified.

On fit, finish and design language, the Solitaire T reportedly borrows heavily from the passive-only Solitaire P (£5000) where the housing is made from aluminium, plastic and vegan-friendly artificial leathers."

https://darko.audio/2022/06/ta-solitaire-t-the-worlds-most-expensive-bluetooth-headphones/

I don't think that this had been posted here before.

It seems many lost interest in the T after hearing it's a ANC Bluetooth headphone.

 

[Newsee]

Was this sent here before, about the T?

"Inside each earcup and running in Bluetooth mode, the Solitaire T runs a Qualcomm QCC 5127 chip that handles incoming LDAC and aptX HD streams – and presumably AAC streams for iOS users – before handing off the digital signal to an ESS 9218 Sabre DAC chip for conversion to analogue; an in-built amplifier then uses that analogue signal to move the drivers.

At the heart of the Solitaire T is a 4.2cm driver with a cellulose diaphragm whose stiffness and low mass, according to the press release, “generate an incredibly lively and dynamic performance, without prematurely degenerating into eigenmodes.” An eigenmode refers to self-oscillating behaviour that isn’t too dissimilar to the build-up of standing waves in a room at certain frequencies. For closed-back headphones like the Solitaire T, we can think of the earcup as a room next to the ear.

T+A reportedly built both cups with damping materials that seek to minimise the intrusion of mid-to-upper frequency noise by passive means before leaning on DSP-powered active noise cancellation circuitry in order to tackle low-frequency disturbances. Per many consumer-grade ANC headphones, the T+A feature a transparency mode but the feedback ‘voice’ messages aren’t computer-generated. Battery runtime has yet to be specified.

On fit, finish and design language, the Solitaire T reportedly borrows heavily from the passive-only Solitaire P (£5000) where the housing is made from aluminium, plastic and vegan-friendly artificial leathers."

https://darko.audio/2022/06/ta-solitaire-t-the-worlds-most-expensive-bluetooth-headphones/

No. No more info after the Munnich highend show. Thanks for sharing.

I don't think that this had been posted here before.

It seems many lost interest in the T after hearing it's a ANC Bluetooth headphone.

I suspect it will still be a very capable closed back when driven by wire.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I suspect it will still be a very capable closed back when driven by wire.

I have no doubts about that, it's just that the conversation about it on head-fi, died down pretty fast after this fact was revealed

 

[Roasty]

listening to the P via the wavelight/wa33 and am blown away with that combo and this song.

crazy good demonstration of height, front back depth and layering, airiness + separation and at the same focus, and ability to handle busy passages/music.

It isn't the type of music I usually listen to, but wow. just wow.

 

[rgbyhkr]

I have no doubts about that, it's just that the conversation about it on head-fi, died down pretty fast after this fact was revealed

From what I saw they were only on static display at Munich and attendees couldn't try them out. I've looked high and low online for any reports from anyone who has heard the T and as yet have not found anything. My guess is that if there is anyone who has heard them outside the company, they are under embargo and can't talk about them yet. We do have full specs, access to the manual and even real world pictures from Munich but are lacking hands on impressions for everything from sound to build quality feel to comfort on the head, etc. I think that's been the reason for the lack of further conversation.

All that being said, T+A is exhibiting at CanJam London next weekend. Given the stated release by T+A on their website as "August 2022", this seems like the perfect opportunity to fully present the T to let people get hands on and hear it for the first time. For me what they are shooting for has high appeal - the convenience of built in wireless with the flexibility of offering high end wired performance when you want it. It's not 100% clear if you can fully bypass all internal electronics in analog wired mode but I'm sure we will get clarification on that.

Focal is also exhibiting at the show and I can't help but wonder if they will have their new bluetooth unit (Bathys) available for demo as well. If so it could be an interesting show where I would hope for plenty of comparisons between the 2...

 

[rgbyhkr]

From what I saw they were only on static display at Munich and attendees couldn't try them out. I've looked high and low online for any reports from anyone who has heard the T and as yet have not found anything. My guess is that if there is anyone who has heard them outside the company, they are under embargo and can't talk about them yet. We do have full specs, access to the manual and even real world pictures from Munich but are lacking hands on impressions for everything from sound to build quality feel to comfort on the head, etc. I think that's been the reason for the lack of further conversation.

All that being said, T+A is exhibiting at CanJam London next weekend. Given the stated release by T+A on their website as "August 2022", this seems like the perfect opportunity to fully present the T to let people get hands on and hear it for the first time. For me what they are shooting for has high appeal - the convenience of built in wireless with the flexibility of offering high end wired performance when you want it. It's not 100% clear if you can fully bypass all internal electronics in analog wired mode but I'm sure we will get clarification on that.

Focal is also exhibiting at the show and I can't help but wonder if they will have their new bluetooth unit (Bathys) available for demo as well. If so it could be an interesting show where I would hope for plenty of comparisons between the 2...

Watched the London CanJam preview video and no mention of either the T or the Bathys, so we shall see if either are shown this weekend...

 

[llamaluv]

New owner here, got used from a fellow head-fi'er about a week ago.

Bullet points:

• Did not care for it for the first few hours due to its suppressed upper-mids. If auditioned for a limited period of time, I would have rejected it out of hand. Glad that was not the case.
  
  
• Really liking it for non-acoustic genres of music (Namely: metal, rock, electronic music, pop, jpop, kpop, and doujin (look it up)). If I keep them for any extended period of time it will be for that reason alone. Dark tonality puts a damper on realism for acoustic music, IMO, though still enjoyable.
  
  
• I like how I can play it louder-than-usual due to its tonality. Most of the above-mentioned genres were meant to be played loud anyway, I mean, c'mon.
  
  
• Imaging is chef's kiss yes yes yes. Very compelling.
  
  
• Bass texture is great with a lot of electronic music.
  
  
• Resolution: Really good, though difficult to compare to the usual suspects due to its dark tonality, almost like comparing apples to oranges. Requires a different kind of listening (not a bad thing).
  
  
• Really excels with resolving and neutral solid state output. Really liking it out of the Bricasti M3h headphone-out. Would love to hear it out of a Benchmark HPA4 or AHB2.
  
  
• Nice with the Cayin HA-300 tube amp for acoustic music. Sound stage widens and deepens appreciably, and mids and treble get drawn out a bunch, which is of course welcome. Not great with modern, commercial fare though.
  
  
• Looking forward to hearing it out of Pass Labs speaker amp, later this week. Optimistic.

 

[FooFighter]

New owner here, got used from a fellow head-fi'er about a week ago.

Bullet points:

• Did not care for it for the first few hours due to its suppressed upper-mids. If auditioned for a limited period of time, I would have rejected it out of hand. Glad that was not the case.
  
  
• Really liking it for non-acoustic genres of music (Namely: metal, rock, electronic music, pop, jpop, kpop, and doujin (look it up)). If I keep them for any extended period of time it will be for that reason alone. Dark tonality puts a damper on realism for acoustic music, IMO, though still enjoyable.
  
  
• I like how I can play it louder-than-usual due to its tonality. Most of the above-mentioned genres were meant to be played loud anyway, I mean, c'mon.
  
  
• Imaging is chef's kiss yes yes yes. Very compelling.
  
  
• Bass texture is great with a lot of electronic music.
  
  
• Resolution: Really good, though difficult to compare to the usual suspects due to its dark tonality, almost like comparing apples to oranges. Requires a different kind of listening (not a bad thing).
  
  
• Really excels with resolving and neutral solid state output. Really liking it out of the Bricasti M3h headphone-out. Would love to hear it out of a Benchmark HPA4 or AHB2.
  
  
• Nice with the Cayin HA-300 tube amp for acoustic music. Sound stage widens and deepens appreciably, and mids and treble get drawn out a bunch, which is of course welcome. Not great with modern, commercial fare though.
  
  
• Looking forward to hearing it out of Pass Labs speaker amp, later this week. Optimistic.

As mentioned before you should also try the ultra wides, especially if you want to treat the dark tonality.
Am still raising the mids in Roon or HQPlayer though

 

[rgbyhkr]

It's not 100% clear if you can fully bypass all internal electronics in analog wired mode but I'm sure we will get clarification on that.

I reached out to T+A NA on this to get clarification and got a very welcomed answer. The manual probably could be more clear on this, but the answer is that there is a fully passive analog mode for the Solitaire T. I guess it could have been more obvious to me, but this is attained simply by connecting a cable but keeping the unit turned off. Once you turn the unit on with a cable connected, that's when it shifts to "Active Analog" mode (giving you access to onboard volume control and ANC). Now for the always critical question of how they sound...

 

[xenithon]

Don’t think it’s been posted yet, so thought I’d put up this link which my local dealer shared with me

 

[Somatic]

they pair very well with the chord dave for anyone with a dave interested

Ditto. Sounds great with Dave. I use crossfeed 1.

 

[Somatic]

New owner here, got used from a fellow head-fi'er about a week ago.

Bullet points:

• Did not care for it for the first few hours due to its suppressed upper-mids. If auditioned for a limited period of time, I would have rejected it out of hand. Glad that was not the case.
  
  
• Really liking it for non-acoustic genres of music (Namely: metal, rock, electronic music, pop, jpop, kpop, and doujin (look it up)). If I keep them for any extended period of time it will be for that reason alone. Dark tonality puts a damper on realism for acoustic music, IMO, though still enjoyable.
  
  
• I like how I can play it louder-than-usual due to its tonality. Most of the above-mentioned genres were meant to be played loud anyway, I mean, c'mon.
  
  
• Imaging is chef's kiss yes yes yes. Very compelling.
  
  
• Bass texture is great with a lot of electronic music.
  
  
• Resolution: Really good, though difficult to compare to the usual suspects due to its dark tonality, almost like comparing apples to oranges. Requires a different kind of listening (not a bad thing).
  
  
• Really excels with resolving and neutral solid state output. Really liking it out of the Bricasti M3h headphone-out. Would love to hear it out of a Benchmark HPA4 or AHB2.
  
  
• Nice with the Cayin HA-300 tube amp for acoustic music. Sound stage widens and deepens appreciably, and mids and treble get drawn out a bunch, which is of course welcome. Not great with modern, commercial fare though.
  
  
• Looking forward to hearing it out of Pass Labs speaker amp, later this week. Optimistic.

I think burn in helps it sound a bit less dark. Also a silver cable helps dramatically. I prefer stock due to them being bass cannons but UW pads do brighten them up quite a bit and decreases bass bloat.

Let us know if you have heard them out of speaker amps as they seem very efficient already and not sure how much more performance one can get. They run amazing well on my Dave + Farad3 setup.

 

[Somatic]

Ok I am now a bit confused. I wasn't a huge cable believer but was open minded. I definitely hear difference in cables now.

So with the Lavricables Grand cables, I notice increased micro-details but also a brighter sound signature. Today I was finding things to sound a bit too bright which I found confusing as I remember these cans sounding a bit dark. I switched back to stock cables and i got very slightly more bass and they got a lot darker/a bit less detailed.

Are stock cables, silver/copper hybrid? Wondering what happens if one goes with a pure copper cable?

 

[llamaluv]

Good question about the stock cable. From the product page:

"We use pure OFC (Oxygen Free Copper) as a base and coat the conductors with pure silver. "​

So far, I've quite liked the XLR stock cable with my Bricasti M3h for its fullness, relative warmth, and depth.

In contrast, the single-ended Arctic Cables silver cable I have sounds pretty underwhelming, and I usually prefer pure silver, especially with planars. It's probably more detailed, but it doesn't even matter because it sounds kind of flat.

But again, one is using the amp's XLR output, and the other single-ended.

I'm currently waiting on getting the silver cable reterminated to XLR. Though I'm torn over whether I want the results to sound better, or not. If it does sound better, that would be a major strike against the DAC/amp's single-ended output, haha.