[GermanBoy]

Hey all,

I have a small problem with my ST‘s. At the right side there are two scratch marks on the aluminum frame. Those marks come definitely when I rotate the right earpiece at some point, because the upper frame ist touching the frame below at one point. There is kinda more moving space between the upper frame and the one which holds the right earpiece.
On the left side everything ist perfect. Sometimes I can feel at one point when the frames are touching when I am rotating the earpiece, but nothing on the left side.

Would you write a complain or suggest for a solution?
The left side has no scratches and I am definitely not using the headphones wrong or something.
Just asking myself if I am too picky, but on the other side it is a 1300 ,-€ product.

Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[angelom]

I have a small problem with my ST‘s. At the right side there are two scratch marks on the aluminum frame. Those marks come definitely when I rotate the right earpiece at some point, because the upper frame ist touching the frame below at one point. There is kinda more moving space between the upper frame and the one which holds the right earpiece.
On the left side everything ist perfect.

Only now that you mentioning this I see that the same thing is happening with my pair (see the photo below), and only, like in your pair, is in the right side. And, like you, I'm very, very careful with my headphones.

Would you write a complain or suggest for a solution?
The left side has no scratches and I am definitely not using the headphones wrong or something.
Just asking myself if I am too picky, but on the other side it is a 1300 ,-€ product.

This is a personal decision, I think. I, personally, will not contacting T+A right now about this, but you're correct that this mustn't happening. I will seeing if this marks becoming more big in the next months and decide if is necessary contacting T+A or not.

 

[GermanBoy]

Only now that you mentioning this I see that the same thing is happening with my pair (see the photo below), and only, like in your pair, is in the right side. And, like you, I'm very, very careful with my headphones.



This is a personal decision, I think. I, personally, will not contacting T+A right now about this, but you're correct that this mustn't happening. I will seeing if this marks becoming more big in the next months and decide if is necessary contacting T+A or not.

Well every first of its kind product has its flaws, like the bending IPhone and so on, despite of their high prices.
It is nothing that you see at the first glance and definitely nothing that ruins your experience. So I will see how it turns out after one year use.

 

[Benesyed]

Today is 10 weeks since I receiving the ST.

For last 2 weeks I have one problem: I intend listening at night not more than 45 minutes, but NOT one night I'm successful. Every night is minimum of 2.5 hours or going up to 3.5 hours. Is very difficult for me stopping using my ST and this is a problem in the morning when I must getting up early.

By now I think that surely the novelty of the ST is enough...but apparently isn't...or maybe this isn't about novelty or not novelty but about having a headphone that is reproducing sound so excellently that is (very) difficult not using more time than I planning.

For me this is a more serious problem than not having LDAC. (I'm not joking)

I have this same issue with my sonys

 

[WDitters]

I have this same issue with my sonys

I have that with both my ST and my ZMF Vérité Closed

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Yeah the wireless space is a fragmented and inconsistent mess. The top players are content with their proprietary/self-serving practices.

Shame that the lack of LDAC is going to turn people away from the Solitaire Ts.

It is a curious position T+A has put the Solitaire T. On one hand, those who are looking for the best, most expensive ANC headphone (minus blinged out models) will find the Solitaire T. They will hear that they sound really good and look nice and will be happy. They will not care about LDAC, Aptx HD, etc... As long as the ST pair to their (most likely idevice) phone. The other group is like us, chasing the best sound possible with an ANC headphone. Spec wise, LDAC promises better bandwidth and logically better sound. By not offering LDAC, they do miss that segment of the market.

So you get a really expensive BT ANC headphone with excellent sound wired and good sound over BT. Maybe T+A wanted to build a lower cost headphone given their other modes are 2-3x more expensive? Who knows.

 

[angelom]

It is a curious position T+A has put the Solitaire T. On one hand, those who are looking for the best, most expensive ANC headphone (minus blinged out models) will find the Solitaire T. They will hear that they sound really good and look nice and will be happy. They will not care about LDAC, Aptx HD, etc... As long as the ST pair to their (most likely idevice) phone. The other group is like us, chasing the best sound possible with an ANC headphone. Spec wise, LDAC promises better bandwidth and logically better sound. By not offering LDAC, they do miss that segment of the market.

So you get a really expensive BT ANC headphone with excellent sound wired and good sound over BT. Maybe T+A wanted to build a lower cost headphone given their other modes are 2-3x more expensive? Who knows.

You're making interesting and valid observations, but I must asking this: What about HQ BT mode?

You're saying that, in your opinion, the sound in wired mode is "excellent" but in BT mode is only "good", not even very good (!). Ok. For me the sound in HQ BT mode (with AAC files and using 2 different Apple devices) is excellent, not just "good" or even very good.

This is really the first time for me that I'm hearing a BT (ANC) headphone that really is sounding like a (very) good wired headphone with incredible clean (noise-free / artefacts-free) sound and where, specially, the more high frequencies aren't sounding a little / lot digitised, but very natural. This is one key reason that I, personally, keeping this headphone even when in the beginning some things (that are better now after FW update) aren't so great (max volume level and unreliable touch controls, principally).

Yes, LDAC will making some people not considering buying the ST, but we mustn't ignoring the unique sonic qualities of HQ BT mode in the ST.

 

[Daniel Johnston]

You're making interesting and valid observations, but I must asking this: What about HQ BT mode?

You're saying that, in your opinion, the sound in wired mode is "excellent" but in BT mode is only "good", not even very good (!). Ok. For me the sound in HQ BT mode (with AAC files and using 2 different Apple devices) is excellent, not just "good" or even very good.

This is really the first time for me that I'm hearing a BT (ANC) headphone that really is sounding like a (very) good wired headphone with incredible clean (noise-free / artefacts-free) sound and where, specially, the more high frequencies aren't sounding a little / lot digitised, but very natural. This is one key reason that I, personally, keeping this headphone even when in the beginning some things (that are better now after FW update) aren't so great (max volume level and unreliable touch controls, principally).

Yes, LDAC will making some people not considering buying the ST, but we mustn't ignoring the unique sonic qualities of HQ BT mode in the ST.

I’ve never been excited over BT audio.
The ST does have the best BT audio sound of any BT headphone I’ve owned. BT HQ is very good indeed. However, it’s the wired mode performance I enjoy.
My point was if you are looking for “the best” ANC BT sounding headphone, lack of LDAC support is a curious omission.
I agree with you, AAC from Apple devices sounds the best to me compared to Apt x HD and LDAC. But, that’s just my opinion.

 

[angelom]

I agree with you, AAC from Apple devices sounds the best to me compared to Apt x HD and LDAC. But, that’s just my opinion.

I'm hearing a rumour now from very good source that is saying that, now that LDAC apparently isn't a reality in the ST, T+A will offering a new iPhone 14 with every purchase of Solitaire T. I hope this will not creating a lot of anger for previous ST owners (like me) like the recent news that Tesla is reducing prices by up to 30%.

 

[David67]

I'm hearing a rumour now from very good source that is saying that, now that LDAC apparently isn't a reality in the ST, T+A will offering a new iPhone 14 with every purchase of Solitaire T. I hope this will not creating a lot of anger for previous ST owners (like me) like the recent news that Tesla is reducing prices by up to 30%.

I'm saving for the iPhone 15 Pro, but I'll gladly snap their hands off if that's the case though it sounds too good to be true.

 

[zikarus]

I'm hearing a rumour now from very good source that is saying that, now that LDAC apparently isn't a reality in the ST, T+A will offering a new iPhone 14 with every purchase of Solitaire T. I hope this will not creating a lot of anger for previous ST owners (like me) like the recent news that Tesla is reducing prices by up to 30%.

Dream on - I fear your source is wrong...

 

[ddlo]

Even i repeatedly remined myself i got too many headphones/iems, still failed to exercise reasonable inventory management and bought my black ST when I saw there's UK online store having them in stock and could offer VAT free shipping outside UK! In just 2days I received my ST from fedex during lunch hour today and enjoying it since then.

pairing went very smoothly and i was promoted to update the firmware to ver 4.0.5 immediately when i opened up the app. the updating went through smoothly again and quickly (just a few mins vs over 20mins for MW4). The vol went up quite a bit after the update (i think ppl mentioned there's a 3dB gain over the old firmware). i still need to dial up the vol to 105/150 in my phone to attain normal listening level (90 for 5909 and 80 for bathys). the resolution is really amazing and i think easily suppress 5909/bathys. the soundstage is quite expansive to my ears and on par with bathys. but coming from 5909/bathys, there seems much less bass impact.

connection stability and range (with my zfold4 running aptx) are both good but not as good as 5909 in LDAC. looks and feels well built but again, not setting itself apart from 5909 and bathys in terms of construction and packaging. the synthetic leather all round is a big disappointment. 5909 and bathys (and px8) all uses genuine leather and there's no excuse not to at this price level. also, the app is too simplistic and has no description at all on what each icon does! i still not sure which of the 3 ANC settings offer more aggressive noise suppression.

p.s. in google play store, there're just "100+" downloads so far for the app. I guess the sale vol will be quite low (like in the low end of thousands). and that's where i could see the economies of scale come into play - the substantially higher price of ST only bring disproportionally small improvement over the mainstream offers (e.g. 1M units annual sales for airpod max).

(edited for typos)

 

[TheOneInYellow]

Even i repeatedly remined myself i got too many headphones/iems, still failed to exercise reasonable inventory management and bought my black ST when I saw there's UK online store having them in stock and could offer VAT free shipping outside UK! In just 2days I received my ST from fedex during lunch hour today and enjoying it since then.

pairing went very smoothly and i was promoted to update the firmware to ver 4.0.5 immediately when i opened up the app. the updating went through smoothly again and quickly (just a few mins vs over 20mins for MW4). The vol went up quite a bit after the update (i think ppl mentioned there's a 3dB gain over the old firmware). i still need to dial up the vol to 105/150 in my phone to attain normal listening level (90 for 5909 and 80 for bathys). the resolution is really amazing and i think easily suppress 5909/bathys. the soundstage is quite expansive to my ears and on par with bathys. but coming from 5909/bathys, there seems much less bass impact.

connection stability and range (with my zfold4 running aptx) are both good but not as good as 5909 in LDAC. looks and feels well built but again, not setting itself apart from 5909 and bathys in terms of construction and packaging. the synthetic leather all round is a big disappointment. 5909 and bathys (and px8) all uses genuine leather and there's no excuse not to at this price level. also, the app is too simplistic and has no description at all on what each icon does! i still not sure which of the 3 ANC settings offer more aggressive noise suppression.

p.s. in google play store, there're just "100+" downloads so far for the app. I guess the sale vol will not be quite low (like in the low end of thousands). and that's where i could see the economies of scale come into play - the substantially higher price of ST only bring disproportionally small improvement over the mainstream offers (e.g. 1M of airpod max).

Awesome first initial thoughts @ddlo, and welcome to the club

---

That's a fair bit of saving you did, bravo! Also envious of your VAT refund

---

Aye, volume is loud enough, but yes must push my smartphone or laptop to near the maximum volume than I would like.
I got my Solitaire T a day before the app update, and the extra +3dB is a blessing!

That said, it's been a very expensive winter, so I'm still looking forward to eventually getting the FiiO M17 (or equivalent) for home analogue listening with better control of volume (balanced mode at that)!

I'm really glad that I decided not to have gone with either Focal Bathys or Mark Levinson No. 5909, and shot straight to the T+A Solitaire T.
Looking at the user impressions and reviews, despite the 5909 remaining stellar, the Solitaire T are just that much special

---

The highly likely no support of LDAC is disappointing, but based of the performance of AptX codec alone, I'm still immensely shocked at how incredible the Solitaire T sound wirelessly (in Bluetooth HQ, or ANC at max)!
As I said before, it's a technological achievement, sonically.

App is lacking, but it is the very first version (public release), so eagerly awaiting the next iteration with better updated features (and/or new ones!).

---

Though I understand that synthetic pads are what's offered over leather, note that the overall industry (beyond and including headphones) is changing in this area.

For example, one of the most exclusive and extremely haute horologerie watchmakers, Greubel Forsey, announced that they are ceasing offering leather straps on all of their timepieces.

Now, I think T+A ought to offer the choice to the end user, either as four SKU's (white/silver and black/silver with either synthetic or leather materials), OR, offer the choice to purchase leather earpads, though latter does not satisfy the headband.

Initially I didn't mind synthetic material, but after long use I'm not as keen as I was when I first used them.
That said, they seal extremely well and are still comfortable, but just slightly off maximum comfort vs velour or leather, etc. Not enough to distract me.

---

Weirdly, I'm unsure if T+A Solitaire T will sell much.
The Solitaire P has sold a lot of pairs, less for the P-SE, but I think the T+A Solitaire T Achilles heel will be Mark Levinson No. 5909. Most audiophiles might consider the 5909 due it its new lower price (by the dealers, around £800 - 900) to augment or compliment existing gear.
Solitaire T is more of a high-end end-game solution, which though can leave room for either ultra-fi or low/mid-fi options, is, to me, more created for owners who just want a single pair of cans for most listening duties at the highest resolution possible, wirelessly and passively. Unfortunately, this is a niche within a niche (within another niche?), so yeah, potentially low volume sales unfortunately

(Mark Levinson got their statement wireless cans out first, alongside breaking the price barrier plus their own name, so they had guaranteed sales from the intrigued initial buyers, to later more sales from reviews of the 5909 well justified quality. T+A are a bit behind, and I fear that delay in pushing further the cost barrier will make them less appealing over 5909).

 

[angelom]

...the app is too simplistic and has no description at all on what each icon does! i still not sure which of the 3 ANC settings offer more aggressive noise suppression.

If you look at the photo, the solid line in the semi circle (3) is the more strong ANC, then the thick dots (2) is less ANC, and then the more low ANC (1) is the thin dots. I think the idea is that the solid line meaning no / very little noise is coming in, and the other two are allowing more outside noise coming in.

 

[ddlo]

If you look at the photo, the solid line in the semi circle (3) is the more strong ANC, then the thick dots (2) is less ANC, and then the more low ANC (1) is the thin dots. I think the idea is that the solid line meaning no / very little noise is coming in, and the other two are allowing more outside noise coming in.

thank you! it's not really intuitive to understand these icons

That said, it's been a very expensive winter, so I'm still looking forward to eventually getting the FiiO M17 (or equivalent) for home analogue listening with better control of volume (balanced mode at that)!

I'm really glad that I decided not to have gone with either Focal Bathys or Mark Levinson No. 5909, and shot straight to the T+A Solitaire T.
Looking at the user impressions and reviews, despite the 5909 remaining stellar, the Solitaire T are just that much special

---

The highly likely no support of LDAC is disappointing, but based of the performance of AptX codec alone, I'm still immensely shocked at how incredible the Solitaire T sound wirelessly (in Bluetooth HQ, or ANC at max)!
As I said before, it's a technological achievement, sonically.

---

Though I understand that synthetic pads are what's offered over leather, note that the overall industry (beyond and including headphones) is changing in this area.

For example, one of the most exclusive and extremely haute horologerie watchmakers, Greubel Forsey, announced that they are ceasing offering leather straps on all of their timepieces.

Now, I think T+A ought to offer the choice to the end user, either as four SKU's (white/silver and black/silver with either synthetic or leather materials), OR, offer the choice to purchase leather earpads, though latter does not satisfy the headband.

Initially I didn't mind synthetic material, but after long use I'm not as keen as I was when I first used them.
That said, they seal extremely well and are still comfortable, but just slightly off maximum comfort vs velour or leather, etc. Not enough to distract me.

---

Weirdly, I'm unsure if T+A Solitaire T will sell much.
The Solitaire P has sold a lot of pairs, less for the P-SE, but I think the T+A Solitaire T Achilles heel will be Mark Levinson No. 5909. Most audiophiles might consider the 5909 due it its new lower price (by the dealers, around £800 - 900) to augment or compliment existing gear.
Solitaire T is more of a high-end end-game solution, which though can leave room for either ultra-fi or low/mid-fi options, is, to me, more created for owners who just want a single pair of cans for most listening duties at the highest resolution possible, wirelessly and passively. Unfortunately, this is a niche within a niche (within another niche?), so yeah, potentially low volume sales unfortunately

(Mark Levinson got their statement wireless cans out first, alongside breaking the price barrier plus their own name, so they had guaranteed sales from the intrigued initial buyers, to later more sales from reviews of the 5909 well justified quality. T+A are a bit behind, and I fear that delay in pushing further the cost barrier will make them less appealing over 5909).

haha, your positive feedback is one of the main reasons i bought my ST. i myself much prefer good quality leather over any other alternatives . but alcantara used in sports car and ath-wb2022 is also perfectly acceptable to me. the synthetic leather attracts hair oil on it and leave very disgusting marks (like sony xm5 . . .) more important is my experience with toys and watch boxes that syntenic leather all will shatter into pieces in just a few years . . .

in the short listening session till now, i found ST has better details but less bass (aka less fun ). for my listening habit (e.g. pops and ACG mostly), i think 5909 is much more fun for my music selection and also at a much more competitive price (now e-earphone offering at just 120k yen tax incl.!). i shared your view that it's a tough fight for ST amongst the very capable and cheaper competitors which already established their ground.

i bought several pairs of hifiman headphones too and more fiio & topping headfi gears, which all are made in china. but i just not really like the idea that a german brand with almost all products made in germany chose to build their high end wireless headphone in china while commanding substantially higher price than almost all competitors (except WB2022). if T+A opts to assembly the ST in germany like most other T+A products, I'm perfectly happy to pay a bit premium to keep them producing in their own town. but sadly T+A chose to outsource to china but charges a (big) premium. not that ST is poorly built, in fact, chinese OEMs produced some of the best headphones (likely some assembly and process could only be economically done in china too). just high end stuff like T+A should be committed to its origin. i almost stop buying veilance clothing after they ceased to stick with their commitment that all the line will be made in their own canadian factory a few years ago . . . sentiment is a very big factor in product of this segment for me.