[GermanBoy]

you know what, we all say the same at the end. Sound is good and rest is nothing special and buggy. This is ST.

Yap, not the perfect headphone we thought of.

 

[angelom]

Thank you to GermanBoy for giving advice that registering for warranty online is giving you one extra year (3 years total) if you registering in 14 days after purchasing.

I registering my ST 2 days ago (8 days after purchasing) but I don't receive email confirmation of this (maybe I doing something wrong). So, today I speaking with someone in A+T and they saying they don't have my online registration, and they saying that is better if I sending a email to info@ta-hifi.com with attachment of the invoice (proof of the purchasing), date of purchasing, serial number, my full name and address.

They also confirming that yes, you receiving one extra year of warranty if doing this.

 

[Benesyed]

I'm going to wait and see how firmware and app updates develop. One thing that made me more comfortable about getting the Mark Levinson is that it has the power of the Harman kardon group behind it. Presumably this means better update, schedule and better tech support and customer service availability. Not always the case but one would think from my prior experiences owning Harman kardon items that is actually well done

 

[eLatte]

I have spoken to my local dealer, who contacted their T+A rep and they have assured me there will be an app for the Sol Ts and it is in development. From what I understand is that the Sol Ts are fully functional without the app.

 

[GermanBoy]

Thank you to GermanBoy for giving advice that registering for warranty online is giving you one extra year (3 years total) if you registering in 14 days after purchasing.

I registering my ST 2 days ago (8 days after purchasing) but I don't receive email confirmation of this (maybe I doing something wrong). So, today I speaking with someone in A+T and they saying they don't have my online registration, and they saying that is better if I sending a email to info@ta-hifi.com with attachment of the invoice (proof of the purchasing), date of purchasing, serial number, my full name and address.

They also confirming that yes, you receiving one extra year of warranty if doing this.

After registration I got the information that I will receive a letter when everything is right. And after 2 days I got the extra warranty confirmation. So after all it worked for me.

 

[polymathic]

Quick question: using a simple OTG and no dongle, is it possible to listen to the ST wired to an iPhone, using internal DAC? Bathys do that. ML 5909 take too much juice. Thanks.

Has anyone seen a single published review for these? I certainly trust headfi-ers over those reviews, but a total lack of these will keep these somewhat obscure.

 

[angelom]

I just finishing my testing of a full battery charge, always using HQ mode in BT mode with volume about 65-70% average, and I allowing the battery dying completely. I'm only doing this test (allowing battery dying completely) this time for my interest in corroboration if the manufacturer is saying the truth about battery claims (my experience before showing this isn't always true). After this test I will charging the battery, like always, when is about 30% remaining.

I obtaining in total 33 hrs 02 mins, which I think is ok (A+T manual is saying 35 hrs with HQ mode but this is probably at 50% volume that is typical from manufacturers). I changing tracks and volume a lot so this is probably draining little more the battery.

I hearing the first message "battery low" after 27h 16m; the second same message after 1h 10m (28h 26m); then the same "battery low" message subsequently exactly every 30 minutes for 9 times (32h 56m); and the last message of "headphone off" is after 6 minutes (33h 02m).

Is good that the messages (except the first) are after 30 minutes from one to other because some headphones doing this every 7-10 mins and isn't very nice hearing this messages so often interrupting the music, or you hearing one message or two and suddenly battery dying quickly after few minutes.

My suggestion is that, if you're not checking the battery percentage often, you must charging the headphone after you hearing the first message for preserving healthy battery life.

 

[jonstatt]

I've had the Solitaire T for about 36 hours now thanks to Phil at Audio Concierge. Overall I am very impressed!







I have a lot more experiments to do but I will say sound over Bluetooth beats anything I have heard to date. I have silly amounts of IEM TWSs and the H95. The Matk Levison I have not tried so I cannot establish this is definitively the best.







The original announcement included LDAC. This was removed at the last minute. Im assuming they ran into the common problem of battery drain. But for Samsung phones this an issue because they do not have aptx HD but they do have LDAC.



Personally I have no issue with the touch controls.



Build quality is very good. The metal work is great although it looks like two bits of metal come together when the headphones are in the included case and folded as suggested. This may cause abrasion marks over time. The outer parts of the cone could have had more attention as the current design makes then look less premium. While the flat backs look plastic and provide touch controls, the angled cone backs feel like they are metal but look like plastic. They definitely could have something better here.



Wired sound from the sp3000 sounds incredibly similar to the Bluetooth. But the efficiency of these headphones is not too good and you have to crank the volume right up.

Noise cancelling is actually decent. But remember this is not down to the manufacturer for active cancelling. It is basically down to the chipset from Qualcomm. The passive noise cancellation is good.

In summary

Pros
Class leading sound via Bluetooth or direct line in
Solid construction with nice aluminium work
Decent ANC and transparent mode

Cons
Metal work may rub when cup is folded into case.
Very expensive
Missing app
No LDAC

 

[C_Lindbergh]

I've had the Solitaire T for about 36 hours now thanks to Phil at Audio Concierge. Overall I am very impressed!







I have a lot more experiments to do but I will say sound over Bluetooth beats anything I have heard to date. I have silly amounts of IEM TWSs and the H95. The Matk Levison I have not tried so I cannot establish this is definitively the best.







The original announcement included LDAC. This was removed at the last minute. Im assuming they ran into the common problem of battery drain. But for Samsung phones this an issue because they do not have aptx HD but they do have LDAC.



Personally I have no issue with the touch controls.



Build quality is very good. The metal work is great although it looks like two bits of metal come together when the headphones are in the included case and folded as suggested. This may cause abrasion marks over time. The outer parts of the cone could have had more attention as the current design makes then look less premium. While the flat backs look plastic and provide touch controls, the angled cone backs feel like they are metal but look like plastic. They definitely could have something better here.



Wired sound from the sp3000 sounds incredibly similar to the Bluetooth. But the efficiency of these headphones is not too good and you have to crank the volume right up.

Noise cancelling is actually decent. But remember this is not down to the manufacturer for active cancelling. It is basically down to the chipset from Qualcomm. The passive noise cancellation is good.

In summary

Pros
Class leading sound via Bluetooth or direct line in
Solid construction with nice aluminium work
Decent ANC and transparent mode

Cons
Metal work may rub when cup is folded into case.
Very expensive
Missing app
No LDAC

What's your opinion about the volume and comfort?

Personally I'm more disappointed that they didn't include Aptx Adaptive, then I could have used them for every scenario except maybe competitive gaming.

 

[BTD1]

I've had the Solitaire T for about 36 hours now thanks to Phil at Audio Concierge. Overall I am very impressed!







I have a lot more experiments to do but I will say sound over Bluetooth beats anything I have heard to date. I have silly amounts of IEM TWSs and the H95. The Matk Levison I have not tried so I cannot establish this is definitively the best.







The original announcement included LDAC. This was removed at the last minute. Im assuming they ran into the common problem of battery drain. But for Samsung phones this an issue because they do not have aptx HD but they do have LDAC.



Personally I have no issue with the touch controls.



Build quality is very good. The metal work is great although it looks like two bits of metal come together when the headphones are in the included case and folded as suggested. This may cause abrasion marks over time. The outer parts of the cone could have had more attention as the current design makes then look less premium. While the flat backs look plastic and provide touch controls, the angled cone backs feel like they are metal but look like plastic. They definitely could have something better here.



Wired sound from the sp3000 sounds incredibly similar to the Bluetooth. But the efficiency of these headphones is not too good and you have to crank the volume right up.

Noise cancelling is actually decent. But remember this is not down to the manufacturer for active cancelling. It is basically down to the chipset from Qualcomm. The passive noise cancellation is good.

In summary

Pros
Class leading sound via Bluetooth or direct line in
Solid construction with nice aluminium work
Decent ANC and transparent mode

Cons
Metal work may rub when cup is folded into case.
Very expensive
Missing app
No LDAC

Could speak about the relative size on your head? I have read that the Focal Bathys are quite large, too large for some people. How bulky are these while wearing. For instance, the Apple Pro Max are pretty flat while wearing.

 

[Burakk]

ST has definitely the best sound. Despite this, it is cheapest looking as well. Its metal parts feels like plastic.

 

[C_Lindbergh]

ST has definitely the best sound. Despite this, it is cheapest looking as well. Its metal parts feels like plastic.

I disagree, I really like the more discreet look of the STs.

Also the parts in metal feels really well done, and the plastic parts also feels nicely built for plastic.

The airpods max looks weird and stand out too much.

 

[Burakk]

If you wanna like it, you always find sth positive or vice versa. But, plastic is plastic.

 

[C_Lindbergh]

If you wanna like it, you always find sth positive or vice versa. But, plastic is plastic.

Well plastic is kinda necessary in order to create a comfortable potable headphone. Unless the OEM spends a a lot of the resources on expensive but light materials like magnesium or carbon fibre.

In contrast the APM had been criticised a lot for the lack of comfort. The APM weights in at 384 grams versus the 326 grams of the STs. That's a pretty big difference, expecially considering the APMd poor headband.

I've also criticised the STs a lot, gesture controls, lack of app, lack of aptx adaptive and no multi point.

But they're deffo the best sounding and most comfortable BT cans I've tried.

 

[Burakk]

I think APM is worst in terms of comfort. ST is apparently better than px8 and APM. I’ve just made transparency and call quality test. APM is clear winner for me. Px8 has better call quality but worse transparency than ST.
I found px8 more fancy than others in terms of build and design. It has solid connection and average sound quality. It’s ok but still APM better solution for Apple ecosystem IMO. I’m returning Px8. I’ll sell my ST. Unfortunately, I couldn’t justify its price / performance ratio at all. I have pretty good closed backs like Rognir planar and I can drive them basic dongle DACs on the go. It doesn't make any sense to keep a BT headphone just for sound performance. The rest are absolutely terrible for me. APM is only heavy and worse sound. To be honest, I don’t make critical listening on the go.

I got my ST from physical store and I’m not in return period. You’re all free to reach. I’ll let mine go from a reasonable price like brand new condition.

Good luck you guys! I’m done.