[WDitters]

Forbes, who were among the first to review the Solitaire P, has just published their review of the Solitaire T. Here is the link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marksp...ireless-performance-with-anc/?sh=2725e4edb121

Unfortunately the Snapdragon sound comment is incorrect wrt the QCC5127

 

[angelom]

Forbes, who were among the first to review the Solitaire P, has just published their review of the Solitaire T. Here is the link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marksp...ireless-performance-with-anc/?sh=2725e4edb121

The reviewer is making 2 mistakes in the article.

1. He's saying: On the right-hand ear cup, a sliding switch switches between Off (passive mode). On (wired digital mode) and Bluetooth mode. There’s also a button for cycling through the ANC modes (Off, On, Transparent) and a button for triggering a voice assistant like Siri or Google Assistant.

In the the right ear cup "the sliding switch" is only for bluetooth on/off or bluetooth pairing. You only having playback features and 2 transparency modes in flat surface. The button (in the top of the right side of the ear cup) is for cycling between ANC on, ANC off and High Quality sound, NOT transparency (that is so typical in majority of ANC headphones).

2. He's saying: This can be a bit off-putting when making a phone call, as the passive noise reduction is so good that I couldn’t easily hear myself speaking during the call. My voice was being picked up perfectly by the Solitaire T’s four noise-canceling microphones and I could listen to the caller’s voice clearly, but as there was no sidetone function feeding some of my voice back into the headphones, my voice sounded muffled and distant to me.

The solution for the "muffled" voice, or difficulty hearing your own voice, is activating transparency mode (2 taps in bottom of right ear cup) and this way you can hearing your voice clearly when in quiet environment. (of course this isn't good if you are in noisy environment and don't want hearing other external noises)

 

[GermanBoy]

To the ST owerns, does your headband of the ST make cracking noises when you are strechting it while you are putting them on? Just in this case it is making noises for me, has no impact when you are having them on your head and playing music or walking around. And it does not feel lose or something, would be nice to know if it is a normal thing.

After all I am very satisfied with this headphone and excited for the app. I appreciating the sound quality and it feels very convenient for the every day use for me.

 

[angelom]

To the ST owerns, does your headband of the ST make cracking noises when you are strechting it when you are putting them on? Just in this case it is making noises, has no impact when you are having them on your head and playing music or walking around.

Not when I putting in my head, but yes when taking off (small but audible sound). If I stretching a little more the headband (like if I have more big head), then yes, is making this sound you saying, but nothing more after this when is in my head, even if moving my jaw a lot.

 

[GermanBoy]

Not when I putting in my head, but yes when taking off (small but audible sound). If I stretching a little more the headband (like if I have more big head), then yes, is making this sound you saying, but nothing more after this when is in my head, even if moving my jaw a lot.

Thank you for your reply.
Yeah, not a problem when I am wearing them, while hearing music and moving.

For me it is a very comfy headphone and I am very pleased moving around with it. Sound quality is still the best for me.
This product is for me the final destination. I do not want to go more expensive and I guess at this moment it is the best allrounder for me. It fulfills my expectations although I have to take some compromises, but I guess that some of the compromises will be fixed by firmware updates.
And the good thing is that T+A is offering battery exchanges, so it is not a one way product and wired they are the best BT headphone compared against my ML 5909 or others I had.

 

[BTD1]

I wore the STs out on the NYC subway today. The ANC was effective. I do notice that engaging ANC drops the volume slightly. I have figured out that rather than using touch controls for volume or forward or reverse track selection, I can just do these functions from my Apple Watch. It's much easier. Similar to the Solitaire P, it takes a while to adjust to the sound signature of the ST. Listening to classical music, I find it clean and balanced from top to bottom. As I mentioned earlier, EQ helps enhance treble or bass when certain tracks need boosting. Since I use an iPhone, it is clear that the iPhone offers more features and convenience, however, the ST produces a consistently high quality sound whether using Bluetooth or passive. I am really liking the small form factor. The design is so understated, no one would ever guess you are wearing $1600 headphones.

 

[GermanBoy]

I wore the STs out on the NYC subway today. The ANC was effective. I do notice that engaging ANC drops the volume slightly. I have figured out that rather than using touch controls for volume or forward or reverse track selection, I can just do these functions from my Apple Watch. It's much easier. Similar to the Solitaire P, it takes a while to adjust to the sound signature of the ST. Listening to classical music, I find it clean and balanced from top to bottom. As I mentioned earlier, EQ helps enhance treble or bass when certain tracks need boosting. Since I use an iPhone, it is clear that the iPhone offers more features and convenience, however, the ST produces a consistently high quality sound whether using Bluetooth or passive. I am really liking the small form factor. The design is so understated, no one would ever guess you are wearing $1600 headphones.

I like the point that it is not obvious you are wearing a very expensive product. Actually I am native Lithuanian (so not that German at all ) and I am more aware of thieves in public because you learn to hold on your things in public by your parents from early childhood (or it was for me the point at least), so I have less headache going out with this kind of design. But I can understand that ppl would rather want a fancy looking product for this price.

 

[BTD1]

I wore the STs out on the NYC subway today. The ANC was effective. I do notice that engaging ANC drops the volume slightly. I have figured out that rather than using touch controls for volume or forward or reverse track selection, I can just do these functions from my Apple Watch. It's much easier. Similar to the Solitaire P, it takes a while to adjust to the sound signature of the ST. Listening to classical music, I find it clean and balanced from top to bottom. As I mentioned earlier, EQ helps enhance treble or bass when certain tracks need boosting. Since I use an iPhone, it is clear that the iPhone offers more features and convenience, however, the ST produces a consistently high quality sound whether using Bluetooth or passive. I am really liking the small form factor. The design is so understated, no one would ever guess you are wearing $1600 headphones.

Edit of prior post: I meant to say the the Apple Pro Max offers more convenience.

 

[WDitters]

Mine are on the way.. With the LDAC confirmation from T+A I am now more confident about them...

 

[jonstatt]

Thats definitely not the strangest thing ive heard in this hobby, just calm down and take a walk.

I quoted two people in my post. The other poster said it was the strangest thing he had heard. Apologies for the confusion. Other reviews are saying the same thing now. I actually think these headphones are quite special. But the price point means they are always going to be controversial and will not be a runaway success.

 

[jonstatt]

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.

I find the volume goes loud enough for all my music I tried. But there certainly isn't much headroom. Some headphone manufacturers work around the EU restrictions by enabling it by default but having an off switch in the menus. From what I understand, the legal requirements state it must come restricted, but they don't say that it has to be forced and undefeatable. The most common way of achieving this is to have a region setting and just choose a non EU one. Hopefully T+A will implement it like this.

 

[RIGATIO]

I quoted two people in my post. The other poster said it was the strangest thing he had heard. Apologies for the confusion. Other reviews are saying the same thing now. I actually think these headphones are quite special. But the price point means they are always going to be controversial and will not be a runaway success.

Thats ok, all good

 

[WDitters]

Musicalhead review also available

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...MQFnoECBcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2k5kL-Ndl9Z0PHT6T40aK8

 

[angelom]

Musicalhead review also available

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...MQFnoECBcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2k5kL-Ndl9Z0PHT6T40aK8

From the Musicalhead review: In "High-Quality Mode", the SOLITAIRE T finally reaches its acoustic peak. In this mode, only the ESS-Sabre reference chip takes over the sensitive processing of the musical data, the conversion via the implemented Qualcomm converter is consequently deactivated. And even though I prefer the balanced cable version via 4.4 PentaConn in combination with the ASTELL&KERN, the outstanding Bluetooth HQ version from T+A is hardly inferior to the former.

 

[rgbyhkr]

Finally took delivery last night. A few random very early impressions (all references to wired mode are passive wired using either 4.4mm or 3.5mm):

- BT volume is limited. It's not terrible, but in direct comparison to wired mode, I would prefer more headroom in BT mode.
- BT HQ mode seems to have slightly higher max volume
- My personal sound profile preference is greater bass output, so I will welcome the EQ function in the app when it's released to most the bass in BT mode.
- Bass response in wired mode is much more to my liking, especially when turning up the volume and using external source device EQ.
- Mojo2, Fiio BTR7 and A&K HC02 all show step forward improvements in wired mode, which is what I hoped for.
- The included 4.4mm cable is too long for convenient portable use. Would love to see an option for a 4.4mm cable the same length as the included 3.5mm
- As others have said, they are quite compact. Earcups at first glance seem small but are fine for my ears. Passive noise isolation is quite good. So far comfort is also good.