In passive mode directely connected to the Iphone they sound "worse" but like angelom said, it is more the tonal balance I guess. The ST feel more balanced in passive mode for me and are holding that line very good. Hardware wise both of them are strong players in the BT headphone market and are one of the few BT hp´s which also shine in passive mode.
Appreciate the response - probably gonna pull the trigger on the white version. It is nice to have 3 years of warranty after registering with T+A. So I did reach out to T+A on some of the points discussed in this thread:
While I can sort of see where they are coming from regarding multi-point, seems a little myopic or narrow minded regarding its utility.
It's definitely narrow minded and a tad arrogant considering that high end headphones released recently from major brands have that feature. An argument can be made that at the price point it should be as feature packed as possible. I guess it's a minor omission in the grand scheme of things.
From what I perceive when connecting both ML and ST to a desktop amp is that the ST is a tiny bit less sensitive. As such, driven passively, it requires a just little more oomph from the source device. The ST takes a little bit more power to 'come alive'..
In that sense I feel that T&A are contradicting themselves a little bit by adding a microphone to this" high-end headphone"package
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In that sense I feel that T&A are contradicting themselves a little bit by adding a microphone to this" high-end headphone"package
As I see it, a microphone is mostly beneficial in (home)-working scenarios and gaming...
Multipoint functionality is actually even more useful when you add the (home)-working scenarios. Having a headphone that seamlessly switches between laptop and cellphone is very worthwhile functionality..
And since the microphone does not work while connected via USB cable, I am now asking myself... Why even bother adding a microphone if you intend to position the headphones as high-end option for music lovers.. If however by "high-end headphone" T+A also meant to target the more discerning critical office user annex audiophile, the multipoint functionality would have been even more relevant..
The way it is now, it feels a little bit half-baked with T+A contradicting themselves and with a half-ass implementation as a result
Not that I mind, on the contrary... I will happily stick to my Jabra Evolve2 75, my Jabra Speak 750 and my Plantronics Voyager 5200 kit for work purposes.
(Even though admittedly having the ST seamlessly multipoint its way back and forth between my cellphone and my music player while traveling would have been very sweet
Just to be factually correct, the T+A ST do offer the possibility of making telephone calls when paired to a cellphone.
Perhaps you could try https://www.headphoneauditions.nl/ in Amsterdam. Not sure if I understand international tax law well enough, but it should technically be possible to purchase duty free where dutch VAT is replaced by destination country/state VAT plus perhaps some import duties.
T+A is listed as an exhibitor as is Audio46, who are a T+A dealer in NYC, so I'd be surprised if the ST weren't there. I'm hopeful the P and the HA200 are also there as I'm now even more curious to see what T+A TOTL sound is like.
