My 1266 Phi TC was delivered earlier this week and I am incredibly impressed by them. This is my first experience with TOTL headphones and I'm blown away at how much it improves over other really good headphones I've owned (HEDDphone, Aeon 2 Noire, Ananda, Elex, HD8XX, HD700).
I think the thing that surprised me the most was that it's better than just about all the individual strengths of my existing headphones. I didn't think it was possible for a single headphone to combine *everything*.
- Low-end dynamics/bass slam are better than the Elex.
- Low-end detail and texture are on another planet from my collection and unlike anything I've heard, especially combined with the slam. And without sounding weirdly artificial like the Dekoni Blue is at times.
- Mid/high dynamics and resolution are better than the HEDDphone (which is a shock, I didn't think there was much headroom above that)
- Soundstaging is way more open, layered, and exposing than the Ananda or HD8XX (which I was not impressed with and returned)...even better than the memory I have of my falling apart HD700.
- I've been chasing the dragon of my memory of the HD700 and was wondering if my memory was flawed as no other headphone in my collection ever came close to the soundstage of the HD700. Then the TC exceeded my memory of the HD700. This was the single biggest delight and surprise of the TC.
- Imaging is great, though I admit I don't listen to a lot of music that benefits from spectacular imaging.
- I have HD800S on order, intended to be gaming headphones, but I might just stick with the TC for that, too
- I love bass (especially the sub-bass) and the bass on the TC is so great I turned my Lokius off and just leave it off now. Usually I leave the sub-bass knob turned up (almost) all the way with every other headphone just to make sure that itch is scratched. This doesn't have the most bass, but the quality of it more than makes up for a few dB difference.
- Even with all the macrodynamics and detail, there's no fatigue, inline with the Ananda (without the Ananda's overall laid back approach).
- Overall the frequency response is great, though I might prefer the Noires a tiny bit here.
- All of technical checkboxes are checked while still sounding so lifelike.
My HEDDphones are out to repair a headband, but switching back to any of the other headphones I have around to compare is a significant downgrade. Kind of dismayed about it, like regret purchasing the other headphones almost. Though there's no way I would purchase a $5k headphone without first experiencing all the steps to get to this point.
The gaps between the TC and my $700-$1800 headphones are bigger than the gaps between my $700-$1800 headphones and the $150-$200 end of my collection, which was really unexpected.
The TC are also the most revealing for my amps. So far I've just used my Phonitor XE and Lyr 3. Both drive the TC well, but I can hear more differences between them than I could with any other headphone. Considering the Formula S as my next gear upgrade, or an upgrade on my DAC over the Bifrost 2. I like both the Phonitor XE and the Bifrost 2, so I'm not sure which will be next to be upgraded.
The lack of clamp is novel, usually I like a lot of clamp, but I can't argue with the results. However, I find taking the TC on and off is a bit uncomfortable as I can't pull it away from my head due to the stiffness. Instead, I have to take it off 'through' my ears and they get folded/twisted in various uncomfortable ways. I wish this process were more comfortable to just throw on for a minute to listen to a video on Twitter or something like that.
No issue with my usual hotspot on the top of my head, great job with the head band.
The cable is silly and I'm glad other companies don't make their cables join at the termination. It's a minor thing, but I am not in the habit of adjusting both cable runs when I need to adjust them. Maybe I get used to this over time.
My wife said I looked funny wearing them. Worth it.
. Thanks
