[Brooko]

Oh the joy of first impressions. Try using them for month, and see if your thoughts change. And rather than picking what you think is the best in each headphones attribute - look at what the T1 brings as a whole

 

[Thenewguy007]

Oh the joy of first impressions. Try using them for month, and see if your thoughts change. And rather than picking what you think is the best in each headphones attribute - look at what the T1 brings as a whole

 
As a whole, yeah it is better than all the rest, I had.
Bass is better than the HD600 by a long shot. Soundstage is at least on par with the X1 & has much better clarity & detail overall.
I was just expecting more from a $1000+ headphone coming from $300 cans. A lot more.

 

[Brooko]

Understand - but really, if you get the chance, take my advice.  Use the T1 and only the T1 for a couple of weeks.  The go back to your other headphones. I'm pretty sure you'll then notice what makes the T1 special.  Imaging in particular is spectacular - especially when you get to critical listening.  Very quick A/B with other headphones (right from the start) is not a great idea with any new gear.  Better to get as much dedicated time as possible on board - then go back to your regular headphones.  The differences then will be more obvious.
 
As to whether they are worth the price difference (diminishing returns kicks in) - that is where YMMV.

 

[technobear]

As a whole, yeah it is better than all the rest, I had.
Bass is better than the HD600 by a long shot. Soundstage is at least on par with the X1 & has much better clarity & detail overall.
I was just expecting more from a $1000+ headphone coming from $300 cans. A lot more.

The T1 is capable of a lot more than you are hearing right now. The level of detail and magic that the T1 can reproduce just isn't present in the output of your Clip+ or your PC sound card.

I also own a pair of M50s. If I use them with my Arcam rPAC (£150), they sound good. If instead I use the T1, they sound just the same. Nothing special.

Switch to the iDSD and the M50 sounds a bit more alive but not much. The T1 meanwhile is clearly in a different league with the occasional "WOW". Add the iCAN and it's "WOW" all the way.

A headphone can only reproduce what it is fed. Cheap DACs just won't cut it. Crap in = crap out.


Finally it's been said a million times on here but I'll say it one more time for the newbies. Headphones need to break-in. I use 200 hours as a yardstick. Most 'phones will be done by then. I've had speakers that took longer, much longer.

 

[Youth]

I wonder how people think they can drive the T1 with $100 amps.

 

[headwhacker]

I wonder how people think they can drive the T1 with $100 amps.

The price doesn't tell whether or not it can drive T1. But that doesn't mean you need to break the bank to drive it to it's maximum performance.

 

[derbigpr]

   
As a whole, yeah it is better than all the rest, I had.
Bass is better than the HD600 by a long shot. Soundstage is at least on par with the X1 & has much better clarity & detail overall.
I was just expecting more from a $1000+ headphone coming from $300 cans. A lot more.

 
 
You're not using them with good enough equipment. You can't expect high end sound without a high end DAC and amp, that's the thing about high end headphones, they don't sound like high end unless you feed them with high end, they don't add anything to the sound. The reason why high end headphones are as well regarded as they are is not because they add something of their own to the sound and make it better, it's because they add less to the sound than other headphones, and let recording do the work, but in order to accomplish that you need to feed them with proper material. You'd never buy a 50,000 dollar pair of speakers and then power them with a entry level 200 dollar CD player and a 200 dollar integrated amp, would you?

 

[derbigpr]

  The price doesn't tell whether or not it can drive T1. But that doesn't mean you need to break the bank to drive it to it's maximum performance.

 
 
Price doesn't dictate the level of quality, but you can be pretty sure you won't find an amp for 100 dollars that can push the T1's to their maximum performance.

 

[Nellyssa]

For those who were complaining about the harsh treble.
 
I had the same issue when i first got mine and i was really dissapointed and regreted bying the headphone but! After around 400hours+ the treble really got relaxed and it´s no longer very bright, some recordings might still be like the whole album: Epsilon by Blood Stain Child. 
 
Just give your T1 a long burn in and you will most likely be satisfied by the end result as i am now
My "gear"; Pc soundcard: Sound Blaster ZXR > Asgard 2 > T1.  I have no end game gear and these still sound wonderful
Other Headphones i have: JVC HA-SZ1000/2000, X2 and T90

 

[Thenewguy007]

   
 
Price doesn't dictate the level of quality, but you can be pretty sure you won't find an amp for 100 dollars that can push the T1's to their maximum performance.

For actually driving the T1's 600Ohms, I'm surprised how easy it is. I can use it without an amp & still get good sound out of it.
My Headroom amp & Asgard2 amp can easily drive it in the low gain settings.
When I use the high gain setting I have to turn the knob to around the the 9 or 10 O'clock position. as anything past that is too loud.
 
I felt my Sennheiser HD600 were much harder to drive.

 

[Badfish5446]

I received my T1 at about the same time as I got my Phillips Miniwatt '69 tubes for the lyr.  I'm not sure if it was the tubes, the T1 or a combination of both but I heard a lot smoother treble after 100 hours.  I ascribe to burn for tubes and "break-in" for dynamics but I don't generally play in the "need to burn in all gear" camp.

 

[Me x3]

  Understand - but really, if you get the chance, take my advice.  Use the T1 and only the T1 for a couple of weeks.  The go back to your other headphones. I'm pretty sure you'll then notice what makes the T1 special.  Imaging in particular is spectacular - especially when you get to critical listening.  Very quick A/B with other headphones (right from the start) is not a great idea with any new gear.  Better to get as much dedicated time as possible on board - then go back to your regular headphones.  The differences then will be more obvious.
 
As to whether they are worth the price difference (diminishing returns kicks in) - that is where YMMV.

+1

 

[maheeinfy]

T1 is indeed bigger than DT880

 

[Brooko]

For actually driving the T1's 600Ohms, I'm surprised how easy it is. I can use it without an amp & still get good sound out of it.
My Headroom amp & Asgard2 amp can easily drive it in the low gain settings.
When I use the high gain setting I have to turn the knob to around the the 9 or 10 O'clock position. as anything past that is too loud.
 
I felt my Sennheiser HD600 were much harder to drive.

 
Unfortunately here you're making a common mistake between loudness and actually being driven properly.  Note following graphs (from Innerfidelity - thaks Tyll !)
 

Here is the HD600 impedance graph.  Note that although they are rated at 300 ohm, in order to properly drive them, you need to have enough voltage to allow for this peak.  If they are underpowered, you'll notice weak bass response mainly centered between about 50-200 ohms.
 

 
The T1 is a different beast altogether. The impedance hump actually reaches a massive 1400 ohms - so if you don't have enough voltage on tap, the first thing you are going to notice is no real body to the bass.  And this gels exactly with what you've described so far - about the T1 being too bright, and not as big a difference with your other cans.  IMO the T1 shines with amps able to output higher voltages, and OTL tube amps particularly.
 
You don't have to spend megabucks for the T1 to shine.  I think I already mentioned the Audio-gd NFB-15, or for tubes, something like a LD MKIV does very nicely.  But if they are underpowered, you won't know what they are really capable of.  You'll get the volume - but not the whole (correct) balance of frequency spectrum.

 

[Thenewguy007]

  The T1 is a different beast altogether. The impedance hump actually reaches a massive 1400 ohms - so if you don't have enough voltage on tap, the first thing you are going to notice is no real body to the bass.  And this gels exactly with what you've described so far - about the T1 being too bright, and not as big a difference with your other cans.  IMO the T1 shines with amps able to output higher voltages, and OTL tube amps particularly.
 
You don't have to spend megabucks for the T1 to shine.  I think I already mentioned the Audio-gd NFB-15, or for tubes, something like a LD MKIV does very nicely.  But if they are underpowered, you won't know what they are really capable of.  You'll get the volume - but not the whole (correct) balance of frequency spectrum.

 
 
So which first to get the wow factor from these cans? A higher quality DAC or a higher quality tube amp?
I guess my solid state amps amps aren't up to snuff, but how would a iDSD DAC factor in with them?
Would it skyrocket the sound quality or would I still need that better tube amp to get that?