[WraithApe]

   
Wow - do you have a weak line-out on your source, or how loud do you listen?  Most portable amps I've tried have no problems driving the T1 to adequate volume. To drive them adequately to their potential (especially the bass) is of course a different story.  I'm at work now - will advise SPL levels when I get home and have a chance to test on a few lower end options. 

 
No I don't have a weak line-out and I don't think I listen to ear-bleedingly loud levels either, but the portables I tried - to name a few, Pro-Ject Head Box, RL Concero HP, Lehmann Linear, FiiO E17 - were all lacking in the volume department, especially with quieter recordings. Maybe I just haven't tried the right ones!

 

[Brooko]

   
No I don't have a weak line-out and I don't think I listen to ear-bleedingly loud levels either, but the portables I tried - to name a few, Pro-Ject Head Box, RL Concero HP, Lehmann Linear, FiiO E17 - were all lacking in the volume department, especially with quieter recordings. Maybe I just haven't tried the right ones!

 
No problems - I know the T1s are demanding on voltage, less so on current. I'll throw the T1 on some of my DAPs later when I get home - will be an interesting exercise anyway 

 

[Fungus]

I hate having to wait for my t1's to arrive. I'll never owned a pair of high end closed headphones before so it it's going to be so exciting for me!!   

 

[Chodi]

  I hate having to wait for my t1's to arrive. I'll never owned a pair of high end closed headphones before so it it's going to be so exciting for me!!   

Congratulations on your purchase but I would mention that they are not closed headphones. They are semi-open and do leak sound though not as much as an HD800. Either way you will enjoy them they are truly special.

 

[Fungus]

  Congratulations on your purchase but I would mention that they are not closed headphones. They are semi-open and do leak sound though not as much as an HD800. Either way you will enjoy them they are truly special.

I mean to say open headphones.

 

[Brooko]

OK - for anyone interested.
 
Track used = Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin in D, Op 35, Allegro moderato - Julia Fischer, Yakov Kreizburg and the Russian National Symphony Orchestra (Pentatone Classic).  I used this purely for its dynamic range. 
 
Source - Fiio X1 (by itself) - needed volume of approx 80/100 to reach average SPL of around 75 dB, but at that level was hitting peaks of around 87dB (ie plenty loud enough).  Dynamics were also surprisingly good.
 
Source Fiio X1 + E11K (lineout setting) - to achieve same approximate SPL, the E11K was set at around 5/10 (a lot of headroom left) and on low gain.  If switched to high gain I could knock it down to between 3-4/10 on the pot.
 
I didn't worry about using the Fiio X3 2nd Gen or X5, as both are more powerful than the X1, so results would be similar.
 
As an aside (I've tried this before) even an iPhone5 and Brainwavz AP001 will power the T1 to listenable levels.
 
None of the portable sources sound as good as my NFB-12 or LD MKIV - but clearly my particular T1 does not struggle with the portable amps or DAPs I have on hand.

 

[Fungus]

  OK - for anyone interested.
 
Track used = Tchaikovsky's Concerto for Violin in D, Op 35, Allegro moderato - Julia Fischer, Yakov Kreizburg and the Russian National Symphony Orchestra (Pentatone Classic).  I used this purely for its dynamic range. 
 
Source - Fiio X1 (by itself) - needed volume of approx 80/100 to reach average SPL of around 75 dB, but at that level was hitting peaks of around 87dB (ie plenty loud enough).  Dynamics were also surprisingly good.
 
Source Fiio X1 + E11K (lineout setting) - to achieve same approximate SPL, the E11K was set at around 5/10 (a lot of headroom left) and on low gain.  If switched to high gain I could knock it down to between 3-4/10 on the pot.
 
I didn't worry about using the Fiio X3 2nd Gen or X5, as both are more powerful than the X1, so results would be similar.
 
As an aside (I've tried this before) even an iPhone5 and Brainwavz AP001 will power the T1 to listenable levels.
 
None of the portable sources sound as good as my NFB-12 or LD MKIV - but clearly my particular T1 does not struggle with the portable amps or DAPs I have on hand.

Can you elaborate on how your NFB-12 and LD MKIV sound better than the mentioned daps. It it just the bass that's improved? 

 

[Brooko]

This is purely subjective 

 
For me - it sounds more full (more body throughput the mid-range), more bass impact and slight softening of the treble.
 
Still very vivid though - and still gives me wow moments 

 (regularly)

 

[Brooko]

Just as an addendum - I'm still sitting here about half an hour later - still listening to the same album ...... still via the X1 and E11K ...... still with the T1. Just don't want to switch off.  A little touch of magic - and for the princely sum of sub $200 - that's the X1, E11K and a micro SDXC card 

  

 

[batracom]

   
For the record, I've tried about a dozen different portable amps with the T1 and found the only one with enough juice to drive em was the Hugo. Every other one I tried them with, I had the volume maxed out and it was still too quiet on most tracks. IMO it's a headphone that's too demanding for most portable amps.

 
Have you tried them with an iBasso PB2? That's what I am going to do once the T1 reach me. I guess they have enough gain for the T1, plus the rollable Op-Amps allow plenty of headroom to tune the sound. 

 

[WraithApe]

   
Have you tried them with an iBasso PB2? That's what I am going to do once the T1 reach me. I guess they have enough gain for the T1, plus the rollable Op-Amps allow plenty of headroom to tune the sound. 

 
I haven't, no - be interested to hear your impressions. I should probably clarify something in regard to my previous statement: I didn't mean to imply that the portables I tried all failed to provide adequate volume all of the time; rather that with certain quieter recordings, I found the volume to be inadequate. Not all recordings are mastered the same of course, and levels do vary from album to album. I just wouldn't want an amp for the T1 that was OK most of the time but ran out of steam on certain recordings.

 

[batracom]

I haven't, no - be interested to hear your impressions. I should probably clarify something in regard to my previous statement: I didn't mean to imply that the portables I tried all failed to provide adequate volume all of the time; rather that with certain quieter recordings, I found the volume to be inadequate. Not all recordings are mastered the same of course, and levels do vary from album to album. I just wouldn't want an amp for the T1 that was OK most of the time but ran out of steam on certain recordings.

Thanks, I will be more than happy to post my findings in a couple of days - will receive the T1 tomorrow or Wednesday. The PB2 is a very interesting device, whose power can be augmented in a variety of ways - either through a combination of op-amps and buffers (the latter shore up the output power in particular in used in certain combinations), by using high-gain on balanced out (which won't be possible on a stock T1). I did a thorough demo of the Sennheiser HD800 single-ended and with "dummy" buffers, which offer less output power but more transparency, and I had no issues with levels, on a variety of classical music and masterings. The PB2 did also not mask the key characteristics of the HD800, which made me feel like I should be trying the T1 too before settling on one, namely the at time excessively wide soundstage, the ultra-revealing nature which played bad with older classical music recordings, and more. So I guess that the PB2 will give me a good feel of the characteristics of the T1 and enable a straight comparison with the HD800, notwithstanding the fact that it could be improved by better, non-portable amps.

 

[Me x3]

Are there anything related to the (T1) serial number in the outside of the cardboard box? Thanks in advance!

 

[dmort]

Since I asked the question I'll give the answer I found:
BTG will reterminate the T1 for 40 bucks + shipping with a 4 pin xlr neutrik plug.
Headphone.com will do it for 50. For 100, they'll reterminate and also build a 4 pin to 1/4" short cable out of the excess T1 stock cable.
I also contacted a few other companies, when I get responses I'll post them so others can know the options.

 

[WraithApe]

  Are there anything related to the (T1) serial number in the outside of the cardboard box? Thanks in advance!

 
Nothing relating to the serial number on the outside of the box that I can see - there's just the serial number on the inside of the headband.