Charlie Norwood
Previously known as Infinity Knives
Hi Jose,
As you well know, you and I have very similar tastes in music.
I have owned the P1 for 9 days (about 100 hrs. listening time) now, and I am shocked by how good it is.
It sounds amazing with all the natural textures, and dynamics associated with progressive rock.. I would imagine that if you gave a set to Neal Morse or any of the guys from Transatlantic, Flowerkings, etc etc. they would all fall in love with them and use them in their own studios.
Even the bassists would love them! lol!
I would put the P1 as an equal (but VERY different) to my Audiosense T800.
However, I feel it's almost a bad idea to compare the two because they are both just so different.
Truly an "apples/oranges" scenario here.
Both are very worth having though...
The T800 is like a high speed musical jack hammer (in a very good way), that seems to literally turn your eardrums into the actual speakers.
I love it, but admit it can be fatiguing after 6-8 hr sessions (almost anything would be though)
Where as the P1 is a super transparent device that seems to make your brain become the speakers.. (I can also handle 10+ hr listening sessions with the P1).
So, the T800 seems to become a living part of your ears, where as the P1 seems to turn your head into medium sized well tuned concert hall..
Crazy I know, but that's the best I can describe the differences between them.
The T800's bass is obviously more prominent than the P1's bass (quantity), but bass accuracy & clarity (all accuracy & clarity) goes to the P1.
This feels wrong of me to admit somehow, because the T800 is insanely clear, but the P1 seems to bypass your ears and goes directly to the brain.
It just seems to render music as it should be.
Almost as if it bypasses your eardrums.
The strange thing is, this was not instantly noticeable..
The first 1/2 hour or more, I just felt like:
"Wow! These sound like nice over ear, open back, headphones" but then after a few hours, they installed their tentacles into my brain and assumed control.
They are just weird like that, and possibly should be illegal...
Bass:
The P1 bass is just fine in a neutral sense.
Reminds me of how the bass is on high end near-feild type studio monitors.
The P1 is actually capable of playing really low 10hz sine waves.
It plays extremely lows sinewaves with no distortion at all.
However- these sub-bass ultra low frequencies are barely audible, so they need the full amp to even hear them.
Runing IMD sweep tests were flawless...Again; no distortion at all...
I did cause the lows to rattle with too much amp, so be careful with these types of tests.
The P1 bass range seems to become usable (no EQ) after 40hz and even more so at around 50hz
So if you feel the need for some deep P1 -BASS- it requires copious amounts of bass EQ.
The good news is, it seems to handle massive amounts of sub-bass EQ -IF- you have the tools to apply it.
So, to get that type of bass response, you need to remove at least -12db from your preamp, and then +12db of 20hz to 35hz and maybe +8db of 40hz +4db 50hz..
Then AMP the hell out of it (at least a 1 watt amp should be used).
I have a simple EQ preset that I use on Foobar2000 that does all this for me, and I just CRANK my Atom amp to make up for the loss in volume..
The Atom Amp is more then loud enough to make up for the -12db compensation though.
Seems like those that own the E1DA PowerDAC V2 with the accompanying EQ software could do this really well.
Mids:
Excellent mids.
I don't know what else to say here..
I do like the mids more than the T800.
They are very natural and highly detailed.
Mids don't have that "warm musical glow" to them like a Toneking T4 does, but the T4's mids can occasionally become slightly congested and are not as clear as the P1's mids.
Treble:
From what I can tell, it appears that the treble is too honest for most reviewers.
It seems to pull out weird flaws (even the smallest amounts of high end clipping) in recordings.
At times I wondered if it was a flaw as others have mentioned, or is it just something that no one has really heard from an earphone, so they don't know what else to call it?
I still need to run more tests, but the secret is to listen to some perfectly recorded solo instruments that have lots of high end.
I have some 24bit-192Khz Drum/Percussion solos that I use to test for all sorts of flaws in various sound monitors.
These recordings are of stellar quality, but nothing that the public would ever listen to because they're for OCD engineer/producer types.
With the P1: the super high trebles on triangle pings, ride cymbal bell fades, and/or gentle crash cymbal fades, slowly roll off without any strange transients and/or distortion.
The P1 reproduces a very accurate treble.
maybe too accurate for some?
However, treble flaws on full group (band, orchestera, etc) mixes can be detected with the P1.
That's the way I would judge the treble on the P1...
That's also why I believe there was some criticism on the Beyonce' mix with the P1.
Also, since I'm comparing the Tin P1 with the Audiosense:
The T800 has that sharp 2-4Khz ring to it, that the P1 does hot have.
However, I've completely removed that issue from the T800 via brown Knowles dampers, so to me the T800 -was- pretty harsh in comparison, but with filters it is corrected.
T800 treble is still not as clear as the P1 though..
I just don't believe my own words in saying this, but I have to admit that my P1 does accuracy and clarity better then my T800.
I don't get the P1's FR graphs either, because it's treble doesn't seem to match them.
One of the weird mysteries about the P1...
SoundStage:
In my 100+ hrs of use (my opinion might change in a month of course), the soundstage on the P1 is like a nice pair of openback over ears.
It's better sounding (in stage, tonality, and detail) than my Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro, and that says a lot.
I would describe the P1 as the clearest sounding earphone (or any other monitor type, including my $5k Q12 monitors) that I have heard to date.
Okay, I don't mean to hype these because they are just $170 earphones after all, but I am so thrilled with this purchase, that I am willing to forgive the few things that I wish they had.
Some slight cons:
I LOVE their bass quality, but I do want MORE.
If they did bass quantity as well as my T800 I might actually die from too perfect of a sound.
I am also very happy with their very accurate soundstage, but I guess it would be cool if the stage was a bit more 3D Holographic (even though that wouldn't be as accurate)...
I just like the way an exaggerated soundstage makes me feel.
Like the ToneKing T4 can do.
The T4's stage is just crazy.
Where as the P1's Stage is very precise and realistic.
I would trust the P1's stage for critical mixing/engineering though.
Fit is slightly strange...
They don't hurt anywhere no matter how long I ware them, but they are so small that I need to push them in every once in a while.
Same with the Tin T2 I guess.
No big deal really.
I haven even removed the cable from the bag nor have I even opened any of the accessories.
So I can't comment on that..
I will say that, because the P1's fit can be a bit loose, I'd recommend using a 6 core (or less) lighter weight cable..
I mostly use an inexpensive 6 core copper balanced cable. Nothing special about it really.
I have not cable swapped enough to give any accurate reports, so I'll save that for later.
Okay, sorry about the TLDR here.. lol!
My advice is BUY IT!
It's well worth the $170.
Such a unique experience in an earphone that it should be added to your collection, even if you have already found your "EndGame" IEM.
This is it. This is the only P1 review you need. Perfectly captures what you are and aren’t getting, and how to get the most out of the P1.
Last edited:
