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NOTE: This is copied from my Head-Fi.org profile, Zombie_X.
I won't get too technical or get too in depth int his review. I will just state what I believe these headphones do and how they sound, just very straight to the point.
The T1 is beyerdynamics' latest entry into full size open dynamic headphones. This model can achieve one Tesla with it's new driver and magnet system. This allows the T1 to be far more efficient and easier to amp than the DT880/600Ohm by quite a bit. This also means your amp won't strain to power them like some amps do with the DT880/600 (and this is from my experience).
IMO the Tesla 1 is at about the same level of the HD800, but I vastly prefer the T1 as it sounds more natural and dare I say less synthetic than the HD800. The HD800 has a leaner sound with more prominent treble and less bass, though the bass on the HD800 is slightly more accurate.
Well onto the sound. I will be comparing to the HD800 in this review as I find them to be in the same league. I will go in sections: DETAIL, TRANSPARENCY, TREBLE, MIDRANGE, BASS, SOUNDSTAGE, CONCLUSION.
DETAIL:
With this headphone you can hear a lot of things you may have never heard before, such as footsteps, raindrops, and even whispering. The detail retrieval is very close to that of the HD800, but rather more subtle sounding. The HD800 seems to revel in it's ability to bring out the smallest details. The T1 still has nearly the same amount of detail as the HD800, but it's just not so painfully obvious. The HD800 makes you want to focus on the details while the T1 is more of actually listening to the music, but that's my view on it.
TRANSPARENCY:
Man oh man these cans can reach deep into the music. They are so transparent that you can hear nearly everything that's there. I don't have the HD800 on hand but I would say the T1's are slightly more transparent. The transparency really shines in the midrange where the guitars and vocals are. The guitars are so crisp and clear and you can hear fingers sliding up the fret board and can hear little nuances in the voices of singers.
TREBLE:
The treble on the T1 is really great for many reasons. It extends just as high as the HD800, but unlike that headphone it is not as in your face. To me the T1's treble is very smooth without a hint of stridence or harshness. It also sound more natural to me. The treble is also very airy, not as airy as the HD800's, but very close. I also found the treble to be very detailed.
MIDRANGE:
The T1 has the best midrange I have ever heard. It has exceptional resolving capabilities as well as being more transparent than the HD800 in my mind. I also found the midrange to be more fleshed out than the HD800's, and though the T1 has neutral mids they are very slightly warmer. This warmness makes music sound more natural and lifelike. To me the HD800's mids were really good, but a little thin and could be somewhat lifeless on certain recordings.
BASS:
The T1 definitely has more bass then the HD800 and this means more body and impact. I also found that the T1's lower most regions are a little rolled off, but not by that much. In fact I think the rolled off bass can make music sound more natural. The T1's bass still extends nearly as deep as the HD800's, but has more body and impact without sacrificing control or tightness. The bass of the T1 is more impactful than the DT770/DT880 but less than that of the DT990. The bass to me is perfect in it tonality and texturing capabilities which are really exceptional.
SOUNDSTAGE:
The soundstage is clearly much bigger than any of the DT770-DT990 variants and is also airy. I found it to be almost as big as the K702's soundstage, but has more depth and height to it. It's a really big stage that is nearly as big as the HD800's, but to me the HD800's is a little too big. The T1's is very spacious and provides great reproductions of spatial nuances and separation of instruments as well as providing a more accurate stereo image. Speaking of imaging, it's nothing short of incredible. You can place musicians on the stage really well and little nuances can be picked out really easily.
CONCLUSION:
I find the T1 to be a very good headphone and also the best reference all rounds out there. It has a very liquid and natural tonality that is heard to beat at any price. It's easily my no.1 recommendation for those who do not have a budget.
One thing to note is that these headphone will require a powerful desktop headphone amp for reaching their maximum potential. I suggest a good OTL headphone amp or powerful solid state amp. the Woo Audio WA2 and WA3+ amps are OTL and can drive this headphone no problem. A good solid state amp would be the Audio-GD ROC/PHOENIX as well as a Beta 22.
Also the T1's are very unforgiving of low quality audio and if fed crap, they will spit it back at you. As for me I don't really care as I will use them anyways ;)
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