Some early impressions so far after 3 days with the T1...
There are some pluses and minuses...
Pluses:
- Spot on tonal balance, with no frequency emphasis over the all range. Great continuity and subjective linearity. Better than HD800 in this respect (no tilted highs).
- Total absence of distortion even at high volumes, leading to a very clean sound and perfectly focused imaging. Instrument separation is trully amazing with each instruments perfectly identified in its spatial position. Total absence of blurring. Quite impressive. Returning to the DT48A feels like congested haha. The first time I ever experience that. And I never thought I would write that !Minuses: The voicing of this headphone is simply way off. Nothing sounds like real life. Highs feels metallic (cymbals, violins), with a continuous impression of artificial metallic sound (tzing tzing). Even voices are rendered with a clear touch of metallic presences, appearing colder and harder than what they should. I really have no clue to what is causing that. Internal material used maybe (high rigidity plastic, etc...). Forget about the true blue sound. What a shame when we both know Beyer can perfectly do it. But I guess selling is the main point and Beyer did sacrifice true sound for a more attractive and impressive "hifi" sound.
- Low end is lacking clearly texture and microdynamic. Good presence and linearity, extends well, but lacks refinement. Feels like a subwoofer not properly set up. Listening to a double bass with the T1 is frustrating... It is sucked out of its life and seem to play just a handfull of notes and variations. Really disappointing. I'll pick the DT48 shy bass response any day over this.
- Details is fair and above average but nothing to write about. Lacks the ultimate sense of space in recordings and reverbs of studio, or even subtle variations and texture of instruments (microdynamic ?)... Maybe because it is an open design and will inherently offer less low level details than a good closed headphone. But I feel there is something lacking in the low resolution level, just as if engineers have focused more on the big picture (lack of distorsion, play loud without blurring) of the music rather than small nuances in it.
Neutral:
- Soundstage is not very wide in the center with many instruments packed together but extends a lot as you move further from the center I guess due to the inclination of the drivers. Good depth but the soundstage feels stretched from right to left. A bit difficult to adujst mentally to the overall picture, as it feels acoustic dimensions are not well preserved. But I guess this is something you can get used to in the long run. On the other side, within its limitations, the T1 is able to convey the different dimensions of recordings wether they are intimate recording with very close up mics or large scale orchestra which appear pushed back further on the scene. Not a true chameleon like DT48 is this respect, less coherent image, but still more faithfull than many headphones I have tried (including the HD800).
So overall impressions are not overwhelming... Quite a disappointment in fact. Beyer had the opportunity to combine the strengths of the DT48 (low level details, timbrical accuracy) with the strengths of the T1 (absence of distortion, precision in imaging), and could have hit a home run. But no, they preferred listening to their marketing department.
So what cushions are you using with that DT-48A?
ReplyDeleteNew DT48e cushions. I was the DT48 Guru at Head Fi being being banned.. I owned 14 models from the 50's to 08.. 12 of the 14 sounded different.
ReplyDeleteI have the orignal NAGRA 50's DT48S, both 5/25 ohms.
4 DT48A from various eras.. Two are APS re cabled.
4 DT48E 8/25/200 ohms. The 200 ohm DT48e is from 68-72. It was bundled with the NAGRA VI recorder. The mid range surpasses every DT48 headphone I every owned. It's like the instruments are recessed. I truly believe they were tweaked for the NAGRA.. & they are the only DT48e 200 ohm that have stock rubber padding, & they are different then the DT48A rubber padding.. The material is different.
I was amazed at how much better the T1 was in terms of spatial space between instruments & the clear focus & images in truly awe inspiring.. But the mid range, compared to the DT48 is just 'ok' IMO.. Over all the T1 is the better 'audiophile' headphone if you know what you mean.. But in terms of technical merit the DT48 is better, but if the Enigneers wanted, they could have bettered the DT48 in almost everything, or everything, period.. They took the safe route. They wanted it to be audiophile 'friendly', which, is hard to fault Beyer. They are in this to make a profit.
Mike
Thanks for that info. I bought the DT-48 black 25 ohm in 1974, and the silver DT-48S the same year. Originally the 48s had the round cushions, which I replaced with the oval cushions. Later, probably about 1980, I got the DT-48 200 ohm. I don't recall any letters after the 48 except the DT-48s. I did not have a DT-48 from 1989 through 2011, and I thought I would get another set, just to have that unique sound. They still have that magic, and what was really a surprise was the highs from about 15 to 16 khz, which are stronger than my Sennheiser HD-800. To be able to hear that high at 63 years old is unusual, and I would not have known without the DT-48E.
ReplyDeleteI need to get the 011 DT48e
ReplyDeleteEven more remarkable. Beyerdynamic doesn't spend one cent marketing the DT48.
ReplyDelete