Beyerdynamic T1 / T5 Gen 3

The new Beyerdynamic T1 and T5 Gen 3 dropped today. Maybe 3rd time's the charm?



T1 V3: https://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/t1.html

T5 V3: https://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/t5.html

Luckily the price stayed sane. Focal Clear's can be had for $1K new so that should be the main headphone to compare these to.

Visually, they are a snore-fest. It's too bad that their flagship has to look so boring. Hopefully, they sound better than they look.

 

32 Ohm though, Mt.Beyer 32s usually don't scale. For 1k?

 

I'm sure the OTL guys won't be happy about the new impedance. I'm definitely disappointed they don't have a 250 ohm or 600 ohm version.

There are some Beyer patents floating around showing a new voice coil design so maybe it will scale better than we think. Who knows.

Don't worry, MacedonianHero on Headfi already loves it (wish I was kidding).

 

Same sunken / angled baffle, same pads, similar airflow, but even shittier drivers? I can almost guarantee that treble peak will still be there. I feel like in 2020 we should be past the whole sunken driver thing with all the awful reflections and face-tweeter presentation. Thick slanted pads can yield a similar effect with better results much of the time. Or just go full earspeaker.

 

The engineers at Beyer must love the treble peak because they refuse to get rid of it. It's part of their design ethos at this point.

I always get excited when a new pair of high-end open's come out but I know I shouldn't get too excited about these. It looks like they cut costs on the materials / build and went for mass appeal on the impedance. Beyer's are huge in gaming and I bet that is where they focus their attention these days. Unless they've really made an effort to eliminate the glaring issues with the previous generation, I doubt these will be worth the trouble.

 

they are very proud of those holes in the cup. Inspired by architecture! Although the final product looks nothing like the building they show. Well, I guess they both have holes, so there is that.

 

I'll have one to try next Wednesday.

Possibly relevant: https://patents.google.com/patent/DE102018126823A1/en

Might explain the added layer in front of the driver. Then again, Beyer claimed they addressed the treble resonance in the 2nd gen, when in fact it was worse than ever.

The redesigned look smells of manufacturing optimization and chasing margins. The earcup looks like it might work for finely grating cheese, and may sound that way as well.

 

If I have to choose blind between those two my choice would be Amiron Home

 

Your review of the 177X Go gives me hope that maybe, just maybe they are starting to pay attention to community feedback.

 

Video at 2:45 even states they deliver "a much brighter sound". I wouldn't be getting my hopes up that they listen to any customer feedback, just treble.

Spoiler: Vid w/ timestamp

Code:

https://youtu.be/HSrDpi2LhZg?t=165

 

I think they look much worse than the previous generations as well. The original T1 and mk2 had a very classy sleek look, these grills look rather lame. I think the black variant of the T1 mk 2 is one of the best looking headphones actually.

Of course if they sound much better it will be acceptable but I must admit the description on the website saying that they are now EVEN BASSIER doesnt inspire confidence lol. I think there were approximately zero people complaining that the T1 Mk2 wasnt bassy enough, I have seen a number of complaints that said the opposite.

I am also disappointed by the decision to drop to 32ohms on the flagship. They are pretty clearly targeting consumers who want to listen straight out of a phone or a weak dap which is a odd move to do from such a classic audiophile company. I think the high impedance offerings was one of the main things that made Beyerdynamic special and let them stand out a bit from Sennheiser. Its a shame to see them trade in part of their identity to chase a consumer market.

Hopefully they at least toned down the treble or their pursuit of the consumer market will have been for naught, as the average consumer these days is after Harmon-esque stuff and well Beyer is not that.

 

Bit of a review up here: https://www.stereo.net.au/reviews/beyerdynamic-t1-and-t5-3rd-gen-headphones-review

 

@Raimei Templar Indeed, my biggest issue with the T1.2 was the broad boost to everything below 2kHz. It actually made them fairly warm, but screwed up the midrange in the process. People didn't clue into that problem as much as the typically out of control treble, but it's ultimately why they did not work for me. Not sure how moar bass is supposed to help anything.

 

Typical puff piece hifi mag review. I don't think the author even mentioned the treble quality once. I'm not touching these till I see measurements.

@purr1n Any chance for a loaner tour?

 

Edit: nvm

Regardless, I will have ears on one within a week. Might be worth waiting until then at least to see if anything has changed for the better from the last version.

 

I think he was referring to the T1.1 having a treble peak at 10khz. He says that there is nothing wrong with the treble in the T1.3 but I don't trust him because MacedonianHero is basically:

 

You're right, I misread. And yes, I've run across his "reviews" before.