post #919 of 926 7/29/13 at 4:21am
- Theogenes
- 761 Posts. Joined 3/2010
- Location: Outside Nashville, TN
Hey log0! I'm not sure I'll be able to answer all your questions, but I give you what I know:
Comfort: these things are deceptively light, and feel borderline
too light-- they are so sharp-looking and industrial, but feel so light in hand, that there's a moment of dissonance each time I pick them up. They still manage to feel well-built somehow, though. I highly doubt you'll have any issues here.
Portability: this is the one are that I might urge a bit of caution. I originally got the T5p as my travelling can as well, and eventually decided it wasn't the best fit for that purpose for a couple of reasons-- the biggest being bass response. If you've read about the T5p extensively, you've certainly noticed that it isn't considered to have the best quantity of bass by most listeners (quality, however, being excellent). Given that the lower frequencies are the first to go in noisy environments (work, plane, car, etc), I found this to be problematic. I've ended up going with IEMs for my portable listening, and am much happier with that as a solution for me. But I still listen to the T5p every single night, and I have them on my head right now as I type this, testing out a new DAC
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Additionally, I would say that while they sound okay out of a standard phone headphone jack, you really aren't getting anywhere close to what they offer that way-- I'd consider an external amp (if not a DAC/amp combo) to be a necessity, especially given your willingness to invest.
Sound Quality: this is, to me, the biggest strength of these headphones, even given my reservations about bass levels mentioned above. They are incredibly clear, detailed, and revealing, to a degree that might be problematic for lower-quality recordings, although I don't typically find them to be so. I've heard very little that manages to capture the texture and crunch of guitars like the T5p, and consider them a bit of a reference point in that regard. Transients are exceedingly well-defined, and despite the missing bass presence, the extension is quite good. Simply put, I absolutely love the sound the T5p gives me, and haven't regretted getting them for a single moment. Most people I've seen that have given them a listen seem to agree, but-- like anything-- they aren't for everyone.
One suggestion I can make to help with both the isolation and bass levels is to switch out the standard pads for the clear gel versions (if you can find them). While they aren't nearly as luxurious as the stock pads are (and are rather prophylactic/jellyfish looking to boot), they isolate better than stock (or the J$ pads) and allow for better bass as a result. Also, although I can't speak to this from personal experience, several users have described greatly improved bass response by modifying the 'phones for balanced operation, which might work out well with the balanced RSA amp, for example. (I believe NZTechFreak has actually tried this combination, you can do a search through this thread for his impressions if you're interested).
Overall, I find the T5p to be a truly exception headphone, and I love my unabashedly. I am less certain about their applicability to portable use, however, and would recommend an audition if that's at all a possibility for you.
Anyway, hope this helps!! Let us know what other questions you have and I'm sure somebody can point you in the right direction
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EDIT: looks like AJ beat me to the punch on a few of these. Damn these fat phalanges of mine
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Edited by Theogenes - 7/29/13 at 4:23am