Sound Impressions
Summary
To my absolute delight, this T5 3rd Generation sounds nothing like the older T1 series, which was quite potent on timbre slam and brightness factor, as well as bass impact. No such quality even slightly exists like that here on the new T5!
This model is very, very soft feeling and an absolute pleasure to use indefinitely. Zero ear fatigue. The headphone is also a bit warm and dark sounding compared to the much more metallic and bright original T1.
Sadly, I have almost no experience with the new variant T1 that came after the original. I owned the original T1 for so long, as it was my primary Gaming headphone ever since the first time I heard it.
The T5 3rd Generation is the inverse, the polar opposite of the sound of the original T1: supremely smooth, very soft, very elegant, lacking harsh impact and bright treble. If you like a relaxing and soothing tonality and tactility, this is the set you should be looking for at the moment.
Bass
The low-end quantity factor is less than moderate and requires some boosting to achieve what I would consider a flat feel to the experience. The midrange is a bit bloomed, meaning forward, so the stock bass experience takes a back seat, sort of.
I require a little boost down yonder to pipe up the bottom end to a placement that I feel matches the physical quantity of the midrange. And yet more to get it into what I would consider moderate levels of bass quantity.
The T5 3rd Generation is not a basshead headphone. If you want that, you might want to check out their older DT770 series models, as they offer significantly more bass.
Bass Purity and Impact
For $999, I feel the T5 3rd Generation bass to be relatively justified, the focal point of this headphone is not the low end, so I am not going to take any points off for it not providing exceptional bass prowess.
What you get is a bit thick in physicality, which I enjoy and find immensely musical. If you want accurate physicality or a clinical bass approach, this might not be your headphone of choice.
However, it will be a great option for those who want to sit out on the deck at sunset and sip a glass of wine while some soft jazz and relaxing tunes are playing.
Thankfully, the physical slam impact is soft on the approach that I regard it as almost massaging and soothing at times. Rather than impactful striking that can be a bit wince-worthy, the T5 3rd Generation went the opposite way about it and is hyper-relaxed and soft on physical bass slam effect.
Bass Response
Yes, you need to really crank up the bass EQ dial to get more bass out of the T5 3rd Generation. I actually run at a +10dB, which is on the high side for me, just to get what I consider acceptable bass quantity levels.
Now the good thing here is that there is no sullying of the quality even at this high value of additive bass. The response to EQ is relatively low and requires a lot of it to get a moderate amount of an increase.
However, the T5 3rd Generation retains quality up to extremely high levels (subjective for me) even up to +10dB without it sounding terrible or muddying too much. This is a great thing for me because I am absolutely sick in the head with my personal listening experiences. I like a lot of bass, but of course, as a reviewer, I have to be objective.
Midrange
Interestingly, the T5 3rd Generation has a relaxed midrange position for vocals, really the entire spectrum actually. It is just a bit distance feeling overall and not what I can call a forward-sounding headphone. The vocal experience being so relaxed makes the headphones sound even softer on the approach.
A forward midrange bloom is absent in the T5 3rd Generation. But also, this headphone is not at all V-shaped or overly recessed in the mids compared to the bass and treble. Both of which there of the latter does not sound more pronounced than the midrange, the entire spectrum is very linear if you boost the bass just a tiny bit.
The stock experience makes the headphone’s mid and treble areas feel a little more blossomed than the low end. So, with that in mind, you get more of a vocal presence sense if you leave the bottom end untouched.
Upper Mids
These are probably the most relaxing headphones I have owned, so believe me when I say I will be using them often to relax and wind down at the end of the day. I also often use them in the morning to wake up slowly. I pour my coffee and opt for the soft and relaxing set to start my day. And currently, in my arsenal, that’s the T5 3rd Generation.
Typically, bright-sounding headphones can be a bit potent in the upper midrange area or suffer from a sense of nasalness. It seems the T5 3rd Generation is more subdued on the upper treble experience and they’ve played it very, very safe.
Making sure not to let any harshness in the treble leak into the upper mids is a good thing. True, I consider the headphone very soft feeling, but there are times where I would like slightly more bite.
I will call the T5 3rd Generation a reserved midrange headphone, one that is not very engaging in a physical sense. This headphone is great for soft and slow music. It requires more lively energy in the upper mids to be a headphone I would want to rock out with.
Treble
The top side of the T5 3rd Generation has a very gentle sparkle to them, while also retaining a sense of soothing impact. This is rare. I wonder if that has something to do with the angled drivers perhaps bounding treble frequencies indirectly into your ear.
More often than not, I can say a headphone with some gentle sparkle will also tend to sound a bit harsh too on dynamic impact factor. But that is not the case once again here on the T5 3rd Generation.
It retains a very rich flavor, lacking any feeling of thinness and harshness. Tracks that I know to be very impacting and harsh are inverted too much more tolerable and friendly on my eardrums.
If you value soothing impact, this is a great option. If you want a good zing factor up top, then I would opt for the T1 instead. As for quality, top tier. For this price, the T5 3rd Generation is right on par with what I would expect a $999 headphone in today’s market to appeal to. No doubt, the top side is very clean.
What I want to emphasize though is the physicality factor, it is very a dense feeling and lacking a razor edge that is problematic in many other products out there. I sense no sharpness whatsoever.
Imaging
In classic beyerdynamic style, the bubble void you are presented with is extremely coherent and pleasing. While not particularly wide or tall, the depth of field factor is excellent.
beyerdynamic’s house sound is of equal parts width and height, a perfectly formed circle that lacks nowhere and with no part of the soundstage feeling overly larger than any other aspect. Coherency is the name of the game, as it always was and likely always will be with this company. And I love that.
No, this is no HD800, but it is the total inverse of the HD800 just as the T1 had been: intimate feeling, relaxed, not overly expansive, and not a stretched feeling. This is the perfect setting for slow morning jazz and beats. If you like Lo-Fi remixes, you are going to go nuts for this T5 3rd Generation.
Synergy
Power Requirements
The T5 3rd Generation model is rated at only 32Ω so you don’t really “need” an amplifier…although…I do recommend you still use one.
Unless you are using one of the popular Hifi DAP’s out there that have a great sound and amplifier inside of it already, I would be looking into a good 3.5mm to 3.5mm interconnect + a good small portable amplifier that you can strap to your music player or your phone.
The good news is that I have not found that more power equated to an increase in bass quantity, this is a dynamic driver headphone and not a Planar, which the latter are known for increasing bass potency with more power.
Such is not the case here. You receive pretty much the same quantity no matter the amplification pipped in. So, my recommendation as a reviewer and audiophile would be to purchase a very good mid-tier to an upper-tier music source and run with that.
Pairings
Portable Pairings
I use an xDuoo X3, quite old school by today’s standards, as my music source. But there is a catch, I connect it to the ULTRASONE Panther, one of the best mid-tier portable amplifiers out there. And so small!
The meshing with the T5 3rd Generation is exceptionally good. I want the most effortless soundstage pairing possible and Panther really gives that to me on a personal level, maximizing the capability of the T5’s imaging while retaining great softness on the low end.
I could also always rock the CEntrance HiFi-M8 V2, but I found that to provide an overly sterile tonality that I am unfond of with the T5 3rd Generation on a personal level, while the experience is indeed clearer sounding, I found the Panther Rig + T5 to offer a better musical tone meshing.
Desktop Pairings
As for the home desktop rig, as mentioned, I have no need for it. I am maxing out the potential of the T5 with the Panther and the X3 rig. Dropping in the Burson Conductor 3 full-size amp and DAC doesn’t do much for improvement overall.
Yes, I feel more of a sense of the depth of field with the more expensive home rig, but overall, the much more expensive rig doesn’t improve raw fidelity enough to warrant continued usage.
If you do want a home rig, I recommend something known for slight warmth and excellent depth of field. I would even stretch this into the past and look for a used Burson Conductor SL with a 17xx series chip installed. I think that would mesh very well with this T5.
You can sterilize the T5 3rd Generation a fair amount, as I have shown with the CEntrance M8v2, so be careful. If you want more clinical tonality, you can easily acquire it if your source and amp are clinical.
Our Verdict
The T5 3rd Generation is a coherency master. But the opposite tonality of the T1 original model. Smooth, relaxing, but able to give you more or less warmth of clinical appeal if you so desire it. Detachable cable, excellent comfort, and excellent visuals combine for one of the nicer sounding and better-looking sub $999 headphones out there on the market.
The T5 3rd Generation are now my go-to wake-up and go-to-bed headphones. No longer do I have to listen to harsh impact for the sake of Hifi tier clarity. Nope. Now, I can relax and kick back while enjoying a softer impacting headphone that still retains upper-tier fidelity across the board.
beyerdynamic T5 (3rd Generation) Specifications
- Headphone Frequency Response 5 – 50,000 Hz
- Nominal Sound Pressure Level 100 Db (1mw)
- Nominal Impedance Headphones 32 Ohms
- Weight Headphones Without Cable 360 G
