beyerdynamicT5 Stereo Headphones (3rd Gen)

Who knew that back in 2014, when Meghan Trainer sang, “all about that bass – no treble,” she may have inspired the Beyerdynamic’s engineers to create such an audio device that would meet her approval. In 2020, Beyerdynamic released the T5, 3rd generation closed-back headphones, with bass that rivals loudspeakers IMO. If bold, dynamic and realistic bass response is not your thing when listening with headphones, the T5 is not for you.Before I get into a sound review, let me remark about the appearance of the T5. It is totally unremarkable. Nobody will think you have high-end headphones over your ears with that perforated sheet metal design. But, when you touch the T5, it feels very high-end. I never thought about how often we touch our headphones until I wore the T5. It feels great and very comfortable to wear. It does a fantastic job of blocking outside noises, which is one reason I prefer this over the open-back models.The T5 comes with a 4-foot cable that is perfectly sized for my needs. For sound review, I will be using the iFi Micro iDSD Black Label DAC without its bass boost and all songs played from WAV files. I have uploaded a graph of the Beyerdynamic T5’s frequency response (FR) from Crinacle.com. The lower graph in gray color compensates the raw FR to the IEF Neutral Target as a method to compare with all other makes and models. This will be the graph I’ll refer to and its purpose is to give a better understanding on the strengths and weaknesses of the T5.Upon listening, the first thing I noticed was the power of the bass. I was taken aback by the dynamics, depth and tones that captured unique bass expressions higher up the FR that are being played on contemporary music today, but were missed by other headphones I’ve listened to. A look at the Crinacle.com FR graph shows that the T5 bass response has a huge 10db gain over the IEF Neutral Target at 100Hz, followed by a slow rollover that hits down to the same line around the 280Hz. One would expect the extended bass output of the T5 would muddle up the lower mid-range vocals, but I did not hear that. What I did hear was an accurate reproduction of bass expressions that were similar to my own sub-woofer and near six-foot high loudspeakers, all driven by Bryston Audio equipment. I didn’t expect that, but credit must be given to the quality of the driver system developed by Beyerdynamic.For example, Twenty-One Pilots explosive bass opening at 21:25 seconds on their song “Chlorine,” has bass levels that would awaken the dead if one played it loud enough at a graveyard. Tyler uses DSP to shape that bold, unique bass expression with distortion heard in the upper bass frequencies. The T5 reproduces it much like a great loudspeaker system. When compared to another elevated bass headphones, the popular Audio-Technica ATH-M50X, in which I also own, I found it misses on depth, dynamics and fails to nail that full distorted bass sound.Another example comes from Lana Del Rey’s “13 Beaches.” At 42:19 seconds, the dark, haunting bass hit comes in with two peaks together shown on a spectrum analyzer (see uploaded screen shot). One at 125Hz and at the same time, another at 225Hz. It’s the cord composition that creates this big dark sound that causes the two spikes. If the typical headphone bass FR dropped below the neutral target line at 180Hz, you would not fully experience that important upper bass expression to the song. The T5 nails it perfectly as one would have heard it on a great sound system.I’m a big fan of trance and EDM. The M50X doesn’t quite capture the right tone, size and dynamics of EDM bass. Also, EDM is noted for its bright high frequency and with the M50X, you get that along with a very thin, brittle treble. When listening to ILLITHEAS “Breath of Life,” the track sounds gorgeous, rich and deep with the T5.In songs where the bass is not a dominate instrument, the T5 correctly places it in its proper order to the music. As I’m writing this review, I’m listening to Dion’s Blues with Friends, with Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamasa, Samantha Fish, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, ZZ Top and others. Nowhere is the bass dominate on this album. The lead guitars are the stars and the bass propels the blues forward without intrusion on the vocals or guitars. However, play The Police’s “The Bed’s Too Big Without You,” where Sting’s bass is the lead instrument, holy Moses, you are in for a treat.When it comes to dynamics on the T5, just play the first two notes from Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times.” I literally ducked for cover! It was the depth of the dynamics that surprised me. Also, play The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” When Meg hits her drum, your jaw will drop because the dynamics are that good. This is the case of just not hearing the music, but experiencing it.So, what’s not to like on the T5? Meghan Trainer said, “no treble,” but what the T5 really needed is a .5db rise at the 1kHz and 2kHz FR levels. Without that minor Eq adjustment, I found the mid-range to be slightly dark. You can see it on the uploaded graph. There is a substantial dip at the critical 2kHz area, which can be heard. So, a minor Eq should be done to bring out the best in the vocals. On brightly recorded songs, Eq adjustment won’t be needed. You will find the vocals and instruments to be rich and immersive with a lot of depth. Acoustic and electric guitars are phenomenal with the T5, because of its ability to allow guitars chords to resonate both wide and deep with their complex harmonics.The T5’s offset drivers create a soundstage which is much like what one hears at a live performance in a moderately-sized theater. The vocals are in front of you, the guitars are behind the vocalist and the drums are further back. It’s a wall-of-sound with depth and superb imaging of vocals and instruments. The open-back headphone designs are more expansive than closed-backs, but the T5 presents a very realistic soundstage.Not everyone will like the T5’s bold and dynamic bass response. For classical and jazz, I would select different headphones that expands the mid-range and exposes more micro-details. And that is why an audiophile owns multiple headphones to match the mood of music one wants to hear. When the mood is “all about that bass,” the Beyerdynamic T5 will deliver great music for you.

TL;DR: Fantastic headphones when driven from a competent source. If you are a discriminating listener who likes closed-backs, just get these; you will be glad that you did!Long form: For over a year have had the DT1770 Pro. The 1770s are exceptional: very comfortable with good build quality, but what really stands out is the superb Sound (clear, high definition, inaudible distortion, without over-boosted bass, spacious) - but to get these outstanding qualities you need to drive them with really good components: a high-quality DAC & wide-swing Amp to really make them sing.After reading various reviews here and elsewhere decided to go for the T5 3rd gen. Relative to the DT1770 Pro: The build quality is even better, comfort is higher; but what really matters: The Sound.After a 24 hour burn-in, listened to them one-after-another using high def recordings (Chesky!) through same excellent DAC / Amp. The T5 is a definite step up from the DT1770 Pro. There is more clarity, depth, and a more spacious sound (*especially* for a closed back).Conclusion: Overall very excellent headphones: Sound, quality, comfort. To me, the T5 is better than the DT1770... but, is the T5 worth the $400 price increment over the DT1770 Pros? Unless you are a really discriminating, focused listener, that is up for debate. Will I keep these T5s? Absolutely!

These closed-back headphones are lightweight and comfortable for extended listening sessions. The included cable is encased in a fabric jacket and is pliable and easy to work with. As a bonus, Beyerdynamic provides a very nice fabric-covered hard carrying case.Out of the box, full bandwidth performance is smooth and dynamic. Bass is powerful but not boomy, providing deep extension and a clean response. Midrange and treble are generally accurate and non-fatiguing. The problem is that the tuning of the T5 deviates so far from the Harman target frequency response that tonal balance and resolution suffer significantly. In some louder dynamic passages, for example, the large bass boost centered on approximately 120 Hz becomes overly prominent vs. higher frequency portions of the music. Also, the substantial dip centered at 400 Hz can be perceived as a certain “hollowness” in the lower midrange. These issues are especially apparent in direct a/b comparisons between the stock, unEQ’d sound of the T5s and the response after EQ. I EQ’d them as close as possible to Harman using my Qudelix 5K DAC/amp, and the improvement was stunning. With EQ, the T5s were substantially more detailed and tonally accurate throughout the audible range. Imaging and instrument separation were more focused, and the T5s were an absolute delight to listen to. Don't get me wrong — the stock sound quality of the T5s is actually pretty good, but proper EQ takes them from 8/10 to 10/10. In fact, I’m willing to bet that a properly EQ’d pair of Beyerdynamic T5s would compare favorably to just about any other closed-back headphones on the market, even much more expensive ones.

I was looking for a certain audio sound and these headphones more than met my expectations. I use them mostly on my PC for watching and listening to music videos. I heard musical instruments that before this I thought were buried in the mix but with these Beyerdynamic T5 headphones reproduced everything with crystal clear reproduction without any part being overwhelming. The bass was clear and present without booming whic is what I was looking for. Couldn't be more happy.