[rgbyhkr]

Pardon my ignorance, but was is meant by HQ?

"High Quality"

 

[sofastreamer]

i do not get the point of t+a in building some of the best planars around and than take a step back to build a bt headphone with a dynamic driver. it will have hard times when compared to the offerings of apple and beoplay.
they should have done a bt planar and if so i would not mind if its pricewould be up to 1.8k. a dynamic portable is not what i would put that amount of money in, even if it sounds great for a dynamic.
btw: as i grew up about 15km way from t+a headquarters i know the owner personally. i will ask him next time i am in that area.

 

[rgbyhkr]

i do not get the point of t+a in building some of the best planars around and than take a step back to build a bt headphone with a dynamic driver. it will have hard times when compared to the offerings of apple and beoplay.
they should have done a bt planar and if so i would not mind if its pricewould be up to 1.8k. a dynamic portable is not what i would put that amount of money in, even if it sounds great for a dynamic.
btw: as i grew up about 15km way from t+a headquarters i know the owner personally. i will ask him next time i am in that area.

It's a fair question to ask and if you do get an answer, please do post it here. My guess is that a big part of the design decision was a form factor that was truly portable friendly. That then limits overall ear cup size and as a result the space available for a planar driver and the associated electronics to drive it. It is an interesting gamble though as none of us will expect it to sound anywhere as good as the P or P-SE given that the T uses a different driver tech and is closed back vs open, but pricing it as high as they are sets expectations that it should sound special. They must then be going with the philosophy of creating something that eclipses what competitors in the BT space have done so far and is priced accordingly. Basically taking the approach of "let's create the best travel friendly closed back BT solution we can and whatever that has to be priced at, so be it", At least I hope that's what they did and that the sound measures up.

Separately, I think there is a market for higher priced Headphones that offer BT - if they also have passive wired modes like the T. It's a pretty crowded space in the $250 to $550 BT range right bow but I think there are plenty of buyers in communities like this one who are willing to spend more for better sound. We are seeing a lot of interest in the new B&W PX8 as well as the Bathys at $700 and $800 respectively and yet neither one has a passive wired mode. In fairness, those are half of what the T will cost, but I have a feeling the additional BT products Focal is developing (Focal CEO said Bathys is the first in what will be more BT solutions in an interview with Headphones.com) will be higher priced than the Bathys to offer users sound signatures similar to something in the Celestee to Radiance price point assumably with the flexibility of using analog wired operation too.

 

[rgbyhkr]

Also, finally a new release window from T+A. From their website:

"The Solitaire Ts are now in production and will become available in Mid-November."

 

[angelom]

We are seeing a lot of interest in the new B&W PX8 as well as the Bathys at $700 and $800 respectively and yet neither one has a passive wired mode.

The Mark Levinson 5909 (that releasing 8 months ago) costing 1000€ / $1000 AND having real passive mode too and the sound is excellent.

 

[rgbyhkr]

The Mark Levinson 5909 (that releasing 8 months ago) costing 1000€ / $1000 AND having real passive mode too and the sound is excellent.

Yup, they do. They and the T are the only ones that do. Unfortunately, the look of them (regardless of color option) is just not to my liking. Normally for home use I wouldn't mind so much but for something on the go, I get a little more picky about visual aesthetics. The white Solitaire T on the other hand caught my eye right away.

 

[angelom]

For me one problem is the BT Solitaire don’t have leather earpads and this is a requirement for me. If not, my ears are getting hot and starting sweating easily. Bathys, 5909, H95 and PX8 all having real leather earpads.

The comfort of 5909, by the way, is unique.

 

[Benesyed]

For me one problem is the BT Solitaire don’t have leather earpads and this is a requirement for me. If not, my ears are getting hot and starting sweating easily. Bathys, 5909, H95 and PX8 all having real leather earpads.

The comfort of 5909, by the way, is unique.

I think me and Angelom are in the same boat 5909 and PX8 the two best choices. The only difference is I have Android so my volume options and control are much better and precise as opposed to the Apple implementation which makes the PX-8 the best choice.


Regardless I am interested in a plus a so I will admit I probably will not buy them right at launch the way some other people will or as I did with the Bathys, PX-8 and the 5909. Given how satisfied I am with my 5909 I have the leisure of letting all of you guys review them first and benefiting from the shoulders of giants so to speak

 

[godsound101]

Here is a link to the preorder

https://audio46.com/products/t-a-solitaire-t-wireless-noise-cancelling-headphones

Thanks for sharing the link, Iwas looking for one myself.

 

[rgbyhkr]

i do not get the point of t+a in building some of the best planars around and than take a step back to build a bt headphone with a dynamic driver. it will have hard times when compared to the offerings of apple and beoplay.
they should have done a bt planar and if so i would not mind if its pricewould be up to 1.8k. a dynamic portable is not what i would put that amount of money in, even if it sounds great for a dynamic.

Realized I forgot another point in response to this. I think Meze has shown that it's possible for a company to produce flagship TOTL headphones with one driver technology but also produce lower priced headphones with dynamic drivers and have both be very well regarded. I'm thinking here of the Empyrean and the 109 pro. Both have been very well received even though they use very different drivers. I hope T+A accomplishes the same with the T vs the P.

 

[BartG]

I was listening to Solitaires T today on fairs in Warsaw. Their rep said they are going to start shipping them backend next week or week later latest.

These are pretty aggressive in highs. I did the listening in passive mode and... their price is fair. These are so much more refined than for example Bathys from Focal. Different class.

Fantastic detail retrieval, far from being bassy (it'sthere but on very different end than competition), nice vocals. It was enjoyable experience even though I prefer warmer stuff (LCD-X'21 being my daily driver).

I managed to use the sliders to pop up anc for a while and it was working ok (keeping in mind they were presenting headphones in the same room their ludspeakers were playing.

Very well built, very small - it may be a problem for people with bigger ears, very comfy.

They are saying that the development started from building compact closed backs and after that adding rest of stuff. After 30 mins I could say that as passives they did the job well.

 

[rgbyhkr]

I was listening to Solitaires T today on fairs in Warsaw. Their rep said they are going to start shipping them backend next week or week later latest.

These are pretty aggressive in highs. I did the listening in passive mode and... their price is fair. These are so much more refined than for example Bathys from Focal. Different class.

Fantastic detail retrieval, far from being bassy (it'sthere but on very different end than competition), nice vocals. It was enjoyable experience even though I prefer warmer stuff (LCD-X'21 being my daily driver).

I managed to use the sliders to pop up anc for a while and it was working ok (keeping in mind they were presenting headphones in the same room their ludspeakers were playing.

Very well built, very small - it may be a problem for people with bigger ears, very comfy.

They are saying that the development started from building compact closed backs and after that adding rest of stuff. After 30 mins I could say that as passives they did the job well.

Thank you for the listening impressions and your feedback sounds like T+A took the development approach that I hope they would have with these. Did the rep happen to mention when the app will be available to control onboard EQ?

 

[angelom]

Thank you for the listening impressions and your feedback sounds like T+A took the development approach that I hope they would have with these. Did the rep happen to mention when the app will be available to control onboard EQ?

I have the impression that T+A are probably making statement that the factory sound of T model is sufficiently excellent and is enough and that no EQ is necessary, that both BT and passive modes will offering top level sound. Is strange releasing a very expensive product without all things ready, in case they planning releasing app in the (near) future.

I still think that a very good EQ is very desirable via app, even if other features in this app are very limited. The factory sound maybe excellent but people, for this type of expensive product, must having option for changing the sound, specially when you having so, so many mastering qualities in different types of music.

 

[BartG]

Thank you for the listening impressions and your feedback sounds like T+A took the development approach that I hope they would have with these. Did the rep happen to mention when the app will be available to control onboard EQ?

No, I wasn't asking. I think they will provide such options as without it, Ts remain niche product, even among people interested in high sound quality. Their natural tuning will not hit all spots all around (at least not mine) at this point I would go for Meze Lyrics with their surprisingly good passive isolation and fantastic tuning which was making my legs, hands & head moving regardless what was playing )

 

[C_Lindbergh]

For that price I want the latest Qualcomm SoC that supports LE audio/ATPX lossless/APTX voice in order to be future proof. And also for the OEM to offer battery replacement for a fair fee for a very long time.

Also really sucks that the ear cups wont be made of real leather...And touch controls doesn't really feel premium to me, id much rather have tacticle buttons in a premium material.

For me this is a pass...I'm sure the sound quality will be amazing, but there's more to BT/ANC cans. Above all it really sucks that these wont be future proof when it comes to BT-tech.

It does please me however that more "audiophile" companies are getting into premium ANC-market! Focal, Mark Levingstone and now T:A! I hope Meze is next, I so want a BT/ANC take on the lirics.