T+A Elektroakustic Solitaire T: Do-It-All Headphones?

If high-end audio is to stay related into the 2030s and past, it will likely be because of merchandise like T+A Elektroakustic’s Solitaire T headphones. Admittedly, a pair of $1600 headphones (all costs in USD) will not be one thing the typical client has been crying out for. But let’s say you’re nominally into hi-fi and infrequently take heed to music on a modest desktop system whereas working nearly for The Man. The tunes you stream as a keyboard jockey are interrupted by frequent calls from colleagues aimed toward driving course of enchancment and consumer satisfaction. To decompress, you wander outdoors for a stroll, anticipating a change of surroundings—however not so anticipating the sound of automobiles buzzing by or the din of building within the distance. Your evenings are punctuated by doing the dishes, prepping a child’s lunch, and wiping down counters to the soundtrack of a favourite podcast or YouTube video. Maybe, when you’re actually motivated, you’ll keep up late to look at a TV present in your iPad or play a videogame in your most popular gaming system. Rinse. Repeat.

Until just lately, no single earphone or headphone design may fulfill all these duties in audiophile-approved type. But having just lately reviewed T+A’s Solitaire S 530 loudspeaker and beforehand reviewed their PA 2000 R built-in amplifier and MP 2000 digital participant, I knew the German agency was onto one thing once they introduced their expensive Solitaire T headphones again in 2022. These high-end ’telephones purportedly do every part nicely. Jim Shannon, T+A’s press man—and among the finest professionals I’ve met on this trade—kindly obliged after I requested if I may borrow a pair. I felt that I embodied the target market for this product. My white evaluate headphones (in addition they are available in black) appeared and felt terrific out of the field—their brushed-aluminum earcups had been a decidedly upscale departure from mainstream equivalents like Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones ($398).

The T+A Solitaire Ts are a veritable Swiss Army knife, so it’s essential to put out every part these headphones can do. For hi-fi purists, the Solitaire Ts can run in passive wired mode like a standard pair of cans and include the anticipated accoutrements, together with a number of audio cables and adapters, in addition to a USB-C charging cable. On the wi-fi entrance, you get three modes: ANC On (for energetic noise cancellation), ANC Off, and High Quality. The first two depend on a Sony chip to deal with ANC and D-to-A conversion, whereas High Quality mode leverages an audiophile-grade ESS Labs ES9218. Note that you could’t use ANC with High Quality mode engaged. The T+A Solitaire Ts use Bluetooth 5.1 and assist all main codecs, together with aptX HD. They sport a 1200mAh battery that T+A claims permits the headphones to play music wirelessly for 35 hours in High Quality mode and a whopping 70 hours in ANC Off mode. Predictably, play time is shorter with energetic noise cancellation engaged. The T+As ship ensconced in packaging that befits a luxurious $1600 product, so that you gained’t really feel shortchanged throughout the unboxing expertise. A sq. carrying case safeguards your funding throughout journey.

Inside every earcup is a 42mm dynamic driver with a cellulose diaphragm. It’s greater than full-range, with a frequency response of 4Hz–22kHz in energetic mode and 4Hz–45kHz in passive mode. Their 64-ohm passive impedance allowed the Solitaire Ts to simply companion with my varied Apple units. They ought to show a simple load for any client gadget or headphone amp. T+A additionally supplies Solitaire, a companion app for iOS and Android, which works nicely, mirroring many of the Solitaire Ts’ performance onscreen and offering a method of updating the firmware and EQing them by means of some preset choices. I confirmed that the presets labored however did all my listening with no EQ engaged.

In hand, the Solitaire Ts really feel terrific; their brushed aluminum body and their gentle leather-based earpads and headrest reek of high quality. The earcups swivel roughly 180 levels and fold to make their footprint smaller. Headphones are not often stunning, however the T+As appeared skilled sufficient that I, a company stooge, wouldn’t look misplaced sporting them on video calls with colleagues. On Teams and Zoom calls by way of my work laptop computer and private calls by way of my iPhone 14 Pro, the Solitaire Ts sounded superb in ANC Off mode. Voices had respectable definition and good heart fill, however there’s solely a lot you are able to do with low-quality supply materials. Engaging ANC helped after I took private calls whereas washing dishes or doing laundry, or with my workplace house heater blasting throughout a cold Pennsylvania winter. I’ll say that my second-generation Apple AirPods Pro earbuds appeared to scale back noise throughout a broader frequency vary. But given their differing passive noise attenuation, evaluating over-ear headphones to earbuds is hardly truthful.

If you wish to keep on a dialog whereas sporting the Solitaire Ts, you possibly can faucet the touch-sensitive button on the appropriate earcup to interact the Transparency mode. Sounds picked up by the microphones will likely be performed by way of the headphones. This characteristic allowed me to wander round my residence workplace and kitchen whereas multitasking with out having to take the headphones off—to speak with my higher half, as an example. And the battery life was really liberating. I went weeks between expenses through the included USB-C cable. In ANC On and ANC Off modes, the T+As had been faultless in day-to-day use.

High Quality mode was fascinating. Pivoting from ANC Off to High Quality mode yielded unquestionably clearer, extra articulate sound. Voices tended to have higher edge definition and three-dimensionality, whereas music had higher spatial definition, each between and round devices and vocals. It was sufficiently subtle that I couldn’t fairly make it out whereas A/B testing the 2 modes for the primary time, however after per week of switching between the 2, I undoubtedly discovered myself favoring High Quality mode. And I appreciated having the choice of turning off the ESS DAC to double the Solitaire Ts’ battery life. The solely wrinkle I skilled with High Quality mode was that in calls or whereas watching YouTube movies on my iPhone, I often heard pictures of static when altering the amount or utilizing onscreen controls. I didn’t expertise this whereas listening to music on Tidal or watching reveals or films, and it wasn’t a difficulty within the different modes.

I spent most of my listening time with the T+A Solitaire Ts working passively, wired through the included 3.5mm stereo miniplug-terminated cable to my modest desktop system consisting of a Drop + THX AAA 789 headphone amplifier, an SMSL DO100 DAC, and a Chromecast Audio dongle operating as my Roon Endpoint. I may use these headphones for quarter-hour or 5 hours and so they had been equally snug, serving to me concentrate on my work. The Solitaire Ts delivered a step up in sound high quality in comparison with my modest reference headphones, AKG’s inexpensive K371 ($185). They had been extra forward-sounding than the Harman curve–following K371s, however not objectionably so, with the T+As providing superior transparency to supply materials and higher readability on vocals and solo devices. Bass-heavy tracks highlighted the Solitaire Ts’ taut, prolonged bass, which by no means turned boomy; and the T+As exhibited higher mid-bass punch than my AKGs. Their prime finish was additionally splendidly prolonged, imbued with loads of vitality and sparkle. The voicing on the Solitaire Ts was terrific. Exciting, however by no means fatiguing. Detailed, however by no means soulless.

I reveled within the potential to unplug the headphones, interact ANC On mode, and make a cellphone name for work with out having to take them off. I may throw them on to look at a few of my favourite tech or automotive YouTubers whereas cleansing my kitchen late at evening after placing my child to mattress after which activate one thing from the Max streaming service whereas consuming a late dinner, all in posh consolation and excessive constancy. Yes, Bluetooth is lossy, however not as soon as did I care. What I cared about was the large sonic enchancment the Solitaire Ts delivered over my Apple AirPods Pro and their potential to traverse each utilization state of affairs I may think about. Are they designed to accompany Netflix comedy specials on an iPad whereas mendacity in mattress? Probably not. Was anybody else on this planet utilizing them the way in which I did, in passive mode with my desktop stack to play Counter-Strike 2 and Halo Infinite on my gaming PC? Definitely not. Yet the Solitaire Ts excelled in every state of affairs.

I don’t doubt that for the $1600 you’d spend on T+A’s Solitaire T headphones you would discover purely passive headphones which might be technically superior. And there are a mess of client earbuds and headphones out there for a couple of hundred {dollars} which might be surprisingly good on each the sonic and have fronts. But solely the $999 Mark Levinson No. 5909 headphones spring to thoughts as one thing that injects a really hi-fi pedigree into the Bluetooth headphone class and—with apologies to Mark Levinson and Harman International—they appear to be low-cost gaming headphones. From my perspective, the Solitaire Ts are in a category of their very own given their mixture of efficiency, flexibility, and match and end.

Living with the T+A Solitaire Ts was eye-opening—they proved to be a no-fuss, high-quality companion in every single place I used them. These really are do-it-all headphones that do every part nicely. The greatest praise I will pay them is to say that they turned a valued device in my day-to-day arsenal, one which simply labored and that I by no means needed to fuss with. I may use them for hours each day with out having to troubleshoot or be overly cautious with how I dealt with them. For the appropriate patrons, T+A’s Solitaire Ts would be the solely headphones they should personal. Indeed, they would be the solely audio product they’ll want, full cease.

Hans Wetzel
Senior Contributor, SoundStage!