Beyerdynamic DT1350 headphone review

The Beyerdynamic DT1350 is one of the few portable headphones that Beyerdynamic has produced and the upgrade to their famed T50P. They are a German based company famous for making circumaural headphones, which are relatively big in size. The DT1530 however is small and is a supraaural headphone which means that it goes on the ears. They are a pair of closed headphones with tesla transformers. The tesla technology that they are using will be further explained in later paragraphs.

Quality

The quality of materials used to construct this headphone is top notch. Everything on the headphone seems to be made of metal alloy from the headband to the cans. The metal alloy used is solid and slightly malleable. The weight does increase a bit with the use of the metal, but does not affect the comfort when wearing these headphones. The on ear velour ear pads are thick and well padded. They create a good seal on the ears as they are not made form foam and provide excellent isolation. The headphones being closed headphones increases its portability factor by not increasing the sound going in and out of the cups. Even the headphones themselves are individually serial numbered. The cable is slightly stiffer and not as flexible as the conventional cables you would find on other headphones on the portable category. They come with a nylon carrying case with two adapters namely the 6.35mm and the airline adapter. The cable is of perfect length for portability at 1.2m.

Design

In terms of design, it looks slightly retro especially with the combination of metal and plastic. The plastic with a slight matte finish feels great with the metal. The cups are fully rotatable which allows it to be stored flat and is easier for portability. The headband is a split-articulating headband, which means that it can be split, and this evens out the pressure it has on the top of the head increasing the comfort.

Sound

Because of the closed back design, there is little noise leakage and no chance of these phones to sound hollow. The isolation on these phones are also good give the fact that they are closed backed making them even better for portability. Their highs and mids are reproduced well with these headphones. One thing missing with the sound from these headphones are good lows. There seems to be a significant absence of the lows but in replace of that absence is very good highs and mids. These headphones also lean towards bright sounds and can be fatiguing after awhile. The headphones really perform well with treble. They give smooth highs, which do not go over the top. Their mids gave very good vocal representation when listening to Bon Iver and Sean Carey. Together with the wonderful mids and highs, the DT1350 also does not fall short of details. The details on stringed instruments stood out even more due to the fact that the bass was slightly lacking. These headphones really can have you realizing defects in poor recordings. They have great soundstage and there is no problem feeling the depth and identifying different instruments in a song.

All said, I would not recommend these headphones on bass heavy music so bass lovers might want to skip this one. Treble heavy music such as classical and acoustic guitar work brilliantly with these headphones but not so much with the mainstream music nowadays with hip hop, and electronica in the music scene.

Tesla Technology

About the Tesla Technology, which is applied on the drivers, this is a relatively new technology, which Beyerdynamic has released into their Tesla headphone series and has been present since 2010. They are meant to help bring up the level of detailed sound with maximum efficiency. This means less power usage from portable devices with higher quality sound. The name Tesla comes form Nikola Tesla known as one of Thomas Edison apprentices. With that being said, these headphones can be driven and were made to be driven by portable devices. Having an amp is optional and will increase the sound quality that these headphones have and even bring up the bass a bit.

Overall, the Beyerdynamic DT1350 headphones are a great pair of portable headphones especially for people who love treble and bright sounds. They are a bit on the pricier side, but based on the sound and the durability for portable and frequent use, they are well worth it.