This review would be from a NOOB point of view. I'm doing this review because its a review I wish I had when I was 'outside looking in' at all these people on the forums talk about the sonic nirvana they achieved from all their hifi audio equipment. So if i actually purchase these $1000 dollar headphones with some good amps and sources is it all worth the price and do they actually sound that much better from my el cheapo headphones i can get from best buy.
I'm like the average guy listening to stuff with equipment most people use: computer, phone, speakers from your car, headphones that come with your watever, etc.
This review will be for Audeze 2.2F with no other equipment, and as I start adding more equipment (amps, dacs, etc) I will be posting updates and my experience as well.
So.. just got my Audeze 2.2 fazors and been listening to them for about an hour now. Since I don't have anything else yet (amp update below, dacs coming soon) I just plugged them into my sound card where you would plug in your speakers.
Some of the things I noticed:
- really surprised how loud they can get just from my integrated sound card from my motherboard. I can put it up to the point where i feel like im at a rock concert loud. After all these reading on the forums about big amps for the audezes the volume i can get from just the computer was not what I was expecting. It sounds very clear as well all the way to the top volume. Now I know it isn't just about volume, but something i want to make a note of. When people talk about how you only need so so amount of power to get to certain crazy loud decibel levels so no need for gigawatt amps, well my integrated sound card can get to loud levels. So I'm guessing amps do more than just provide high volumes? We will see...
-when they say they are open drivers and not closed, they're not joking. i can hear my computer fans through these headphones on certain tracks, to the point of annoying. When you are silent parts of a song you want silence not a fan whirling around
- Clarity wise it is definitely better than my el cheapo $50 headphones, but not $950 better. I mean I can hear things I couldn't before with my other headphones, and things got noticeably clearer. Again this is with just my Audeze plugged into my computer and thats it, take it witha grain of salt. If I would rate my cheapo headphones on a scale of 1-10 I would say clarity would be 5 and Audeze would be 8-9? it isn't WOW though, at least not yet.
-some tracksi could notice each sound coming from distinct areas. Even though it all still sounds somewhat inside my head, i can pinpoint distinct sounds coming from one location and couple inches away another sound from another location. Thats something new i haven't experience, pretty cool
-Little things like instruments in the background here and there sound different now, they're more detailed to the point where they actually sound very different than before
-weight wise.. although i haven't had 2+ hour sessions yet.. the one hour I had them on honestly the weight doesn't bother me one bit
Now if i just left my equipment as is, then right now it's not worth the $1000 for maybe a 50% increase in clarity from my el cheapo headphones. I would return them and be kinda happy with my skullcandy headphones i got for free from my laptop, well i can live with them considering i saved $900+ dollars
I got a schiit audio amp Asgard 2 im going to get soon, and do a test with that plugged into my computer. Then hopefully a dac soon as soon as I can find a deal on one. Maybe bifrost or something like that.
to be continued...
UPDATE 5-21-2015
I received Arcam iRDAC in the mail and plugged it into my Schiit Asgard 2. First of all things did sound clearer, but other than that, I didn't notice much else. I spent an hour switching back and forth between the $700 irDAC and my motherboards Realtek onboard DAC, and the only difference I can make out was a small one when listening to female vocals like Norah Jones i can here the onboard DAC was little 'grainy'
Even this is questionable. I noticed that I was getting distortion on my on board sound card at max volume, and that could be the reason why there was a difference in vocals when comparing the irDAC to my onboard pc sound because I always had the onboard sound card at max volume. It wasnt until later I noticed this when plugging my LCD directly into the soundcard at max volume and noticed the distortion on a specific song, and when i listened to it with my amp there was no distortion.
To go even futher, at normal volumes I can't make out any difference between the onboard sound card and with the Asgard 2, other than the fact that at high volume I hear distortion from my pc sound card, whereas the Asgard 2 can take those volumes no problem. Sound quality wise, i can't make a difference. I know in my earlier review, I said it was noticeably clearer, but now I'm wondering if it was simply a volume increase, because now after 3 weeks I can't make out a difference if I compare them at same volume level.
I decided to return the irDAC and keep my $700 bucks. I can clearly tell a difference between my cheap headphones and going to LCD-2s' but after that, that's where things get foggy. After having these headphones for 3 weeks now listening to them for 3+ hours a day, and doing a lot of comparing between the amp/dac/ and the sound coming from my computer I'm a little confused. I'll keep the amp though, just so that I can listen to them at reasonably high volumes for those occasions without worrying about distortion.
Maybe its just my ears that aren't good enough? Well i did a frequency test shows that i can still hear up to 17k hertz. When I did a ABX test between a 16bit 44k file and a 24bit 96k file, I was right 15/16 which is over 90%. I can make out the difference between the 16bit and 24bit files but not between amps and dacs? As far as i'm concerned, sound quality wise the 16bit-24bit made more improvement than going to the amp/dac combo.
So i started reading the blog by NwAvguy who was banned from these forums and what he says just made sense to me, not to mention what I experience with my equipment. I went ahead and ordered the JDS labs O2-ODAC combo from his design for pennies compared to what I was originally planning on spending and be done with it. Transparent and accuracy is what I am aiming for.
Back to the headphones, the good news is that the sound quality from these alone will keep me happy enough to keep them for good. Its got a 3D effect when I listen to them and that probably has a lot to do with the open end design. The detail and position of each individual sounds is great, and the overall effect you get from all this is amazing. I started to realize that the overall experience you get (sound quality wise) is heavily dependent on the recording. If its done well, you will hear it, and if it isn't done well, then you'll hear that too. The way a song is recorded has a big influence in my overall experience when listening to music, to the point where I think it is too much. Now I'm looking at how this or that particular song was recorded and take that into consideration instead of just listening to the music.
Weight wise, after 3 weeks, I can see why people would sell these just for the weight and get something lighter. I've got mine pretty lose so that the ear pads are a little too low, but if I set them so that the ear pads are exactly center on my ears then the headphones literally feel like vise grips on my head. I got a cold right now so that may influence some but still they can feel very tight. I find myself wishing a pair of headphones that are light and just 'disappear' to where I only hear music. When i loosen them though it becomes manageable.
Thumbs up to LCD-2 fazors, I'm going to keep them.
I'm like the average guy listening to stuff with equipment most people use: computer, phone, speakers from your car, headphones that come with your watever, etc.
This review will be for Audeze 2.2F with no other equipment, and as I start adding more equipment (amps, dacs, etc) I will be posting updates and my experience as well.
So.. just got my Audeze 2.2 fazors and been listening to them for about an hour now. Since I don't have anything else yet (amp update below, dacs coming soon) I just plugged them into my sound card where you would plug in your speakers.
Some of the things I noticed:
- really surprised how loud they can get just from my integrated sound card from my motherboard. I can put it up to the point where i feel like im at a rock concert loud. After all these reading on the forums about big amps for the audezes the volume i can get from just the computer was not what I was expecting. It sounds very clear as well all the way to the top volume. Now I know it isn't just about volume, but something i want to make a note of. When people talk about how you only need so so amount of power to get to certain crazy loud decibel levels so no need for gigawatt amps, well my integrated sound card can get to loud levels. So I'm guessing amps do more than just provide high volumes? We will see...
-when they say they are open drivers and not closed, they're not joking. i can hear my computer fans through these headphones on certain tracks, to the point of annoying. When you are silent parts of a song you want silence not a fan whirling around
- Clarity wise it is definitely better than my el cheapo $50 headphones, but not $950 better. I mean I can hear things I couldn't before with my other headphones, and things got noticeably clearer. Again this is with just my Audeze plugged into my computer and thats it, take it witha grain of salt. If I would rate my cheapo headphones on a scale of 1-10 I would say clarity would be 5 and Audeze would be 8-9? it isn't WOW though, at least not yet.
-some tracksi could notice each sound coming from distinct areas. Even though it all still sounds somewhat inside my head, i can pinpoint distinct sounds coming from one location and couple inches away another sound from another location. Thats something new i haven't experience, pretty cool
-Little things like instruments in the background here and there sound different now, they're more detailed to the point where they actually sound very different than before
-weight wise.. although i haven't had 2+ hour sessions yet.. the one hour I had them on honestly the weight doesn't bother me one bit
Now if i just left my equipment as is, then right now it's not worth the $1000 for maybe a 50% increase in clarity from my el cheapo headphones. I would return them and be kinda happy with my skullcandy headphones i got for free from my laptop, well i can live with them considering i saved $900+ dollars
I got a schiit audio amp Asgard 2 im going to get soon, and do a test with that plugged into my computer. Then hopefully a dac soon as soon as I can find a deal on one. Maybe bifrost or something like that.
to be continued...
UPDATE 5-21-2015
I received Arcam iRDAC in the mail and plugged it into my Schiit Asgard 2. First of all things did sound clearer, but other than that, I didn't notice much else. I spent an hour switching back and forth between the $700 irDAC and my motherboards Realtek onboard DAC, and the only difference I can make out was a small one when listening to female vocals like Norah Jones i can here the onboard DAC was little 'grainy'
Even this is questionable. I noticed that I was getting distortion on my on board sound card at max volume, and that could be the reason why there was a difference in vocals when comparing the irDAC to my onboard pc sound because I always had the onboard sound card at max volume. It wasnt until later I noticed this when plugging my LCD directly into the soundcard at max volume and noticed the distortion on a specific song, and when i listened to it with my amp there was no distortion.
To go even futher, at normal volumes I can't make out any difference between the onboard sound card and with the Asgard 2, other than the fact that at high volume I hear distortion from my pc sound card, whereas the Asgard 2 can take those volumes no problem. Sound quality wise, i can't make a difference. I know in my earlier review, I said it was noticeably clearer, but now I'm wondering if it was simply a volume increase, because now after 3 weeks I can't make out a difference if I compare them at same volume level.
I decided to return the irDAC and keep my $700 bucks. I can clearly tell a difference between my cheap headphones and going to LCD-2s' but after that, that's where things get foggy. After having these headphones for 3 weeks now listening to them for 3+ hours a day, and doing a lot of comparing between the amp/dac/ and the sound coming from my computer I'm a little confused. I'll keep the amp though, just so that I can listen to them at reasonably high volumes for those occasions without worrying about distortion.
Maybe its just my ears that aren't good enough? Well i did a frequency test shows that i can still hear up to 17k hertz. When I did a ABX test between a 16bit 44k file and a 24bit 96k file, I was right 15/16 which is over 90%. I can make out the difference between the 16bit and 24bit files but not between amps and dacs? As far as i'm concerned, sound quality wise the 16bit-24bit made more improvement than going to the amp/dac combo.
So i started reading the blog by NwAvguy who was banned from these forums and what he says just made sense to me, not to mention what I experience with my equipment. I went ahead and ordered the JDS labs O2-ODAC combo from his design for pennies compared to what I was originally planning on spending and be done with it. Transparent and accuracy is what I am aiming for.
Back to the headphones, the good news is that the sound quality from these alone will keep me happy enough to keep them for good. Its got a 3D effect when I listen to them and that probably has a lot to do with the open end design. The detail and position of each individual sounds is great, and the overall effect you get from all this is amazing. I started to realize that the overall experience you get (sound quality wise) is heavily dependent on the recording. If its done well, you will hear it, and if it isn't done well, then you'll hear that too. The way a song is recorded has a big influence in my overall experience when listening to music, to the point where I think it is too much. Now I'm looking at how this or that particular song was recorded and take that into consideration instead of just listening to the music.
Weight wise, after 3 weeks, I can see why people would sell these just for the weight and get something lighter. I've got mine pretty lose so that the ear pads are a little too low, but if I set them so that the ear pads are exactly center on my ears then the headphones literally feel like vise grips on my head. I got a cold right now so that may influence some but still they can feel very tight. I find myself wishing a pair of headphones that are light and just 'disappear' to where I only hear music. When i loosen them though it becomes manageable.
Thumbs up to LCD-2 fazors, I'm going to keep them.
You do need to train your ears, but it need not take too long. My recommendation, is find some recordings that are regarded as the very best. Even get research and get some music that you aren't that interested in, consider it more of training. Listen to some of the best jazz and classical masterings. Listen to some of the best vocalists. Listen to the best recordings of classic rock.
What I'm finding is that the LCD2 is more sensitive to the quality of recording. I was really surprised that recordings I normally wasn't that interested in all of sudden sounded real-to-life on the LCD2. Many other current masterings sometimes were over compressed, and lacked dynamic.
I wouldn't go full blown on a DAC as yet. I know some PCs have some really cheap internal DACs, and if that is the case with yours it could seriously affect the sound quality.
Don't give up on them. While there is plenty of hyperbole and exaggerated claims, to a number of experienced ears, the LCD series are top in class and can compare to very expensive audiophile systems. For instance, here is an article were Arnie Nudell (a famous speaker designer) discusses the LCD-X and compares it the experience of a $30,000 plus stereo rig.