Comparison: Lehmann back cube linear, Earmax pro, X-Can V8p (with HD 650) - Page 2

Interesting findings. I haven't compared these amps but to me BCL is pretty much the best match up for HD600. The reason for that is everything you wrote in your review. HD600 paired with some average amp sounds fussy, too warm, slow and lifeless. BCL makes them sound alive and opens them up. I would imagine that BCL sucks bad with something brighter like Grados or AKG but with HD6X0 it's a match made in heaven. I've heard HD800 also but not with BCL. Based on that audition, I wouldn't pair them up with BCL because HD800 sounds much brighter and lighter than HD6X0.

I guess we all have different ears. My pro audio engineer friend was here yesterday. I played him the Lehmann with the HD 650. Sounded pretty good, no really, really good. Then HD800. He thought it was the best thing he ever heard in head-fi. I certainly think the HD800 sounds amazing with the lehmann.The bright and and lightness of the HD800 becomes a marvelously detailed and open soundstage with the lehmann.

Anyway, I respect not everyone will hear it this way, but just thought you might enjoy getting another view into the mix.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mironathetin 

I agree with you that the HD 800 are great Headphones. Even Sennheiser used the LBC to present the HD 800, so there must be a good match between them.

I am sorry that I did not honour the HD 800 enough. They were just lying around when I tried the LBC and I put them on. I immediately realized that they sound far superior to the HD 650 (so I put them away quickly, because I wanted to focus on the amps, not be tempted to buy a new headphone ;o).

 

The point I wanted to make is: with the HD 650 I did not like the LBC for the noted reasons. With the HD 800 I could still hear what I did not like (though much less disturbing). I wrote this to make clear that my problems were not due to the HD 650 but due to the LBC, or probably only because both do not match, IMHO.

 

Ears are very personal things though, so we expect differences. Try to listen to the earmax. Comparison is the essence to understand differences. The earmax sound characteristic is very different to the LBC. While someone has mentioned that for electronic music the LBC sounds great, for classical, string or voices I did not appreciate its sound at all.

Probably it comes down to what you prefer to listen to and what you like:  your "marvelously detailed" is the half-full-glass-view, while my "decomposing" is the half-empty-glass view.  Could be that it describes the same thing.

In fact, I think it is.

My pro audio engineer test subject is very likely to value what you found annoying. In your original post I think you were trying to make the point that you found the Lehmann analytical more than musical. Actually he commented that he would have like to have had my HD800/Lehmann setup on the mixing job he just finished.

Furthermore, speaking on a personal note, I might also agree with your assessment were I to hear the earmax. Although in my case I am more satisfied with my system than any I have ever had as it is and I actually dread upsetting the apple cart, and thrusting myself in to new adventures in wallet burning, so I might not go out of my way just yet to try a new amp. Sometimes its good to have a stretch of laying back, enjoying the tunes and not worrying how to make it all  better.

In any case, my post was more a response to Patu's post. I thought, rather than speculation about 650 vs 800 on Lehmann, a direct A/B comparision was in order. And by coincidence, I did one with a friend in the last few days. What is also interesting about my friend is that he had no skin in the game. If I tell you that I like my $1400 headphones better then my $350 ones, you can come up with explanations for why I might think this besides the fact that they are actually better.

This is a great thread mironathetin, thanks. 

Yes, naturally we all have different ears and opinions. To me, HD6X0 is still on the dark side even with BCL. Only slightly so though. With some lesser amps it's much worse.

I tried HD800 with some heavily modified WooAudio tubeamp. IMO they sounded way too bright and artificial. That might not have been the best pairing. Of course there was tons of detail, transparency and separation in the sound but in the end I prefer the slightly softer and warmer touch of HD600.

It's nice that your friend is proaudio engineer but I have mostly bad experiences with proaudio equipment and their sound. They tend to be sterile and lifeless but with utmost clarity and tons of details. Benchmark DAC1 is great example. It's not a very good DAC IMO but it probably works great in studio environment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by winzzz 

dx1000 sacrifices mid for seperation ?

well  you don't get stax separation, but they give the appearance of instrument and voice separation and spacing, however artificial,,, more than other closed bass Phones imo. 

They are great for helping to decipher and separate where all the different sections of the orchestra.   in addition to their signature,  this is a result form the driver being further away from your ear, so the sound isnt all in your face as much,      i can tell you for sure that this was the case for me. 

Also, i had to constantly press the drivers into my head to make them punch, and it was very annoying,,, obviously all phones will  have that reaction when pushed to ears, but  doing this to the dx was a lot more noticeable,

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it isn't just that the mids were lacking  because of the further separation  from driver to ear,, but also that their signature just lacks mids, and or its mids sound  weird, and they take some time getting used too, but when u do they are pretty enjoyable, but will not sound great on every recording, but then again not every phone does either. 

  for me it basically came down to size and ease of operation, and couldn't lay back and chill with em, so they had too go,,   or i couldn't turn my head that was the most annoying,

,, i do miss em, but if i had em i know it would again piss me off.

Thanks for a great review and thread! I´ve heard these three amps myself at various dealers and with various equipment. The Earmax (Pro) was with a Naim CD player, unknown cables and my own headphones. The most impressive thing I found with this set up was voices, they were so realistic sounding and when listening to a chorus recording it was all so detailed - I got a much better idea of the choir´s size and placement than before. Hope you´re having a good time with your amp!