Amp recommendations for Audeze LCD-2 - Page 358

I really like your view on it, would you say the Cavalli Audio Liquid Fire fits in between the two with price/performance levels?

I think the LF puts the Leben on blast for less money. No speaker amp though.

The Liquid Fire has extordinary synergy with the LCD series.

What's the difference (sonically) between the Schiit Modi vs gungnir DAC? does an expensive DAC really makes a difference compared to a cheap one? 

The Gungnir resolves more detail in recordings compared to the Modi. With a low-end headphone, you might not notice a big difference, but because the LCD-2 is so high resolution--a high quality DAC and amp makes a very noticeable improvement in sound quality. I don't find the Modi to be a good match for the LCD-2, although others may feel differently, particularly if they don't have a higher quality DAC as a comparison.

 

 

I haven’t made an enormous amount of comparisons, but I’m satisfied with my Decware Taboo.

 

The stock tubes are absolute garbage to my ears though, so there was a bit of work/research done on my part to get the audio bliss I’m now getting from it.

Francoy, how would you describe the sound of your Taboo with the chosen tubes?
Can you offer any comparisons to other amps you have heard with the LCD-2's?

 

 

Concert halls are typically poor places for listening to music.  Some are much worse than others but even the best will add unwanted reflections/resonances.  Higher frequencies have much higher decay than lower which is the reason for the "darker" overall sound.

 

 Many folks like brighter headphones for classical because it lets them hear more easily all the great upper frequency information that is lost in live performances much of the time.  Lets face it, how many of us get to listen to a string quartet at 3m in an acoustically inert room?  This is however what a good recording can closely represent. Many like the accentuation of information that they typically don't get to hear, but it's a fine line you walk with bright cans, as in my experience bright often walks hand in hand with more fatigue.

Edited by cswann1 - 1/18/13 at 3:43pm

 

Well, I can confirm to you that it is a significant step up from a monster Outlaw receiver, an entry NAD receiver and also a few Pioneer, Musical Fidelity and Onkyo oldies that I have lying around here. Compared to my Musical fidelity X-can v3, it’s also very impressive (wider stage, better clarity and all out sheer brutal power). But that is about it comparison-wise, I don’t have friends/relatives with decent headphone setups. I went for the Taboo based on comments from people and the fact that I have a fetish for all things wood.

 

Regarding the tubes, I’m far from done with the rolling. The stock configuration was very treble centric to my ears, so I ditch that pretty quickly in favour of something different. At the moment I can only safely assume that the rectifier is settled upon (Tung Sol NOS 5Y3GT). But the rest is a work in progress because I now have a very mid-centric sound that I fine tune with EQ. But with the EQ, I get a sound that is very wide, precise and frighteningly powerful and I get lost in the music and the tube hunt get’s easily forgotten.

 

I you are interested in more info regarding the Taboo here’s a handy link: http://www.head-fi.org/t/535131/review-decware-taboo-an-amazing-achievment

Taking a blind leap of faith and going to preorder a WA7 for my LCD-2s, praying for a miracle here >.>

I will pray for you Sylafari, I want that amp for my LCD2 too. Give us your first impressions as soon as you receive it. Good Luck!!

 

I definitely agree that "concert halls are typically poor places for listening to music", and moreover will add that concert halls are really bad for listening to classical music. Of course, most live classical music is performed in concert halls, so it's also inescapable. I feel sorry for anyone who listens to classical music who's only heard it live in a concert hall, and thinks that's how headphones should present the music - as in, that "sitting away from the orchestra in a concert hall" kind of thinking. Because more than likely, in most classical recording sessions, the microphones are literally placed over the orchestra (suspended from the ceiling), or really close around it on stands. It's actually more accurate to not have a fake soundstage imposed on the music (I'm looking at you HD800!).

 

I have a bias here, as I've been able to play in orchestras before and know how close the entire orchestra can sound relative to the first-violin section (really close!). I view headphones that capture the sense of the orchestra as a massive entity virtually surrounding you to be more accurate than those that don't - and a headphone that puts you in the conductor's spot is even better, because that gives you the best "view" of the orchestra, aurally speaking. The entire orchestra up-close is something most people don't get to hear, which is too bad, because it's awesome-sounding.

 

Concert halls are so bad for listening to classical that I'd actually recommend that folks listen to a recording on headphones, or speakers as the case might be. Listening at home conveys more accuracy than buying expensive tickets to see any orchestra, regardless of how talented it is. Not that I'm discounting seeing the talent of live musicians - just that the acoustics/imaging and frequency balance will tend to be more accurate through a recording and listening at home.

Edited by Asr - 1/19/13 at 1:24am

I agree with a lot of that, but I also love going to classical concerts and there are some brilliant halls that can provide exceptional sound aswell. I'm a little spoiled in this area as I have this on my doorstep.

 

And it looks like this in the biggest hall.

 

I've seen from Mozart to Wagner staged here and the sound has always been very good.

 

I think for peeps who love going to concerts and the thrill i gives, no hifi experience can recreate this. Headphones for e.g will give you a brilliant window onto the music to study more closely, but this is unrealistic in the sense that all the great symphonies/operas were written for a concert hall in mind. With no microphones, only room acoustic. If Beethoven could have used studio's and placed mic's would he have wrote in the same manner that he did, with massive layers of strings and timpani? Recording studios can do what they like to change/manipulate the sound to emphasize certain aspects or dull others but in the concert hall you get the orchestra in front of you (if you have good seat) warts n'all and the cellos come from where the cello's are and the soprano sounds where she is on stage. And when the crescendo builds with the orchestra in full swing, you feel the vibrations through your whole body and feel the music like you are part of it. It's real and tangible.

Oh well, back to my LCD2's .... :)

 A mixed recording with expensive equipment is going to be better in your headphones than live show because they process and fix the flaws and mix the sounds on the concert albums you buy, etc. It seem like an amp with no coloration will give the best results. I know W4S uses class A output for a uDacHD  headphone out, but their bigger amps I thought were class D. Would a class D amp be good for headphones? I've heard it's close to Class A but more efficient. 

Yes. Infact, I don't know why we still have concerts anymore... Not when we can listen to recordings of them (with all the flaws fixed!) through our headphones.

 

 

(tehehe)

??????????????????????????????????????????????.........REEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeally?  Did you say that listening to your headphones is better than a live show?  That's like saying that looking at a Van Gogh through a calibrated monitor is better than seeing it in person with your own eyes.  That's like saying virtual sex is better than the feeling of.... uh....You need to get out, bro.