Recently purchased an Audeze LCD-2, help me choose an amp and DAC - Page 3

sooo... which one is better among the choices on the vote?  In my case I am only going to buy LCD-2 with wither the Burson 160D or the DACmini.  

If I had to choose between the Burson 160D and the DACmini it would be the Burson 160D

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Originally Posted by WarriorAnt 

If I had to choose between the Burson 160D and the DACmini it would be the Burson 160D

Me too.

That said, I'd still still take the Lyr+DacMagic (or even better...a used PS Audio DLIII).

Could you guys give some reasons as to why?  I already am sold on the Burson 160D but some people are trying to persuade me to go after the dacmini instead...

Toss me in the minority here but I was not all that impressed with the Burson 160D at the cost. I A/B'd it with my Concerto and while it did have some qualities I appreciated with both the LCD-2 and D7000 I found the Concerto preferable. The Burson added some nice weight and impact but was bested by the Concerto when it came to instrument separation and the way it renders vocals which was very organic and natural compared to the Burson which was somewhat sterile in that department when comparing the two. 

I have a Lyr that shipped yesterday to replace my recently sold Concerto, I sure hope it was a smart move. Tubes and a dac upgrade will be next. 

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Originally Posted by wakeride74 

Toss me in the minority here but I was not all that impressed with the Burson 160D at the cost. I A/B'd it with my Concerto and while it did have some qualities I appreciated with both the LCD-2 and D7000 I found the Concerto preferable. The Burson added some nice weight and impact but was bested by the Concerto when it came to instrument separation and the way it renders vocals which was very organic and natural compared to the Burson which was somewhat sterile in that department when comparing the two. 

 

I have a Lyr that shipped yesterday to replace my recently sold Concerto, I sure hope it was a smart move. Tubes and a dac upgrade will be next. 

As much as I enjoyed my LCD-2/Concerto combination, I literally stopped listening to the pairing once my Lyr arrived.

Interesting. I'm the other way round - Concerto all but stopped me listening to Lyr with LCD2. Different ears of course. I still really like the Lyr though - it's a keeper for sure - and to be fair have only scraped the surface with tube-rolling. On 'Morph the Cat (Reprise)' - the one track I've directly AB'd (with GE 6BZ7) - I could hear only subtle differences; a recommendation for both amps IMHO.
 

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Originally Posted by AiDee 

Interesting. I'm the other way round - Concerto all but stopped me listening to Lyr with LCD2. Different ears of course. I still really like the Lyr though - it's a keeper for sure - and to be fair have only scraped the surface with tube-rolling. On 'Morph the Cat (Reprise)' - the one track I've directly AB'd (with GE 6BZ7) - I could hear only subtle differences; a recommendation for both amps IMHO.
 

 

Just to clarify...I actually sold my Concerto...never used it with the Lyr sitting next to it.

4 Watts into 50 ohms makes a huge difference with orthos IMO. The Concerto could barely put 0.5 W into them. YMMV of course.

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Originally Posted by wakeride74 

The Burson added some nice weight and impact but was bested by the Concerto when it came to instrument separation and the way it renders vocals which was very organic and natural compared to the Burson which was somewhat sterile in that department when comparing the two. 

 

I'll definitely agree that instrument seperation & a sense of space aren't the Burson's strong suits... but sterile? I've never found the Burson to be sterile for vocals, quite the opposite in fact. But then I haven't heard the Concerto.

That's interesting information MH - I'd imagined the Concerto would manage 1-2W. Wonder why it sounds so good?! It has a beefy power supply with lots of capacitance - might be it's got lots of spare headroom for transients...? Certainly, it does seem lively to me with good dynamics.

Anyways, one of these days when I get some time I'll do more listening comparisons. Cheers.
 

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4 Watts into 50 ohms makes a huge difference with orthos IMO. The Concerto could barely put 0.5 W into them. YMMV of course.

 

 

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Originally Posted by roker 



DacMagic is boring. I've listened to plenty of burr brown 16/48 dacs that sounded similar. Why even bother?

I really liked the DacMagic for it's price range...that said, a used DLIII is the better buy.

maybe

Schiit lyr (amp) + Schiit bifrost (dac)