[pp312]

Quote:

Enjoy your HiFi's. And if you leave the realm of classical music for... say... Pop or Electronic, you will be very pleased.
 
Toodles.
 
PS. What gear are you listening to these on?

 
The chances of my switching to pop or electronic are, shall we say, vanishingly remote. 

 
As for my gear, I was hoping you wouldn't ask. Until a few weeks ago I was using a Muse dac/amp (same as Aune). I'd extensively compared this to the Matrix M-Stage and found it superior with the LCD. Then I happened to score an Onkyo SR502 HT receiver on Ebay and--surprise--found the sound just as good as the Muse--ie, very clean and neutral. So now I'm using that. For source, I have a WD media player with downloaded or ripped files--ripping obviously at highest setting, though downloaded stuff can vary. Altogether a mixed bag, but good enough for my purposes (and my 66 year old ears).

 

[rezolver]

One thing is for sure, regardless of which headphone you use, the experience is only going to get better with a dedicated DAC. Happy listening

On a side note, I've been listening to the K501's today and noticed that they require an extra 4-6db to achieve the same SPL level as the LCD2v2's.  That really surprised me.
 
Quote:

 
The chances of my switching to pop or electronic are, shall we say, vanishingly remote. 

 
As for my gear, I was hoping you wouldn't ask. Until a few weeks ago I was using a Muse dac/amp (same as Aune). I'd extensively compared this to the Matrix M-Stage and found it superior with the LCD. Then I happened to score an Onkyo SR502 HT receiver on Ebay and--surprise--found the sound just as good as the Muse--ie, very clean and neutral. So now I'm using that. For source, I have a WD media player with downloaded or ripped files--ripping obviously at highest setting, though downloaded stuff can vary. Altogether a mixed bag, but good enough for my purposes (and my 66 year old ears).

 

[rezolver]

Between the LCD2v2's with the 'strait' connectors and the LCD2v2b (with the new, metal-angled connectors), were any changes made to the pads? 
 
Are they softer or harder?
More or Less padding in the front? Rear?

 

[preproman]

Quote:

On a side note, I've been listening to the K501's today 

 
 
Where can one purchase the K501s these days?

 

[jonstatt]

Quote:

Between the LCD2v2's with the 'strait' connectors and the LCD2v2b (with the new, metal-angled connectors), were any changes made to the pads? 
 
Are they softer or harder?
More or Less padding in the front? Rear?

 
I don't believe any changes have been made to the padding of V2s or V2.2s (V2b). They are identical other than the move to bamboo and angled connectors. Only the LCD-3s has a change in the choice of padding.

 

[rezolver]

Purchased my pair used from a fellow Canuck on the West Coast.  They still have that new headphone smell and are in mint condition.  Close to a year worth of patience paid off.
 
Quote:

 
 
Where can one purchase the K501s these days?

 
Not what my head wanted to hear, oh well, it is what it is.  Thanks Jon.
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I don't believe any changes have been made to the padding of V2s or V2.2s (V2b). They are identical other than the move to bamboo and angled connectors. Only the LCD-3s has a change in the choice of padding.

 

[justie]

If u feel its uncomfortable, i cant recommend the vegan pads enough! There is no noticeable difference to the sound that i can hear but the comfort increases alot! They are velour but soft.
In terms of softness LCD2>vegan>LCD3
 
but vegan is more breathable. doesnt get hot around the ears

 

[Erukian]

Does leather seal better around your ears? I'm curious how important seal is (if at all) with these open cans. It's obviously not as important as say IEM's.

 

[rezolver]

The circumference of the driver is very large, as a result come with large pads which tend to sit right on my lower jaw line/cheeks.  My medium sized head that is oval in shape is not a great match for these phones. hahha.  I'll keep an eye out at local audio meets to see if anyone is sporting this combination.
 
Quote:

If u feel its uncomfortable, i cant recommend the vegan pads enough! There is no noticeable difference to the sound that i can hear but the comfort increases alot! They are velour but soft.
In terms of softness LCD2>vegan>LCD3
 
but vegan is more breathable. doesnt get hot around the ears

 
 
After an in-depth listening session last night that consisted of LCD2's, K501's and HE-500's, comparing the LCD2v2's to the other  two, I'm finding that the instrument separation on the LCD2's is lacking and does come off sounding like a "wall of sound".  Busy passages with multiple instruments at various sound levels get amalgamated and thrown at the listener at all once.
 
Could the driver be lacking speed?  Tyll's graphs show excellent impulse response. Something does not add up.
 
This effect became very apparent on albums such as: Anne Akiko Meyers - Air; The Bach Album, David Abel and Julie Steinberg - Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Gregorio Paniagua - La Folia, Diana Krall - Live in Paris and Adele - 21.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

The circumference of the driver is very large, as a result come with large pads which tend to sit right on my lower jaw line/cheeks.  My medium sized head that is oval in shape is not a great match for these phones. hahha.  I'll keep an eye out at local audio meets to see if anyone is sporting this combination.
 
 
After an in-depth listening session last night that consisted of LCD2's, K501's and HE-500's, comparing the LCD2v2's to the other  two, I'm finding that the instrument separation on the LCD2's is lacking and does come off sounding like a "wall of sound".  Busy passages with multiple instruments at various sound levels get amalgamated and thrown at the listener at all once.
 
Could the driver be lacking speed?  Tyll's graphs show excellent impulse response. Something does not add up.
 
This effect became very apparent on albums such as: Anne Akiko Meyers - Air; The Bach Album, David Abel and Julie Steinberg - Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Gregorio Paniagua - La Folia, Diana Krall - Live in Paris and Adele - 21.

 
 
 
I don't know about the K501's but the HE-500s excel in instrument separation they're also very fast and quick to the punch.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

The circumference of the driver is very large, as a result come with large pads which tend to sit right on my lower jaw line/cheeks.  My medium sized head that is oval in shape is not a great match for these phones. hahha.  I'll keep an eye out at local audio meets to see if anyone is sporting this combination.
 
 
After an in-depth listening session last night that consisted of LCD2's, K501's and HE-500's, comparing the LCD2v2's to the other  two, I'm finding that the instrument separation on the LCD2's is lacking and does come off sounding like a "wall of sound".  Busy passages with multiple instruments at various sound levels get amalgamated and thrown at the listener at all once.
 
Could the driver be lacking speed?  Tyll's graphs show excellent impulse response. Something does not add up.
 
This effect became very apparent on albums such as: Anne Akiko Meyers - Air; The Bach Album, David Abel and Julie Steinberg - Sonatas for Violin and Piano, Gregorio Paniagua - La Folia, Diana Krall - Live in Paris and Adele - 21.

The "wall-of-sound" effect is because LCD2s are heavily damped, unfortunately that damping scheme is also what makes it sound like an Audeze headphone. I can make my HE400s sound quite LCD2-like with similar driver-back damping with foam and felt, without the properly tuned bass response / smooth mids ofc, but as a proof of concept.
 
In fact a mod that's rising in popularity fast in the HE400 owners thread is to replace the stock Hifiman grills with new ones cut out from more "open" steel mesh, which has a huge positive impact on the separation and openness of sound. Planars are notoriously sensitive to backwaves from anything in the way of the drivers.

 

[grokit]

So I have two stock Audeze cables, I think there have been 4 altogether? If so these are nos. 2 and 3 (both are round, neither is flat). One is completely unbranded and uses smaller diameter wire than the other, and has a silver-colored TRS plug. The other (thicker) on has a black Neutrik plug, Rean headphone connectors, and is made of Canare speaker cable.
 
I forgot which one is supposed to be better quality? I'm guessing it's the smaller, unbranded version with the silver plug but a confirmation would be nice

 

[justie]

Since u have both, wont it be better to just A/B and confirm with ur own ears which one sounds better?

 

[donlin]

Quote:

Anyway, now that I've sufficiently stirred the pot, let's get down to tin tacks. After further listening, as I say, my opinion has somewhat softened. I can now see the HE-500 having considerable appeal to modern music folk. They can even make orchestral music sound more exciting than the LCD-2 on occasion, and without too much cost. There's an odd nasally colouration that intrudes at times, and I was once or twice aware of a sort of nullity, a flat area in the upper midrange that robs some instruments (castanet, say) of bite and definition, but this was rare and probably helped with lack of listener fatigue on poor material. One oddity: I find the LCD has a wider and broader soundstage. This was one area where I was expecting the HE-500 to excell, but I found it to have a sort of pinched quality that kept the sounstage from expanding. My ears maybe?
 
 

pp312, you are right on the money about that odd nasally coloration.  As I said in an earlier post, I got the HE 500 and LCD2 R2 on the same day to audition sided by side at home (no emotional attachment to either).  The thing that put the LCD2's clearly ahead of the HE 500's was the need to adjust to that coloration every time I put on the HE 500 while no adjustment was needed for the LCD2.  The other factors were comfort and build quality.

 

[grokit]

So I have two stock Audeze cables, I think there have been 4 altogether? If so these are nos. 2 and 3 (both are round, neither is flat). One is completely unbranded and uses smaller diameter wire than the other, and has a silver-colored TRS plug. The other (thicker) on has a black Neutrik plug, Rean headphone connectors, and is made of Canare speaker cable.

I forgot which one is supposed to be better quality? I'm guessing it's the smaller, unbranded version with the silver plug but a confirmation would be nice

Since u have both, wont it be better to just A/B and confirm with ur own ears which one sounds better?

Yeah, I just can't remember which was the "new and improved" one, that's all. I was hoping to get an answer if anybody remembered before my iPad charged up, anybody?

I have been listening so far with my DHC Molecule balanced cable and the OE OCC HE6 SE adapter. It sounds surprisingly good.