The Audeze LCD-2 Ortho thread (New) - Page 265

Gave mine a coat too.  Nice!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icenine2 

Gave mine a coat too.  Nice!

 

 

Nice!

That cable makes me jealous--very stylish.  :)  What are your LCDs on top of in the first shot?

Those silky red Q Audio cables are so sexy.

Dear me!Those cables ARE sweet!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

 

 

 

 

So how does the VI+ do with the HD800s and with what tubes?

Very very good, I swap out between the VI+ and my B22 for my HD800 from my B22 as I prefer a bit more transparency or from my VI+ when I need a tad bit more warmth or with certain tubes bring the sound bit more intimate to my ears. But there is also the LD MK VIII SE which is good for high impedence can's such as the Senn's, the VI+ is good for power hungry can's such as orthos and the AKG's K340/1000. But it can still power the high-impedence Senn's very well and efficiently.

fyi....my LCD-2 Rev 2 headphones were manufactured  Oct 2011

Audez'e Support, Feb 01 17:02 (PST):

Hello John,
I am glad you asked this. Revisions 3, 4, and 5 do not exist. Some assume that the change in connectors or wood option means it is a new revision. However, we have only had the original LCD-2 driver and now the Revision 2 driver. Rest assured, you have the latest driver already in your headphones.

Thank you very much,
Audez'e Support

john white, Feb 01 16:51 (PST):

a further question.....in the head-fi forum, i see the LCD-2 Rev 2 referred to as Rev 2.1 // Rev 2.2 // Rev 2.3 // Rev 2.4 and Rev 2.5
Question #1- which revision 2 do i have.
Question #2- what are the differences between 2.1/2.2/2.3 etc....
Question #3- are there any upgrades that are possible or worth doing to the headphones i own ?

thanks

And that's right.  There are only two driver versions.  But a headphone is more than its driver ;)  Just like grabbing the drivers in your favourite speaker and putting them into a box won't give you the same results.

I had intended not to post about this again, but frankly I'm at my wits end.  I've spent the last 1.5 weeks trying to nail down the source behind why piano music sounds like garbage on my LCD-2s.  Turns out the issue wasn't going away I was just listening at low enough volumes to hide it for a while.  At louder volumes it actually sounds like severe ringing, leading up to an actual crackling sound that gives the impression that the headphones are literally broken.  Every other genre of music sounds fine, no abnormal behavior.  I'm quite baffled.

At this point I have tried the phones on 4 different amplification devices and 3 different sources attempting to determine whether the problem was coming from my primary use amp/DAC/source.  The issue exists across all sources both tube and solid state and is made neither better nor worse by any of them.  At a certain volume my LCD-2s simply sound broken with piano music playing.  It's like a combination of ringing and rattling really.  I originally thought the drivers might be underdamped with the tubes but running them off my old Denon receiver made no difference aside from a huge loss of clarity and high frequency energy.

At this point I think the thing to do is ask Audeze directly.  Since nobody else seems to be having a similar experience it may actually be a defect in my pair.

It doesn't make sense that an instrument is doing it.  Piano hits frequencies other instruments hit. It would also be odd for both sides to have the same problem.

I know, I'm baffled by it.  I can't impress enough that I'm not exaggerating the issue either.  It's enough to make you physically cringe, as though the drivers were blown.  Switch to any other kind of music and it sounds fine.  I played some bass heavy material with very aggressive transients to test and even at ear splitting volumes it sounds crystal clear.  Switch to a piano solo recording and the mid/high notes are nails on a chalkboard even at moderate volumes.  I find it incredibly hard to believe that every single piano recording I like has this resonance inside the recording itself either.

For the record most of these recordings sounded great on my late K701s.  If you pushed them hard they would blare a little but that was normal given their capabilities in general.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xcalibur255 

I know, I'm baffled by it.  I can't impress enough that I'm not exaggerating the issue either.  It's enough to make you physically cringe, as though the drivers were blown.  Switch to any other kind of music and it sounds fine.  I played some bass heavy material with very aggressive transients to test and even at ear splitting volumes it sounds crystal clear.  Switch to a piano solo recording and the mid/high notes are nails on a chalkboard even at moderate volumes.  I find it incredibly hard to believe that every single piano recording I like has this resonance inside the recording itself either.

 

For the record most of these recordings sounded great on my late K701s.  If you pushed them hard they would blare a little but that was normal given their capabilities in general.

Can you just run them through some sweep tones to see where it starts resonating.

LCD-2 has been described by some as having a very HARD treble.  I'd say it's quite metallic, but then I listen to mostly rock types where that range is mostly cymbals so... it works.

It is in the upper middle octaves.  Lower frequencies and the top end are fine.

I had one of those "duh" moments just now and realized I have another way to check this too.  I own a Casio Privia digital piano with headphone output jacks.  Just got done playing some notes with the LCD-2 plugged in and it sounds fine all the way through the range (in fact better than fine, I've never been more impressed with my piano).  The piano struggles to power them, even at max volume it wasn't that loud but I think there should have been enough there to trigger what I've been hearing during music playback and it seemed clean.  I tried some chords and multiple notes and they were fine too.

If it were in the DAC or the amp trying different sources should have bore that out.  It can't possibly be that all of my recordings just sound bad.  I even tried some HDtracks recordings at 24/96 and they sounded bad too.