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HE500 or LCD2 or both? (please share your impressions) Mini Review and POLL (please vote) - Page 26

Poll Results: If you could only keep one...?

 
  • 44% (70)
    HE500
  • 55% (87)
    LCD2 (either rev)
157 Total Votes  
post #376 of 416
2/20/13 at 4:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by preproman View Post

 

 

 

The HE-6 does not have a "Thin" signature - at all..

 

I wrote it in quotes because it's not really thin. It's thin on a good portion of the amps I see it being used with. The EF5 that Hifiman makes alarmingly does the job albeit with a fair amount of feedback. I've heard it on Lyr too and it delivers in spades. Perhaps I will be moving from LCD-2 to HE-6 soon if I can get over this HD800 kick I'm on now.

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post #377 of 416
2/20/13 at 4:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_Himself View Post

 

I wrote it in quotes because it's not really thin. It's thin on a good portion of the amps I see it being used with. The EF5 that Hifiman makes alarmingly does the job albeit with a fair amount of feedback. I've heard it on Lyr too and it delivers in spades. Perhaps I will be moving from LCD-2 to HE-6 soon if I can get over this HD800 kick I'm on now.

 

 

Very true.

 

That HD800 bug has got me as well..biggrin.gif

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post #378 of 416
2/20/13 at 4:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by preproman View Post

 

 

Very true.

 

That HD800 bug has got me as well..biggrin.gif

 

The HD800 this elitist aura about it that I'm soaking in. It knows it's good, it knows it's only going to sound good to a select number of individuals, but it doesn't care. It presents music the way it sounds and it doesn't apologize for it. And I'm all for that.

 

but...

 

LCD-2 is the comfy choice for me though, I listen to death metal which is sometimes recorded (ok yeah a lot of the time) rather poorly. Unless my taste in music changes or I learn to develop eardrums made of carbotanium, it may be the end of the line with me.

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post #379 of 416
2/20/13 at 4:39pm

I'm not a big fan of the LCD-2.2s but I love the LCD-3sbiggrin.gif

 

The LCDs are perfect headphones for the growling of the Death Metal.

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post #380 of 416
2/20/13 at 5:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_Himself View Post

 

I wrote it in quotes because it's not really thin. It's thin on a good portion of the amps I see it being used with. The EF5 that Hifiman makes alarmingly does the job albeit with a fair amount of feedback. I've heard it on Lyr too and it delivers in spades. Perhaps I will be moving from LCD-2 to HE-6 soon if I can get over this HD800 kick I'm on now.

 

The EF5 is able to "drive" the HE-6? Doesn't the EF-5 send out 2w and the Lyr 6w.

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post #381 of 416
2/20/13 at 5:41pm
Neither the HiFiMan amps can get the most out of the 6s and especially for high energy genre with any kind of soundstage. Our good brother Figaro has started at the headphone amp on ramp and has gone through the FOTM amps to currently the Dark Star, trying to find that magic on large soundstage presentation with dynamic expression of the orchestra. All previous amps get sucked out trying to maintain the composure of the demand. I'm in hopes he does try the quality speaker amp suggestion before falling on the 009 sword.
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post #382 of 416
2/20/13 at 5:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_Himself View Post

 

The HD800 this elitist aura about it that I'm soaking in. It knows it's good, it knows it's only going to sound good to a select number of individuals, but it doesn't care. It presents music the way it sounds and it doesn't apologize for it. And I'm all for that.

 

but...

 

LCD-2 is the comfy choice for me though, I listen to death metal which is sometimes recorded (ok yeah a lot of the time) rather poorly. Unless my taste in music changes or I learn to develop eardrums made of carbotanium, it may be the end of the line with me.

 

Hm, but the new models are reported to have slightly less treble and more bass, so Sennheiser probably wanted to fix the things certain people found unpleasing?! I dunno, unfortunately have not heard the HD800 yet, so my only point of reference is the HE-6 (or Pro 900 in the closed market)  

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post #383 of 416
2/20/13 at 6:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jerg View Post

HD800 is the polar opposite of HD800 in tonality (both have very very flat bass-midrange, but LCD2 has a broadly depressed treble while HD800 has a broadly elevated treble). The risk, as you can realize, would be that while you feel LCD2 delivers too little sparkle, HD800 might give you too much. HE500 is about smack dead in the middle of the two in terms of treble levels.

 

Same thing in terms of openness; LCD2s are compressed and have a "wall of sound" effect, while HD800s are expanded and have an almost absurdly large 3D projected soundstage. HE500s are in-between the two again, however closer to LCD2 than HD800 in this respect.


See, that is the risk I've been thinking about too, but I don't think it'll be too bright for me after I've listened to Grados for so long.  What I'm trying to do right now is collect some nice top end headphones that are quite different in their tonality.  I have a LCD2.2 and I'm looking to add a HD800, and HP1000 and maybe a Hifiman after I upgrade my dac/amp because I know those are gluttons.  While I love the bass of the LCD-2.2, sometimes it really interferes with the vocals especially in those recordings where the midrange vocals are depressed compared to bass/highs.   I'm probably going to get the HD800 next though.  Their slightly upside down U shaped FR from 20Hz to 2Khz is very attractive to me right now.  Compared to the LCD-2.2, I'd like the bass to be a little rolled off and a little sparkle added up, and the HD800 fits the bill perfectly.  If the HD800 top end is too much, I'll probably buy the "Rabid Dawg" mod from Anax on the pirates forum.  From the FR graphs posted, it looks like the mod will be perfect for fixing that top end if it became too nasty.   


Edited by hiyu64 - 2/20/13 at 6:35pm
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post #384 of 416
2/20/13 at 11:33pm

I dunno when EF5 came out, they said it was enough. The Lyr has 6W, but lets be fair, thats a LOT of headroom just to maintain their low to zero feedback.

 

How Schiit manages to slaughter a good deal of China amps for the money is beyond me. They also are one of the first companies to make amp buying easy since HeadRoom in my opinion.

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post #385 of 416
2/22/13 at 2:31pm

Quick questions guys. For those that own either HE-500 or LCD-2 or both (or even D2000), how do you find AKG 701 in comparison for movies, music, watching tv etc.?

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post #386 of 416
2/22/13 at 2:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoom25 View Post

Quick questions guys. For those that own either HE-500 or LCD-2 or both (or even D2000), how do you find AKG 701 in comparison for movies, music, watching tv etc.?

I'd say that the K701's are better than both the orthos for movies and tv as they give you a more surround sound that can be more fun. As far as music goes, both the orthos beat them with resolution, timing, control but are'nt as good at bigger peices. Classical for example is more enjoyable with the extra breathing space and imaging with the K's.

 

If you are after an all-round hp for tv, movies and music I'd recommend the K's.

 

If you are after a high quality 'all-rounder' hp for music and are willing to spend a bit on source and amping then the HE500's.

 

If you want one hp for small ensemble music, Jazz, folk,acoustic, vocals (EDM is also very good) then the LCD2. But they are more of an aquired taste. My fave hp.  

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post #387 of 416
2/22/13 at 2:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LugBug1 View Post

I'd say that the K701's are better than both the orthos for movies and tv as they give you a more surround sound that can be more fun. As far as music goes, both the orthos beat them with resolution, timing, control but are'nt as good at bigger peices. Classical for example is more enjoyable with the extra breathing space and imaging with the K's.

 

If you are after an all-round hp for tv, movies and music I'd recommend the K's.

 

If you are after a high quality 'all-rounder' hp for music and are willing to spend a bit on source and amping then the HE500's.

 

If you want one hp for small ensemble music, Jazz, folk,acoustic, vocals (EDM is also very good) then the LCD2. But they are more of an aquired taste. My fave hp.  

 

Ya I was planning to add a AKG 701 to my collection for primarily the large soundstage. I like the HE-500, but they don't have much depth. The LCD-2 have depth, but not width. For music, both the planars are keeping me quite happy. How is the width and depth of AKG, especially concerned about the depth. Also I've heard that AKG's can get a bit weird with their imaging, with music just going off and also not having a good centre stage. Any thoughts on that.

 

Also I've heard that these are bass light and lack extension? Any comments on what to expect in relation to those planars. 

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post #388 of 416
2/22/13 at 3:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoom25 View Post

 

Ya I was planning to add a AKG 701 to my collection for primarily the large soundstage. I like the HE-500, but they don't have much depth. The LCD-2 have depth, but not width. For music, both the planars are keeping me quite happy. How is the width and depth of AKG, especially concerned about the depth. Also I've heard that AKG's can get a bit weird with their imaging, with music just going off and also not having a good centre stage. Any thoughts on that.

 

Also I've heard that these are bass light and lack extension? Any comments on what to expect in relation to those planars. 

If you are ok with the treble on the HE500's the newer K701's shouldn't pose too much of a problem. The problem more lies in the upper mids.

 

Where the K's can become a little annoying is in that first bump after the mids. If you look at other hp's such as the HE500 and HD800 they both take a dive down at that point. The bump can be useful in studio applications but can make some music sound overly agressive. Anyways any qualizer can sort it out. Apart from that it has a very good FR.

 

As far as depth goes, I find them to be quite good. Although not as deep as both the orthos. But then most (if not all) dynamics can't match planars in this respect. I'd say that the HE500's do have depth but they need a powerful amp to bring it out. Otherwise they can sound a little cupped and congested in the middles.

 But its also the realism that the K's lack in comparison to orthos aswell. Depends what type of music you listen to. I love piano on these, really like piano on these! But small bands and jazz for instance don't have the same realism and true to life experience as say the LCD2's have.

The imaging on the newer K701's is very good. Where my old K702's used to be a bit overly stretched and 'wonky' sometimes, I've had no such probs with these. They aren't quite as wide and are more rounded. Really very good.

If you are planning on having a hp to compliment the LCD2's then I'd recommend the K's without hesitation. They are a big contrast and great at what the Audeze aren't so good at. Amping is important though, I'm still deciding whats best for these so don't want to comment too much on that.   

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post #389 of 416
2/22/13 at 3:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LugBug1 View Post

If you are ok with the treble on the HE500's the newer K701's shouldn't pose too much of a problem. The problem more lies in the upper mids.

 

Where the K's can become a little annoying is in that first bump after the mids. If you look at other hp's such as the HE500 and HD800 they both take a dive down at that point. The bump can be useful in studio applications but can make some music sound overly agressive. Anyways any qualizer can sort it out. Apart from that it has a very good FR.

 

As far as depth goes, I find them to be quite good. Although not as deep as both the orthos. But then most (if not all) dynamics can't match planars in this respect. I'd say that the HE500's do have depth but they need a powerful amp to bring it out. Otherwise they can sound a little cupped and congested in the middles.

 But its also the realism that the K's lack in comparison to orthos aswell. Depends what type of music you listen to. I love piano on these, really like piano on these! But small bands and jazz for instance don't have the same realism and true to life experience as say the LCD2's have.

The imaging on the newer K701's is very good. Where my old K702's used to be a bit overly stretched and 'wonky' sometimes, I've had no such probs with these. They aren't quite as wide and are more rounded. Really very good.

If you are planning on having a hp to compliment the LCD2's then I'd recommend the K's without hesitation. They are a big contrast and great at what the Audeze aren't so good at. Amping is important though, I'm still deciding whats best for these so don't want to comment too much on that.   

 

Thanks for the info! I wasn't aware of any changes in the drivers of the K701. Do you happen to know roughly when they started changing them? Also, I'm not getting these new, I might pick up a used pair, so it'd be good to know roughly when this happened.

 

I'll be amping them with O2. I do have the Emotiva but probably won't need that since the planars can do well from the O2 as well. Also how's the built in stock cable on these?

 

Regarding HE-500 having depth, what amp are using for them. The 50 W Emotiva can make the HE-500 have more width and a little bit more depth, but still they lose to LCD-2 off an O2. Music wise, I probably won't be using the K701 too much there. Although for movies and shows, it'd be nice having something big.

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post #390 of 416
2/22/13 at 3:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoom25 View Post

 

Thanks for the info! I wasn't aware of any changes in the drivers of the K701. Do you happen to know roughly when they started changing them? Also, I'm not getting these new, I might pick up a used pair, so it'd be good to know roughly when this happened.

 

I'll be amping them with O2. I do have the Emotiva but probably won't need that since the planars can do well from the O2 as well. Also how's the built in stock cable on these?

 

Regarding HE-500 having depth, what amp are using for them. The 50 W Emotiva can make the HE-500 have more width and a little bit more depth, but still they lose to LCD-2 off an O2. Music wise, I probably won't be using the K701 too much there. Although for movies and shows, it'd be nice having something big.

No change in drivers apparently. But there has been some tweaking done around the same time as the Q701's came out. Look for 8 bump headband's if you want the newer version.

The problem with all of the AKG flagships is that they have a single cable connection to the left driver and a wire that travels through the headband to the other driver. Upgrading the cable, even on the detachable models is prettty much pointless. The cable is OFC and is certainly good enough. No microphonics and is light.

I used to use the HE500's with the C2.2 and they had good depth and sense of space with this amp. Lesser current amps gave them a more congested sound for me. But if you have an Emotiva than thats pretty much as powerful as you can get! For me they have got great depth, just not much space from top to bottom. I personally think the LCD2's give a bigger impression of depth because of the added clarity in the mids. But theres not much in it imo. 

 

For the price of the K's you really can't go wrong. But hang on to your 500's until you hear them.

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