Is there measurements for the newer 701s so they can be compared?

Quote:

lugbug1 said:

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.

Click to expand...

 
So the newer version has 8 bumps and the older one has____? Also any change in comfort over the variations. So far I have found polarizing opinions on comfort.
 
Good to know. I'll be sticking with stock cable. If I do buy these, it will just be for a different flavour and atmosphere. The HE-500 and LCD-2, especially the HE-500 will not be going anywhere.

My opinion might not mean much because I've only ever heard the HE-500 at a meet.  
  
However, I currently own the LCD-2, and I owned the HE-6 for about a year, in the past.  
  
I would take the LCD-2 I currently have over the HE-500 that I recall hearing. But I'd take the HE-6 over both of them. It's just so airy and detailed and exemplifies everything that I consider HiFi.   
  
But, the LCD-2 is different enough that my plan is to get another HE-6, and have both at hand. They are both great. 

I found a local place that carries the HE500 and am going out tomorrow morning to give them an audition.  Going to take my MacBook Air, DragonFly and HD700 for comparison.  Been following this thread and others and from what I've read, I'd probably be happier with the HE500 than the LCD2. When I auditioned the LCD2 at a meet, they seemed like super HD650's to me.. not a bad thing at all.
Should I be afraid? i.e. Should I leave my credit cards at home? If my research serves me right, there would be a pretty good chance that I walk out with the HE500.    The audition will tell.

Quote:

mickeyvee said:

I found a local place that carries the HE500 and am going out tomorrow morning to give them an audition.  Going to take my MacBook Air, DragonFly and HD700 for comparison.  Been following this thread and others and from what I've read, I'd probably be happier with the HE500 than the LCD2. When I auditioned the LCD2 at a meet, they seemed like super HD650's to me.. not a bad thing at all.
Should I be afraid? i.e. Should I leave my credit cards at home? If my research serves me right, there would be a pretty good chance that I walk out with the HE500.  

 The audition will tell.

Click to expand...

 
Hehehe, take your wallet, do yourself a favour and get the HE-500. A great sounding headphone.
 
Also where in GTA are there places that actually carry Hifiman?  

I just got a chance yesterday to demo the HE-500's for the first time. I had them running through my Asgard and Bifrost using a Starlight usb and Alo Audio headphone cables. They are very solid cans to sum it up. For the price I don't believe you can find anything better in that range. They came across as neutral with more of a focus on the high end and excellent soundstage. I could see them working very well with various types of music genres. Yes, they are easy to drive but to get the full potential of these things a good amp is definitely necessary. With that being said I went home and put in an order for the LCD2's. The HE-500's were enjoyable but they left me wanting more.

Quote:

frank i said:

The AKG 701 was my first headphone and I liked them a bunch. I decide on the LCD2.2  for the majority of music I listen to is jazz and female vocals, I listen to lots of classical and the hd800 is the best headphone for classical well recorded music so it made less sense for me to give up the vocal performance of the lcd2 but that he500 is the best value in the business no question about it. There is nothing in that pric erange that can compete with them  and if the hd800 wasnt her ethey would be because of the soundstage and air which it does so much better than the lcd2

Click to expand...

Hi Frank,
 
Just rid of HD800s. Now I have he-500, I am torn between returning them and buying LCD2.2. I don not listen to jazz and classical music. I listen only to indie and slow pasted rock/alternative music(Radiohead, PJ harvey ext.). For this kind of music which headphones do you prefer? HE-500 or LCD 2.2?
I have  Audiolab M-DAC and V200 AMP.

Headfone Shop @ Yonge & Lawrence.. heading out soon.
Quote:

zoom25 said:

 
Hehehe, take your wallet, do yourself a favour and get the HE-500. A great sounding headphone.
 
Also where in GTA are there places that actually carry Hifiman?  

Click to expand...

Quote:

mentt said:

Hi Frank,
 
Just rid of HD800s. Now I have he-500, I am torn between returning them and buying LCD2.2. I don not listen to jazz and classical music. I listen only to indie and slow pasted rock/alternative music(Radiohead, PJ harvey ext.). For this kind of music which headphones do you prefer? HE-500 or LCD 2.2?
I have  Audiolab M-DAC and V200 AMP.

Click to expand...

I returned the he500 because IMO the lcd2.2 is more suited to my jazz and female vocal albums but the hD800 is still here and will stay with me. The V200 s excellent with the lcd 2.2 a and every headphone I have thrown at it. I you dont listen to classical and like the bass of the lcd2 IIMO best suited but man the he500 is so good. i wish I could kept both but could not do it. I prefer the lcd 2.2. for what you listen to. If I dod not own the hd800 i would went with the he500 for a bette rall rounder and the bigger soundstage but the lcd 2.2 is so easy to listen to and more comfortable for me. Cant go wrong with either headphone though.

ardilla said:

"Dark" and "warm" are different concepts. Any muted cheap headphone is darker than the LCD-2. Of all the high end headphones I have heard, Lcd-3 is the "darkest". The HD650 is a warmer sounding can. I'd even say the HE-500 is warmer (but brighter) in some settings. Fostex T50RP is definetly warmer and just as dark. 

Click to expand...

It's interesting to hear them described that way because I haven't been able to find the words for them. I went from the HD 650 to the HE-500 (I have very little experience with other mid-hi cans) and I was afraid the HE-500 would be too bright - but I found them for just north of $500 as an Amazon Warehouse OBR and knew that orthos were next for me. Given adequate free funds and going by description, I'd certainly have gotten the LCD-2 and sometimes I wonder what they sound like. That said, the HE-500 are, as you say, warm - nearly as warm as the HD 650 - but they're FAST-WARM. The generous mid-bass of the HD 650 isn't as prominent, but the mids are glorious and the treble has air that the HD 650 just didn't have on my budget amps.

I no longer think about the LCD 2, spending more time thinking about how to properly amp the HE-500. My E9 isn't cutting it and the O2 fights with my DAC to atrocious effect. So I have a Schiit Magni on the way as a stop-gap before I graduate to ample amplification. Keep in mind my inadequate amplification when reading my description of the sound of the HE-500.

Quote:

disastermouse said:

It's interesting to hear them described that way because I haven't been able to find the words for them. I went from the HD 650 to the HE-500 (I have very little experience with other mid-hi cans) and I was afraid the HE-500 would be too bright - but I found them for just north of $500 as an Amazon Warehouse OBR and knew that orthos were next for me. Given adequate free funds and going by description, I'd certainly have gotten the LCD-2 and sometimes I wonder what they sound like. That said, the HE-500 are, as you say, warm - nearly as warm as the HD 650 - but they're FAST-WARM. The generous mid-bass of the HD 650 isn't as prominent, but the mids are glorious and the treble has air that the HD 650 just didn't have on my budget amps.

I no longer think about the LCD 2, spending more time thinking about how to properly amp the HE-500. My E9 isn't cutting it and the O2 fights with my DAC to atrocious effect. So I have a Schiit Magni on the way as a stop-gap before I graduate to ample amplification. Keep in mind my inadequate amplification when reading my description of the sound of the HE-500.

Click to expand...

Good stuff. I'd be interested in your thoughts of the Magni and HE500, as its a very good match with the LCD2's imo

HE500 in da house breaking in now.. here's the story..
 
So, I took the trip to Headfone Shop in Toronto and auditioned the HE500. I hooked up my MacBook Air to their Fostex HP-A8C Dac/Amp ($2K) and since it has two HP outs, I ran the HE500 & HD700 side by side.  Nice amp BTW but worth more than 2x the price of the Bifrost/Lyr, I don't think so.  I have to say that HE500 is definitely not an upgrade to the HD700 but more of a side-grade, complimentary headphone.  I went through a number of tracks from Patricia Barber to Deadmou5 and some HDTracks stuff. I preferred the HD700 in pretty much all cases with its more open and airy presentation and tighter, but not deeper bass. Something about the smoothness of the HE500 caught me and it is more forgiving on 70s-90s stuff I ripped from CD.
 
I was about ready to call it deciding that the HE500 was really nice complimentary can to the HD700 and that I wasn't going to spend the money. I like the DF with the HD700 but it loses some of the fullness I get with the Lyr.  Well, connected the HE500 to the DF and holy cr@p, what a nice combo.  Bass was still deep and rich, mids were lush and it still retained a good soundstage (though not as good as the HD700). Plus it's more forgiving on 70s-90s tracks I mentioned. The sales guy/owner?, Charles tried them and was really surprised that the DF could drive them that well. Perfect around the house combo so after a bit of wheeling and dealing, sold!
 
I really think I'm done for now. Yeah, I know, never say never.  Thanks to all on this thread (and others) for your HE500 & LCD2 impressions. After digesting all the info, I had a pretty good impression of what the HE500 would sound like and knew that the LCD2, which I have heard, were not worth the extra $300 for me. YMMV.
 
The new HE500 are a little rough around the edges so it's break in time..
 
Edit.. just switched over to the Q cable I had with the HE400 and wow, edginess gone, bye, bye stock silver cable.

If I could afford to dish out the extra $400 for the LCD-2s then I would. Unfortunately I can't so the HE-500 will have to be the best for me, lol

Quote:

jiggahwhat said:

If I could afford to dish out the extra $400 for the LCD-2s then I would. Unfortunately I can't so the HE-500 will have to be the best for me, lol

Click to expand...

Well the HE500's for me are the better all-rounder. They don't do much wrong. Most peeps end up keeping the LCD2's over the HE500's only if they have another contrasting headphone such as the HD800. If I was to only have one headphone then the HE500 would probably be it. Can't think of a better one to have for  versatility that plays well with all music.

I've read through all 400 posts in this thread and I'm still having problems deciding on which pair of headphones I should get out of these two.  It's kind of funny that I stumbled across this thread as I was just about to make one and before I could even search to see if one existed it popped up like some sort of suggested threads thing.  Anyway, it may help to know what kind of music I currently listen to:
 
35% Neo-Soul (all of this is CD quality)
25% Jazz (Dizzy, Miles, Coltrane, etc. - most of these are old recordings and don't sound as good as I'd like anyway, even though some are sourced from SACD)
20% Soul/R&B/Hip-Hop (almost none of this is hd audio - maybe 4-5 albums)
5%  Classical (a decent portion of this is hd audio)
15% Everything Else (includes Rap, Electronic, Latin)
 
I typically enjoy just putting my entire library on random play as it helps me remenisce on my older albums.
 
Now for a flurry of questions... What version is the LCD-2 that is available at WooAudio?  Which is the version most people actually want?  I keep seeing everyone talk about the 2.2 but is that the best option for someone just getting into realy audiophile territory?  I read many things about wood splitting and updated designs but I'm still a bit confused.  I'd like to establish a relationship with WA since I plan to purchase a WA7 from them in March or April so I'd like to purchase both from there if I go with the LCD-2. I do not have the funds to buy both headphones and still get the WA7, so I can't go that route.  My current DAC is probably not up to the task of running either of these cans so I will definitely be getting a replacement DAC/Amp.  I'm using a TubeMagic D1 with upgraded OpAmps atm - fine for powering my current headphones but not on the right scale for these two.
 
I currently have and old pair of K240 and a pair of AKG Q701 that I really like except that seem anemic on the lower end.  I then added a pair of Denon AH-D600 that were very difficult to listen to because they were so bass heavy.  I couldn't listen to jazz at all with those 600's and the bass was always overpowering no matter what genre of music.  I tried burning them in for over 100 hours but it didn't seem to change anything.  Don't get me wrong, I love bass, but I like the rest of the frequency range too so I didn't like that it was so in your face that I couldn't focus on anything else.  I listened to some M50's and they were just "meh" for me.  Something I would buy for my eight-year-old daughter if she asked for it, but just not my cup of tea.  FYI - nothing will make me take off a pair of headphones faster than sibilance.  I've found that my 701s calm right down in that area after they've been playing at a decent volume for a few minutes.  When I first got those cans it was so bad that I thought they were defective.  After a couple hundred hours of burn-in they are much better.  Weight of the headphones is a non-issue for me as I used to listen to those giant earcup Pioneer headphones back in the 80's and even those never bothered me.
 
Foobar is my tool of choice and I only do flac for music.  I won't be EQing any sound out or making any other change to sound behavior other than maybe new tubes, though I hear that's pretty difficult with the WA7 at the moment.  I may watch a movie now and then from my PC but typically I'll go to my home theater to do that so it's not an important factor for the headphone choice either.  Please help me out guys, I'm getting really distracted in my daily activities trying to figure out which of these cans I should go with.  I love listening to my music with my current kit but always feel like there is something missing that would bring tears to my eyes if I could just hear it.  I'm not big on returning items so I don't want to get one with the expectation that I'll return it and try the other and there is no place in my area (Raleigh) to audtion either of these.  I'm sure I'll also be too scared to do any type of modding to either pair of these cans so consider that in your recommendation.  I won't be doing any jerg modding or anything like that unless I happen to get a free extra (as in third) pair of cups or I find some for sale.  They will most likely remain stock once I get them other than eventually BUYING a new cable.  I'm too much of a n00b to make my own cables.  I'm also hoping that these will be the last set of cans I buy for several years (except maybe a decent set of closed ones).
 
Sorry for the long first ever post... I've been lurking for a very long time now and just recently decided to join formally.