[Redcarmoose]

2X

 

[Redcarmoose]

Great write-ups! Your methodology is simple and direct and fast. In many ways you created your own mini-meet. A much better process than a meet as you were able to spend time with the headphones and make decisions. This is how everyone should do it! I like the fact that you are both open-minded to suggestions but also leaving the final test to your ears. At this pace it will be interesting to see where you are in a year from now! Enjoy!

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Thanks Gary, nice write-up!
 
Working on my LCD-2/LCD-3 review and will be pointing to your thread. Personally, I like the HD800 imaging quite a bit better than the LCDs, but tonally the Audeze are preferable to me by quite a bit. The Anaxilus mod for the HD 800 does good things to get rid of the glare.
 
The thing I struggle with the most is the price/quality difference between the 2 and 3, and your words seem to indicate what I've been thinking: The diminishing returns curve for reference headphones is steep, deal with it ... or not. If you've got the bux, the LCD-3 just does some things better. 
 
Gotta say I'm not a big fan of the T1, the highs were a bit too uncontrolled and artificial for me.
 
Thanks for taking the time to do your review!

 

[Happy Camper]

That Adcom amp speaker outs with the HE-6 cable would surprise you with the 500s. I understand why they don't send it but the Hifiman planars are really speakers and need some quality speaker amp kind of juice to sing. JMO

I do admire your method to a solution. Wonder how many stores would offer that level of a loan program.

 

[faverodefavero]

Agreed. The LCD2/3 may reproduce that thick, dense bass like no other and have a smooth, sweeter (syrupy, to me), planar-magnetic tonality. But nothing can actually reproduce actual live feeling of being next to the instrument and have that tactical feel the chords shaking and people salivating like the HD800.  
 
Also, I think that thickness of the HE-500, HE-5LE and LCD-2 (never heard the LCD-3 but I guess it's the same in that respect as the LCD-2) bass kinda "veils" the deepness of, say, an acoustic jazz bass (with the HD-800 I just CAN instantly hear the whole bass chord shaking up until it stops, with the planar-magnetics everything seems quite "one-noted", "one-hit-punch", really thick in bass, just a little not as pronounced as with Sennheiser 800s -- Which is very good to electronic music and fast paced metal, to me. But don't quite make it up for acoustic material).
 
Quote:

Thanks Gary, nice write-up!
 
Working on my LCD-2/LCD-3 review and will be pointing to your thread. Personally, I like the HD800 imaging quite a bit better than the LCDs, but tonally the Audeze are preferable to me by quite a bit. The Anaxilus mod for the HD 800 does good things to get rid of the glare.
 
The thing I struggle with the most is the price/quality difference between the 2 and 3, and your words seem to indicate what I've been thinking: The diminishing returns curve for reference headphones is steep, deal with it ... or not. If you've got the bux, the LCD-3 just does some things better. 
 
Gotta say I'm not a big fan of the T1, the highs were a bit too uncontrolled and artificial for me.
 
Thanks for taking the time to do your review!

EDIT: Again. I am actually refering to my experience with LCD-2 only (and with other planar-magnetic headphones as well). Used the "/3", because - from what I read here and elsewhere, and from FR graphs - I do not think that LCD-3 is THAT much different than LCD-2 in what's apointed (low freq. response). Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Face]

IMO, Properly driven the HE-6 has much cleaner bass than the HE-500.

 

[faverodefavero]

Well, never heard it (the HE-6, neither LCD-3)...  The only planar-magnetics I've heard are the HE-5LE, HE-500 and the LCD-2 (rosewood, if that changes anything -- think not...). And, I must say that while they go a bit further into the lower frequency spectrum they still cannot reproduce the "thunderous" detail of the HD-800 bass. Now the HD-800 lacks overall bass impact, specially for fast "one-after-another" bass "kicks" (fast metal and fast electronic styles).
 
It seems just as if the HD-800 drivers get so lost reproducing all the micro-detail hidden in each bass note, and the whole music spectrum for the matter, that they forget to reproduce the consecutive bass impacts needed for some styles (being neither "vintage punchy" like a Grado, nor "thickly impactfull" like a planar-magnetic). All that (and the slight HD-800 treble-happy FR) makes the HD-800 my favorite for, say, Beatles and Dave Brubeck but really not good for Metallica, Chemical Brothers... For this type of, fast paced impactfull, music I reach to my HE-500 pair (or even the V4 Magnums if I want some more imediancy and it's quite dynamic, really punchy - not deep, really -, "vintage-style" type of bass).
 
 
Quote:

IMO, Properly driven the HE-6 has much cleaner bass than the HE-500.

 

[sphinxvc]

Quote:

It seems just as if the HD-800 drivers get so lost reproducing all the micro-detail hidden in each bass note, and the whole music spectrum for the matter, that they forget to reproduce the consecutive bass impacts needed for some styles (being neither "vintage punchy" like a Grado, nor "thickly impactfull" like a planar-magnetic). All that (and the slight HD-800 treble-happy FR) makes the HD-800 my favorite for, say, Beatles and Dave Brubeck but really not good for Metallica, Chemical Brothers... 

 
If ever I have read a valid criticism of the HD800's bass, this is it.  

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

 
If ever I have read a valid criticism of the HD800's bass, this is it.  

+1

 

[faverodefavero]

Well, thank you! 'Dubstep Girl' and 'Sphinxvc'.

 

[grokit]

I think we have another candidate for the "Anaxilus Mod"...

 

[TMRaven]

I'm not quite sure how something like the LCD-2 can be more of a 'one-note bass' compared to something like the HD800, when the LCD-2 has probably the least amount of harmonic distortion in its bass reproduction according to measurements?  One note bass is usually a characteristic of dynamic drivers-- granted hd800 and its ring radiator isn't the conventional dynamic driver.

 

[Elysian]

Quote:

IMO, Properly driven the HE-6 has much cleaner bass than the HE-500.

Yeah, without question.  Takes a lot of effort to get there, unfortunately, but it's worth the experimentation.

 

[estreeter]

Guys, can someone give me a rough idea of the timeline for Audeze' rollout of the (LCD-2) Rev 2 ? Is there any marking on the cans to tell the Rev 2 apart from the original LCD-2 or is it a serial number thing ?
 
Apologies for my ignorance. 

 

[sphinxvc]

I believe they started shipping out March of 2011.  As long as you pick up anything from beyond April you should be good.