[tomuszebombus]

Hello Head-Fi!!
 
I have ordered Audeze's LCD-3 and should receive them next Tuesday or Wednesday. 
My current DAC and amp are both woefully inadequate for LCD-3, or so I assume having never experienced anything better than what I own.
 
My current setup is a Xonar DG pci sound card acting as a DAC. 
For an amp I use the headphone passthru on a Bose Companion 2 Series II.
Low end does not begin to describe this configuration  
The connection between my DAC and "amp" is a male 3.5mm to 2 male RCA. This may be obvious information but I thought it best to mention it as it capitalizes on the infantile nature of my setup.
 
My current cans are Sennheiser's HD 598 which I enjoy thoroughly though with my current DAC/a configuration I find them fatiguing after 90 minutes of listening. 
I also own Audio-Technica's ATH-M30x.
And of course the LCD-3 is on its merry way to my sweaty palms.
 
I enjoy listening to progressive rock, experimental rock, blues rock, jazz fusion, classic rock, stoner rock, electronica, video game music, classical, and a hodgepodge of other genres. Very little vocals.
 
My research led me to TEAC's UD-503 as it seems to be both a competent DAC and amp with some great features and a wonderful price point.
However I coincidentally met someone much more experienced than I last night who has vehemently recommended Audient's iD14 instead.
That said I am also willing to consider any option within a 1000$ price range.
 
Thank you for taking the time to read my thread and thank you doubly for any reply, even one telling me how much of a peasant I am
 
Tom

 

[JoeDoe]

  Hello Head-Fi!!
 
I have ordered Audeze's LCD-3 and should receive them next Tuesday or Wednesday. 
My current DAC and amp are both woefully inadequate for LCD-3, or so I assume having never experienced anything better than what I own.
 
My current setup is a Xonar DG pci sound card acting as a DAC. 
For an amp I use the headphone passthru on a Bose Companion 2 Series II.
Low end does not begin to describe this configuration  
The connection between my DAC and "amp" is a male 3.5mm to 2 male RCA. This may be obvious information but I thought it best to mention it as it capitalizes on the infantile nature of my setup.
 
My current cans are Sennheiser's HD 598 which I enjoy thoroughly though with my current DAC/a configuration I find them fatiguing after 90 minutes of listening. 
I also own Audio-Technica's ATH-M30x.
And of course the LCD-3 is on its merry way to my sweaty palms.
 
I enjoy listening to progressive rock, experimental rock, blues rock, jazz fusion, classic rock, stoner rock, electronica, video game music, classical, and a hodgepodge of other genres. Very little vocals.
 
My research led me to TEAC's UD-503 as it seems to be both a competent DAC and amp with some great features and a wonderful price point.
However I coincidentally met someone much more experienced than I last night who has vehemently recommended Audient's iD14 instead.
That said I am also willing to consider any option within a 1000$ price range.
 
Thank you for taking the time to read my thread and thank you doubly for any reply, even one telling me how much of a peasant I am
 
Tom

Hey Tom,
 
I can't comment on the Teac, but there are several go-tos for the Audeze that come in under budget. 
 
Just a few contenders are the Schiit Lyr2/Bifrost stack (secondhand), the Oppo HA-1, the Woo Audio WA7, the Gustard H10/H12 combo, as well as the Geek Pulse X. The ALO Pan Am (if you can find one) is a great little stack for the LCDs.

 

[tomuszebombus]

  Hey Tom,
 
I can't comment on the Teac, but there are several go-tos for the Audeze that come in under budget. 
 
Just a few contenders are the Schiit Lyr2/Bifrost stack (secondhand), the Oppo HA-1, the Woo Audio WA7, the Gustard H10/H12 combo, as well as the Geek Pulse X. The ALO Pan Am (if you can find one) is a great little stack for the LCDs.

 
Thank you much JoeDoe. 
 
I have been investigating all of your recommendations.
In particular the Schiit, Woo and Oppo intrigue me.
I have been looking for a store to demo them or similar products around Wichita, KS or San Francisco, CA but my LCD-3 delivery has been delayed a week due to microsuede availability, supposedly, so I am still stuck waiting a bit longer before I can start really testing new DACs and amps.
 
What equipment do you own if I might ask?

 

[JoeDoe]

Thank you much JoeDoe. 

I have been investigating all of your recommendations.
In particular the Schiit, Woo and Oppo intrigue me.
I have been looking for a store to demo them or similar products around Wichita, KS or San Francisco, CA but my LCD-3 delivery has been delayed a week due to microsuede availability, supposedly, so I am still stuck waiting a bit longer before I can start really testing new DACs and amps.

What equipment do you own if I might ask?

I HAVE owned the Schiit stack, WA7, Geek Pulse, and Pan Am. Only had the WA7 and Geek when I had the Audezes.

Now I own the WA7tp with a pair of Grado GH1s!

 

[tomuszebombus]

I have been researching the Schiit product line and have a specific question. In the specs of the Schiit Vali 2 on the official website it list the frequency response as:
20Hz-20Khz, -0.2db, 5Hz-150KHz, -3dB
 
 
Does that mean it has two possible frequency response ranges depending on a particular setting?
Is it really 20Hz-20Khz or is it really 5Hz-150KHz? Or can it do either or, depending on an amp setting?
 
The LCD-3 is capable of 5-50khz and I'd rather not limit it in any way with the DAC or amp.
(The LCD-3 is "5Hz - 20kHz extended out to 50kHz" according to their website https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-collection/lcd-3) 
 
I think I will contact their support and ask them directly as well.
 
Thanks.

 

[jodgey4]

You're reading it all wrong. Those are tolerance specs. Within the audible range, you're with 0.2dB of flat. -3dB is another standard measure for tolerances (take some EE classes and you'll see why) which goes out much farther. So this thing is essentially perfect for audio reproduction (the 20-20k is what we really care most about). Most can't hear below 20Hz maybe for 20kHz, that's just fact... maybe some young people can hear 17Hz-22kHz but that's meaningless info anyways.
 
Just worry about power output, and maybe output impedance if you're going to try other cans with your amp.

 

[tomuszebombus]

I finally ditching the idea of a combination DAC/amp and decided to get a dedicated amp first.
After a lot of research and shopping around I purchased the Schiit Mjolnir 2 with both tubes.
 
I received my Mjolnir 2 yesterday and have been listening to it near constantly with the 6BZ7 tubes installed.
I love it. It has really brought the LCD-3 to life. I can't stop streaming lossless on Tidal. It sounds sooo good.
I need a real DAC asap.

 

[buke9]

Gumby or Yggy if you can swing it my Yggy is just awesome to me and the gumby is no slouch . Both are pricey but what is in this hobby ; )

 

[tomuszebombus]

Gumby or Yggy if you can swing it my Yggy is just awesome to me and the gumby is no slouch . Both are pricey but what is in this hobby ; )

 
Wellllllll, I ended up going cheap and picked up a JDS ODAC with RCA to tide me over until I can afford a Gungnir sometime in the next decade
 
I must say though, the ODAC certainly is a vast improvement over my Xonar DG pci sound card. I was hearing some strange and unpleasant stuff with the Xonar DG.
 
Have you by chance listened to a JDS ODAC at length and have some listening impressions?

 

[buke9]

Wellllllll, I ended up going cheap and picked up a JDS ODAC with RCA to tide me over until I can afford a Gungnir sometime in the next decade

I must say though, the ODAC certainly is a vast improvement over my Xonar DG pci sound card. I was hearing some strange and unpleasant stuff with the Xonar DG.

Have you by chance listened to a JDS ODAC at length and have some listening impressions?

No I have not I have heard the JDS Element but just briefly and it is a very capable amp/dac . I have heard other O2 amps and they were fine for the price but no Odac experience sorry. It looks like all JDS stuff is made quite well.