tdockweiler
Headphoneus Supremus
HD-600 by far. The idea that Sennheiser thinks they're worth $399 is just non-sense.
Audeze LCD2. No headphone in the hifi market was as hyped or as popular after its release, yet it did not measure extremely well, required copious and dangerous levels of voltage to properly drive, had earpads that could not be removed, was unbalanced in comfort and had a poor quality stock cable, had a poor soundstage and sounded very closed in and lacking width. Yet, people ate it up. Its the Audiophile worlds Beats by Dre as similarly priced sets measured better and had a much larger sound with greater efficiency and comfort.
I thought audiophile beats was edition 10.
HD-600 by far. The idea that Sennheiser thinks they're worth $399 is just non-sense.
I can't speak for Rev 1 lc2, but the rev2 is one of the best measuring around. I thought audiophile beats was edition 10.
HD-600 by far. The idea that Sennheiser thinks they're worth $399 is just non-sense.
HD-600 by far. The idea that Sennheiser thinks they're worth $399 is just non-sense.
Audeze LCD2. No headphone in the hifi market was as hyped or as popular after its release, yet it did not measure extremely well, required copious and dangerous levels of voltage to properly drive, had earpads that could not be removed, was unbalanced in comfort and had a poor quality stock cable, had a poor soundstage and sounded very closed in and lacking width. Yet, people ate it up. Its the Audiophile worlds Beats by Dre as similarly priced sets measured better and had a much larger sound with greater efficiency and comfort.
No it's not, they're one of the most neutral headphones ever made. One of the very few headphones that has a balanced and holistic approach and isn't just focused on max clarity at the expense of everything else. They aren't perfect, both the HD600 and the Hd650 can sound kind of dull, but they have no glaring, serious problems or colorations. Which is more than a lot of headphones that cost 3x can say.
Quote:Audeze LCD2. No headphone in the hifi market was as hyped or as popular after its release, yet it did not measure extremely well, required copious and dangerous levels of voltage to properly drive, had earpads that could not be removed, was unbalanced in comfort and had a poor quality stock cable, had a poor soundstage and sounded very closed in and lacking width. Yet, people ate it up. Its the Audiophile worlds Beats by Dre as similarly priced sets measured better and had a much larger sound with greater efficiency and comfort.
1. It measured very well, not sure where you're getting that from. It wasn't until Purrin's measurements that we saw their problems revealed in measurements
2. It does not require copious amounts of voltage, I'm not sure where you're getting this from, esp considering Hifiman's orthos which are at least harder to drive
3. Many headphones have earpads that use adhesive rather than the lip method. The housing is too big for any other earpads to fit anyways so you can't pad swap. And they are removable, you just have to use the adhesive strip which they provide when you buy new earpads. I can see this being a small grip, but not sure why it's such a big deal.
4. stock cable was good quality, it was a Canare microphone cable. It was just stiff. Stiff =/= poor quality. It just means stiff
5. Soundstage is only one aspect of sound reproduction, and for many people is the least important.
Comfort is probably the only gripe I agree with here.
There are certainly things to complain about with the LCD-2, but I don't seem to agree with many of these arguments. There was a reason they were popular. They were the only flagship to aim for a warm sound signature that does not have treble peaks. That is incredibly rare, and many HD650 owners had been waiting for years for a suitable upgrade with that kind of sound sig. It didn't have to be perfect, it just had to be better than the HD650 which it was to most people. So if you want to fault someone for the popularity of the LCD-2, you should blame the headphone industry, which churns out nothing but bright headphones for the audiophile market. Or even just blame Sennheiser, who abandoned their loyal HD6x0 owners to follow everyone else down the faux-detail rabbit hole.
1. So uhh...that makes perfect sense. You said it measured well until someone actually measured it and revealed problems? Okie dokie...
2. It requires ridiculous amounts of voltage to drive properly, not sure where you are getting your information. The Lyr is the most popular LCD2 amp for a reason bro. The HE500 is easier to drive than the LCD2. Have you actually used any of these headphones? I respect your opinion in the highest regard but they are absolutely 100% anti-pretty-much-everything-everyone-says-about-them. Get the LCD2 and He500 right next to one another and see which one sounds louder via the same source at the same volume. Its the HE500 to an audible degree.
3. Nonsense, even Audeze themselves realized how stupid that was and made their revised versions with different earpads. If a unprofessional modder can make Audeze earpads, so can Audeze. And they did. Where have you been lately, lol?
4. The stock cable is the same cable you can buy for about $15 on ebay and is stiff, its not the wisest choice for a cable styling that will be plugged into an amplifier some distance away. Open the stock cable up and tell me I'm wrong. It was a poor cable all around, at least Hifiman realized and cared enough to almost IMMEDIATELY change it out for a really great cable. As we all know , we want to pay $500-900 for a headphone that comes with a garden hose for a cable, right? lol
5. The reverse is also true, as a ton of people want that sound. If they didn't, they HD800 and Sennheisers in general would not sell. Envelopment and spaciousness is vital to a lot of users here. Anyone who cares about soundstaging qualities has no idea what you guys are thinking. Are you so critical in your listening that you don't care about instrument separation, width, height or dynamics? The $900 LCD2 was not nearly as good in any actual sound presentation qualities as some cheaper headphones were, hell, some of the audio technicas and JVC headphones half the price sounded better in regards to the sound staging qualities...
What other headphones that cost $400-500 upon the HD600 and HD650s release sounded just as good or better? I vote almost nothing in that price range during that year sounded as good. At the time, it was a great deal. Today, not so much but Sennheiser is selling them out regardless of the price. I'd still take my HD650/HD600 over the Hifiman HE400 ANYDAY, both are similarly priced.
We have different understandings of what recordings should sound like. Yours seems to come from listening to other headphones (which IMO are highly colored), mine comes from listening to neutral speakers. So we'll have to just disagree. I'm not saying the HD600 is perfect, I'm saying it has fewer problems than most headphones. It seems like those problems it does have are things that bother you, which is fine.