[Scottyj11]

Hello Head-Fiers,

I've had great help from this community in the past and am looking for some feedback and guidance as I navigate a decent entry point into the hifi headphone market.

I'm anticipating rewarding myself with a pair of decent headphones paired with DAC/amp in the next couple months. It is near impossible for me to find any retailers to demo equipment and I'll likely have to make my decisions virtually and order online. I would really appreciate your wisdom and insights into the options I'm considering.

My taste in music is driven by rhythm, bass and instrumentation. I listen to a lot of electronic music (Ninja Tune), jazz, some alternative hip hop and contemporary classical (Erased Tapes, etc). All time favorites include Radiohead, Bon Iver, James Blake, but what I really enjoy is constantly exploring new music.

I am prepared to spend up to ~$2k AUD (~$1200-1500 USD). I am considering Audeze LCD-2C and LCD-3 (which I have been offered a great deal - $2k, on a demo pair), Focal Clear and now Quad ERA-1 (as a retailer in my nearest capital city has a pair to listen to).

What would be your thoughts about these headphones comparatively?

In terms of DAC/Amp, some of the recommendations I've had include the Chord Mojo, Earmen TR-Amp and iFi Diablo. Any thoughts or new suggestions here?

Finally, I have a decent collection of lossless audio files, which I have more recently put aside for the convenience of streaming services. I have a Tidal Premium membership and was excited about getting a DAC with MQA compatibility, but have been reading a fair bit of negativity about the MQA format. What are your thoughts about MQA, compared with the quality of other streaming services or local lossless files?

Thanks for your time and considerations.

 

[WorksUnit]

It`s not easy to make choices based buying blind...
If that Era-1 is the only thing you can demo, go do it (and use the leather pads based on your music tastes).
At least then you will have a point of reference in future posts, and probably a better chance of getting the right headphone in the circumstances.

Other than that, the Audeze stuff is heavy, plus the Mojo is great...just frustrating if you forget to charge it before a listening session like any other battery powered device really.

Hopefully someone who has had more time with all those Headphones will be along shortly...

 

[Neweymatt]

Hello Head-Fiers,

I've had great help from this community in the past and am looking for some feedback and guidance as I navigate a decent entry point into the hifi headphone market.

I'm anticipating rewarding myself with a pair of decent headphones paired with DAC/amp in the next couple months. It is near impossible for me to find any retailers to demo equipment and I'll likely have to make my decisions virtually and order online. I would really appreciate your wisdom and insights into the options I'm considering.

My taste in music is driven by rhythm, bass and instrumentation. I listen to a lot of electronic music (Ninja Tune), jazz, some alternative hip hop and contemporary classical (Erased Tapes, etc). All time favorites include Radiohead, Bon Iver, James Blake, but what I really enjoy is constantly exploring new music.

I am prepared to spend up to ~$2k AUD (~$1200-1500 USD). I am considering Audeze LCD-2C and LCD-3 (which I have been offered a great deal - $2k, on a demo pair), Focal Clear and now Quad ERA-1 (as a retailer in my nearest capital city has a pair to listen to).

What would be your thoughts about these headphones comparatively?

In terms of DAC/Amp, some of the recommendations I've had include the Chord Mojo, Earmen TR-Amp and iFi Diablo. Any thoughts or new suggestions here?

Finally, I have a decent collection of lossless audio files, which I have more recently put aside for the convenience of streaming services. I have a Tidal Premium membership and was excited about getting a DAC with MQA compatibility, but have been reading a fair bit of negativity about the MQA format. What are your thoughts about MQA, compared with the quality of other streaming services or local lossless files?

Thanks for your time and considerations.

Hey there, hopefully I can help, as you sound a bit like 12-months-ago-me

What are your use cases for listening to music? At home/desktop? Trans-portable? On the go?

The LCD-2C is an excellent choice for the genres and artists you mention, but it is pretty much a desktop headphone only. Thing is, the DAC/amps you list are more the transportable type, and while Chord and iFi make great gear, you pay a premium for the portability of Mojo or Diablo. You may prefer a desktop DAC/Amp setup for the kind of headphones you've specified, and it's pretty hard to go wrong with Schiit. Check with Aus local distributor/reseller Addicted to Audio, to see what stock they have, are you near a city where they have a shop to go have a listen? Lots of folks also rate Topping for the kind of budget you mention.

As far as Tidal/MQA goes, I wouldn't worry too much about the MQA bit. If you are happy with the Library of Tidal, then I'd say stick with it, whether the DAC you get does MQA or not. If you are using a PC or Mac as a source, then it should render the MQA in software anyway. Alternately, especially if you're in the Apple ecosystem, their lossless hi-res could work for you for cheaper.

Good luck!

 

[Scottyj11]

Thanks for the responses.

At home/desktop? Trans-portable? On the go?

I anticipate listening in various places, mostly at a desk at home or at work, but wouldn't mind the flexibility of a portable DAC.

The LCD-2C is an excellent choice

What are your thoughts about the LCD-3 in comparison, especially if I can get a good price?

are you near a city where they have a shop

Unfortunately not! I'm on the Sunshine Coast

 

[Neweymatt]

I anticipate listening in various places, mostly at a desk at home or at work, but wouldn't mind the flexibility of a portable DAC.

In that case I'd suggest two separate rigs, one that is desktop-only like a Schiit or Topping stack. And a separate portable DAC to use with a phone for travelling, eg Dragonfly, iFi nano, Lotoo S1 along with some IEMs for that use case.

What are your thoughts about the LCD-3 in comparison, especially if I can get a good price?

Apols, I can't really comment on LCD-3, it was above my price range when I was buying. I will say that even at a discounted price, it's a pretty big up-front investment to make; you could otherwise split those same $$ among a cheaper headphone and/or an IEM or two.

Unfortunately not! I'm on the Sunshine Coast

Well, from a Head-Fi perspective I guess I have sympathy for you? But that's it mate!! Best thing is always to try before you buy, failing that you will find plenty of trustworthy impressions in the forums..

 

[Brotato]

I can give definitely recommend the Focal Clears. They are some of the cleanest cans I have listened to, and for the current price of $990 on headphones.com, I think that is a great price for an excellent pair of headphones. You can also find them second-hand in the $800~ range, which is even better. Also, it won't require too much power to get a great sound, even something like a magni/modi stack will be good.

As for MQA, you can read many opinions across different forums. My opinion personally is that MQA has been quite deliberately shady recently after being called out about being not lossless. And with many other services offering lossless FLAC, I don't feel like giving my money to Tidal and MQA.

 

[iFi audio]

iFi make great gear, you pay a premium for the portability of Mojo or Diablo

Although there's something there, let me also chime in and say that our iDSD Diablo sounds a fair bit differently in comparison to our remaining DAC/amp combo products

 

[Scottyj11]

sounds a fir bit differently

Is it your flagship portable DAC/amp?

 

[Guidostrunk]

I can give definitely recommend the Focal Clears. They are some of the cleanest cans I have listened to, and for the current price of $990 on headphones.com, I think that is a great price for an excellent pair of headphones. You can also find them second-hand in the $800~ range, which is even better. Also, it won't require too much power to get a great sound, even something like a magni/modi stack will be good.

As for MQA, you can read many opinions across different forums. My opinion personally is that MQA has been quite deliberately shady recently after being called out about being not lossless. And with many other services offering lossless FLAC, I don't feel like giving my money to Tidal and MQA.

+1
The Clear OG is hard to beat especially at its current price.
Phenomenal clarity, great sense of realism, pristine imaging, slam and impact monsters! Lol.

 

[iFi audio]

Is it your flagship portable DAC/amp?

It is, yes

 

[Scottyj11]

What's the difference between the Focal Clear and Focal Clear Professional?

 

[Guidostrunk]

What's the difference between the Focal Clear and Focal Clear Professional?

Just the color.

 

[zikarus]

Will not comment on the headphone choices but you might have a look at Qobuz instead of Tidal/MQA. Qobuz offers a very large (true) Hi-Res selection and has a slightly different catalog (Tidal is better in Hip-Hop/Electronic, Qobuz has an advantage in Classical /Jazz imo). Besides you can also buy every streamable album at Qobuz and download to your own library/NAS. Depending on your subscription even new Hi-Res stuff can often be had at very fair rates (< 10 Euro)...

 

[Dynamo5561]

You'll get a lots of different recommendations. You will need to listen, a blind buy can go wrong quickly. Also you have a very wide range of genres you listen to. I don't think you will find one that excels in all of the mentioned genres.

My personal oppinion: Skip the LCD-2C, maybe consider directly the LCD-X. Definitely demo the Quad Era-1, for me personally it is the best under 1K€. Don't spend too much money in DACs/AMPs. They will do less difference than you might think.

 

[iFi audio]

They will do less difference than you might think.

I beg to differ, although it depends on a product

I will say though that headphones most likely will make the buggest difference to newcomers.