Trinity Delta VII vs Audeze LCD-XC silly experiment.
Intro & Delta Equipment setup:
For the past six months or more, I’ve been listening pretty much exclusively to the Delta VII on this setup. 320MP3 normalized at 90dB > ipod Nano > Fiio LOD > RSA Predator med gain ~1200Hrs > Delta VII gunmetal filters. I listen to it at my desk, throw it in my pocket for my son’s hockey practices and games, and listen to it at night with the lights out before falling asleep.
Lately I have just been blown away by the full rich sound of this setup. The bass is tight, rich full and just provides a visceral impact. Sometimes I just have to stop working, look out the window and just listen in the moment. Last night I was listening to Three Dog Night’s song “Never Been to Spain.” It starts with Cory Well’s beautiful vocals with a very open sounding atmosphere, and a deep bass line. Left channel has a beautiful and understated guitar licks. Simply gorgeous. Try listening to this in the dark with your eyes closed. Good Times/Great Oldies!
Why?
I’ve been reading a lot about different closed cans lately and I own a number of closed cans. Today I decided to branch out and change things up at my desk and plugged in my Audeze LCD-XC closed planar magnetic headphones to my iPod/predator rig.
I wanted to give some impressions on how that worked out and tell you how the Delta VII compared to the LCD-XC cans. (Silly experiment, I know.) Equipment setup is the same and songs are the same. Differences are Delta VII with medium gain and LCD-XC (Wywires red cable) with high gain on the Ray Samuels Predator. Of course I’m not level matching except by ear and feel. i.e. what sounds good for the song, not too loud but not too low, and does the atmosphere/feel make me turn it up or down. I will say that Delta VII on medium gain didn’t pass 10:00 level with normal being at 9:00 to 10:00, and LCD-XC high gain normal is 11:30 or 12:00. (zero volume setting is at 7:00 and Max is at 5:00.) So it was definitely driving the LCD-XC to adequate levels. Read up on the Predator if you have questions about its power and authenticity.
About my Music:
Most of my listening is smart playlists of my favorite music. That is why I use the iPod. It has the best tracking of when you play your music and I can make smart playlists of 4 & 5 star rated songs that I haven’t heard in weeks/months/years. I get a great variety of songs I love and each one is a surprise. I do have FLAC files, FLAC players, Vinyl, etc. But this will pertain to 320 CBR MP3 normalized to 90dB with program MP3Gain. All ripped from 16/44 CD with dB Power Amp to FLAC then converted to 320. These songs were chosen because they were next in line in the playlist. Some I’m very, very familiar with, and some are newer to me.
Songs and Eval:
Concrete Blonde – Joey – Live in Brazil. I started my listening today with Joey on the LCD-XC. I just expected to throw on my cans hit play and roll. But going through the song, all I could focus on is how “shouty” Johnette Napolitano’s vocals were. Now I have never really thought Johnette ever sounded Shouty. So I decided to switch back to the Delta VII. I listened to the track again, and heard how great and sultry her voice sounded. Everything was there and balanced just right. Winner Delta VII.
Judas Priest – Some Heads are Gonna Roll – Defenders of the Faith. (Expanded tracks/remasterd, but NOT the 30th anniversary edition.) Opening of Some Heads are Gonna Roll has wonderful, wide, reverby guitars. The LCD-XC presents this in a spacious and glorious manner. The guitar crunch through the whole song is just fabulous and it sounds absolutely right. Halford sounds glorious. The Delta VII sound a little more congested and closed in. But of course they are in ear monitors. Winner LCD-XC.
Eddy Smith – Stranger (Since I’ve been loving you) – Blues Magazine 27 cover CD. Starts with piano and male humming. Then to a whiskey soaked raspy vocal. LCD-XC give it a great wide open feel. Bass comes in with authority. Good sound for a song I’ve not heard very often in my rotation. On the Delta VII, it provides a very intimate presentation. Great dynamics. The first minute is the piano and humming/singing with a single strum guitar accents. At about a minute, the bass kicks in. Winner = Tie.
Badlands – Winter’s Call – Badlands S/T Album. I have absolutely loved the Jake E. Lee and Ray Gillen project Badlands since it came out in 1988. This album is one of my favorites. The opening soft part of the song sounds great on the LCD-XC with great space and reverb. But once it starts to rock out, I find that Ray Gillen sounds shouty this time and the Delta VII gives the best sound this time. Simply smooth and comfortable the whole way through. Winner Delta VII.
Judas Priest – Diamonds and Rust – Rocka Rolla. Great example of how NOT random the apple random song generator is for playlist generation. This is an older recording with dubious mixing. On the LCD-XC, the Bass sounds a little bloated. Guitars are recessed in the background. I think this is really a showcase for Rob Halford. The acoustic guitars in the bridge sound probably the best of all the instruments along with Halford’s voice. Everything else is just mediocre. Last verse, Halford is a little bit sibilant. On the Delta VII, I’m hearing the same bloated bass, recessed guitars but Halford is not as much in the front. More balanced. The acoustic guitars in the middle feel wider and not as up-front. No sibilance in the last verse. I love the song, but the recording is just a mess. Originally I had this a tie, but I think the edge goes to the Delta VII because of the sibilance reduction. Winner Delta VII (small margin.)
Allman Brothers – (I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man – Dreams disc 2. On the LCD-XC, the snare drums and Greg Allmans voice sound just right. You can hear the air and space around the drums. But the first solo (in the left ear) is a little shrill and grating. Other solos aren’t near as hot. For an older recording, the LCD-XC brings this to life. The Delta VII don’t give it the life that the LCD-XC does. Winner LCD-XC.
Merle Haggard - Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink – 20 Number One Hits. I’m not a country music fan in general. But my father was a singer in a Country/Western & Oldies band in the 80s. Some of those songs (very few) just make me happy to hear them. While finalizing this write-up, this great old tune by Merle Haggard popped up. On the Delta VII, it just makes me want to smile. Merle Haggard’s wonderful, timbre filled voice starts off the song. All of the ensemble band are represented, clear, well mixed, full, balanced. Just sounds glorious on the Delta VII. I had to try it out with the LCD-XC. The full size cans sound good, but bring Merle more forward. I don’t get the drum slam effect that I’m getting from the Delta VII. On the LCD-XC, everything is there but all the instruments seem to be more in the background. It presents each part up front when it is that instrument’s turn. Example, Merle singing, the guitar solo, piano solo, sax solo, etc. To me the Delta VII presents it in a more equal manner across all of the instruments. Reminds me of Motorhead’s saying Everything Louder than Everyone Else. The Delta VII presents everything loud, equal, in your face, and just right! Winner Delta VII.
Results of my experiment. 7 songs of various age/production/genre. Delta VII vs LCD-XC. Delta wins by a score of 4-2-1. I ended up just keeping my Delta VII ear buds plugged firmly in my ears while finalizing this write up. (But then had to add the Merle eval.)
I am not (in any way) going to say that the Delta VII are better than the LCD-XC. Two totally different pieces of equipment. But I will say that I can get just as much enjoyment out of these lovely little iem as I can out large cans. I’ll try this again sometime with some of my other cans. And of course with the Hunter and Atlas Delta when I get them.
Enjoy your music.
Honorable Mention: Check these songs out on your Delta VII
Cry of Love – Brother – Brother.
Rush – The Trees – Hemisphers.
Never regretted preordering the atlas delta because of your impressions about that iem, I'm just curious how vyrus is compared to delta. Thank you so much! 
