The review is excellent on all fronts. It is balanced, detailed, with comparisons that give a real feel for how the LCD-4 sounds and where the LCD-4 truly fits in the top echelon of headphones. I think this review is better balanced and more enlightening for a reader than Tyll's.   up...

I think you overstate it. Apart from perhaps No 4 ( music that helped you reach your overview) most of the others require little more than a sentence

I think photos are a great idea! However, I would suggest some minimum standards for reviewers:   The review should have foundation, context, and comparability. I somewhat discount any reviewer who doesn't include details such as I have listed below: (That includes reviewers like Tyll who...

A good summary is contained in this You Tube video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0QrsBzmVVw

Tyll preferred the HD800S to the modified HD800. It was with EQ applied he preferred the modified HD800 to the EQ'd HD 800S and to either headphone without EQ.

potkettleblack   Thanks. That's highly encouraging news. Perhaps my Micro will stay durng any system upgrade plan. Sounds like it is a very synergistic fit with the Abyss. And I was assuming that acquisition of a $5K HP would also need $5K+ invested in a DAC/Amp   Cheers Frank

  potkettleblack In the photo, you are using the iDSD Micro DAC/Amp (which I also own). Are all your comments based on using this amp or other amps as well? I ask because I would have thought that a very modestly priced amp like the iDSD Micro was not necessarily capable of achieving the...

  Aren't these measurements taken with very different methodologies? The manufacturer's are effectively free air, whereas yours look like were taken using a dummy head?

aphex27 From personal experience, I respectfully disagree. I upsample 44.1 16x. There are respected designers who over quite a few years have (for very good technical reasons) designed and refined software to upsample 16x. E.g. XXHighEnd and HQP, where their users really appreciate the SQ...

Agree with you. However I found that even after improvements with break-in that the upper bass was a little prominent for my taste and the sub bass just a little light. I began experimenting with parametric EQ and have arrived at a starting EQ that improves the overall listening experimence IMO...

  What time was it? Seriously. I often get some of my best SQ late at night when I suspect the neighborhood has gone to bed. Perhaps the mains power is cleaner then?

  James444   I went to two audiologists looking for solutions to hearing conversation better at lower SPL's or in noisy environments. Their only answer was for a hearing aid that radically boosted high frequencies (based on low SPL tone testing criteria - including tinnitus). When I said I...

Quote:   Bob Katz's opinion should be acknowledged as accurate for him, his experience, and his tastes. He is comparing the sound to what he knows the recordings he made sound like live. Bob seems to be very sensitive to high frequency abnormalities of any kind. He discounted both the...

James444 & Nicklikesmusic   I wonder about the relevance of many of these tests in relation to the normal music listening experience at appropriate SPL levels. That is, in contrast to minimum SPL recognition. Being in my 70's and having tinnitus, testing lower SPL recognition is irrelevant to...

How does the X7 > E12A compare?

LOL. Well, Justin is laughing out loud. Doesn't he have something like 17 songs in the top 100 at present. So many people with bad taste in this world?

  Others have commented on the fine DAC capabilities of the X7, but have expressed reservations about the IEM amp stage. Your combination of X7 with the really excellent Stepdance Amp would probably be hard to beat, even when Fiio bring out new higher power amp modules for the X7.   Enjoy it!

if you are using JRiver under DSP Studio > Manage Plugins > Add VST ......

  From memory $120 to $130 + shipping.

Jazz   Yes thanks for the reminder. I had planned to experiment with pink noise, and will do so. There are measurement variations between headphones of the same model, so you are compensating for that as well as personal taste and expectation.   Originally posted by Johnjen   Try the...

Because of Katz's involvement with Big Sound 2015, I tried EQing with JRiver's built-in parametric EQ - comparing the Harman Target Curve against Innerfidelity's HP measurements. Not with HD800 - that could be coming soon - but on AKG K702 which has a somewhat similar frequency response. I used...

kapanak   Would like further feedback on your iFi comment, please. I have the iFi iDSD Micro and am considering the HD800. Others (below) on this forum have given praise to the pairing, so I would appreciate further discussion.   Thanks Frank     Interesting. I am going to buy an...

Tyll talks about EQ in his review of the Ether   http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/cool-and-confident-mr-speakers-ether-planar-magnetic-headphones#0O5XswCXUKHAxPKw.97

This one as well http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/big-sound-2015-bob-katz-eqing-headphones-harman-target-response#mr3lq3vQY3vkv7F2.97   Katz's advised that EQing headphones doesn't suffer some of the downsides of EQing full speaker systems, but I can't remember in what Katz publication I...