[HumdrumPenguin]

The way I see it, Audeze's Reveal plugin is pretty much a statement from the company saying that they didn't tune their headphones properly. The question I wanted to make is why would Audeze simply not tune their latest batches to sound out of the box like what you get with the use of Reveal? Is it impossible to be done that way due to any particular reason? I just can't wrap my head around it.

 

[bfreedma]

The way I see it, Audeze's Reveal plugin is pretty much a statement from the company saying that they didn't tune their headphones properly. The question I wanted to make is why would Audeze simply not tune their latest batches to sound out of the box like what you get with the use of Reveal? Is it impossible to be done that way due to any particular reason? I just can't wrap my head around it.

Possibly because not everyone likes the exact same sound signature....

I don't understand being upset with a company that offers free (or paid depending on your choice) software to allow EQing of their product. Like all headphones, if the tuning and options aren't for you, there are plenty of other choices.

 

[Infoseeker]

Do Planars have to worry about expected peaks and drops like Dynamic drivers?

So they don't need as much thought in their out-of-box design?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

The way I see it, Audeze's Reveal plugin is pretty much a statement from the company saying that they didn't tune their headphones properly. The question I wanted to make is why would Audeze simply not tune their latest batches to sound out of the box like what you get with the use of Reveal? Is it impossible to be done that way due to any particular reason? I just can't wrap my head around it.

Maybe it's just marketing. I remember in the 1970s graphic EQ became a thing in midfi. If you didn't have it and crank up your bass you were uncool.

People can't stop fidgiting and tweaking. Now that software is free or cheap a lot of guys are EQing. If Audeze puts something out it helps sell their stuff perhaps.

I never liked graphic EQ and I don't like tweaking and fiddling with things. I use parametric EQ very sparingly for specific sonic problems. If I buy a pair of cans or speakers I expect them to be fine without doing anything. That doesn't mean there aren't certain albums that need a little help here and there or that everything is always perfect. But I'm happier with an integrated amp and sources with no tone controls. Just let the music speak for itself.

 

[HumdrumPenguin]

Maybe it's just marketing. I remember in the 1970s graphic EQ became a thing in midfi. If you didn't have it and crank up your bass you were uncool.

People can't stop fidgiting and tweaking. Now that software is free or cheap a lot of guys are EQing. If Audeze puts something out it helps sell their stuff perhaps.

I never liked graphic EQ and I don't like tweaking and fiddling with things. I use parametric EQ very sparingly for specific sonic problems. If I buy a pair of cans or speakers I expect them to be fine without doing anything. That doesn't mean there aren't certain albums that need a little help here and there or that everything is always perfect. But I'm happier with an integrated amp and sources with no tone controls. Just let the music speak for itself.

I always thought of Audeze cans nicely just because of the way the look and feel. I had listened to an old version of LCD2s around Nov 2014, but ended up with a Senn HD700 instead. Biggest mistake ever in the history of sound, but oh well. I used the HD700 equalized with APO for years (impossible to not go crazy with those peaks without EQ), and it bothered the crap out of me because I had speakers connected to my pc as well, and had to keep changing settings every time I switched between cans and speakers, not to mention when I installed drivers or anything and it would mess with the equalizer and I had to double check it was working every single time. Doing it for 4 years or so gave me equalizer trauma.

Fast forward to 2020 and I decided to go listen to the lasted revision of the LCD2 to see if I liked it or not. I was prepared to pull the trigger right away if I did like it (at that point, I had with me the HD6XX and an AEON 2 Closed). All the nearby dealers had only the LCD2 Classic and the LCDX (within what I could afford at least). Turns out I couldn't bring myself to like the sound of the classics, and every time I switched to the X I would see how completely recessed the treble was (and that's coming from someone that learned to hate a badly implemented treble because of the damn HD700). I thought to get the regular LCD2 because people said it had more of the treble that was lost on the Classic. Then I thought again and realized that the wonky sound would still be present, so I gave up on the idea and ordered a pair of ZMF Aeolus with extra pads and the first upgraded cable on their lineup. I think that the Aeolus will give me what I was expecting to have on the LCD2, especially the bass. The ZMF is still being made, so I don't know.

It seems to be a general consensus that Audeze cans sound reasonably better when using the Reveal plugin corrections, albeit I have never tried for myself, so I really don't get their decision to not make it sound right (by their standards) out of the box. If most people prefer with the plugin, do it the other way around, and give the wonky sound to those who opt for it through EQ.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

If indeed the cans don't sound right without EQ then I understand your feelings. I have the 2C and 3F and can't find fault with either one. I don't feel the treble is lost on the 2C but I don't have an LCD-2 to compare it to. I think the Audeze cans are very good allrounders and I like the dark sound which kinda reminds me of the original Sennheiser house sound. But yeah, headphones are very personal. It doesn't matter what the numbers say or what anybody says. It all comes down to whether the guy between the earpads is happy and comfortable or not.

 

[MisterMoJo]

I just tried the reveal free version. I like it. Whether or not I will continue to use it remains to be seen. I have no problem with EQ. I like the sound I am getting right now with the plugin. Having said that, $200 is steep for what you get. I don't know if I will be willing to pay that. We will see. I have 14 days of free trial for the ear scan thingy to decide. Otherwise, the rest is free. What's not to like about free?

 

[SoundHelmet]

The way I see it, Audeze's Reveal plugin is pretty much a statement from the company saying that they didn't tune their headphones properly. The question I wanted to make is why would Audeze simply not tune their latest batches to sound out of the box like what you get with the use of Reveal? Is it impossible to be done that way due to any particular reason? I just can't wrap my head around it.

cause physical/acoustic is tuning is never as easy and precise as EQ.

 

[damascato]

Can you use reveal Mac with the tidal app? I mostly use tidal...

I know that Roon as Audeze eq, but not worth it for me cause I just use Tidal...

 

[Ermak]

Can you use reveal Mac with the tidal app? I mostly use tidal...

I know that Roon as Audeze eq, but not worth it for me cause I just use Tidal...

You may use Audirvana wich is capable to stream from Tidal and use Reveal+ at the same time. (I'm talking about MacOS)

 

[frason]

So, now we can have a pair of Audeze on and have them sound like a pair of Focal Trio 11, or Genelec 1032C, etc? Am I understanding this correctly?

 

[jjss]

Whilst all human hears SIMILARLY but not EXACTLY THE SAME! That's why Audeze has this Reveal plugin. No headphone design captures the complete HRTFs and that's why the plugin is meant to personalize your own HRTF and applies to source so that it can sound truly "flat" to your own ears for example ..

 

[LETRA]

Hi. The leap forward that the LCD-2s take with the Audeze Reveal+ made me convinced. Although it is not suitable for all types of instrumentation. I use it with solo, duo or trio albums. I haven't found a way to get it to play well in multi-instrumentation.

 

[cwoo]

In any headphone design, there are mechanical limitations you have to overcome. Hence the reason for EQ. Most headphones really need to be EQ'ed if you are looking to match a target or a particular flavor of sound (look at any headphone frequency response graph; they all have problem areas). In order for Audeze (or any other headphone company for that matter) to achieve a particular sound, they have to make sacrafices elsewhere. The cool thing with Audeze is, they create Reveal plugins to dial in their headphones to their particular overall sound signature that they couldn't create mechanically. This is actually a nice touch that I wish more headphone companies would do. Fortunately there are a million other people that EQ their headphones as well, so there is a tremendous amount of EQ profiles to play with if you aren't comfortable EQ'ing on your own.