[buke9]

Two great headphones the Abyss is for me just a bit more fun and has great detail and soundstage to boot but do love the LCD 4’s also hard choice Good Luck not a bad choice either way though.

 

[yanaginagi]

I mean, why even ask? Keep the one you like the best and will listen to the most.

 

[Halimj7]

I mean, why even ask? Keep the one you like the best and will listen to the most.

Bismillah

For me I purchased the Utopia because of the more functional form factor and the preference toward dynamic drivers which I find natural sounding and soulful. Planars sound too clean and soulless to my. However I have never heard the 1266 or lcd 4 but I did not like the lcd 3 and really disliked the Diana v1 - boring.

 

[BoyNamedSue]

Before deciding to let go of the Abyss, I recommend trying some reversible mods that improve SQ quite a bit: 1) fuzzer mod (e.g., creatology felt) on inner grill eliminated the metallic glare that made sound artificial and fatiguing. 2) experiment replacing the circle thing inside the outer grill with a lighter/thinner material. I stretched panty hose held in place by the screws and it reduced sub bass, which in turn, balanced out the tonality and fleshed out the mids. No longer u shaped. The abyss actually has beautiful and natural mids (i.e., vocals) but IMO are covered up by the dominating bass. When i owned both at same time, I'd say the abyss and the stax 009's are on same level but with different presentations.

 

[340519]

I like them all except the utopia.

 

[GOKYO]

The
LCD-4 are one one of the best headphones out there.

yes they are!....driving mine with an airtight atm 300 amp....magic

 

[Dynamo5561]

I also owned all 3. You have never mentioned what type of music you are listening to and nobody asked lol?. Maybe that's the most important thing to understand first before giving an oppinion.

I listen to modern music genres and am pursuing excitment in songs, not how the instruments really sound. Therefore I decided to keep the A1266 which has the most punch, detail retrieval and exciting presentation of the bunch. The LCD4 in comparison has this 2-4KHZ dip which made my music library sound like missing 20-30% of the sound information. It is technically capable, also more intimate but I see it on someone who only wants to have laid back listening next to a drink. The Utopia is the most boring headphone I have ever listened to. No Soundstage, average bass, don't know what people like about it...

Edit: Just saw this thread was risen from the dead Only looked on the month in the first post "July" and thought it is a recent question

 

[zomkung]

To clarify on the SR-007 and SR-009 having recessed bass, it is the sub-bass that is a little bit shelved down (more so on the SR-007), while SR-009's mid bass is perfectly flat and the SR-007 has a mid bass hump, the opposite of recession.

I don't think anyone can use an SR-007 (even with a subpar amp) and call its bass recessed, it's a thicker sounding headphone with a notably bassy presence (and better quality bass than any non electrostat even without the bass port mod). The SR-009 I can understand with a subpar DAC and/or amp, but on an excellent system it has a very flat overall bass response just with slightly shelved down sub bass, far more bass slam than most headphones including all HiFiMan planar magnetic headphones for reference, and by far the best quality bass of any headphone not counting the SR-009S. It makes the LCD-4's bass sound one note as if it lacks any and all depth and detail.

I have HIFIMAN and Stax system. I agree with this. Except for HE-6 and the old hifiman's design.

 

[rlaxowjd155]

I had a Utopia, a D8000, an empyrean, a Heddphone, a lcd4 and a abyss 1266 phi tc in my office and compared them for weeks.
I let go all headphones except abyss 1266. I bought another 1266 and set both 1266 in my house and my office, respectively.

 

[Jackie He 12345]

Hd800 and 1266 are definitly better than Utopia and Lcd 4, not only on classical music, but also for vocal, if you use a good amp to drive it.

 

[Rayon]

preference toward dynamic drivers which I find natural sounding and soulful. Planars sound too clean and soulless

I've noticed that I like dynamic drivers as well. It's the first time I'm listening to Utopia since I bought Susvara and oh my is it nice. This is exactly the reason why I bought it in the first place after owning HE6se v2. It's not as accurate in microdetails and not as realistic, but it's so easy to listen to and it's so fun. I feel that with Susvara I listen to technical performance and details. I try different EQ and research/dig into the music. However I also get fatique and I'm constantly changing settings in HQPlayer to get everything perfect for each genre. With Utopia I just put them in head and stop worrying. It's guaranteed easy musical enjoyment at the highest level. I bought Susvara from classifieds with a plan that I will make it fight with Utopia for a few months and then I sell one. However I feel that they complement each other so well that it will probably become impossible.