[iFi audio]

I’d be very interested to hear how any of the other desktop DACs IFI make sound with this set up.

All our DACs feature the same house sound, but get better along with price increase. So if you like what ZEN DAC does, you most likely would enjoy DACs above it

And thanks for your feedback!

 

[holden4th]

Having read through the whole of this thread and looked at numerous reviews I've put down the dollars for the LCD-1.

What convinced me eventually was a review from Headfonia. A lot of my listening is to classical and I Iove chamber music. To hear the members of a string quartet pinpointed exactly on stage is an exciting prospect and while they didn't mention classical, their description of instrument separation sold me. Tonality and timbre were also mentioned and this is also important for me. I want an acoustic guitar to sound like an acoustic guitar. The two hardest instruments to reproduce sonically are piano with its complex harmonics and the greatest instrument of all - the human voice.

The LCD-1 has been ordered and will be on its way soon. I'm looking forward to incorporating it into my system. I've got the DAC/Amp to drive it.

 

[Richard Wray]

Having read through the whole of this thread and looked at numerous reviews I've put down the dollars for the LCD-1.

What convinced me eventually was a review from Headfonia. A lot of my listening is to classical and I Iove chamber music. To hear the members of a string quartet pinpointed exactly on stage is an exciting prospect and while they didn't mention classical, their description of instrument separation sold me. Tonality and timbre were also mentioned and this is also important for me. I want an acoustic guitar to sound like an acoustic guitar. The two hardest instruments to reproduce sonically are piano with its complex harmonics and the greatest instrument of all - the human voice.

The LCD-1 has been ordered and will be on its way soon. I'm looking forward to incorporating it into my system. I've got the DAC/Amp to drive it.

If your DAC supports it look up my post on creating a balanced cable. Takes the LCD-1 to the next level.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Having read through the whole of this thread and looked at numerous reviews I've put down the dollars for the LCD-1.

What convinced me eventually was a review from Headfonia. A lot of my listening is to classical and I Iove chamber music. To hear the members of a string quartet pinpointed exactly on stage is an exciting prospect and while they didn't mention classical, their description of instrument separation sold me. Tonality and timbre were also mentioned and this is also important for me. I want an acoustic guitar to sound like an acoustic guitar. The two hardest instruments to reproduce sonically are piano with its complex harmonics and the greatest instrument of all - the human voice.

The LCD-1 has been ordered and will be on its way soon. I'm looking forward to incorporating it into my system. I've got the DAC/Amp to drive it.

I may not have worded it so succinctly, but I stand by the LCD-1 making everything sound as lifelike and true to the original as possible. It's easily the best headphone I've heard at getting completely out of the way and not imparting any flavor of its own. It just sounds....correct?

 

[alekc]

Having read through the whole of this thread and looked at numerous reviews I've put down the dollars for the LCD-1.

What convinced me eventually was a review from Headfonia. A lot of my listening is to classical and I Iove chamber music. To hear the members of a string quartet pinpointed exactly on stage is an exciting prospect and while they didn't mention classical, their description of instrument separation sold me. Tonality and timbre were also mentioned and this is also important for me. I want an acoustic guitar to sound like an acoustic guitar. The two hardest instruments to reproduce sonically are piano with its complex harmonics and the greatest instrument of all - the human voice.

The LCD-1 has been ordered and will be on its way soon. I'm looking forward to incorporating it into my system. I've got the DAC/Amp to drive it.

@holden4th You will simply love it and since those are truly comfortable cans the joy of music is not distracted by wearing some torture equipment on your head squeezing slowly brain out There are some tracks I prefer to listen to using other cans like:

• Beth Hart Bad Woman Blues
• Reef Together the best of (whole album)

but unless track is missing some intentional amp oversteering during recording or mixing most music will sound terrific. Since you are about to listen to classical albums this should not be an issue for you. Glad yo have dac/amp combo to drive it as even theoretically they are easy to drive cans separate amp can be handy. The piano sounds great on both analytical and musical dacs. So is cello for example.

Congrats on great choice and enjoy

 

[holden4th]

I've been playing piano my whole life and I know what a true representation should sound like. Recreating the harmonics produced by triple steel strings is not easy and only my Senn HD580s and my Flare Golds come to the party.

My Dac/Amp is the Burson Playmate2 which is not set up for a balanced connection. It is an outstanding DAC/Amp and has made my current sets of cans - especially the HD580 - sing. The Burson is relatively neutral with the standard opamps but I have the choice of upgrading to the Vivid V6s which are currently sitting in my old and dead PLAY. I just haven't got around to swapping them out yet.

UPDATE:

The LCD-1s have arrived and they haven't disappointed. The clarity and soundstage is gobsmackingly good and I just love the beautiful midrange. I was expecting weaker bass but have discovered that if the bass is there in the recording the Audeze's will reproduce it in a very accurate manner. They go really low, well into sub bass levels without it overshadowing the rest of the FR. Yes, they lack a little bass slam compared to my Momentum 2s but it's more coherent. They certainly outstrip my HD580s in this department. It's possible that they might make my 580s obsolete as they fulfill the same role in regards to listening to classical and acoustic music.

I use VLC player to play all my non-streamed music and they have an Equaliser with eighteen presets. I was surprised at how much each of the presets changed the sound of these cans and I'm talking about huge changes. I've experimented with bumping the levels at 60hz and 170hz one notch above 0dB, leaving the others flat, to see what happens. It doesn't seem to make any real difference to a lot of my classical music but there is an audible difference with pop, rock, edm, etc. Not sure if it's any better though. The preamp setting is set to what looks like about +12dB. In one thread I briefly read that this is too high and results in digital clipping but others on the thread disagreed. It appears to be the default setting for VLC it seems so I guess they know what they're doing.

Once I've given these a full listen over the next few weeks I might do a full review

 

[Beagle]

There is no treble after about 8k. Totally dead up there. No sparkle. But the rest of the spectrum is evenly balanced, if a tad bland. This is after about a year's use.

 

[equalspeace]

Oh man the bass performance with the lcd-1 is really quite something. Listening to Badabing my DangerDOOM, i never heard the various base lines in that track portrayed so accurately with the right amount of attack/decay and weight, and also so nicely separated from other aspects of the music. It was so enjoyable. Listening to Badge by Cream and the bass guitar sounds so right on, just the perfect amount of thickness, just sounds right/satisfying. Instruments are nicely separated too in this track. Now Banished by JJDOOM is playing, and there’s so many different long, looping, liquidy bass lines in this track and the lcd-1 is just handling them all with aplomb. This type of bass accuracy is really hard to come by. Really liking these headphones so far.

 

[MRC001]

Bass response is where good planars really shine, having much lower distortion than dynamic drivers. The low bass on the LCD-1 is attenuated, but tight and clean, so you can use EQ to lift it to neutral without it getting soft or bloated it does with dynamic headphones.

 

[equalspeace]

Yea i’ve owned the HE500 twice and the Ananda for a short period and this headphone (from memory) is atleast as good as the HE500 and better than the Ananda in terms of being able to portary different types bass as they’re supposed to sound. And of course easily better than the dynamics I’ve heard

 

[equalspeace]

A song like this really showcases what this headphone is capable of in-terms of the imaging and bass performance. They’re are numerous effects moving across my head in the stage throughout the track. The lcd-1 just handles this marvelously. And the bass sounds exactly like it’s supposed to with lots of resolution. Bass resolution i feel is just a forgotten art in the headphone game. So many headphones just don’t have it. Anyway here’s the track:

 

[alekc]

Few days ago I've been taking off my LCD-1 from my head and heard a scary crack noise. Unfortunately the reason of this noise was quickly obvious after first look. Those are less than 1 year old (so still under warranty). Waiting already 3rd day and heard nothing from authorized dealer. I understand those guys are waiting for manufacturer response but at least a short email letting me know somebody is working on this would be more than appropriate I suppose. What are your experiences with Audeze warranty service?

 

[PhenixS1970]

Hi all, my LCD-1 is up for sale in the classified section (mint condition, EU buyers only).

 

[Carrow]

nvm

 

[alekc]

Ok, since LCD-1 are not in production any longer I need to move on. and I need your help in a search for next step up in SQ but still light and preferably small headphones that I could easily travel with. In terms of sound signature I would like to retain LCD-1 softness and warmth but with more details and larger sound stage. If you ever listen to Reef the best of or Beth Hart War in my mind you know where LCD-1 are lacking. Any ideas?