[inseconds99]

New to this thread and am on the brink of purchasing a LCD-2 because I loved my HD650's when I had them and this headphone seems to be the next step up from them. I have the ability to purchase a brand new pair with fazor and vegan pads and headband for a very good price. Question is, does the fazor and vegan pads effect the sound negatively the way some say it does. Knowing I loved the 650's, would I be better off purchasing a used pair of LCD 2's pre fazor? I really want the vegan pads and headband, as from everything I've read, are way more comfortable and comfort is important to me.

 

[Blotto80]

I have a pre-fazor set and I agree they are the logical step from the HD650. I just swapped from the stock leather to the vegan pads and the comfort is greatly improved I've got one of the headband straps on order too. I noticed no negative change in the sound from swapping put the pads.

 

[marcan]

  New to this thread and am on the brink of purchasing a LCD-2 because I loved my HD650's when I had them and this headphone seems to be the next step up from them. I have the ability to purchase a brand new pair with fazor and vegan pads and headband for a very good price. Question is, does the fazor and vegan pads effect the sound negatively the way some say it does. Knowing I loved the 650's, would I be better off purchasing a used pair of LCD 2's pre fazor? I really want the vegan pads and headband, as from everything I've read, are way more comfortable and comfort is important to me.

Fazor or not fazor that is the question.
Fazor:
- more sensible so they can be drove more easily
- more high mids/treble
Non fazor
- Goes lower
 
For me the non fazor sound more full and natural, For others they are dark. The HD650 is darker IIRC.
 
Regarding the comfort, as Blotto80 said, you can buy the vegan pads and the leather strap.

 

[jodgey4]

  Fazor or not fazor that is the question.
Fazor:
- more sensible so they can be drove more easily
- more high mids/treble
Non fazor
- Goes lower
 
For me the non fazor sound more full and natural, For others they are dark. The HD650 is darker IIRC.

None of that is based in any empirical evidence, other than sensitivity and that the later models have more high treble. Be careful what you present as facts.

 

[marcan]

  None of that is based in any empirical evidence, other than sensitivity and that the later models have more high treble. Be careful what you present as facts.

Come on, what did I present as a fact that is not correct?

 

[munce31]

  Fazor or not fazor that is the question.
Fazor:
- more sensible so they can be drove more easily
- more high mids/treble
Non fazor
- Goes lower
 
For me the non fazor sound more full and natural, For others they are dark. The HD650 is darker IIRC.
 
Regarding the comfort, as Blotto80 said, you can buy the vegan pads and the leather strap.

I prefer the neutrality of my fazor LCD-2s. Doesn't mean the LCD-2F's has reduced bass slam - well at least to my ears.

 

[marcan]

  I prefer the neutrality of my fazor LCD-2s. Doesn't mean the LCD-2F's has reduced bass slam - well at least to my ears.

For me the non fazer is more neutral but it's a question of definition and personal taste.
Bass slam is different. But the non fazered LCD2.2 goes lower than the LCD2F.
It was obvious by ear and it is confirmed by measurements.
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudezeLCD2Rev2.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudezeLCD2sn5423021Fazer.pdf
You will also notice that the frequency response is flatter on the rev2, particularly if you look at the raw curve which is the real frequency response.
But it's only measurements and it doesn't tell the all story. But it clearly shows that the rev2 goes lower than the fazered.
That's why I really like the rev2, because it goes down straight to 10Hz and I don't hear spikes in the frequencies. 

 

[Outpost31]

Hey guys, new owner of the LCD-2f and just wanted some opinions on an issue I'm having.
I'm listening to them using a Schiit Lyr+Modi 2 uber setup and I'm finding them a bit sharp on my ears, like the treble is piercing.
Is this normal? As I read they were quite a dark/smooth headphone. Before these I used the Fidelio x2 with the same setup and found those to be smooth at all volumes, yet with the Audeze I find them to be fatiguing, almost too sharp.
Does this change with burn in or should I just return them and try something else? I can't be sure.

 

[munce31]

  Hey guys, new owner of the LCD-2f and just wanted some opinions on an issue I'm having.
I'm listening to them using a Schiit Lyr+Modi 2 uber setup and I'm finding them a bit sharp on my ears, like the treble is piercing.
Is this normal? As I read they were quite a dark/smooth headphone. Before these I used the Fidelio x2 with the same setup and found those to be smooth at all volumes, yet with the Audeze I find them to be fatiguing, almost too sharp.
Does this change with burn in or should I just return them and try something else? I can't be sure.

My guess would be that the DAC is the cause of the brightness. The Lyr tube amp or any tube amp by nature are warmer sounding than their solid state counterparts, so I doubt the amp would cause the brightness. 
 
Hopefully others can chime in - especially those with the same setup.

 

[Outpost31]

  My guess would be that the DAC is the cause of the brightness. The Lyr tube amp or any tube amp by nature are warmer sounding than their solid state counterparts, so I doubt the amp would cause the brightness. 
 
Hopefully others can chime in - especially those with the same setup.

The dac was the first thing that came to mind when thinking what it could be. I went back and forth with the fidelio x2 and found them to be similar just not as piercing. I enjoy quite a smooth, thick sound. To me this almost feels super analytical to the point it hurts my ears. Out of curiosity, what other dacs would be a good bet to try?
 
Thanks for the reply, very much appreciated. 
 
Edit/Update: Just swapped out the Modi 2U for my Dacmagic XS which I had lying about and find it to be less sharp but not brilliant. SO I'm guessing the dac is the problem.

 

[munce31]

Depends on your budget. If you're looking at Schiit Audio, perhaps the Bifrost Multibit? R2-R DACs - if the implementation is right -  sound euphonic. My Audio-gd Master 11 is very smooth.

 

[Outpost31]

  Depends on your budget. If you're looking at Schiit Audio, perhaps the Bifrost Multibit? R2-R DACs - if the implementation is right -  sound euphonic. My Audio-gd Master 11 is very smooth.

 
I'd be willing to spend up to around 350 if it helped me get to my end game. I did look at the Bifrost before the Modi2U but read from a few sites that it wasn't a drastic difference to the Modi2U so I went with that.

 

[oAmadeuso]

  Hey guys, new owner of the LCD-2f and just wanted some opinions on an issue I'm having.
I'm listening to them using a Schiit Lyr+Modi 2 uber setup and I'm finding them a bit sharp on my ears, like the treble is piercing.
Is this normal? As I read they were quite a dark/smooth headphone. Before these I used the Fidelio x2 with the same setup and found those to be smooth at all volumes, yet with the Audeze I find them to be fatiguing, almost too sharp.
Does this change with burn in or should I just return them and try something else? I can't be sure.

What tubes have you got installed?
I found the stock ones a little bright.
Also at first I wasn't used to the high end detail and found it a bit fatiguing after a while but now love the sound.
 
A bit of ebay browsing for NOS tubes stopped all that.
 
The Lyr tube rollers thread may be helpful too.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/673709/schiit-lyr-tube-rollers
 
Also I found that I couldn't tolerate bad low bitrate mp3's on this setup so had to re-rip my cd's to lossless flac.

 

[Outpost31]

  What tubes have you got installed?
I found the stock ones a little bright.
Also at first I wasn't used to the high end detail and found it a bit fatiguing after a while but now love the sound.
 
A bit of ebay browsing for NOS tubes stopped all that.
 
The Lyr tube rollers thread may be helpful too.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/673709/schiit-lyr-tube-rollers
 
Also I found that I couldn't tolerate bad low bitrate mp3's on this setup so had to re-rip my cd's to lossless flac.

 
I'm using stock tubes at the moment, I just find the sound to be way to sharp, like the treble hurts my ears.
I'll have a look at the tube rolling thread and see what information I can gather.

 

[raybone0566]

The lcd's can also be eq'd. Much cheaper route the Dac is not in your budget at the moment. I had the same experience when I first got my lcd's. I found it was only real fatiguing at high volumes. But eqIng works very well.