[jodgey4]

No, wish I had. The only one I have tried from Hifiman is the 400... which I wasn't overly impressed with. I need to find somewhere I can try it.
 
Good idea on the cable!

 

[greenkiwi]

There are some reasonably priced cables on ebay that people like too.  You could probably pick up a cable for $60-80.  That might be the same as the time + XLR connector costs.

 

[LancerFIN]

Haven't done anything in the past 2 days other than listening music with LCD2F. I even turned off the EQ setting I was using. No need for it. Now I'm happy with the sound. Can't wait for Gustard H10 to arrive.

 

[DivergeUnify]

  Haven't done anything in the past 2 days other than listening music with LCD2F. I even turned off the EQ setting I was using. No need for it. Now I'm happy with the sound. Can't wait for Gustard H10 to arrive.

I was using eq before and just decided to turn it off.  I always mess around with eq and I can just never come to a setting I feel is all positives and no negatives

 

[LancerFIN]

 
Sure, here's a pic:

Thanks. Now I don't need to think about which stand I want. That looked little on the short side but I found similar that is 5 cm taller. So maybe better fit with yokes fully out and cables attached.
 

 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/S6-Aluminum-alloy-headset-Headphone-Stand-for-AKG-Sennheiser-Sony-headphones-/151583788920

 

[abcd]

hello I have lcd-2 revision 1
 
I have an o2+odac.
 
I am wondering how much of a difference between o2 and lyr 2 would be before I buy a $450 amp for my headphones
 
is it a a big difference or not that much? thanks

 

[PacoTaco]

  hello I have lcd-2 revision 1
 
I have an o2+odac.
 
I am wondering how much of a difference between o2 and lyr 2 would be before I buy a $450 amp for my headphones
 
is it a a big difference or not that much? thanks

 
I'm going to jump in before someone yells that "ANYTHING BEYOND AN O2 DOESN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"
 
Planars like headroom, as it makes things sound better. Setting that subjective opinion inside, the Lyr 2 is a tube amp that, depending on what tubes you get, produces a warm but balancing sound for the LCD 2 (as in, can balance out some of its faults.)
 
The O2 doesn't give much headroom for the LCD 2 rev1, but the Lyr 2 gives it LOADS of power that it really really really wants.
 
That said, I honestly liked the Soloist SL better with it, so that would be a good upgrade if you like solid states.
 
Don't bother changing out the ODAC though unless you really really really really want to spend 1000+ for a DAC that has filters and other things in it that actually make a difference. You're good with the ODAC.

 

[jodgey4]

Many believe that the LCD-2's, especially the older revisions, need lots of power to sound their best. I'd recommend the Lyr if you want the option to tube roll, want more volume, or believe these claims. The Lyr was practically designed for the Audeze's, though, so you can count on that to sound great regardless . Someone in NYC might let you audition their amp, ask around in the Lyr thread perhaps?

 

[abcd]

   
I'm going to jump in before someone yells that "ANYTHING BEYOND AN O2 DOESN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"
 
Planars like headroom, as it makes things sound better. Setting that subjective opinion inside, the Lyr 2 is a tube amp that, depending on what tubes you get, produces a warm but balancing sound for the LCD 2 (as in, can balance out some of its faults.)
 
The O2 doesn't give much headroom for the LCD 2 rev1, but the Lyr 2 gives it LOADS of power that it really really really wants.
 
That said, I honestly liked the Soloist SL better with it, so that would be a good upgrade if you like solid states.
 
Don't bother changing out the ODAC though unless you really really really really want to spend 1000+ for a DAC that has filters and other things in it that actually make a difference. You're good with the ODAC.

thanks so much for the help. I'll look around some more and see what I can find. I just feel like I'm under powering my lcd-2s, and when I listen to songs with electric guitar, it feels like I'm not fully immersed into it and doesn't feel as detailed and wonderful as acoustic guitars sound.
 
for example (please don't judge my music tastes), if I listen to "name" by the goo goo dolls, I can hear the guitar and it is so immersive and awesome. if I listen to "adam's song" by blink 182 though it feels like the music is flat and not detailed and just sounds bland. I do wonder if it could be these things though:
1. I am using spotify EXTREME!!!! quality streaming
2. the loudness war is the problem, since I'm using a "greatest hits" version of "adam's song"
3. it's my o2 being lame
4. the mastering just sucks in general
5. my lcd-2s just don't like electric guitars
 
I'm not sure though, but I'll do some more researching. I have compared my lcd-2s and hd 650s side by side and there's a big difference in sound quality in every way, so my lcd-2s are definitely good.
 
either way, if I can find a reasonably priced lyr somewhere I'll buy it. I just really don't want to put $450 more into my crippling headphone addiction (not really crippling, just don't want to spend $450 more haha).
 
thanks again and sorry for the long post!

 

[diamondears]

thanks so much for the help. I'll look around some more and see what I can find. I just feel like I'm under powering my lcd-2s, and when I listen to songs with electric guitar, it feels like I'm not fully immersed into it and doesn't feel as detailed and wonderful as acoustic guitars sound.

for example (please don't judge my music tastes), if I listen to "name" by the goo goo dolls, I can hear the guitar and it is so immersive and awesome. if I listen to "adam's song" by blink 182 though it feels like the music is flat and not detailed and just sounds bland. I do wonder if it could be these things though:
1. I am using spotify EXTREME!!!! quality streaming
2. the loudness war is the problem, since I'm using a "greatest hits" version of "adam's song"
3. it's my o2 being lame
4. the mastering just sucks in general
5. my lcd-2s just don't like electric guitars

I'm not sure though, but I'll do some more researching. I have compared my lcd-2s and hd 650s side by side and there's a big difference in sound quality in every way, so my lcd-2s are definitely good.

either way, if I can find a reasonably priced lyr somewhere I'll buy it. I just really don't want to put $450 more into my crippling headphone addiction (not really crippling, just don't want to spend $450 more haha).

thanks again and sorry for the long post!

If I were you, or if you ask my advise, I'll stick with the O2 (it has more than enough power) and invest instead in a DAC with multiple digital filter options. My favorite is what I have now (see my sig---Audiolab 8200CD), so I recommend that, but it's around $1,500. For your budget, I'd highly recommend the Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus or iFi micro iDSD both for around $500.

The O2 is really a special piece of kit.

 

[abcd]

If I were you, or if you ask my advise, I'll stick with the O2 (it has more than enough power) and invest instead in a DAC with multiple digital filter options. My favorite is what I have now (see my sig---Audiolab 8200CD), so I recommend that, but it's around $1,500. For your budget, I'd highly recommend the Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus or iFi micro iDSD both for around $500.

The O2 is really a special piece of kit.

ok so I have all this stuff but I'm still kinda a noob when it comes to how this **** actually works. I've always thought DACs don't actually make that much of a difference in sound? I don't even know why I own one. People just said to buy one and I did... lol
 
but can you quickly explain how DACs have different filters that affect the sound rather than amps that affect the sound?

 

[diamondears]

ok so I have all this stuff but I'm still kinda a noob when it comes to how this **** actually works. I've always thought DACs don't actually make that much of a difference in sound? I don't even know why I own one. People just said to buy one and I did... lol

but can you quickly explain how DACs have different filters that affect the sound rather than amps that affect the sound?

The DAC converts digital to analogue, right? So that's the first stage in our gears where some "transformation" happens. That transformation process is mainly done (aside from implementation, of course) by the DAC chip and the digital filter. So you choose a DAC chip you like the sound signature of. The digital filter is the main "process" that filters out the noise that comes from the recording itself and what the chip does. Basically, the digital signal is upsampled/oversampled in order for the noise to get much bigger also, which makes it easier to identify or pinpoint or isolate the noise and subsequently be easily removed without affecting the other frequencies.

Different digital fikters have different methods of doing this process, and it's always a compromise of one for the other. Like the most commonly used digital filter--the linear filter. This comes up best for objective measurements, meaning it reproduces or converts the digital signal to analogue signal with least divergence, but the tradeoff is that it produces pre and post ringing of certain frequencies, mainly high frequencies. So this will produce a "digitally" or fatiguing sound. Which I find true on my ears. So sound produced is on bright side.

Some other filters sacrifice the objective measurements to remove the pre and/or post ringing. So no digitally sound, but some frequencies are slightly off and timing of certain frequencies are a bit under par. Some filters also rolls off the high frequencies earlier and/or slower/faster/instantly.

Anyway, point is different digital filters would sound different, provided the amp could reveal them. That's why I like the O2. It's the amp that I find best who can make me hear the differences. It's truly a transparent amp, it gives you totally what's on the source.

So having different digital fikters at your disposal is like tube rolling, only that you're doing it at the very first instance where "transformation" happens.

 

[Stillhart]

  hello I have lcd-2 revision 1
 
I have an o2+odac.
 
I am wondering how much of a difference between o2 and lyr 2 would be before I buy a $450 amp for my headphones
 
is it a a big difference or not that much? thanks

 
You might want to read @Zorrofox's impressions of the O2 vs Project Ember in the Project Ember thread.  Short version:  he was super happy with his O2 and didn't think the Ember was going to do much for him.  He was very wrong. 
 
The Ember is often compared to the Lyr as they're in the same general class.  You might look into that as well.  It's cheaper to tube roll as it only takes one tube and it's also cheaper period.

 

[greenkiwi]

Any chance you could borrow or listen to some different amps? And dacs?

My own take would be upgrade your headphone amp first... Then think about upgrading the DAC

 

[canuckaudioguy]

Well guys I received word today that my LCD-2s are being shipped out of LA as of today. This means I will likely receive them back next week, but they are finally coming home! Unfortunately it's been over a month now so commenting on how they sound versus the pre-fazor LCD-2s will likely be out to lunch.. But we will see how I feel about them now compared to before. In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, I had my LCD-2s sent out to have the fazor drivers installed about a month ago.