[Ampeezy]

  My new LCD2 have arrived. I feel like an idiot not buying these sooner. The sound signature is what I've been chasing for some time.

Good choice mate, glad you are enjoying these. It really gets better as you get more used to the sound and learn to appreciate the nuances in the phones.

 

 

[g4747]

My portable chain is laptop- meridian explorer 2-objective 2-Lcd 2.
From which one should adjust the volume?
Foobar, laptop (it's common with meridians as when I adjust one the other follows accordingly) or objective?
Right now I have meridian laptop and foobar at max vol. and I am adjusting the objectives knob.
Does that insert any hissing as I have the other volumes at max?

 

[Ampeezy]

  My portable chain is laptop- meridian explorer 2-objective 2-Lcd 2.
From which one should adjust the volume?
Foobar, laptop (it's common with meridians as when I adjust one the other follows accordingly) or objective?
Right now I have meridian laptop and foobar at max vol. and I am adjusting the objectives knob.
Does that insert any hissing as I have the other volumes at max?

Adjust only from the O2 i think, volume control should be strictly analog if it can be helped. Think you got it right mate.

 

[PinkyPowers]

My portable chain is laptop- meridian explorer 2-objective 2-Lcd 2.

From which one should adjust the volume?

Foobar, laptop (it's common with meridians as when I adjust one the other follows accordingly) or objective?

Right now I have meridian laptop and foobar at max vol. and I am adjusting the objectives knob.

Does that insert any hissing as I have the other volumes at max?

The whole purpose of the amplifier is to control volume.

 

[Devarika Woulf]

 

  I did hear that the first LCD2 fazor model was peaky but my LCD2 rev 2 is just smooth. The transient being very fast, details are there without shrillness. But if you have a deficient DAC or amp it's another tell. While being smooth the LCD2 can be very revealing of anything before it.
Also the lake of distortion at high level can be misleading on the listening level.

 

  Indeed, that super fast decay, combined with a slightly rolled off lower treble, is what makes even poorly mastered, shrill, distorted tracks easier to handle, as that horrible ringing from harsh tracks is not nearly as hard to handle if it decays quickly.

 
Yeah, my LCD-2.2 is smooth as anything. It was that relaxing sound that initially drew me to buy then keep it, with my gear trying to emulate a vinyl system. You can throw anything at it and it handles it wonderfully without being too harsh yet keeping great resolution. That guy must hear differently from us. I've never heard a HD650 but everything I read said the LCD was easily the better headphone.

 

[LEGendARY]

  My portable chain is laptop- meridian explorer 2-objective 2-Lcd 2.
From which one should adjust the volume?
Foobar, laptop (it's common with meridians as when I adjust one the other follows accordingly) or objective?
Right now I have meridian laptop and foobar at max vol. and I am adjusting the objectives knob.
Does that insert any hissing as I have the other volumes at max?

I find it odd when you have the equipment right in front of you to test and see for yourself, but you resort to asking other people about it!! 
 
I read that if you use software to control volume it would degrade the sound, but If I can't hear it, I don't give a damn. 
 
So in my case, I do use the software to control volume while leaving my DAC/AMP on a higher than normal listening gain because if I go lower, my LCD-2 probably loses some of the overall authority. It could be just volume though!!

 

[Ampeezy]

chill fam

 

[LEGendARY]

 

[g4747]

  Adjust only from the O2 i think, volume control should be strictly analog if it can be helped. Think you got it right mate.

 
 

The whole purpose of the amplifier is to control volume.

 


Thank you for your answers.
My reservation comes from the fact that I THINK that I hear noise  when I'm having everything maxed out and just adjusting the objective amp. On the other hand having the volume adjusted at 3/4 on my objective permanently, the foobar one at full volume and playing with the meridians (and also windows) volume corrects that.
I don't know if that makes any sense or it's just my ears.
 

  chill fam

These guys will take their attitude somewhere else eventually.

 

[Alchemist007]

Does anyone notice a change in quality of sound depending on the preamp used? Just wondering as I'm looking at buying a tube amp and using my o2/odac as the dac and preamp.

 

[LEGendARY]

 
These guys will take their attitude somewhere else eventually.

Hahaha Why so sensitive man?! Did I offend you in any way?
 
I just thought that actually testing things, in general, and hearing the difference is better as long as you have equipment.
 
Anyway, enjoy the music. 
 
 

 

[PinkyPowers]

Does anyone notice a change in quality of sound depending on the preamp used? Just wondering as I'm looking at buying a tube amp and using my o2/odac as the dac and preamp.

Every part of the chain impacts the sound.

 

[marcan]

  My portable chain is laptop- meridian explorer 2-objective 2-Lcd 2.
From which one should adjust the volume?
Foobar, laptop (it's common with meridians as when I adjust one the other follows accordingly) or objective?
Right now I have meridian laptop and foobar at max vol. and I am adjusting the objectives knob.
Does that insert any hissing as I have the other volumes at max?

It depends on the bit depth of your source and your DAC. If you decrease 6 dB digitally, you decrease the definition of 1 bit. So if you have a file at 16 bits and you play it on DAC at 24 bits, you still have theoretically a definition of 23 bits. Practically DAC rarely have more than 20 bits of real definition so you are still in the sweet spot of your DAC.

 

[g4747]

Well usually my Flacs are 24 bits/ 44.1 kHz at best, I can't always find 24, I sometimes have to choose 16.
Meridian is capable of reproducing files of 24-bit/192kHz and I find that the right sound volume for me is around -20 - -10 dB.
The weird thing is that I think I'm hearing artifacts when meridian is maxed out and I'm playing with the amps volume which as I understand shouldn't happen.
I can't think of any other volume combo to try, maybe my gear is very particular when it comes to volume (or even faulty?).
 

 

[fiascogarcia]

  Well usually my Flacs are 24 bits/ 44.1 kHz at best, I can't always find 24, I sometimes have to choose 16.
Meridian is capable of reproducing files of 24-bit/192kHz and I find that the right sound volume for me is around -20 - -10 dB.
The weird thing is that I think I'm hearing artifacts when meridian is maxed out and I'm playing with the amps volume which as I understand shouldn't happen.
I can't think of any other volume combo to try, maybe my gear is very particular when it comes to volume (or even faulty?).
 

My Hugo clips if I use the line out setting to my amp, which I wouldn't think should happen either.  But all I had to do was dial the Hugos volume level back.  Just reduce the DAC volume, then use your amp volume control for adjustment.  IMO