[commtrd]

It would appear this thread has morphed into "The HD800 Appreciation Thread"!
I for one really wish I had bought HD800 instead of Audeze LCD2.2 but too late now.
Oh well. Now I'm going to be bumming every time I put my cans on to listen. Thanks for ruining my experience knowing I am listening to such crappy phones.

 

[RustA]

Quote:

It would appear this thread has morphed into "The HD800 Appreciation Thread"!
I for one really wish I had bought HD800 instead of Audeze LCD2.2 but too late now.
Oh well. Now I'm going to be bumming every time I put my cans on to listen. Thanks for ruining my experience knowing I am listening to such crappy phones.

 
Nobody said LCD-2 are crappy, they are my favourite headphones up to 1000USD! They are just completely different, the complete opposite of HD800. Also, HD800 cost 1500USD while LCD-2 cost 1000USD. Well, they cost nearly the same in Europe but that's another story...

 

[knights]

Quote:

It would appear this thread has morphed into "The HD800 Appreciation Thread"!
I for one really wish I had bought HD800 instead of Audeze LCD2.2 but too late now.
Oh well. Now I'm going to be bumming every time I put my cans on to listen. Thanks for ruining my experience knowing I am listening to such crappy phones.

No one said its crappy… Its a great set on its league… That being said, having compared to 800 is a great feat … Like most thread here, its nothing new when other headphones are dragged into the conversation to give us a better and comparable perspective of our headphones... 
 
Im not an owner of 800, but i do have a good amount of time with it… Im a proud HD600 and HE500 user/owner...

 

[commtrd]

Would all this imply then that HD800 could be arguably considered superior to LCD3? If that is the general consensus then obviously it would make sense to acquire the HD800 over LCD3?

 

[paradoxper]

Quote:

Would all this imply then that HD800 could be arguably considered superior to LCD3? If that is the general consensus then obviously it would make sense to acquire the HD800 over LCD3?

It is. However it largely comes down to preferences, and even preferring the HD800 over everything else, the LCD-3 is no slouch.

 

[jibzilla]

  This site made me go from the HD 595 that I had for a few years directly into the LCD 2 rev 2. After burn I felt like I have been missing out all these years. Only down side is I had to upgrade my iems because after you listen the the LCD 2 there is no going back. I would wear them at work if they didnt weight so much. Does anyone think the wood makes planar that much better? 

 

[RustA]

Quote:

Would all this imply then that HD800 could be arguably considered superior to LCD3? If that is the general consensus then obviously it would make sense to acquire the HD800 over LCD3?

 
No, general consensus is that those two are comparable... My friend has very similar tastes ( = what I wrote in previous posts quite applies to him as well) and while he prefers HD800 over both HE-6 and LCD-3, he sees LCD-3 (and HE-6) to be on the same level overally but again significantly different.
 
I personally haven't heard LCD-3 but from impressions, I look at them like at a mix of both HD800 and LCD-2... That said, from the technical perspective, HD800 should still have the edge (but again, you may prefer LCD-3 as they should be more musical). I would read review from David (Battle of the flagships) to get more info about... But the friend told me that LCD-3 provide you with better soundstaging (in comparison to LCD-2) while still quite lacking the 3D feeling of HD800 and their imaging is again still not as great as of HD800. He also sees bass of LCD-3 to be in a top class but rather similar in nature and quality to HD800 than a lot better. You should, in general, also look into HE-6.
 
Btw, to answer your question from my personal perspective - LCD-3 are 2x more expensive than HD800 in Europe and therefore I would never purchase LCD-3 personally. It's not as dramatic in the States but still, you can get HD800 for around 1000USD while LCD-3 go usually for 1650 - 1750USD. My advice? Go for used HD800 along with something like Meier Corda Classic or Burson Soloist. There are other options as well, just to name a few!
 
I've tried hard to describe extensively what I like about HD800... Everyone sees things differently but I am quite confident I described what's great about HD800 more or less completely. Feel free to ask...

 

[PinkLed]

Now you're all making me want to buy a pair of HD800s to compliment my LCD 2s. I really dont want to buy a new amp and dac though. Would anyone reccommend against using the HD800's with a Lyr/Bifrost? 
 

Quote:

This site made me go from the HD 595 that I had for a few years directly into the LCD 2 rev 2. After burn I felt like I have been missing out all these years. Only down side is I had to upgrade my iems because after you listen the the LCD 2 there is no going back. I would wear them at work if they didnt weight so much. Does anyone think the wood makes planar that much better? 

No sorry the wood from the lcd-2 does not make it better. The he-500 and th-600 are just as good all around imo as the lcd-2 and they have no wood. You did pay a bit of luxury tax for that, but it is awfully beautiful and I don't think you got taxed that bad for what you got ($200). The th-900 owners really got taxed $600+ and I still wouldn't knock them cause they got the most beautiful wood-cups ever and if that's what you like then phat, but you did get taxed for it, cause damping does almost the same thing and costs a tenth as much.

Thanks for the feedback. 

 

[OPR8R]

I just realized there's actually two, maybe more, or these LCD-2 appreciation threads.  They have surprisingly similar content in their posts.

 

[jibzilla]

   
At first, I would like to stress that this all is only MY OPINION. I definitely don't wanna people think that LCD-2 are not a great headphone or that I have the ultimate truth Also, I feel the need to complete what I've said about LCD-2. Their strong points are the frequency response graph itself, especially cooperation of bass and mids (beautiful, enjoyable), AND clarity with reasonable speed. LCD-2 have low distortion levels and therefore, especially with proper amplification, they must sound very transparent and solid.
 
That said, they cannot quite match HD800, at least not if high-end means high-fidelity or technical brillance. This is also possible to spot when listening through difficult passages which basically means that your music makes your headphone very busy - a lot of instruments at once, badly-mastered recordings or many layers of the same instrument, fast tempo - simply situations where you need balanced frequency response, fast impulse response and precise imaging/separation in order to still get a clear picture with all the microdetails of what is happening in front of you. HD800 are fast and advanced enough to handle everything, from metal to classical. LCD-2 are also very good but their lack or air and a bit worse impulse response plus not very good imaging, only in comparison to HD800, is quite obvious.
 
Another great way to illustrate what difficult music means is when you take a solo record - just one voice or one instrument. Imagine headphones playing just this one instrument... Do you need them to be fast or precise, to image accurately? No, because all the space and time are reserved for just this one instrument... On the other hand, listen to some indie/metal record where you have several instruments and all of them can play in a very fast tempo - well, in order to not get an unlistenable mess, you need headphones which are able to distinguish every single nuance and be fast enough to separate notes in time (fast decay).
 
============================================================================================
 
Generally speaking, responding to the reaction above, the highest models of Stax are considered to be one of the greatest headphones ever created. That said, from what I've read, you just cannot say that Stax is going to be the very best for any single person on this planet. Haven't heard any Stax model yet unfortunately But you can be sure that I have zero intensions to switch to any other dynamic headphones... HD800 are perfect for me. But again, it's only my take on how I want to listen to headphones - I just prefer to be able to visualise the stage in front of me... I just love to listen to live recordings with HD800's semicircular and incredibly deep plus wide soundstage, especially in cooperation with quality hardware crossfeed, which will simply take you there. It's a 3D experience, as much as it gets with headphones. Even SR-009 is not supposed to match HD800 in terms of imaging and holographic soundstage.
 
It all definitely depends on your preference... I've tried to explain as much as I could why I prefer HD800 over LCD-2. However, you must realise that we are comparing two the most popular high-end offerings. Yes, people buy HD800 and LCD-2 the most, as far as I know (along with Beyerdynamic T1 I think).

 

[RustA]

Quote:

Have you heard drum and bass through the lcd-2? At least to me the lcd sounded like the big block during very buzy sections more than the hd-800 albeit in a closed in soundstage. I also think we have a new contender to go along with the hd-800, lcd-2, and t1 and it's the th-600. I haven't heard a t1 though, but I'm happy enuff with these th-600's that I don't think I gonna unless it's at a meet.

 
Well, some may already know I am the biggest fan of Denons and Fostex headphones evah...

Haven't heard TH-600 but while I praise Fostex for making obviously a"fun" headphone of the highest caliber with quite an impressive measurement (TH900), I don't think I would be able to live with any of their offerings unless they completely redone their concept from bottom to the top. It's just about preference and I prefer to be closer to neutrality...
 
Unfortunately no, I am not a fan of drum'n'bass... But if I was, I guess I would prefer to listen to it "analytically and with a passion" (thanks to preproman for this nice statement ) and therefore favor HD800 as well. I definitely do not think that bass of LCD-2 is boomy or inaccurate, not at all. LCD-2 just lack proper soundstaging and treble extension to fully shine!

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

How can a headphone with less retrieval of details be more transparent than the 800? Im sorry if we use the term "transparency" differently… LCD2 is no question a great can but its nowhere near HD800 in detail retrieval IMO, let along the T1...

 
It doesn't have less details. It's just that the HD 800 emphasizes detail by pushing the treble up. If you have not heard what STAX can do, then you don't know what real detail retrieval is. The LCD-2 can distinguish nuances and textures in the music better than the HD 800 can, because it uses a superior technology that provides better audio resolution. 
 
The HD 800 is a really disgustingly overrated headphone in my opinion. It only sounds good when you color its sound signature to something completely different. 

 

[Lan647]

Quote:

 
Interesting... I've extensively compared both side by side and LCD-2 simply lacked microdetail and their treble was too shelved down to offer me all information stored in my music files, in comparison to HD800. That said, I must agree that LCD-2 are already great here and I could certainly live even with LCD-2's level of detail!
 
I must also agree that LCD-2 are a bit more transparent than HD800... However, even LCD-2 are not completely transparent due to their not perfect treble response (there are some peaks from 6 - 10 khz which are possible to hear).

 
It's not the LCD-2 that has a shelved down treble, it's the HD 800 that has an elevated treble. Going from the HD 800 to the LCD-2 and vice versa takes time to get used to. 

My rev 2 is a bit special though as it has more than 1000h burn-in and uses LCD-3 pads which improves sound by providing a better seal. 

 

[jibzilla]

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[RustA]

Quote:

Rusta I totally agree with you on the soundstage and treble extension. If it had not been for those two things I would probably still own them. I would like to see you try the th-600's. They still have a bit of fun to them like the d7k but are also very neutral and linear like the lcd, just absolutely spot on imo.

 
I've heard about TH600 having more neutral mids... That would be certainly interesting to have a listen to them, or see a measurement to at least get an idea! I think I am going to read more about them now...