Audeze LCD-2 Impressions Thread
Aug 9, 2013 at 6:39 AM Post #1,501 of 13,132
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lol. welcome back. Why did u sell yours originally?
 
I am personally at the stage where i am stuggling to chose between the HE-500 and LCD 2.2. My HE-500 has a edge in the amp since its connected to the emotiva 100x mini (4 pin xlr to banana plugs) while the LCD 2.2 is connected to Asgard. Both off of Maverick D2 dac. 
 
Maybe ill just keep both lol..... so hard to choose. 

I'm running my HE-500 on the Emotiva and will be doing the same for the LCD-2. You should really get balanced cables for it. I'm also doing XLR to banana (fully balanced I like to think of LOL)
 
I'm kinda excited to see if Audez'e has made any sonic improvements since 2012. I noticed a BIG jump in quality from the July 2011 pair to the July 2012 pair. I literally thought they had mistakenly put LCD-3 drivers into my Rosewood cups. Both directly from Audez'e, new not second hand or anything. I took off the headphone and counted the six magnet bars and had to remind myself it must be the LCD-2. The difference was ridiculous.
 
I honestly think this varying production quality or steady improvements actually account for why some people think there is a huge difference between the LCD-2 and LCD-3, while others don't see a huge difference but a small improvement. Might really depend on when their particular LCD-2/3 was made.
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 6:50 AM Post #1,502 of 13,132
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His cracked.

 
R.I.P. 
 
Quote:
I'm running my HE-500 on the Emotiva and will be doing the same for the LCD-2. You should really get balanced cables for it. I'm also doing XLR to banana (fully balanced I like to think of LOL)
 
I'm kinda excited to see if Audez'e has made any sonic improvements since 2012. I noticed a BIG jump in quality from the July 2011 pair to the July 2012 pair. I literally thought they had mistakenly put LCD-3 drivers into my Rosewood cups. Both directly from Audez'e, new not second hand or anything. I took off the headphone and counted the six magnet bars and had to remind myself it must be the LCD-2. The difference was ridiculous.
 
I honestly think this varying production quality or steady improvements actually account for why some people think there is a huge difference between the LCD-2 and LCD-3, while others don't see a huge difference but a small improvement.

 
hmmm i c. My LCD 2.2 is not balanced unfortunately. (unlike my HE-500) Contemplated several times of balancing it with 4 pin xlr so i can plug it in the emotiva but i am unsure if it is a good match with a speaker amp. Is it a supposidly a good match? 
 
lol Does that mean i am getting cheated out of a potencially better sound because i'm using a LCD 2 model from the 2011's? :p (non angled cables - cross my fingers that it won't crack)
 
Interesting perspective on the LCD 2 vs LCD 3. Haven't heard LCD 3 but i personally don't think i'll be worth 2x price for me based on what i've been hearing so im just staying clear from it. 
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 6:56 AM Post #1,503 of 13,132
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lol Does that mean i am getting cheated out of a potencially better sound because i'm using a LCD 2 model from the 2011's? :p (non angled cables - cross my fingers that it won't crack)

LOL. Honestly? If I had a 2011 pair I would immediately send it into Audez'e for a free sound test. My 2012 LCD-2 actually had different material you can see through the outside cup. They replaced a black velvet like material with greyish foam. You can also order a balanced cable from them and they can send everything back to you.
evil_smiley.gif

 
If it sounds exactly the same when you get it back then we can confirm my original R2 was somehow veiled or weird production quality abnormality. But the pair I had from 2011 was impressive for me at the time, just as good as the HE-500. I was happy with it and never ever thought it might sound different from other R2s.
 
Max power handling of the LCD-2 is 15 Watts, the Emotiva puts out like 6.66W into 60ohms. I'm pretty sure it'll sound nice with more power. It's a planar afterall, feeding it less than half of the handling capacity can only be good for it.
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 7:01 AM Post #1,504 of 13,132
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Max power handling of the LCD-2 is 15 Watts, the Emotiva puts out like 6.66W into 60ohms. I'm pretty sure it'll sound nice with more power. It's a planar afterall, feeding it less than half of the handling capacity can only be good for it.

Max power handling of the LCD2's is 85watts.
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 8:51 AM Post #1,510 of 13,132
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LOL. Honestly? If I had a 2011 pair I would immediately send it into Audez'e for a free sound test. My 2012 LCD-2 actually had different material you can see through the outside cup. They replaced a black velvet like material with greyish foam. You can also order a balanced cable from them and they can send everything back to you.
evil_smiley.gif

 

 
i feel so lazy. You know this would be much easier if i was in the United States. I think i may get a balanced cable so i can use the emotiva on it but just live with mine unless it cracks. Plus $80 for balanced cable seems a bit expensive to me (saw it on the audeze site) or is there a cheaper alternative? but i guess the cable market is expensive to begin with.
 
I may just choose between the HE-500 or Audeze and then upgrade the Audeze like u suggested if i prefer it over the HE-500.
sigh..... I hope my pay check gets here soon. I spend too much money on alcohol. 
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 9:07 AM Post #1,511 of 13,132
I got my LCD2's yesterday, and after some time I think the headband is farly uncomfertable.
Is the Vegan headband more comfy/softer?
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 12:32 PM Post #1,512 of 13,132
I found it took a week or so for the headphones to break in, comfort wise. I initially found them very uncomfortable, but now love them!
 
I'm not sure that the different headband would be any more comfortable, just be patient.
 
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 2:06 PM Post #1,513 of 13,132
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Interesting zilchomod lied to me then. Disappointed. But anywho I use my LCD2's on speaker taps 65wpc. No problems.

 
Hey DefQon I think what you're mixing up is what the speaker amp is rated at 8ohms versus what it can put out at 60ohms (which is the supposed impedance of the LCD-2)
 
65 Watts into 8ohms = 8.66Watts into 60ohms (just a little over half of the max Audez'e gives).
 

 
I do want to mention to everyone that LCD-2 probably doesn't benefit as much as the Hifiman's when it comes to giving them near limitless headroom/current. I'll find out in a few days when I get my LCD-2 as I've never driven them from speaker taps before until now.
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 2:17 PM Post #1,514 of 13,132
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i feel so lazy. You know this would be much easier if i was in the United States. I think i may get a balanced cable so i can use the emotiva on it but just live with mine unless it cracks. Plus $80 for balanced cable seems a bit expensive to me (saw it on the audeze site) or is there a cheaper alternative? but i guess the cable market is expensive to begin with.
 
I may just choose between the HE-500 or Audeze and then upgrade the Audeze like u suggested if i prefer it over the HE-500.
sigh..... I hope my pay check gets here soon. I spend too much money on alcohol. 

Alcohol spending is very important. I wouldn't worry about sending it in if it sounds fine to you.
biggrin.gif

 
I think Audez'e was pretty infamous for having quality control issues all throughout 2011. Many dead drivers, cracking wood housing, and different LCD-2s sounding different, not to mention the whole LCD-3 veiled debacle. Just typical teething problems for a fast growing company using new type of technology.
 
My guess is that any LCD-2 produced in 2011 would just be a roll of the dice. You might get a really good pair or get kind of a pair that was meh. I'm even sure there are still veiled LCD-3s in circulation or sem-veiled ones, along with super LCD-3s with crazy tight diagphram tension.
 
I also noticed improvements in the HE-500, although not as big as the LCD-2. The first one I had in 2011 had terrible build quality problems, although the sonics were good. Fang really stepped up the quality of the build by the time 2012 rolled around. My guess is that both models "stablized" maybe a year after release, because they both sounded better in 2012 after I got them replaced, althoug the HE-500 was more subtle.
 
But yeah enough of this quality control discussion. I'm excited to be back in the LCD-2 club. I'm hoping the pair I get is the best sounding ever to my ears or at least match the quality of the pair from last year at the very least.
 
It's really funny to me because when I started this journey the LCD-2 was the most popular summit-fi headphone ever. And now it's not even in summit-fi. LOL. Just shows you how long 2 years is in the headphone world. Now people are talking a lot about the HD800/T1, when they were pretty much dismissed in 2010/2011 with people loving Audez'e or Hifiman.
 

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