[kwkarth]

Quote:

 
I believe these are the best headphones (especially for my taste and your reviews), so these are the cans i'm going to buy. I saw that link that measured many headphones, and already knew how headphones tend to have rolled highs.
I was just saying that they're rolled compared to the source, and to speakers. I would never use silver plated cables on my speakers, but maybe i would on these cans.
I agree that cables make little difference, actually i'm going to spend little on the amp (audio gd sparrow), so i want to spend even less on the cables. Was just wondering that maybe it would be nice to get silver plated cables for little more (like i said, as hifiman is doing).
I never intended to complain about these cans, so i don't see why you are getting upset.
Actually i'm very happy that most of you pointed out how these cans beat the stax omega in many aspects.
 

I'm not upset at what you think about the those headphones or any other, it's that this concept of headphone equalization still seems to not be connecting with many people.  It's sort of exasperating since we've discussed it so many times.  But whatever.  Any headphone that is properly voiced to sound "flat" on your head, will "look" rolled off on a compensated chart.  How it "looks" to an untrained eye has nothing to do with how it sounds to an untrained ear.  I promise I won't bring it up again.  

 
If anyone wants to discuss it further, PM me.
Thx,
k

 

[achristilaw]

 
Quote:

hello, i have a question for you if possible.
which hp do you prefer between the grado hp-2 and the lcd-2?
thank you for your attention
aldo

Well Aldo...The HP-2 is from a by-gone era...and has always been a favorite for small scale Classical and in particular, Opera. It can't go toe-to-toe with the Audez'e. The HP-2 doesn't offer the extension or ultimate dynamics and the detail of the Audez'e. But it is no slouch with good amp pairing (the Berning Micro-Zotl) as example among others. Both have a warm tonality that can add flesh to a performance, and I never tire of the HP-2 attributes.....stage, focus and pretty good over-all clarity.
 
The Audez'e is a Monster of all of those and more (with good gear pairing)! 

 

[SP Wild]

Just in addition to what kwkarth has stated, one must not forget that the immense transient capabilities of this phone, providing they are driven optimally, will add immediate "air" around the treble and every other note in the frequency spectrum - overriding any doubt to anyone that suspects a rolled off treble.  If you require more treble response - there are other phones out there to cater for these desires.

 

[Skylab]

Properly driven, the LCD-2 do not sound the least bit rolled off.  They CAN, however, actually BE rolled off if you use an amp with a quite high output impedance (like many OTL tube amps).

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Properly driven, the LCD-2 do not sound the least bit rolled off.  They CAN, however, actually BE rolled off if you use an amp with a quite high output impedance (like many OTL tube amps).

Well said, Sky.   In spite of 0 negative feedback, I'm hoping the new amp I have on order doesn't sound like Schiit.  It will be an interesting experiment to see how that design works with the LCD-2.  Then again, maybe it will sound like Schiit, and maybe that will be a good thing!

 

[Ham Sandwich]

 
Quote:

^^Not this again. The frequency responce & HRTF implications has been done to death in this thread.

It's been covered both in this thread and Tyll's thread in Sound Science and I'm still a little confused about it.  It is going to continue to be a source of confusion and misinterpretation because the Audeze graph is so different than what we are used to seeing and is done on a different head than we're used to and no comparisons to other well known headphones measured on the same head.  On its own the Audeze graph just looks odd.
 
I'm patient though and want to learn more about this.  It will be interesting to see more measurements by Tyll from his little head in a box.  Then it will be easier to make comparisons of Tyll's measurement of the LCD-2 and other well known headphones all using the same head and HRTF.
 
Regardless of what the graphs look like, human ears say it sounds pretty darn good. 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

It's been covered both in this thread and Tyll's thread in Sound Science and I'm still a little confused about it.  It is going to continue to be a source of confusion and misinterpretation because the Audeze graph is so different than what we are used to seeing and is done on a different head than we're used to and no comparisons to other well known headphones measured on the same head.  On its own the Audeze graph just looks odd.
 
I'm patient though and want to learn more about this.  It will be interesting to see more measurements by Tyll from his little head in a box.  Then it will be easier to make comparisons of Tyll's measurement of the LCD-2 and other well known headphones all using the same head and HRTF.
 
Regardless of what the graphs look like, human ears say it sounds pretty darn good. 

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions about graph interpretation or HRTF stuff.
 

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Just in addition to what kwkarth has stated, one must not forget that the immense transient capabilities of this phone, providing they are driven optimally, will add immediate "air" around the treble and every other note in the frequency spectrum - overriding any doubt to anyone that suspects a rolled off treble.  If you require more treble response - there are other phones out there to cater for these desires.

A LOT of other phones, yes,  well said.

 

[alota]

Quote:

 

Well Aldo...The HP-2 is from a by-gone era...and has always been a favorite for small scale Classical and in particular, Opera. It can't go toe-to-toe with the Audez'e. The HP-2 doesn't offer the extension or ultimate dynamics and the detail of the Audez'e. But it is no slouch with good amp pairing (the Berning Micro-Zotl) as example among others. Both have a warm tonality that can add flesh to a performance, and I never tire of the HP-2 attributes.....stage, focus and pretty good over-all clarity.
 
The Audez'e is a Monster of all of those and more (with good gear pairing)! 

many thanks

aldo

 

[Cya|\|]

Well it's true that rolled headphones may sound more linear. Infact, for speaker measurement, the best method is the one done in a certain amount of time, in the listening environment. And the result is always a little rolled frequency response. Thing is, the roll off doesn't start at 1khz...
I'm also looking forward to TigzStudio review of his cables.
About headphones interpretation and hrtf, i don't know anything. I'm a speaker audiophile guy who wants to buy a headphone system.
So i'd be glad to receive your pm kwkarth, about the explanation of headphone measurement interpretation.

 

[feifan]

Re the LCD-2's FR charts -- like Cya|\| and Ham Sandwich, I, too, was struck by the10db dip beginning at 1khz and extending to the end of the spectrum. For relatively flat FR signatures, I'd normally expect to see a dip at 3-4khz (to control for listener fatigue) then a gradual return to flat at 6khz, extending through 20khz and beyond.
 
Santacore, in an earlier post in this thread, reported hearing a high frequency roll off[size=12pt]. I'm not sure if he found the cause, but it could be a function of this systematic 10db dip.[/size]
 
[size=12pt]One of the implications is that the LCD-2 engineers developed this frequency profile to satisfy a subpopulation of head-fiers [/size]who prefer a slight rolloff from the upper-midrange on.
 
None of this is meant to imply that the LCD-2's FR is subpar. Controlling the upper-mid to high frequency range in this manner could result in a less intense and, thus, more relaxing listening experience.
 
However, as [size=12pt]Cya|\| suggests, [/size][size=12pt]this 10db drop may translate to a 10db difference from the original source's upper-midrange and higher.[/size]
 
[size=12pt]Again, this difference may actually be heard as a soothing, balance[/size]d presentation of the music.

 

[Cya|\|]

Thx for the explanation dude.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Other cans that also have a similar dip at 1K:
Sennheiser HD800, Hifiman HE5, Sony R10, Audio-technica ATH-2000
 
But then they cans begin to differ a bit. It appears the LCD-2 stays a bit lower than the competition. Is it true to life, well, I expect to find out in the recording studio later
 
Anyway, this dip and the following ups and downs are the only thing worth discussing with the LCD-2. Since the square wave is boringly square, impedance is flat (like all orthos), and response is flat as well until 1K.  The only remaining questions becomes, would you prefer it to be flat a bit longer and dip a bit later? would you want the following ups after the down to go a bit higher up?

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by feifan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Re the LCD-2's FR charts -- like Cya|\| and Ham Sandwich, I, too, was struck by the10db dip beginning at 1khz and extending to the end of the spectrum. For relatively flat FR signatures, I'd normally expect to see a dip at 3-4khz (to control for listener fatigue) then a gradual return to flat at 6khz, extending through 20khz and beyond.
Santacore, in an earlier post in this thread, reported hearing a high frequency roll off. I'm not sure if he found the cause, but it could be a function of this systematic 10db dip.
One of the implications is that the LCD-2 engineers developed this frequency profile to satisfy a subpopulation of head-fiers who prefer a slight rolloff from the upper-midrange on.
None of this is meant to imply that the LCD-2's FR is subpar. Controlling the upper-mid to high frequency range in this manner could result in a less intense and, thus, more relaxing listening experience.
However, as Cya|\| suggests, this 10db drop may translate to a 10db difference from the original source's upper-midrange and higher.
Again, this difference may actually be heard as a soothing, balanced presentation of the music.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but...
You guys are driving me crazy with your wild speculations!  Why not stop the speculations and comments until you actually hear the cans?  Asking questions is fine, but to draw any conclusions without having any idea of what you're talking about is nuts!

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Quote:

Well said, Sky.   In spite of 0 negative feedback, I'm hoping the new amp I have on order doesn't sound like Schiit.  It will be an interesting experiment to see how that design works with the LCD-2.  Then again, maybe it will sound like Schiit, and maybe that will be a good thing!

It will be interesting to see what you think.  I don't think the 20V P-P is enough for the LCD-2s, at least not enough to really make them sing and hit.  They'll sound ok, but I think you'll be getting about 70% of what they can do out of them with that amp.  But for $250, I wouldn't expect much more either, nor would I complain about the performance for the measly price paid.