[angle_sh00ter]

 
Quote:

I would suggest that a cable change would not be as drastic to the sound as a DAC change. I agree with Rob, it was subtle, but enough to balance them to my tastes almost perfectly.
 
Which DAC did you try them with?

 
 
That could be the case.  The DAC was a heavily modded TDA1543 Chameleon compared to my devilsound.  The albums which I noticed the most difference was by RATM and Guns n Roses.
Both of them are NOS Dacs not known for being bright so it was a big surprise to me to see just how revealing and transparent the LCD-2 really is. 

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

I'm now on the waiting list. Still undecided 100% whether I will pick them up or not, we shall see how the money situation is when it comes to it. Not like they'll have a hard time getting rid of my pair if I decide not to take them

A friendly head-fier has also offered me an audition so they will ultimately have a large say in what I decide to do. Either way, cannot wait to hear them!

 
If you go ahead and decide you don't need them hit me up.
 

 

[SP Wild]

Finally, I have been re-united with my LCD2s.  I think I loaned them out for longer than I had actually had them in my possession.  This time I am armed with an additional DAC in the form of the Reference 7.  First impressions...these are not the LCD2s that I bought.  They're bordering on bright, but the Reference 7 blows out the soundstage, bass and ambience and imaging like no tommorow. 
 
The Brystons darker treble sounded a little better matched to the LCD2s.  But boy does the 7 + LCD2 put the 7 + HD800 to shame with its resolving capabilities.  Its exactly like my head is shoved two inches from the guitar strings - how close mics are generally placed to guitars.  Ultra resolution is definitely an unnatural phenomena in a headphone.  I can not possibly comprehend why anyone would ask for more treble from the 7 and LCD2 combo.  Bass is ridiculously highly defined, definitely a few notches more resolution than the HD800 in the bass, not just the bass, but everywhere.
 
I hope the Phoenix is a darker than the Lehmann amp.  By all reports, the B22 is a darker amp than the BCL.  I feel I need to tone down the treble.  At the moment I feel it is dead neutral with a slightly hot treble.

 

[sokolov91]

Quote:

Finally, I have been re-united with my LCD2s.  I think I loaned them out for longer than I had actually had them in my possession.  This time I am armed with an additional DAC in the form of the Reference 7.  First impressions...these are not the LCD2s that I bought.  They're bordering on bright, but the Reference 7 blows out the soundstage, bass and ambience and imaging like no tommorow. 
 
The Brystons darker treble sounded a little better matched to the LCD2s.  But boy does the 7 + LCD2 put the 7 + HD800 to shame with its resolving capabilities.  Its exactly like my head is shoved two inches from the guitar strings - how close mics are generally placed to guitars.  Ultra resolution is definitely an unnatural phenomena in a headphone.  I can not possibly comprehend why anyone would ask for more treble from the 7 and LCD2 combo.  Bass is ridiculously highly defined, definitely a few notches more resolution than the HD800 in the bass, not just the bass, but everywhere.
 
I hope the Phoenix is a darker than the Lehmann amp.  By all reports, the B22 is a darker amp than the BCL.  I feel I need to tone down the treble.  At the moment I feel it is dead neutral with a slightly hot treble.

Nope... I find my Ref - 7 + phoenix combo MUCH brighter than my NAD + Concerto combo, but it is still not "bright" just no longer "recessed" at all. And yes, the soundstage is impeccable. XD exactly what I wanted for these headphones.

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Finally, I have been re-united with my LCD2s.  I think I loaned them out for longer than I had actually had them in my possession.  This time I am armed with an additional DAC in the form of the Reference 7.  First impressions...these are not the LCD2s that I bought.  They're bordering on bright, but the Reference 7 blows out the soundstage, bass and ambience and imaging like no tommorow. 
 
The Brystons darker treble sounded a little better matched to the LCD2s.  But boy does the 7 + LCD2 put the 7 + HD800 to shame with its resolving capabilities.  Its exactly like my head is shoved two inches from the guitar strings - how close mics are generally placed to guitars.  Ultra resolution is definitely an unnatural phenomena in a headphone.  I can not possibly comprehend why anyone would ask for more treble from the 7 and LCD2 combo.  Bass is ridiculously highly defined, definitely a few notches more resolution than the HD800 in the bass, not just the bass, but everywhere.
 
I hope the Phoenix is a darker than the Lehmann amp.  By all reports, the B22 is a darker amp than the BCL.  I feel I need to tone down the treble.  At the moment I feel it is dead neutral with a slightly hot treble.

 
The amp would have to be rediculously bright to actually shift the treble away from neutral towards the bright end.
 

 

[SP Wild]

As above, the Lehmann amp is reportedly leaner than neutral...it could be my amp, hi-hats are starting to take on that splashy, unnaturally enhanced shimmer.
 
Edit:  I forgot I have the Jaycar amp with me that  I modified and it definitely shifts the tonal temperature back down...whew.
 
Edit 2:  But the Lehmann still has sharper transients...the HD800 was telling me they were finally equals...well back to the drawing board.

 

[oqvist]

 
Quote:

Finally, I have been re-united with my LCD2s.  I think I loaned them out for longer than I had actually had them in my possession.  This time I am armed with an additional DAC in the form of the Reference 7.  First impressions...these are not the LCD2s that I bought.  They're bordering on bright, but the Reference 7 blows out the soundstage, bass and ambience and imaging like no tommorow. 
 
The Brystons darker treble sounded a little better matched to the LCD2s.  But boy does the 7 + LCD2 put the 7 + HD800 to shame with its resolving capabilities.  Its exactly like my head is shoved two inches from the guitar strings - how close mics are generally placed to guitars.  Ultra resolution is definitely an unnatural phenomena in a headphone.  I can not possibly comprehend why anyone would ask for more treble from the 7 and LCD2 combo.  Bass is ridiculously highly defined, definitely a few notches more resolution than the HD800 in the bass, not just the bass, but everywhere.
 
I hope the Phoenix is a darker than the Lehmann amp.  By all reports, the B22 is a darker amp than the BCL.  I feel I need to tone down the treble.  At the moment I feel it is dead neutral with a slightly hot treble.

Thanks Sokolov and SP Wild. I thought my ears went nuts because the last two weeks the LCD-2 has been on the bright side. I have the Ref9 with DSP 5. which is supposed to be the warm and musical series from Audio GD but I am sure many would call cold and analytical.
 
I have caught myself getting nostalgic over the old warm LCD-2 at times. Though my old systems had it´s problems for sure. Lucky I haven´t sold the DAC19 yet though if my EQ fails

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

I have caught myself getting nostalgic over the old warm LCD-2 at times. Though my old systems had it´s problems for sure.

X2!

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Finally, I have been re-united with my LCD2s.  I think I loaned them out for longer than I had actually had them in my possession.  This time I am armed with an additional DAC in the form of the Reference 7.  First impressions...these are not the LCD2s that I bought.  They're bordering on bright, but the Reference 7 blows out the soundstage, bass and ambience and imaging like no tommorow. 

Every time I see someone who can stand going back to their Edition 8s or Denons after the LCD-2s, I think it's because their source isn't good enough, as those headphones can't even touch the LCD-2s in speed and detail when I switch to them. I used to say, when I was into Stax in a big way, your source can never be good enough.  I think it's the same for the LCD-2s.  Stax rigs too, are balanced by design, and I feel that balanced, the LCD-2s are similar in their headstage when balanced (in my rig -- I have ever only owned or used one balanced amp, so I'm assuming much the same effect results with other high-end balanced amps).  The overall result is totally different compared to how the LCD-2s sound plugged in to any other amp I've tried.  Maybe a good dual-mono SE amp might get most of the way there, as the Audiovalve RKV did when I owned it.  That amp demonstrated to me how a good SE amp can bring a wide headstage into the game without the need for a balanced set-up.
 
As for the treble, there is a peak quite late at 10k or higher, so while that is above the region that promotes sibilance, it's in the area where symbols are heard, so indeed the LCD-2s can sound bright at times, but it's not irritating with my Phoenix/Ref 1 rig, due to the low distortion.  It can be annoying with the cheaper gear I have around.

 

[sokolov91]

Quote:

Quote:

Finally, I have been re-united with my LCD2s.  I think I loaned them out for longer than I had actually had them in my possession.  This time I am armed with an additional DAC in the form of the Reference 7.  First impressions...these are not the LCD2s that I bought.  They're bordering on bright, but the Reference 7 blows out the soundstage, bass and ambience and imaging like no tommorow. 

Every time I see someone who can stand going back to their Edition 8s or Denons after the LCD-2s, I think it's because their source isn't good enough, as those headphones can't even touch the LCD-2s in speed and detail when I switch to them. I used to say, when I was into Stax in a big way, your source can never be good enough.  I think it's the same for the LCD-2s.  Stax rigs too, are balanced by design, and I feel that balanced, the LCD-2s are similar in their headstage when balanced (in my rig -- I have ever only owned or used one balanced amp, so I'm assuming much the same effect results with other high-end balanced amps).  The overall result is totally different compared to how the LCD-2s sound plugged in to any other amp I've tried.  Maybe a good dual-mono SE amp might get most of the way there, as the Audiovalve RKV did when I owned it.  That amp demonstrated to me how a good SE amp can bring a wide headstage into the game without the need for a balanced set-up.
 
As for the treble, there is a peak quite late at 10k or higher, so while that is above the region that promotes sibilance, it's in the area where symbols are heard, so indeed the LCD-2s can sound bright at times, but it's not irritating with my Phoenix/Ref 1 rig, due to the low distortion.  It can be annoying with the cheaper gear I have around.

I just really like my D7000, but yeah the LCD-2 are always dancing around saying "can't touch this"
 

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Finally, I have been re-united with my LCD2s.  I think I loaned them out for longer than I had actually had them in my possession.  This time I am armed with an additional DAC in the form of the Reference 7.  First impressions...these are not the LCD2s that I bought.  They're bordering on bright, but the Reference 7 blows out the soundstage, bass and ambience and imaging like no tommorow. 

Every time I see someone who can stand going back to their Edition 8s or Denons after the LCD-2s, I think it's because their source isn't good enough, as those headphones can't even touch the LCD-2s in speed and detail when I switch to them. I used to say, when I was into Stax in a big way, your source can never be good enough.  I think it's the same for the LCD-2s.  Stax rigs too, are balanced by design, and I feel that balanced, the LCD-2s are similar in their headstage when balanced (in my rig -- I have ever only owned or used one balanced amp, so I'm assuming much the same effect results with other high-end balanced amps).  The overall result is totally different compared to how the LCD-2s sound plugged in to any other amp I've tried.  Maybe a good dual-mono SE amp might get most of the way there, as the Audiovalve RKV did when I owned it.  That amp demonstrated to me how a good SE amp can bring a wide headstage into the game without the need for a balanced set-up.
 
As for the treble, there is a peak quite late at 10k or higher, so while that is above the region that promotes sibilance, it's in the area where symbols are heard, so indeed the LCD-2s can sound bright at times, but it's not irritating with my Phoenix/Ref 1 rig, due to the low distortion.  It can be annoying with the cheaper gear I have around.

I just really like my D7000, but yeah the LCD-2 are always dancing around saying "can't touch this"
 

Exactly...or say you're out of town in-laws are visiting for 2 weeks and you need to drown them out...the Edition 8s are just what the doctor ordered.

 

[Jian]

Source is indeed the most important part of the system, more so if you are using high end phones like LCD2 or HE6. IMO, the source should be the most expensive part of the whole chain. Say if you are using 840c level of a cd player, when thinking of next upgrade, the first choice should be spending on a better cd player rather than a better phone or amp. That's why I sold my 840c when upgrading to T1 since it was just not good enough for the whole setup. The result might not be mind blowing at first but very subtle and gives the whole system soul and huge potential.

 

[oqvist]

Well the  LCD-2 is better in relationship to the ED 8 straight out of the Ipod unamplified then out of my better DACs and amps. So I don´t think that is the reason why everyone doesn´t agree about Ultrasone and Denons being poo as I think you want to suggest
 
If the LCD-2 could isolate and soundstage as well as the ED 8 as well as being a bit lighter the LCD-2 would do great as a one and only headphone together with my speakers. And use some EQ for fine tuning.
 
 

 

[NapalmK]

Yeah I've been considering upgrading my source as my rig desperately needs it. Any recommendations for a good dac to pair with one of these bad boys? I was thinking something along the lines of a Gamma 2. The most I can afford at the moment is around $400 though it may increase if the LCD2 makes me sell my other gear.

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Yeah I've been considering upgrading my source as my rig desperately needs it. Any recommendations for a good dac to pair with one of these bad boys? I was thinking something along the lines of a Gamma 2. The most I can afford at the moment is around $400 though it may increase if the LCD2 makes me sell my other gear.

At that price point, you can't do better than the y2 IMO. Anyways, that's a topic for a different thread.