[grokit]

 
Quote:

Quote:

The frequency response graphs are pretty flawed measurements IMO.  

Are they?  The HD800 shows a bump at 6kHz.  Listening to my pair I can clearly hear it and on some recordings it sounds too hot.   The LCD-2 graph shows dips in the HF response and sounds darker than the HD800.  Looking at the response graphs, this is what I would expect. Neither is right nor wrong, just different.  
 
As much as I love my HD800/Lehmann combo  the LCD-2 is on my wish list as  counterpoise to the Senns.
 
For the short time I have spent on the wonderful forum, I am realizing there no 'final solution' pair of phones and debating which is better is futile.  

While I agree from my experience, here is the latest attempt at said "final solution" 

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Quote:

 

 


I didn't mean to attack you or your post I should have been more clear, it was in reference to all the graphs in the past 100 pages.  But yeah, what I meant by frequency response was just the balance of bass, mids, treble and everything in between.  I think comparing FR or tonal balance or whatever you want to call it, between headphones, is more relevant when they use the same technology.  Two dynamic headphones with the same FR will sound more similar than an ortho and a dynamic or a stat and a dynamic with the same FR.

No harm, no foul.  I did not think you were attacking.  You made good points.  Thanks for checking.

Good, I feel like posts get misunderstood or taken the wrong way pretty often so it's always good to do a check up

 

[MrGreen]

You're an alright guy RD

 

[JIGF]

Quote:

It's pretty whacked going from a HF-2 to these headphones.
 
I need to rack up a dozen more hours or so to figure out what I'm going to do with these. 

Did you get to Chip Away? Another one you got to listen to is The Package.

 

[pigwave]

Hi all, may I ask the LCD2 owners in Australia, did any of you happen to pay for the customs tax etc when you received your LCD2s?
I just sent the pre-order form and I'm still concerned for the customs things. 

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Hi all, may I ask the LCD2 owners in Australia, did any of you happen to pay for the customs tax etc when you received your LCD2s?
I just sent the pre-order form and I'm still concerned for the customs things. 

Some did, some didn't. I just imported something valued higher than the LCD-2, but under $1000 and didn't have to pay anything. You won't have to pay the tax, considering the strength of the AUD atm

 

[65dos]

can say they are reliable?

 

[Francoy]

Quote:

 
HiFlight, do you consider Pearl Jam's "Binaural" to be mixed well for headphones? It's on the way to me, I haven't heard it yet.
 
"For its sixth album, Pearl Jam brought in producer Tchad Blake, known for his use of binaural recording. Binaural recording techniques were utilized on several tracks, such as the acoustic "Of the Girl." The songs are also identified with an asterisk next to the song names in the lyric book."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_(album)
 
"If there's an ounce of you that's ever been keen on Pearl Jam, or even if you've never bothered, grab a pair of headphones and let Binaural pummel and soak into you, and relax about it."
http://www.metacritic.com/music/binaural/critic-reviews

You gave me an itch to go listen to that album... And I can say that I clearly hear the difference between the binaural and non-binaural songs on the album. The binaural recorded ones sound ethereal and very « spacious » although they seem a bit bass heavy. Their clarity and soundstage depth are quite impressive and since they are sandwiched between non-binaural recordings, they really stand out from them. The non-binaural songs are also a bit bass heavy to my ears, but they seem bloated and congested in comparison.
 
 
Haven’t listened to it on other phones though... And my source (Oppo spinner) isn’t out of this world so Your Mileage Will Vary.
 

 

[Currawong]

 
Quote:

Quote:

You originally said that you found the mids to be congested in the LCD-2s, which is not something I experienced. As I've gone through a reasonable amount of gear, I thought that there may be a possibility that it was the result of something other than the headphones.

 
Not sure if it bothers you, but my test track for that kind of stuff is Maia by Pleiadians (I mentioned it earlier in the thread), which you are free to try out (regardless of how much you may hate it ). Perceived congestion aside, I think it's pretty obvious that the LCD-2 doesn't match my taste for this genre (which, along with ambient takes up a lot of my time). I found the LCD-2 very good for classical and jazz (my other mainstays), but preferred the HD800 for those genres. You don't have any headphones I've owned and enjoyed thoroughly, but I think the RE0 might be decent at conveying some personal taste in the are for these genres. I actually believe these genres are the hardest to get "right" or "good enough" because they often rely on technical aspects of sound reproduction - and I usually find a short coming in a headphone somewhere in this regard. Classical and Jazz, by contrast are less about the "sound" and more about the notes played and how they are played. IMO anyway (not sure how many people agree with the 'notes played' comment - but maybe there's some other music theory-heavy members here)

FWIW also, the HD800 was an impressive sound on the above track but jesus that treble spike was actually physically painful (and usually I just found it irritating). There was like, a sound like hitting two marbles together which was really accentuated with them that was just awful to listen to. I'm not sure if anyone who was at the meet where I first heard the HD800 remembers but I said it sounded incredible (it was my first taste of the high end, I suppose), but I would actually flinch every time that sound was there.
 
While we're on the subject of music, I actually really enjoyed the LCD-2 on stuff like Dream Fighter by Perfume (LOL), and to a lesser extent the first track of Carbon Based Lifeform's Hydroponic Garden ("Central Plains"). The bass on each of these was sublime and very true to source IMO. They also did an interesting job of the low end in BT "The other side" (from This Binary Universe). But I think the ER4S and stax (kill me now!) does an even better job of presenting the bass on the carbon based lifeforms example (not so on the BT example for the ER4)
 
I'm talking about music I think most head-fiers would hate, though of course.
 
Other test tracks I use (vocal presence) is Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice as well as Dorset Perception by Shpongle (treble bite, vocal separation, soundstage, how well it responds to jittery sounds (when the vocals start and stop a lot).
 
Maybe you'll get a better sense of what I hear with my gear and my music if you listen to the above. Then again, maybe not
 
PS it always annoys me that people ask about gear before they ask about music. Music is very easy to listen to - maybe you'll actually find that the music in question is responsible for the observations rather than the gear. Of course, maybe not.

I wanted to respond to this post yesterday, as it was the kind of discussion I was looking for. You're right about music -- someone posted once that the secret to finding the right cans was to find people who listen to the same kind of music. I'm big on Shpongle. I usually use Monster Hit for speed testing, but I'll give Dorset Perception a go as well.  Since I listen to a lot of jazz, my Symphones Magnums (modified Grados) I find the best, much because of the forward mids and somewhat of a mid-bass hump that makes the brass delicious and gives it some body.  They are also very quick cans by my reckoning, though we don't have measurements yet.
 
Stax are certainly great for Shpongle and the like.  The thing about Stax is that they are polar opposite orthos electrically (high voltage, low current vs. high current, low voltage) and, since there are only relatively few amps for 'stats the experience is fairly consistent.  I hope, this year, to build a KGSSHV (I'm notoriously slow at getting around to such projects however) and see if I can't build an 'stat experience to match that of my LCD-2s.
 
There's a bunch of other stuff I want to discuss but I need to get on with what I'm doing unfortunately.
 

 

[wower]

I wanted to add some thoughts about the weight of the LCD2s and the sound signature:
 
Make no mistake, these headphones are heavy IMO, tho they are more comfortable that I had assumed before I took delivery of them. I'm often listening to music and pause to wish I had the exact same sound signature but with a lighter headphone. I think if the LCD2 were lighter it would have the psycho-acoustic effect of making the high freq sound less recessed. Songs can get a but syrupy and bogged down, strictly due to its physical weight I think.

 

[65dos]

whether it can work without the amp?

 

[Skylab]

It requires an amp, in my opinion.

 

[jamato8]

The weak link, often, with speakers and many phones is that they use junk wire when going from the transducer to the output.  This is only 3 inches of wire or so but as with the LCD-2, 26 gauge PVC wire is used. Wire does influence sound, even short runs if it is subpar. I replaced the short runs of wire in the LCD-2 with the 22 gauge 99.99994 silver I use and obtain from a specialist in the industry. At first the sound was a little, well, blah. After 10 hours it is better than the stock wire. I have no idea why all the money is put into one area or another and then the signal, often, is neglected. 

 

[65dos]

 
for how much you can buy used ld2?

 

[NapalmK]

Pretty much the same price if not a little more. The demand is high and the supply is low.