[WarriorAnt]

Quote:

I  Likewise, it will remain to be seen how comfortable leather pads will be, once warmer weather gets here.
 
 
 
     -Mike
 
 

I'll let you know. I live in the Sonoran desert and it will be getting near or up to 120 here in the summer. 

 

 

[ianmedium]

I'll let you know. I live in the Sonoran desert and it will be getting near or up to 120 here in the summer. 

 
[/quote

Lucky you, I camped in the Sahara once, what an experience, though I did not have a weighty pair of headphones on at the time

 

[mhamel]

Quote:

I'll let you know. I live in the Sonoran desert and it will be getting near or up to 120 here in the summer. 

 

Hahaha, much hotter than that, they'll just fuse to your head and you can get rid of the headband altogether.
 
The hottest I remember it being here was last July - 117F and very humid, with a heat index of 122F - of course, the counter-balance to that was having to shovel 3ft of ice and snow off of my roof this winter.  Heh.
 
   -Mike
 
 
 

 

[jamato8]

Quote:

I'll let you know. I live in the Sonoran desert and it will be getting near or up to 120 here in the summer. 

 

Yeah as the monsoons come and the swamp cooler adds some lovely extra humidity and doesn't work any longer. I will be back in Tucson in August, oh what fun. 
 

 

[MrQ]

Quote:

I do, but I'm not sure I understand the concept of soundstage as it's sometimes discussed here. If you're talking studio classical recordings, when you see photos of the recording sessions the mikes are usually above the orchestra slightly and quite close, not really like a concert venue. This then, barring spot mikes for highlighting and reverb, which is another subject, will determine the "soundstage", and this is pretty much what I hear with the LCD-2--a quite close acoustic with some instruments coming from around 45 degrees left or right and the rest filling the gap. IOW, nothing I hear on the LCD-2 in terms of soundstage is inconsistent with the photos I've seen of classical recording sessions in studios (live concerts, church venues etc are of course a different thing). When people say, as I read on one thread, that the LCD-2 makes the orchestra sound like it's in a broom closet, that I don't get and it isn't what I hear. Surely a large, low distortion driver like the LCD-2, angled to fire directly more or less into the ear canal. is not going to radically alter what was recorded, is not going to make a spacious acoustic sound like a broom closet. And if it does, I'd like to know why the effect isn't obvious to all, why it only seems apparent to some. I find the LCD extremely honest in its presentation in all areas, including soundstage.
 
That said, I've never found any headphone to offer me a holographic image of the orchestra sitting in front of me, at whatever distance. Maybe I haven't yet heard the right phones, or maybe it's not possible at this point in recording history outside of binaural. Or maybe it's poor associated equipment--who knows? The soundstage satisfies me, but doesn't awe me, and I'd be interested in hearing from those who do experience an "awesome" soundstage, from the LCD-2 or anything else.
 

 
Quote:

That would be me.  Probably 60-70% is chamber music with the remaider large symphonic works.  Unfortunately I can't comment on soundstage, since my faulty hearing in one ear makes this illusion impossible for me with headphones.  But I really like the LCD-2's for their ability to present all the musical threads, so I can follow the first violin, or the woodwinds, or the tympani and not lose the totality of the presentation. 
 
Just my $.02
 
 

 
My experience of the 'soundstage' with the LCD-2 is that I'm placed where the mic is. So with recordings such as Anne-Sophie Mutter's The Four Seasons, one gets this great sense of standing right next to the performance.  On Arvo Pärt's Kanon Pokajanen I feel more lost in relation to the performance. But if I use my T1's with Pärt I feel more grounded in the larger space.
 
 

 

[Mazz]

Quote:

maybe I should have used Gavin Bryars', "Jesus Blood Never Failed Me Yet"

I came across that on the radio one night and found it almost hypnotic...and then when Tom Waits' vocals came in it sent shivers up my spine...
 

 

[Mazz]

Quote:

They actually isolate better than my closed Denon 5000's, maybe because they have a diaphragm that covers the entire side of your head. 

I have totally the opposite experience.  If there's no music playing I can hear everything with the LCD-2s on, almost as if I didn't have them on.  In contrast, my MD5000s definitely isolate and muffle.
 
And speaking of the latter which have been my main cans for a couple of years now, so far I find the LCD-2s lacking a bit on the top end (at least through my Pico - maybe a heavier duty amp would help; must get to a meet ).  It's not enough to be disturbing, but I find I tend to want to EQ the top octave or so up by 4-6 dB.  Who knows, maybe with more time on them my preference will change...

 

[Mazz]

Quote:

At the lower end is Ikea's venerable Poang chair, at $90 and up. More comfy for some body types than others and it doesn't elevate the lower body the way the higher-quality lounges do, but it works for me.

Poang is decent enough, but be aware that if you're tall in the back it might not give you head support.  I'm 6'2" and IIRC my leg inseam is about 30", and Poang is probably 2-3" too short.  I really need to find a chair that's good for headphones and also for watching TV.

 

[ardgedee]

Hah. I'm almost your height, Mazz, but my inseam's 4" longer than yours, torso correspondingly shorter. That explains that, then.
 
Anyway.
 
I love Gavin Bryar's The Sinking of the Titanic but I found Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet unlistenable. I can appreciate what he's doing but can't endure the piece.
 
In the talk about modern composers I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Michael Nyman. I'm not overly familiar with his work - mostly his soundtracks for Peter Greenaway's movies - but almost everything I've heard I've liked; they're fascinating mixes of contemporary and pre-classical music styles, the kids would call it a mash-up maybe.

 

[pp312]

 
Quote:

I have totally the opposite experience.  If there's no music playing I can hear everything with the LCD-2s on, almost as if I didn't have them on.  In contrast, my MD5000s definitely isolate and muffle.
 
And speaking of the latter which have been my main cans for a couple of years now, so far I find the LCD-2s lacking a bit on the top end (at least through my Pico - maybe a heavier duty amp would help; must get to a meet ).  It's not enough to be disturbing, but I find I tend to want to EQ the top octave or so up by 4-6 dB.  Who knows, maybe with more time on them my preference will change...

I too find the LCD-2 doesn't isolate. Pity they can't engineer as good a sound in a closed phone,
 
As for EQing the top end by 4-6db, if I ever needed to EQ a phone to that degree it would mean I definitely had the wrong phone. I think you'll find once you've acclimatized that you'll wonder where that idea ever came from.

 

[leesure]

Quote:

Maybe this will help with the questions about the LCD-2's aesthetics that was being discussed a few pages ago...

 

looks familiar!
 

 
 

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

 
As for EQing the top end by 4-6db, if I ever needed to EQ a phone to that degree it would mean I definitely had the wrong phone. I think you'll find once you've acclimatized that you'll wonder where that idea ever came from.

I agree...especially considering how large that EQ adjustment is (4-6dB).

 

[brasewel]

Lee did you click those photos?
 
Quote:

looks familiar!
 

 
 

 

 

[leesure]

Quote:

Lee did you click those photos?
 


 

The one with the wavy 'water' bottom, yes.
 

 

[brasewel]

Awesome. I love your shots with the black backgrounds.