[grokit]

I wonder if Audeze will offer a trade-in program for end users to have theirs retrofitted, like say $200 for the drivers and another $100 for the headband plus shipping both ways of course. They rolled out a retrofit program for their retailers so it could happen.

 

[Permagrin]

I wonder if Audeze will offer a trade-in program for end users to have theirs retrofitted, like say $200 for the drivers and another $100 for the headband. They rolled out one for their retailers so it could happen.

That would be a very profitable business decision methinks. /pulls out checkbook

 

[HK_sends]

It would be worth it.  I am hearing more and more detail and layering in my music.  The faster diaphragm lets me hear distinct string plucks and hammer strikes on the harpsichord and piano.  The soundstage seems bigger and definitely more "3d".  I can hear oboes layered on top of pianos layered on top of violins.  Someone will play notes right next to me and then someone will play further away in front or to the side and it's so distinct!  I actually heard the some oboe valves flapping during a solo passage.  It seems cliche' but I am really hearing the music for the first time with no recessed parts of the freq spectrum.
 
I think I made a good choice. 

 
Now I am looking forward to WarriorAnt's and other's impressions...after I go listen some more...
 
Cheers!

-HK sends
 
FYI: I was listening to Mannheim Steamroller's "Fresh Aire" series 1-8.

 

[sphinxvc]

Quote:

It was very well put.  I have spent a good bit of time tonight trying to analyse what I am hearing and it is nowhere near as enjoyable as just listening and letting the music carry me away.
 
Ok, my thoughts on the sound:
 
This may sound like a cheat, but my opinion tracks perfectly with what Audez'e has said to expect.  There is subtle difference to the sound...it is more articulate.  I always thought there was a very slight veil or recess in the treble.  Hitting high frequencies wasn't a problem, but overall I felt the treble rolled off a bit.  That is not the case with the V2.  There is extension and detail in the treble that some may find jarring at first because it wasn't there before (in the V1s).  It was jarring to me at first because I am still pretty sensitive to high frequencies.  However, I am already starting to become used to it.  It's not "above and beyond", it's just the sense of "recess" is gone.
 
The bass extension is just as noticeable.  I really could hear and feel the lower frequency extension in the music even without having to bump up the bass.  That's the issue right there; it isn't any more bass-heavy, but you get more of the bass frequencies.  It gives a much more "full" sound.
 
I'm sure WarriorAnt and others can describe it better than I, but the LCD-2 sound is definitely there with some subtle enhancement in the bass and treble.  Everything sounds more full, like the headphones are responding to the whole frequency range and not missing anything.  Nothing is overly emphasized...it is the Audez'e sound.
 
Is it worth getting and selling the V1s?  Honestly, if I wasn't the type of person that needs the latest and greatest and I wasn't following the LCD-2 thread, I never would have noticed and been perfectly happy with the V1s.  I must have been happy with them, I went through 40 sets of tubes for my Lyr so I could find the sound that complements them the most.  Now I guess I have to go back through them and find the right ones for the V2.
 
Regret it?  No way.
 
Does anyone want to by a used set of LCD-2s with a foam headband?

 
Nuff said,
-HK sends
 
P.S. - As usual, these impressions are IMHO and YMMV... 

 
Do you feel high frequency presence has improved--either indirectly because of the bass being tighter or because of the treble being more "pronounced" as Audez'e said?
 
Did you notice a difference in soundstage?
 
Any changes in the midrange worth nothing?
 
 

 

[HK_sends]

Quote:

Quote:
 
Do you feel high frequency presence has improved--either indirectly because of the bass being tighter or because of the treble being more "pronounced" as Audez'e said?
 
Did you notice a difference in soundstage?
 
Any changes in the midrange worth nothing?
 
 

I think the high frequencies have improved by being more pronounced.  The soundstage seems bigger (as I mention in my last post, but I think we were typing at the same time).

The midrange doesn't appear to have changed and blends right in with the treble and bass.
 
Hope that helps...
 
-HK sends
 
 

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

I think the high frequencies have improved by being more pronounced.  The soundstage seems bigger (as I mention in my last post, but I think we were typing at the same time).

The midrange doesn't appear to have changed and blends right in with the treble and bass.
 
Hope that helps...
 
-HK sends

So to you does it sound more like increased treble amplitude or resolution? You did say less recessed earlier which is in agreement with amplitude, as well as more extension. But with more extended and impactful bass as well, would you say that the tonal balance is more v-shaped?

 

[adamaley]

Guys, I received my Rev 2's on Tuesday and have been burning them in with an EMU-0404 USB. I sold off my speaker rig and replaced them with these. HD 580's are the best I had heard in headphones till now. WOW!!...The bass slams into your cranium and voices sound so life-like, even my speakers couldn't deliver this sort of mid-range love. Did I mention...details...details...all in all very lifelike and inviting. Amazing. I know, wait till I try these on a real amp/DAC....well my Isabellina LFP-V HPA is on order....2 weeks wait is the killer. Anyone in Minneapolis/Saint Paul with a suitable amp looking to take a listen? I finally understand the fuss.

 

[sphinxvc]

x2 on Grokit's question.
 
Aside from the increased treble resolution, is there more treble amplitude?  Even indirectly..

 

[HK_sends]

Quote:

 


So to you does it sound more like increased treble amplitude or resolution? You did say less recessed earlier which is in agreement with amplitude, as well as more extension. But with more extended and impactful bass as well, would you say that the tonal balance is more v-shaped?

Actually, I would say the tonal balance is flat, with the treble brought up to the level of the bass and midrange.  The perception of recessed highs that I tried to describe were more akin to "missing frequencies" or harmonics, where it just seemed something was missing.  Overall, that made the treble seem more distant compared with the other frequencies.  I'm sorry, I really can't figure a better way to describe it.  Now the treble is more "forward", brought out to the level of the mid-range and bass and there's no sense of anything missing.
 
As far as the bass, there isn't an emphasis, it just reaches lower and is tighter.
 
I wish I was better at descriptive interpretation.
-HK sends
 
 

 

[HK_sends]

Quote:

x2 on Grokit's question.
 
Aside from the increased treble resolution, is there more treble amplitude?  Even indirectly..

It's more forward, but I can't really say that its louder...
 
Does that help?
-HK sends
 
 

 

[Permagrin]

You're doing good HK. It's tough being in that position as we all know. Thanks for sharing.

 

[sphinxvc]

Yup, this part helped.  
 
Quote:

"... overall, that made the treble seem more distant compared with the other frequencies.  ...  Now the treble is more "forward", brought out to the level of the mid-range and bass and there's no sense of anything missing."

 
Thanks..

 

[goofyvic]

it isn't any more bass-heavy, but you get more of the bass frequencies.  It gives a much more "full" sound.
I'm sure WarriorAnt and others can describe it better than I, but the LCD-2 sound is definitely there with some subtle enhancement in the bass and treble.  Everything sounds more full, like the headphones are responding to the whole frequency range

Sounds intriguing. Now I'm interested.

 

[pp312]

 
Quote:

Actually, I would say the tonal balance is flat, with the treble brought up to the level of the bass and midrange.  The perception of recessed highs that I tried to describe were more akin to "missing frequencies" or harmonics, where it just seemed something was missing.  Overall, that made the treble seem more distant compared with the other frequencies.  I'm sorry, I really can't figure a better way to describe it.  Now the treble is more "forward", brought out to the level of the mid-range and bass and there's no sense of anything missing.
 
As far as the bass, there isn't an emphasis, it just reaches lower and is tighter.
 
I wish I was better at descriptive interpretation.
-HK sends
 
 

 
 
Well, you're probably good enough, but unfortunately people like me, who never found the treble distant, dull or missing anything, are just as mystified as before.
 
I find the whole Head-Fi thing a mystery, to be honest. To me all the popular phones--K702, DT880, D2000, etc, etc--were way too bright They bore no relationship to live sound, and the number of people who loved them was irrelevant to that simple fact. When I discovered the HD595 first, then the HD650, I thought both had a very natural balance. However, they were so often labelled "boring" and "veiled" that I began to wonder why my ears seemed so unaligned to everyone else's. Then the LCD-2 came along and seemed supremely lifelike, if just a little bright at first. The brightness has diminished, maybe from burn-in, and now the balance seems ideal, a little concert hall around my head. I certainly wouldn't want them any brighter, not even a smidgen, so talk of "recessed" highs being brought forward so that now some or other frequencies are no longer "missing", of the treble being brought up to the level of the bass and midrange, leaves me completely baffled. Was it never at the level of the bass and midrange but I just imagined it was? Were all those people who reviewed it and called it the best headphone they'd ever heard just being kind and overlooking this obvious imbalance? I'm not being sarcastic; I'd really like to understand why so many people hear what seems to me a supremely naturally balanced headphone as dull, shelved and missing frequencies. Sometimes when I read things like that I put the phones back on and look for the most testing music I can find in an effort to hear these missing frequencies, these shelved highs, but no, they totally allude me; the balance I hear is what my aural memory of many live concerts tells me is correct.  
 
Anyway, at least I don't have to worry about Rev.2 as nothing I'm reading about it, save for the improved headband, tempts me in any way. However, if they could come up with a Rev 3 that shaved a quarter kilo off the weight then I might be interested.   
 
 

 

[castlevania32]

Quote:

 
 
Well, you're probably good enough, but unfortunately people like me, who never found the treble distant, dull or missing anything, are just as mystified as before.
 
I just find the whole Head-Fi thing a mystery, to be honest. When I first started trying out all the popular phones--K702, DT880, D2000, etc, etc--I was mystified about their popularity as to me they bore no relationship to live sound. They were all BRIGHT! Sorry to shout, but they were. Then I discovered the HD595 first, then the HD650, both of which to my ears had a very natural balance. However, they were so often labelled "boring" and "veiled" that I began to wonder why my ears appeared to hear differently to everyone else. Then the LCD-2 came into my life and it seemed supremely lifelike, if just a little bright at first. The brightness has diminished, maybe from burn-in, and now the balance seems ideal, a little concert hall around my head. I certainly wouldn't want them any brighter, not even a smidgen, so talk of "recessed" highs being brought forward so that now some or other frequencies are no long "missing", of the treble being brought up to the level of the bass and midrange, leaves me completely baffled. Was it never at the level of the bass and midrange but I just imagined it was? Were all those people who reviewed it and called it the best headphone they'd ever heard just being kind and overlooking the fact that the treble wasn't up with the bass and midrange? I'm not being sarcastic; I'd really like to understand why so many people hear what seems to me a supremely naturally balanced headphone as dull, shelved and missing frequencies. Sometimes when I read things like that I put the phones back on and look for the most testing music I can find in an effort to hear these missing frequencies, these shelved highs, but no, they totally allude me; the balance I hear is what my aural memory of many live concerts tells me is correct.  
 
Anyway, at least I don't have to worry about Rev.2 as nothing I'm reading about it, save for the improved headband, tempts me in any way. However, if they could come up with a Rev 3 that shaved a quarter kilo off the weight then I might be interested.   
 
 

 
different transducer (cochlea) + different brain wiring ("subjective" "taste",etc...)