Audeze LCD-2 Source discussion.

[sachu]

Quote:

I thought the sound of the lcd-2 on my setup was really good. Smooth but neutral. Its not tubey at all.

I honestly really liked your system Josh, but for sheer musicality (technically i would say your system was a little better), I would pick Ethan's (Equus) Stacker 2 + AssemblageDAC 2.7 system everytime. That rig was assembled and matched after many many iterations to play to each other's strengths with orthos and just excel with the LCD-2s. No wonder my review on the LCD-2 was as glowing as it turned out to be as it was based off of that system.

 

[KingStyles]

I thought both the stacker and the liquid gold with the assemblage dac did good. It was a pleasure to listen to.

 

[K_19]

I'll try to give an opinion on how they sound with Stello DA100 when I try them out today.  One of my concerns is that both of my sources, DA100 and uDAC, are both on the warm side of neutral, and not sure exactly how they'll mesh with reported warm sound of LCD-2. 

 

[RockinCannoisseur]

good idea curra,, i plan on listening to mostly vinyl with my lcd2 if they ever finishing making it,  that is very good to know about the sabre 32, i will take not of this as wella s the 840 c
 
i still cant get over how much hype and talk the lcd2 has, if they are half as good as everyone says they are keepers but with such high expectations comes a very hard disappointment,   i cannot wait to listen to some old vinyl i have with the Lcd2,,  my order has been taking forever
 
can anyone else attest to the lcd2 vinyl synergy?

 

[Currawong]

I reckon what it's down to now is whether or not you can live with the weight, and their particular treble presentation.  It helps to listen with them exclusively I find.

 

[TigzStudio]

Quote:

can anyone else attest to the lcd2 vinyl synergy?

Skylab has a Vinyl setup with his LCD-2s, he can probably answer your question.  

 

[Skylab]

Indeed, I listen to vinyl quite a bit with the LCD-2, and I find it extremely enjoyable.

 

[santacore]

I'm loving my Violectric V800 DAC with my LCD-2's. It just sounds right, and gives me nothing to complain about. Interestingly, the Zodiac and the V800 use the same chipset.

 

[oqvist]

Audio GD Reference 9 does very well with LCD-2. I dare to say that by now. The soundstage issues I got with the DAC19 is mostly gone. I like the fact that there is more bite in the LCD-2 now compared to the DAC19.
 
Oppo bd83se doesn´t do bad either. A tad softer and do not quite have the same sub bass performance but really quite similar in character.  Sabre32 looks to be a really good chip seeing how well it compares to the 1704s in the Ref9. Despite being half the size and being a bluray player with an added stereo section. Now if it only had spdif inputs!

 

[JIGF]

Quote:

I'll try to give an opinion on how they sound with Stello DA100 when I try them out today.  One of my concerns is that both of my sources, DA100 and uDAC, are both on the warm side of neutral, and not sure exactly how they'll mesh with reported warm sound of LCD-2. 

Let us know what you think of the Stello with the LCD2

 

[angle_sh00ter]

I am currently using a NOS Devilsound V2.1 it comes with silver interconnects and Eichmann silver bullet plugs .  I think the sound is very nice but I have never compared it with a better DAC.  Is the LCD-2 sensitive enough to warrant buying a TOTL dac?  Or is it a case of just getting something good that will do the job.           

 

[superjohny]

i am pairing lcd-2 with reference 8, however, i am using a v8p in between. v8p underpowers lcd-2 which i am not sure whether it's fair to comment how ref8 does to lcd-2.
 
i will try get a decent amp and see how it goes.

 

[grokit]

 
angle_sh00ter:
 
Man that Devilsound must sound pretty explosive with the LCD-2. I would think that it would be hit or miss between the two synergy-wise as they both have a pretty intense signature IMHO. I would think that if the synergy is good you would have to spend quite a bit more to improve on the v2.1 though. It will be interesting to hear your opinion if you get a chance to demo and compare any other DACs, please keep us posted.

 

[angle_sh00ter]

Hey Grokit, you're right the bass does sound very explosive but the thing is I have no idea how that fits into the grand scheme of things. The burson amp I have has lots of PRaT and bass slam also, so there is definitely no shortage on that front.  I would love to hear the LCD-2 with some other gear so that I can get a bit of context.  1 thing I will say is that I never find the mids or highs to be bright or sibilant at all - which I think is a good sign.  I think that NOS dacs are generally a little bit smoother or more "musical" well whatever that means - haha.

 

[SP Wild]

Quote:

i am pairing lcd-2 with reference 8, however, i am using a v8p in between. v8p underpowers lcd-2 which i am not sure whether it's fair to comment how ref8 does to lcd-2.
 
i will try get a decent amp and see how it goes.

Using the older...possibly inferior V3...I could hear major differences between Ipod, Dacmagic and Bryston sources...with the Bryston being leagues ahead of the Ipod and Dacmagic.  You get better results with hi-end dac to mid level amp than a mid level dac and hi end amp.  For instance using a Dacmagic and B22 would sound worse than your Reference 8 and V8...IMO, as the B22 would merely amplify mediocrity and your V8 is amplifying superiority...if that makes sense.  In my case the BCL is clearly a more refined and sophisticated amp than the V3...however the V3 mated with the Bryston would be far superior than the BCL mated to the Dacmagic.
 
Source is most significant with the LCD2s than any other headphone I own.  I never realised how far the gap was between the Bryston and Dacmagic, I always felt hi-end dacs were very gimmicky due to the minimal returns in sound quality, when I was using the K701s and HD650s...but since having access to LCD2, HD800 and T1 - the true value of hi-end dacs were finally realised in my system.  I'd go further to add that I used to believe I "might" be hearing jitter with my previous cans...the LCD2s confirmed to me, without actively listening for it, that jitter is an audible phenomenon and can degrade the experience if not managed.