astrostar59
BannedMember of the Trade: Aries Cerat Espana, Auriculares High-EndAKA Headstage, headphoneweekend
I don't know why sibilance was brought into the conversation? I don't remember anyone mentioning that. The person that complained about treble said "harsh highs" I believe, which is not the same as sibilance.
It is worth showing/mentioning that there might be different impressions of treble harshness due to the driver variances in these units. Here are 2 different LCD2C's measured on the same rig:
As you can see, the second graph shows around 5dB or so less energy in the 8k peak. That is pretty significant and unfortunately a common driver variance issue with Audeze. I know Tyll just mentioned in his latest Advanced Alpha review that he has 2 LCD2C units on hand and I believe when he posts his review he will include both measurements, so that will be another good data set to see driver variation.
To address this comment, I actually agree with you. I received my LCD2C in the last few days and have been listening to them as well as burning them in. These aren't my final thoughts in any sense and I am still taking time to decide how I feel about them. But from owning 2016 LCD-2F and now LCD2C, I still stand by my feelings that Audeze never sounds as "natural" to me as Sennheisers, particularly the HD600 and HD650. And I don't think this is a symptom of your amp. I have been listening to the LCD2C on my Magni 3, NFB-11, and R2R 11. They all do the headphone justice and it sounds great on all of them. But being a musician myself and playing in lots of different bands and orchestras as well as attending lots of live classical/orchestral performances, there is just something about the timbre of instruments and vocals that aren't 100% right to my ears. I'm not saying LCD2C or LCD-2F is way off, it is just slightly off, and I can mostly only notice it when I directly compare it to my other headphones that feel more "right" in timbre to me like HD650, Atticus, and Auteur.
Now with the rest of my initial impressions of LCD2C, I actually think it is a solid headphone all around and one of the best in its class. It actually addressed most my issues with LCD-2F. Comfort is far better and I commend Audeze for working out a better system with the suspension strap. Yes, this feels even much more comfortable that the LCD-2F with Lohb strap. It just feels lighter all the way around. Build quality is also excellent and feels very premium. The pictures don't do it justice, the matte black finish is really great and I overall prefer the look and feel of this to my old Aluminum LCD-2F. I also think Audeze really nailed it with the $600 price tag, though I am not convinced it should be $800 and have mixed feelings about it. Really I love everything about this LCD2C but the sound. I think the sound is very very good overall, but there's nothing about it that blows me away. I think its best features are the very clean and linear sub-bass response and the overall smooth tonal balance. It transitions really nicely from bass to mids to highs without any rough patches or grainyness. I still feel the upper mids are just a bit too dipped and I think that is why the timbre and naturalness sounds a little off to me, but I wouldn't say this is a dealbreaker depending on the music you listen to. I think LCD2C is best at more modern, bass emphasized electronic and pop types of music. I wouldn't recommend it for jazz/classical/orchestral stuff or really vocal heavy/emotional singer-songwriter types of stuff. Basically, I think the LCD2C is really great for people upgrading from mid-fi cans and could be a pretty solid all rounder. I think for people like myself that might have other TOTL cans, the LCD2C doesn't really bring anything special to the table. I'm leaning towards keeping it because it is a solid headphone overall and I don't have any other planars, but I'm still on the fence and I'm not sure how much head time it would get in my collection. I'll definitely keep it for a few weeks at least and I will eventually write up a full review of it with comparisons to lots of other headphones.
Interesting how many have differing views on this subject. I came from TOTL HPs, Stax 009s and 007As powered by a KGSShv Carbon. And had that system for some time. I think it comes down to what we all want. IMO no headphone does it all to the required level we may crave, indeed is it even possible? Remember we are expecting one transducer to do all the work, not 2 or 3 units majoring in their own frequency ranges. Single driver speaker design is probably one of the hardest to design of all speaker types, almost impossible to achieve to the highest level.
For me, the electrostatics do the detail, speed and micro detail (plankton) to an extreme level. And it was a fun ride for some time, but I have come to a crossroads about it. Even though I used a top DAC with that system, it still never really talked to me, or made me enjoy the music to the extent I would if I was at a live venue. In other words I stopped using it as much as I should have been. And also found I was avoiding certain types of music as well. This is all a very personal thing, one person hears it very differently to another.
The Audeze LCD4 impressed me at Can-Jam out of the head-amp GSX MK2, and also out of the DAVE direct. It got me thinking. What do I actually want from my music? Do I want a stethoscope to analyse the information, or do I want to pretend I am listening to the music as a live event. The live event is much harder to achieve, and one that many modern hifi systems (2 channel included) have lost the way IMO.
I believe the Audeze is world class in the bass and all important Midrange, the way is glues those elements together is more convincing than any other HP I have heard to date bar the HE-1. The soundstage and presentation is more relaxed than the Stax, it doesn't overload my ears and allows me to hear (search) for the other details going on. It is all still there for the taking, it is just in a more (to me) realistic envelope. The other aspect I like a LOT is the weight and body to the music and the timbre. It all feels more solid, bit warmer and more organic, less hifi and etherial.
The treble response in the LCD4 has got slated by Tyll, and I agree it has an obvious dip around the 6-8K areas. And it is less manic and energised v the 009s and Utopia. This is the classic area mosts HPs have problems with as we know. Big speakers in a high end system are more linear and gets away with it, as we tend to sit back from the image and have other environment aspects such as sofas and carpets damping this high treble energy. It comes to us from a distance, we don't have our ears jammed up against the drivers. In a HP we have that.
Also there is plenty of evidence the human ear picks up the 6-8khz areas as louder than both above and below that frequency. So do we want or need a HP that aims for as linear a FR as possible? Or do we want one that compensates for the human ear? I have come to the conclusion I prefer the latter for HPs, but not for big speakers.
In my HP search, I also tried the Utopia, and it was nice, but too close to the 009, not as good as the 009 in many areas as well. The HE1000V2 was smoother IMO, but I felt the LCD4 was closer to the sound I was after. Not heard the Abyss yet, but that is not very efficient (less than the LCD4) so would probably require a powerful amp, is more expensive new, and the frame may be problematic to me.
Going back to the LCD2-C I disagree about it being ok for mid fi. I believe it touches some of the areas some of the best HPs out there are doing best at, and avoids a lot of the pitfalls with it. IMO searching for that elusive last bit of detail is great, but has a price. And too much detail can sound unrealistic as well, like too much sugar on the cake, it gets sickly after a while... The more forgiving nature and the way the LCD handles the upper vocal regions is very forgiving, and allows me to relax into more types of music. For example, I never enjoyed the Cranberries on any Stax HP, and cringed when Delores hit the chorus in Zombie (for example). Eva Cassidy unplugged: 'Need your love so much' is another. On the LCD it sounds so natural and club atmosphere, very realistic on the voices.
Anyway, my thoughts on the LCD2 so far. LCD4 review coming later.....
