[wazzupi]

And how did you calculate that “5%” difference?

By winning in math class.

 

[RMA192AK]

These aren't really nitpicks but more of some observations I've had and haven't seen mentioned so might be just my own thoughts.

1. I'm going to assume to hit this price point that is why we got the padded shipping box but this makes it seem kind of hood to me for $599 and soon to be $799 priced item. Almost like I bought some refurbs. But the Audeze tape on the box was nice.
2. Do Planar Headphones smell like a new PC component? I don't think I ever owned, bought, opened a box of new headphones and got hit by the smell of like unboxing a new motherboard. The headphones still have the smell but thinking this will go away over the months.
3. I'm a newb to this company and i'm not going to lie I really wasn't sure which side the red and blue plug on the cord was supposed to go. I assumed red to R and blue to L but looking at the manual it says it's labelled on the cord/plug ends and I never seen them.

Again not gripes or anything just some observations of mine.

I noticed the smell too, its the fake leather pads on these which are new for Audeze, most use real lambskin leather, when I got the LCD-2 back in June it didn’t have any of the smell, but I don’t smell it on the LCD-2C anymore on day 3. The blue on the cable seemed weird to me too, my LCD-2 came with the same cable but it was red and black ends.


Also, another thing I noticed fairly quickly is the cable that came with the LCD-2C is over a foot shorter than the one that came with my LCD-2’s back in June. It looks to me like it’s a 2.0m cable. Both the LCD-2 and LCD-2C are advertised on Audeze’s website as coming with 2.5m cables, has anyone else noticed if there’s is shorter too?


I wonder if this was another cost cutting measure and when the price goes up to $800 in January they will start shipping with the longer cable again hoping nobody noticed they were shipping the cheaper ones with shorter cables, maybe switch back to leather pads too. I actually like having the shorter cable though, the one on my LCD-2 is a little long for me since I sit close to my amp, I just don’t like how many of the LCD-2C’s specs changed on their website since it was first announced, like when it said it was coming with carbon fiber headband and leather pads, then one by one they changed those over the coming weeks. Really makes you wonder if it’s going to be the same headphones when the price goes up.


I just can’t wait for the new headband to come out for standalone purchase on their website, so I can get it for my LCD-2’s, it definitely feels like 10x better than the old one. When I switch back to the LCD-2 it really sucks, feeling that pressure over a narrow area of your head again. For people who are new to Audeze’s or heavy headphones getting these that feel the weight in your neck, just give it a few weeks of use, your neck will build up more muscle and you will adjust to them. The big problem before was the pain on the top of your head that the old headband would cause.

-

As for a comparison between the current LCD-2 I got in June and the LCD-2C, my greatest fear buying the LCD-2C was that it would sound like the LCD-2 and I was just paying all the money for the new headband. Happily, they don’t sound the same to me, I find the fazors really do have an impact. The LCD-2C’s do have slightly more sub-bass to the LCD-2’s, the result of taking out the fazors gives more air volume, so I was expecting this.


I'm not very good with all the terms used on here, fairly new to all this stuff, but it seems as though the fazors do direct sound into your ears differently on the LCD-2 than not having them on the LCD-2C, a lot more than I was expecting. They don’t appear to be some gimmicky marketing thing like some people think. Higher frequency’s do seem to be impacted by them, there are some EDM songs that sound completely different to me switching back between the two, on some songs the higher frequencies seem all over the place to me on the LCD-2C and then on the LCD-2 they are a lot more under control.


I look forward to someone else that has a current LCD-2 and the LCD-2C that knows a lot more how to explain everything than me to test the two. But to my ear the fazors really do change how they sound, considering they both have the same drivers in them. I really like them both though, just got a Lyr 2 this week and boy do they sound good through it.

 

[gLer]

Real difference between MATRIX M-STAGE HPA-3U+ AND AUDEZE DECKARD is about 5%, because the are made by the same manufacturer.

Well done on getting the 3B. I have the same amp and it has incredible synergy with my LCD-2F (and no doubt with the 2C as well). I blame Matrix for labeling their M-Stage products so similarly - the 3B amp is not the same as 3U and in fact has many more differences than just end-to-end balanced. In fact it’s an improvement on the 3U in almost every way and, combined with a good dac (I use the ifi Micro iDSD), is in fact an improvement on the Deckard as well.

A more detailed breakdown of the 3U (not 3B) and the Deckard:

- DAC Chip: TI Burr Brown PCM5102A vs TI DSD1793
- DAC Resolution: 32/384 (no DSD) vs 24/192 andDSD64
- Power Supply: Uprated vs standard
- Component Mounting: Through-board vs surface mount
- Component Selection: Different output stage caps
- Buffer Stage: Discreet "diamond buffer" vs integrated circuit
- Exterior Industrial Design: BMW Designworks vs Chinese utilitarian
- Output Impedance: 3 ohm vs 0.4 ohm
- Power Output: 4W at 20 ohms, 795mW at 33ohms, 465mW at 300ohms, 235mW at 600ohms vs 2800mW at 33ohms / 420mW at 300ohms / 210mW at 600ohms at THD+N=0.01%
- Mass: 2.1 kg / 4.6 lbs vs 1.7 kg / 3.75 lbs
- Price: US$699 vs US$419

So not exactly 5%, but I’d say with the HPA-3B you’re getting quite a bit more, especially when it comes to power and headroom for the power-hungry LCD-2C.

You can’t go wrong with any of the three options of course.

 

[gLer]

I noticed the smell too, its the fake leather pads on these which are new for Audeze, most use real lambskin leather, when I got the LCD-2 back in June it didn’t have any of the smell, but I don’t smell it on the LCD-2C anymore on day 3. The blue on the cable seemed weird to me too, my LCD-2 came with the same cable but it was red and black ends.


Also, another thing I noticed fairly quickly is the cable that came with the LCD-2C is over a foot shorter than the one that came with my LCD-2’s back in June. It looks to me like it’s a 2.0m cable. Both the LCD-2 and LCD-2C are advertised on Audeze’s website as coming with 2.5m cables, has anyone else noticed if there’s is shorter too?


I wonder if this was another cost cutting measure and when the price goes up to $800 in January they will start shipping with the longer cable again hoping nobody noticed they were shipping the cheaper ones with shorter cables, maybe switch back to leather pads too. I actually like having the shorter cable though, the one on my LCD-2 is a little long for me since I sit close to my amp, I just don’t like how many of the LCD-2C’s specs changed on their website since it was first announced, like when it said it was coming with carbon fiber headband and leather pads, then one by one they changed those over the coming weeks. Really makes you wonder if it’s going to be the same headphones when the price goes up.


I just can’t wait for the new headband to come out for standalone purchase on their website, so I can get it for my LCD-2’s, it definitely feels like 10x better than the old one. When I switch back to the LCD-2 it really sucks, feeling that pressure over a narrow area of your head again. For people who are new to Audeze’s or heavy headphones getting these that feel the weight in your neck, just give it a few weeks of use, your neck will build up more muscle and you will adjust to them. The big problem before was the pain on the top of your head that the old headband would cause.

-

As for a comparison between the current LCD-2 I got in June and the LCD-2C, my greatest fear buying the LCD-2C was that it would sound like the LCD-2 and I was just paying all the money for the new headband. Happily, they don’t sound the same to me, I find the fazors really do have an impact. The LCD-2C’s do have slightly more sub-bass to the LCD-2’s, the result of taking out the fazors gives more air volume, so I was expecting this.


I'm not very good with all the terms used on here, fairly new to all this stuff, but it seems as though the fazors do direct sound into your ears differently on the LCD-2 than not having them on the LCD-2C, a lot more than I was expecting. They don’t appear to be some gimmicky marketing thing like some people think. Higher frequency’s do seem to be impacted by them, there are some EDM songs that sound completely different to me switching back between the two, on some songs the higher frequencies seem all over the place to me on the LCD-2C and then on the LCD-2 they are a lot more under control.


I look forward to someone else that has a current LCD-2 and the LCD-2C that knows a lot more how to explain everything than me to test the two. But to my ear the fazors really do change how they sound, considering they both have the same drivers in them. I really like them both though, just got a Lyr 2 this week and boy do they sound good through it.

This is exactly the sort of detailed breakdown I wanted to see. Thanks for taking the time to share it! And glad to hear you’re enjoying both headphones.

 

[billstr]

For those who also have Focal Elear, could you kindly provide your impression on how LCD2C compares?

This just happens to be the exact combination of headphones that I have on my desk at the moment. I owned the Elear for about a month before receiving the LCD-2C last week. I was completely happy with the Elear prior to buying the LCD-2C and was actually expecting to return the 2C once I compared the two. Now I'm thinking about reversing that and selling the Elear.

I find that the LCD-2C are more resolving and more neutral, without the bright spots that I notice in the Elear. The Elear are better at producing mid-bass that is pronounced. I also prefer the sound stage created by the LCD-2C larger room. I know that the LCD-2C don't have fazors and I've owned a pair of LCD-3F in the past, but I just don't notice any distortion or fuzzyness in the LCD-2C. Certainly, the LCD-2C is a more detailed and resolving can, rivaling the UERPRO CIEM that I use for really detailed listening.

 

[billstr]

Does anyone here have Focal Clear? Would like to hear your comparison

I just posted a quick set of impressions comparing these to the Elear. The Elear and Clear are identical apart from the cabling if I recall correctly. Hopefully that post will be of good use.

 

[billstr]

Just ordered a pair from audeze. I don't have a good amp or dac yet though. Do you think a magni3/modi2 combo would be enough for lcd-2c?

That's the exact combo that I'm using. I personally opted for the Modi Multibit, but I can understand some not thinking the more expensive chip makes a big difference. Anyway, your question was more to the point of power, which the Magni 3 has plenty of. I use it on the "low" setting and can't put the knob past 10'oclock before it gets too loud for my over-the-hill ears.

BTW, I've owned a Bifrost(Bimby)/Asgard combo in the past and I honestly can't tell the difference between that more expensive AC powered setup and my current Magni3/Modi Multibit setup. Same chip, DC power, half the cost. Win!

 

[TokenGesture]

These could be the biggest bargains in Headfi right now. I was expecting big bass cannons but while for sure they have that Audeze sound, they seem remarkably neutral and resolving, more so than I recall my LCDX having been. Sound excellent out of Hugo 2.

 

[Merkurio]

That's the exact combo that I'm using. I personally opted for the Modi Multibit, but I can understand some not thinking the more expensive chip makes a big difference. Anyway, your question was more to the point of power, which the Magni 3 has plenty of. I use it on the "low" setting and can't put the knob past 10'oclock before it gets too loud for my over-the-hill ears.

BTW, I've owned a Bifrost(Bimby)/Asgard combo in the past and I honestly can't tell the difference between that more expensive AC powered setup and my current Magni3/Modi Multibit setup. Same chip, DC power, half the cost. Win!

I agree that the Magni 3 is a completely overkill for this set, can't imagine why I would need a more powerful amp ever... Really good schiit.

I'm also waiting for a Modi 3 in order to upgrade my motherboard's DAC, hope to be anytime soon.

 

[Arniesb]

These could be the biggest bargains in Headfi right now. I was expecting big bass cannons but while for sure they have that Audeze sound, they seem remarkably neutral and resolving, more so than I recall my LCDX having been. Sound excellent out of Hugo 2.

Hey mate, isnt V280 too warm for 2C? Have same amp With a HD800S and mids are already quite organic, smooth.

 

[Murre]

I agree that the Magni 3 is a completely overkill for this set, can't imagine why I would need a more powerful amp ever... Really good schiit.

I'm also waiting for a Modi 3 in order to upgrade my motherboard's DAC, hope to be anytime soon.

I read on different places that Modi 3 is probably not coming any time soon at least. Or have you seen different info for this?

 

[TokenGesture]

Hey mate, isnt V280 too warm for 2C? Have same amp With a HD800S and mids are already quite organic, smooth.

Maybe - not used it yet. Just my Hugo 2 which is great.

 

[Arniesb]

Maybe - not used it yet. Just my Hugo 2 which is great.

I see, thanks.

 

[SaddleSC]

Hey mate, isnt V280 too warm for 2C? Have same amp With a HD800S and mids are already quite organic, smooth.

The V280 sounds really great with the LCD2C when running balanced. It is a little warmer and less dynamic if you run single-ended.

 

[REGEN7777]

You can’t go wrong with any of the three options of course.

Thank you for your detailed reply. It is possible to buy used Deckard for around $400, matrix m-stage 3b for $355, who is the winner?