I am not sure about break in, as I am not a great believer to be honest....with the LCD-2C it's more about amp pairing. Planars usually don't respond well with tube amps. From what I understand they need a solid state with lots of power. I hear the R2R 11 and the Cayin IHA-6 are very good with planars. With the wrong amp, the LCD-2C will probably sound a bit on the dull side.
That sounds like an issue with the quantity of bass on the LCD2. I had the same reaction when I first heard it, because most comments about it on head-fi made me believe it was a bass cannon with bass that was subterranean. Elear definitely has quantitatively more bass.
I am not sure about break in, as I am not a great believer to be honest....with the LCD-2C it's more about amp pairing. Planars usually don't respond well with tube amps. From what I understand they need a solid state with lots of power. I hear the R2R 11 and the Cayin IHA-6 are very good with planars. With the wrong amp, the LCD-2C will probably sound a bit on the dull side.
Its not that planars dont do with well with tube amps, its that they dont do well with otl tube amps. They do fine and sound great on hybrid tube amps like the Lyr 3 and Vali 2 or on Transformer-coupled amps like the wa22.
Its not that planars dont do with well with tube amps, its that they dont do well with otl tube amps. They do fine and sound great on hybrid tube amps like the Lyr 3 and Vali 2 or on Transformer-coupled amps like the wa22.
There are some planars that don't really scale much with tube amps. I guess they need power more than tubes. For me...HEK is one such example. I don't waste my tubes on them. Good powerful solid state amp is more than enough to make it come alive. Keep your tubes for something else.
I found the Elear bass to be of low quality - sure, there's a lot of it, but it's also a bit boomy. The LCD-2C is much cleaner, with superior sub-bass. The Elear is also very uneven, almost too dynamic. I had to constantly adjust the volume level between songs. The LCD-2C is the better headphone in every way. Maybe the only advantage the Elear has is comfort, but not by much.
I would add to that by saying that they have a shouty midrange and while they have plenty of bass, it’s not very deep. For the first 15-30 minutes of listening, they sound good, then I want to yank them off of my head and this is with using a 7k amp and 2k Dac. There is something special about the 2C sound that lends to long term listening. Again, not the deepest bass, but very textured and palpable. Midrange is only a touch shouty but much better than Elear in that regard. My personal opinion, of course.
I found the Elear bass to be of low quality - sure, there's a lot of it, but it's also a bit boomy. The LCD-2C is much cleaner, with superior sub-bass. The Elear is also very uneven, almost too dynamic. I had to constantly adjust the volume level between songs. The LCD-2C is the better headphone in every way. Maybe the only advantage the Elear has is comfort, but not by much.
That sounds like an issue with the quantity of bass on the LCD2. I had the same reaction when I first heard it, because most comments about it on head-fi made me believe it was a bass cannon with bass that was subterranean. Elear definitely has quantitatively more bass.
Both of you hit the point very well. The LCD-2C's bass is superior in quality. Much less distortion, better defined and textured but it definitely is not a "bassy" headphone or as TMRaven called it: "bass cannon with subterreanean bass". That's very important to keep in mind. If you want such a bass then get the TH-900. Certainly a lot of posters made the LCD-2C look like a
basshead's dream, I don't blame them. However the LCD-2 takes EQ very well so you might boost that subbass a bit. I really love that ultra low distortion. Where the LCD-2C really dissapoints is clarity. I'm used to the HD800 and TH-900, both offering fantastic clarity without any form of veil (of course they have their own problems) and the LCD-2C in comparison makes me feel like sitting in a foggy cloud that simply never goes away - you can get used to it however and at least the treble, while not being smooth and ideal like the HD 650 (my reference treble in terms of cohorence and FR, don't own it anymore though) isn' sharp and hot like the other two can be.
It's still a great headphone that improves on the classic in terms of speed and decay (falls short in the original's "romanticism"), maybe trying to fullfil a "one headphone for all" kinda role (as someone said via PM). And for that imho it really fits, even though we're on head-fi and we enjoy having more than one headphone.
LCD-2C is actually also good for gaming and movies in conjunction with various 7.1 downmixers. While not having the sharp, well definied, cohorent and huge soundstage of the HD800 (and not of the PC37x either actually) it still gives you a very cinematic experience due to its linearity in bass, bass power and overall quality and makes front/back placement of audio cues easy to distinguish, thus not leaving you in a mess of information.
I have both the 2c and 2016 Lcd-3F and as mentenioned 5 or 6 pages back, they do not sound alike. The 2c is more forward sounding and punchy. The 3f is more laid back and refined sounding. The 2c would be the better “value” as it punches well above its price point. The 3f is simply better but mainly if your a long term listener. It’s deep bass, creamy midrange and overall refinement make it an easy listen. The 2c has its magic that keeps me engaged though. I mainly like its punchy sound with nice textured,palpable bass along with its overall clarity.
I have both the 2c and 2016 Lcd-3F and as mentenioned 5 or 6 pages back, they do not sound alike. The 2c is more forward sounding and punchy. The 3f is more laid back and refined sounding. The 2c would be the better “value” as it punches well above its price point. The 3f is simply better but mainly if your a long term listener. It’s deep bass, creamy midrange and overall refinement make it an easy listen. The 2c has its magic that keeps me engaged though. I mainly like its punchy sound with nice textured,palpable bass along with its overall clarity.
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