[omniweltall]

I don't agree with this.

He has a good point though. But ultimately the amp design is most important.

For example, if we are talking about exactly the same amp design...then times 2 parts to make it balanced (means twice the price)...then you would get a better stronger amp. But we are talking about EXACTLY the same amp design here, which is rarely the case.

I have seen bad SE amps, and I have seen bad balanced amps. It's got nothing to do with SE or balanced.

I agree that there are some hype over balanced amps recently. I never put it as my consideration whatsoever when choosing an amp.

 

[DrSeven]

created a another thread asking about good dacAmp for LCD2Cs. Really appreciate if you can help.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/amp-dac-recommendation-for-audeze-lcd-2c.880286/

Depends on your budget. I think the Aune S16 was a pretty good match and is incredible value but my favorite pairing was with the Hugo2

 

[Suppa92]

Depends on your budget. I think the Aune S16 was a pretty good match and is incredible value but my favorite pairing was with the Hugo2

Aune S16 is not available on there site anymore, maybe it's discontinued now. and it's not a class a amp. My budget for both dac&amp is under $1000, max $1200. Hugo2 is beyond my budget & I'm bit unsure about DacAmps with built-in non removable batteries.

 

[DrSeven]

Really looking forward to your comparison of LCD2-C with the Denon AH-D7200, DrSeven, because I own the latter and want to buy something similar but different...

over the next months I'm going to get rid of most my stuff except for 2,3 headphones and the matching source because I can't use that many and I will end up buying and trying more headphones sooner or later anyways.
I tested the Denon with a musician buddy of mine and two other music enthusiasts. Most impressions were that the Denon had a similar sound signature to the 2C and was just held back by it's closed nature. I personally loved the Denon for it's design and isolation. But imo soundwise the 2C does everything better than the Denon except for maybe bass quantiy ( but that's actually good imo because I'm not that much a fan of too much bass). If you like the Denon sound then you will love the 2C. I was the one of the group with the most complaints about the Denon tbf. I don't want to write too badly about them but in comparison, the 2C impressed me so much more!

Edit I think Denon did quite a solid job after the fiasco of the AH-D7000 successor. They just facing crazy competition at this point with the 2C being that impressive in its price range and the leap the market did in the last years

 

[DrSeven]

Aune S16 is not available on there site anymore, maybe it's discontinued now. and it's not a class a amp. My budget for both dac&amp is under $1000, max $1200. Hugo2 is beyond my budget & I'm bit unsure about DacAmps with built-in non removable batteries.

The Aune amp isnt as bad as some people claim especially compared to the 2k Sony. And the LCD2 C doesn't need that much power anyways. But that doesn't matter much if it's not available for you I heard a LOT of good stuff about the RME Adi dac and that's only 1k for dac and amp! So maybe give that a try

 

[djj65]

I use the Massdrop x Alex Cavalli Liquid Carbon X, with gain on high and they make the LCD2C sound great.

 

[Markdude]

I'm sure this has been asked multiple times in this behemoth thread already but I haven't had any luck trying to search through it (either with Google or head-fi's search), so I apologize. Do the LCD-2 Classics sound different than the pre-fazor LCD-2s? I ask because I'm considering purchasing a used LCD-2C but I want to use it with Sonarworks Reference 4/Systemwide, and their profile was made with a pre-fazor LCD-2. So if these sound different then that will affect my decision.

 

[betula]

I'm sure this has been asked multiple times in this behemoth thread already but I haven't had any luck trying to search through it (either with Google or head-fi's search), so I apologize. Do the LCD-2 Classics sound different than the pre-fazor LCD-2s? I ask because I'm considering purchasing a used LCD-2C but I want to use it with Sonarworks Reference 4/Systemwide, and their profile was made with a pre-fazor LCD-2. So if these sound different then that will affect my decision.

There is quite a lot of comparison available. This is one of them.

 

[Markdude]

There is quite a lot of comparison available. This is one of them.

Awesome, thanks so much for that link!

 

[alphanumerix1]

From impressions people have had good results with the cma400i and cv2+ I think you would be fine either way tbh.

 

[dfarina]

I just finished installing a set of real leather LCD-2 pads from Audeze on my Classic.First impressions were.....maybe the original pleather pads aren’t so bad?After spending more time with the leather pads I am satisfied with the move.They just have a slightly better feel,although the difference isn’t as big as I envisioned.To me the sound has changed slightly,although this might be coming from my head and not my ears.They seem to sound a little smoother,in the upper region there used to be a slight area that bugged my ears that is more in control now for lack of a better description.Bass seems to be slightly more present.Again these are very slight impressions and Audeze said there shouldn’t be any differences in sound.Doing the swap was very simple and easy,took 20 min taking my time.

 

[Suppa92]

I do NOT recommend the new R2R series AudioGD if you're looking to use it as DAC too. Their amps are quite good. Ladder DACs....not so much.

Are Audio-GD's R2R dac desgins bad? or change the sound signature? is it only about R2R or other Chip based dacs (eg:Audio-GD D-77) from AudioGD also has the same problem? Can you elaborate bit more about Audio-GD dac problem?

 

[omniweltall]

Are Audio-GD's R2R dac desgins bad? or change the sound signature? is it only about R2R or other Chip based dacs (eg:Audio-GD D-77) from AudioGD also has the same problem? Can you elaborate bit more about Audio-GD dac problem?

I thought their sabre dacs and master dacs (pcm1704uk) were pretty decent. But i kinda liked their amps. Easy and not fatiguing, but lots of slam.

I didnt like their more recent R2R series. Mushy and compressed. If you are like one of those AGD fanboys, i recommend to at least give it a try. Hey, if you like it, you like it. But try it before you put your money down.

For me, AGD has always been about amps, not DACs.

 

[Suppa92]

I thought their sabre dacs and master dacs (pcm1704uk) were pretty decent. But i always kinda liked their amps. Easy and not fatiguing, but lots of slam.

I didnt like their more recent R2R series. Mushy and compressed. If you are like one of those AGD fanboys, i recommend to at least give it a try. Hey, if you like it, you like it. But try it before you put your money down.

For me, AGD has always been about amps, not DACs.

Nope, I'm not an AGD fanboy but they're the only brand apart from Denafrips that makes R2R dacs under $1000. And loads of people saying R2R dacs are better sounding than Chip based dacs, that's why I kept asking about it. I also want to know whether that R2R hype is real? If it's true I'll definitely consider Denafrips Ares too.

 

[omniweltall]

Nope, I'm not an AGD fanboy but they're the only brand apart from Denafrips that makes R2R dacs under $1000. And loads of people saying R2R dacs are better sounding than Chip based dacs, that's why I kept asking about it. I also want to know whether that R2R hype is real? If it's true I'll definitely consider Denafrips Ares too.

Hhmm....Schiit? Soekris? Mimby is a very cheap and good R2R DAC. I think Mimby alone will be enough for 90% of the people here. They just don't realize it, and go for the hyped mega-bucks DACs.

I don't know much about Denafrips. Never tried Ares.

There are good R2R DACs; there are bad ones too. Do your research before buying anything. Or just get a mimby for USD250.

And yeah, for SQ quality alone, I would choose a good R2R to a good DS. But I would choose a good DS anyday to a bad R2R.