[Sorgiulio]

I have swapped the LCD-2 Earpads with Dekoni Elite Velour and the end result indeed turned out to my liking, as measurements and impressions of others proved. I don't need to use the reveal plugin anymore and it's overall less hazy as well.
Everything is more lively and open/clear in general (voices have more breathing room, upper mids are "back") in comparison to the original pads. The headphone is still dark but the treble curve doesn't have those pits anymore making it more natural.
This great headphone just got magnificient. Yes there's a very slight loss of "concentrated" bass energy but the bass is less boxed in now which is a worthwhile tradeoff for me. @bagwell359 You should try the LCD-2C again with these pads if you can. Curious to see what
you'd think.

Hi, thanks for sharing your impressions.
Do these pads avoid the seal and consequent air pressure on my ear I experience with the stock pads? I find that to my ears LCD2C sound much better when I break the seal with my finger. I'm not sure this has to do with the air pressure in the cup but as soon as I move the back of the pad about 1mm from my face the sound gets much more airy and there is more kick and energy in the low frequencies as opposed to the more boxed sound and flatter, almost muted bass with the seal (problems I had associated with my amp not being powerful enough)

 

[Fegefeuer]

Hi, thanks for sharing your impressions.
Do these pads avoid the seal and consequent air pressure on my ear I experience with the stock pads?

yes, that's exactly what you get

 

[tuby sound]

Hmm, interesting

but I don't think this thread is the place for talk about drama between two companies that are both sponsors.

True, it's just that someone was saying that massdrop should start selling these so that they can earn a lot of money.
I then remembered something about a collaboration that did not get past the testing phase...

Bregards,
Kelvin

 

[betula]

I have swapped the LCD-2 Earpads with Dekoni Elite Velour and the end result indeed turned out to my liking, as measurements and impressions of others proved. I don't need to use the reveal plugin anymore and it's overall less hazy as well.
Everything is more lively and open/clear in general (voices have more breathing room, upper mids are "back") in comparison to the original pads. The headphone is still dark but the treble curve doesn't have those pits anymore making it more natural.
This great headphone just got magnificient. Yes there's a very slight loss of "concentrated" bass energy but the bass is less boxed in now which is a worthwhile tradeoff for me. @bagwell359 You should try the LCD-2C again with these pads if you can. Curious to see what
you'd think.

I wish swapping pads was easier with Audeze headhones. Why did you choose the velour in the end and what kind of music do you listen to if I may ask?

I would be quite interested to hear if anyone has tried Dekoni's fenestrated sheepskin pads?
Thanks!

 

[Fegefeuer]

I wish swapping pads was easier with Audeze headhones. Why did you choose the velour in the end and what kind of music do you listen to if I may ask?

I would be quite interested to hear if anyone has tried Dekoni's fenestrated sheepskin pads?
Thanks!

Yeah, the pad part is a bit unfortunate but it also gives the Audeze the important seal for the bass. I chose velour because it exactly fixes the gripes I have with this headphone. Previously i ran them with Audeze reveal via EQ APO to have it systemwide.
I had to forget about it off-PC, so in the end I chose to install those pads which through measurements and impressions from people I trust, indeed transformed these headphones for the better.

LCD-2C is still untouchable in the bass, out of all my headphones. It hits hard and clean on my setup (now more open, lively, not boxed in anymore) so I am automatically careful as this can make me turn the volume up even more. It's the beauty and the danger of clean, ultra low distortion listening experiences
in combination with good overall tonality and FR (aka no annoying peaks).

I listen to a ton of genres but since it's you asking. I also listen to Electronic music, from Ambient, Progressive House, Trance of all kinds, Techno etc., and these deliver a presentation second to none.

 

[Sorgiulio]

OK, I'm convinced I need a powerful amp to do this headphone justice but I'm stuggling to find one in the 500$/£ price range that doesn't have a history of frying people's headphones.
So I have two questions for you all:
1) Would an amp with 1,400mA/ch (32 ohm loaded) be powerful enough?
2) Is there any other specification I should check to be able to identify the right power for my LCD-2C?

Thanks!

 

[betula]

Yeah, the pad part is a bit unfortunate but it also gives the Audeze the important seal for the bass. I chose velour because it exactly fixes the gripes I have with this headphone. Previously i ran them with Audeze reveal via EQ APO to have it systemwide.
I had to forget about it off-PC, so in the end I chose to install those pads which through measurements and impressions from people I trust, indeed transformed these headphones for the better.

LCD-2C is still untouchable in the bass, out of all my headphones. It hits hard and clean on my setup (now more open, lively, not boxed in anymore) so I am automatically careful as this can make me turn the volume up even more. It's the beauty and the danger of clean, ultra low distortion listening experiences
in combination with good overall tonality and FR (aka no annoying peaks).

I listen to a ton of genres but since it's you asking. I also listen to Electronic music, from Ambient, Progressive House, Trance of all kinds, Techno etc., and these deliver a presentation second to none.

I agree that the bass is awesome on the 2C. This is the main attraction here. It can use a bit of cleaning up with other pads, silver cable, USB signal purifiers or just a good DAC, but already pretty awesome to start with. With a good setup unbeatable in this regard even compared to headphones that cost 3-4 times more.

I quite like the first track you shared. Reminds me to Paul Kalkbrenner a little bit. The second one is too 'plastic bottle squeezing' kind of music to me and the third one is just too trance-y. I prefer something with a bit more fantasy and design in it like Shpongle, Amon Tobin, Asura, Infected Mushroom, Entheogenic. Basically prefer psy-trance to traditional trance. But you are right, the 2C shines with this sort of music.

OK, I'm convinced I need a powerful amp to do this headphone justice but I'm stuggling to find one in the 500$/£ price range that doesn't have a history of frying people's headphones.
So I have two questions for you all:
1) Would an amp with 1,400mA/ch (32 ohm loaded) be powerful enough?
2) Is there any other specification I should check to be able to identify the right power for my LCD-2C?
Thanks!

I think 1400mW is powerful enough for the 2C. (I guess that's what you mean, not mA.) Audeze recommends 1-4W, so anything above 1W must be good enough. IMO in that price range the iFi Micro BL is a good choice with a lot of power.

 

[Sorgiulio]

Yes betula I copied it from a website but that's clearly a mistake, it's 1.4W per channel.

I know this is enough to drive them, what I'd like to know is whether this kind of power is enough to help get the LCD-2C close to their best performance, if that makes sense.
To be honest i like them already with what I've got, but I know they can be much better. Just trying to figure out how with my current budget. Is the 1-4W recommendation per channel or in total?

I'm sure the iFi Micro BL is fine, but I'm willing to spend more than twice as much for a desk amplifier that just amplifies. I'm sure I can find something better. It's just taking me longer than I thought, but that's part of the fun I guess.

The amp I had asked about is the teac ha-501, have you ever heard of it? There are not many reviews around, probably just because it's from a nonfancy manufacturer. But looks solid and reliable, and the few reviews I found are quite positive and in theory could sound good with the classics. In theory though.

 

[betula]

Yes betula I copied it from a website but that's clearly a mistake, it's 1.4W per channel.

I know this is enough to drive them, what I'd like to know is whether this kind of power is enough to help get the LCD-2C close to their best performance, if that makes sense.
To be honest i like them already with what I've got, but I know they can be much better. Just trying to figure out how with my current budget. Is the 1-4W recommendation per channel or in total?

I'm sure the iFi Micro BL is fine, but I'm willing to spend more than twice as much for a desk amplifier that just amplifies. I'm sure I can find something better. It's just taking me longer than I thought, but that's part of the fun I guess.

The amp I had asked about is the teac ha-501, have you ever heard of it? There are not many reviews around, probably just because it's from a nonfancy manufacturer. But looks solid and reliable, and the few reviews I found are quite positive and in theory could sound good with the classics. In theory though.

I didn't type the full name of the iFi amp. I meant the Micro iDSD BL which is £599 at the moment. Originally you mentioned £500 as your budget. Now I am confused if you can double that money?
Also, what is a 'desk amplifier that just amplifies'? Do you mean you already have a DAC and looking for an amp only?
I don't know that Teac amp, but looks good enough to me. Hard to decide without auditioning.
If your budget is £500+ however, I'd recommend to find a balanced amp. It is debatable, but to my experience balanced out always sounded cleaner. (And more powerful.)
Good luck with your search. As you said, it is part of the fun. It is also good to upgrade step by step and enjoy each stage. Don't try to jump much bigger what your budget allows.

 

[nicknack40]

I use Magni 3 with my LCD2-C's and that drives them fine with no problem the only thing that will Fry your headphones is yourself no Amp will do this only if its Damaged. There is that many DAC amp Combo's exc you could be all day trying to find the correct match. I use a Musical Fidelity v90 DAC with my Magni and was going to go for the Multibit. But i don't think it would beat my V90 . For a desktop setup it works fine. I was looking at the Marantz HD-1 dac which is suppose to be good and the Audiolab M-DAC .But the things are big and bulky and wouldn't look that good on my desktop lol

 

[Sorgiulio]

I didn't type the full name of the iFi amp. I meant the Micro iDSD BL which is £599 at the moment. Originally you mentioned £500 as your budget. Now I am confused if you can double that money?
Also, what is a 'desk amplifier that just amplifies'? Do you mean you already have a DAC and looking for an amp only?
I don't know that Teac amp, but looks good enough to me. Hard to decide without auditioning.
If your budget is £500+ however, I'd recommend to find a balanced amp. It is debatable, but to my experience balanced out always sounded cleaner. (And more powerful.)
Good luck with your search. As you said, it is part of the fun. It is also good to upgrade step by step and enjoy each stage. Don't try to jump much bigger what your budget allows.

Yes my bad, I was mistakenly referring to the ifi nano which is £199 on amazon uk.
I'm looking for an amp only since i'm using the loki with my DACs and I'm pretty happy with it. It allows me to fine tune to compensate for bad recording. DAC and portability are two features of the Micro iDSD BL that cost money and I don't need them, so I'd rather invest my £500 budget on amplification only at this moment.
I'm looking for an amp with power and a touch of warmth, because I prefer warm sound in general but also because those spikes and graininess in the treble get a bit annoying at times, and I hope that a warmish amp could smooth them out. I'm supposed the receive the Dekoni velour pads today. I'll check them out over the weekend to see if they can help a bit in that respect as some people on other forums say.

 

[greenkiwi]

OK, I'm convinced I need a powerful amp to do this headphone justice but I'm stuggling to find one in the 500$/£ price range that doesn't have a history of frying people's headphones.
So I have two questions for you all:
1) Would an amp with 1,400mA/ch (32 ohm loaded) be powerful enough?
2) Is there any other specification I should check to be able to identify the right power for my LCD-2C?

Thanks!

I'd consider the monoprice cavalli liquid platinum. Musical, controlled and good power.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/monoprice-monolith-liquid-platinum-by-alex-cavalli.876406/

 

[nicknack40]

I thought the 2'c's don't like tubes

 

[koover]

I thought the 2'c's don't like tubes

Well I know mine loves them!

 

[djj65]

My 2C's are used with both the La Figaro 339 and the Little Dot MKVI+, and they sound fantastic, great on tubes.