Finally I chose a slightly thinner leather headbanc than the previous version, I find it more comfortable. I simplified the design of the red leather, now I find that it fits better with the general style of this LCD2C !
The headband of the original LCD2C is made of steel, the tightening is stronger than that of carbon. For the weight I think it is not worth taking the carbon version to have a lighter headphone, on the other hand for me and the tightening on the head with the carbon headband is more progressive and especially less strong. It is a costly investment, but by reselling the original headband you get at least 50% of the price. As far as I'm concerned it's a good investment, this LCD2C with my Questyle Twelve MAster form a very good listening set !
I got the lc2c a few days ago and they have been the greatest disappointment. People talk about recessed treble and the obvious dip but there is glare and a peak in the treble region which is just intolerable. A few tracks you can really hear it on, all the 'ttss' are horrible -
Night Falls by Booka Shade
Song for Isabelle / Silver Surfer by Stimming
Cycles by Gorgon City and Clean Bandit
I now hear it pretty much in all my electronic music. This is not a smooth listen at all. I'm listening out of a Benchmark DAC3 which is incredibly transparent 1.5w of power 0.1 ohm output and the case is the same on other devices. The lcd2c is one of those headphones that you want to turn up the volume to increase resolution and impact and the more you do that the more obvious the glare becomes. Even the AKG 712 doesn't present the upper treble as bright as this which people say is notoriously thin and bright. Starting to wonder if I have a bad pair? There really is no point talking about the incredibly deep and textured bass because all I keep hearing is this horrible peak up top. I have tried using EQ to tone it down but just takes away any air that this headphone has and makes it too relaxed and slow for electronic music. Can't believe people don't really talk about this more or perhaps I have really bad hearing? This isn't a case of being sensitive to treble... it's very much present in those track examples and to argue it isn't would be ludicrous. What a disappointment. Must of spent literally months reading about this headphone and nobody cared to highlight this enough.
I'm sorry to hear that you're not enjoying your 2C's so far. I've had mine for a year and they've been great; no top-end glare or sibilance at all...A very smooth listen to me from my Marantz HD-DAC1.
What sources are connected to your Benchmark DAC3? And are you listening on low gain?
If I switch between LCD2C and AKG 712 on same song upper treble is much brighter and border line piercing on LCD2C. Claps, snares, hi hats have a very bright quality. Sounds very disconnected from the mid range also. It makes for a difficult listen. I am not generally treble sensitive... Also listening through QP2R and now Sony NW-ZX500. Using Benchmark DAC3 HGC on high gain with mostly flac and wav but also some mp3. Honestly sounds bright even with MacBook Pro headphone out. I guess I could have a faulty pair. Sounds the same from left and right side and listening in mono. Any suggestions to figure out if I have a faulty pair other than sending them back? Authenticity card says they are already burned in so I shouldn't expect any further changes in sound quality (not referring to brain burn)?
If I switch between LCD2C and AKG 712 on same song upper treble is much brighter and border line piercing on LCD2C. Claps, snares, hi hats have a very bright quality. Sounds very disconnected from the mid range also. It makes for a difficult listen. I am not generally treble sensitive... Also listening through QP2R and now Sony NW-ZX500. Using Benchmark DAC3 HGC on high gain with mostly flac and wav but also some mp3. Honestly sounds bright even with MacBook Pro headphone out. I guess I could have a faulty pair. Sounds the same from left and right side and listening in mono. Any suggestions to figure out if I have a faulty pair other than sending them back? Authenticity card says they are already burned in so I shouldn't expect any further changes in sound quality (not referring to brain burn)?
I listened to your tracks with what I have on my head at this time, the cheap Shure SRH840 driven by a Yamaha mixer console fed balanced from a Steinberg UR22C using Tidal. All the tracks sounds very warm and creamy and the treble is liquid, no harshness whatsoever. I suppose something is faulty with your cans.
edit. as a curiosity, I was impressed by the bass in Cycles, I didn't know the SRH840 was capable of such powerful bass with impact(I never listen to electronica)
If I switch between LCD2C and AKG 712 on same song upper treble is much brighter and border line piercing on LCD2C. Claps, snares, hi hats have a very bright quality. Sounds very disconnected from the mid range also. It makes for a difficult listen. I am not generally treble sensitive... Also listening through QP2R and now Sony NW-ZX500. Using Benchmark DAC3 HGC on high gain with mostly flac and wav but also some mp3. Honestly sounds bright even with MacBook Pro headphone out. I guess I could have a faulty pair. Sounds the same from left and right side and listening in mono. Any suggestions to figure out if I have a faulty pair other than sending them back? Authenticity card says they are already burned in so I shouldn't expect any further changes in sound quality (not referring to brain burn)?
I would also recommend to try another pair as it is not the bright treble what most people connect to the LCD series.
Another possibility is that you are sensitive to a certain frequency in the treble range and the 2C is tingling exactly that in your ears/brain. Treble sensitive people are usually sensitive to different treble frequencies therefore find different headphones to sound bothering. I found the treble on the Clear too much for me, never had a problem with the 2C.
I got the lc2c a few days ago and they have been the greatest disappointment. People talk about recessed treble and the obvious dip but there is glare and a peak in the treble region which is just intolerable. A few tracks you can really hear it on, all the 'ttss' are horrible -
Night Falls by Booka Shade
Song for Isabelle / Silver Surfer by Stimming
Cycles by Gorgon City and Clean Bandit
I now hear it pretty much in all my electronic music. This is not a smooth listen at all. I'm listening out of a Benchmark DAC3 which is incredibly transparent 1.5w of power 0.1 ohm output and the case is the same on other devices. The lcd2c is one of those headphones that you want to turn up the volume to increase resolution and impact and the more you do that the more obvious the glare becomes. Even the AKG 712 doesn't present the upper treble as bright as this which people say is notoriously thin and bright. Starting to wonder if I have a bad pair? There really is no point talking about the incredibly deep and textured bass because all I keep hearing is this horrible peak up top. I have tried using EQ to tone it down but just takes away any air that this headphone has and makes it too relaxed and slow for electronic music. Can't believe people don't really talk about this more or perhaps I have really bad hearing? This isn't a case of being sensitive to treble... it's very much present in those track examples and to argue it isn't would be ludicrous. What a disappointment. Must of spent literally months reading about this headphone and nobody cared to highlight this enough.
I suspect that problem is that you're running the Benchmark DAC3 HGC on high gain. Given that it puts out more than enough power for the 2C (power stated as 1.25 W into 30 Ohms), I see no reason to use anything other than low gain (lower gain = lower signal to noise ratio, lower distortion). For example, I only run my 2C's on low gain and my DAC's headphone out is less powerful than yours (stated as 800mw into 32 ohms).
I suspect that problem is that you're running the Benchmark DAC3 HGC on high gain. Given that it puts out more than enough power for the 2C (power stated as 1.25 W into 30 Ohms), I see no reason to use anything other than low gain (lower gain = lower signal to noise ratio, lower distortion). For example, I only run my 2C's on low gain and my DAC's headphone out is less powerful than yours (stated as 800mw into 32 ohms).
Sounds plausible, high gain will introduce(or rather expose) noise and distorsion if the cans isn't hard enough to drive. The S/N-ratio will be much worse than with low gain. Also, I suppose you are using the right samplerate 44.1kHz in the whole chain as "oversampling" can produce artefacts.
I suppose this is a lesson in trying cans for yourself before you buy. But honestly very few people are in situations where that is possible, I know I'm personally not in a city were I could try high end headphones. Just goes to show how everyones ears are different. I suppose he could have a bum pair of cans too. It's weird though for sure. This has to be the only post talking about hot treble in regards to the 2C, which has to tell us something.
I will put the Benchmark dac3 in low gain and do some testing but I'm getting hot treble out of the Macbook Pro headphone out. QP2R single ended isn't all that powerful either. I've reached out to Audeze describing the problem. My girlfriend and best mate also confirmed they were bright sounding although not audiophiles by any stretch. I wish I could of gone to audition them in store but everything is in lockdown at the moment... I think I just had really high expectations. I usually spend months reading about a headphone or audio product before I make a purchase and honestly I've read 200+ pages of this thread. But thank you all for the suggestions. Much appreciated!
I will put the Benchmark dac3 in low gain and do some testing but I'm getting hot treble out of the Macbook Pro headphone out. QP2R single ended isn't all that powerful either. I've reached out to Audeze describing the problem. My girlfriend and best mate also confirmed they were bright sounding although not audiophiles by any stretch. I wish I could of gone to audition them in store but everything is in lockdown at the moment... I think I just had really high expectations. I usually spend months reading about a headphone or audio product before I make a purchase and honestly I've read 200+ pages of this thread. But thank you all for the suggestions. Much appreciated!
Depends which Macbook you have, from what I've heard 2016 and earlier had good SQ while 2017-2018 wasn't nearly in the same ballpark, 2019 and newer seems to be back on track. Looks like it's because they tried to cheap out on the quite ok Cirrus DAC they used to use(everyone going wireless anyway?).
I stayed on the electronica playlist and found one thing to be annoyed about, in certain tracks they put on fake vinyl noise. Why, but why?
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