[DBX1]

   
First time I've ever heard of someone disliking an open sound.  You might want to try the Audeze LCD-XC.

You got me there.  I am one who likes an open soundstage, but with the LCD-3, I was not as impressed with the openness of the headphones.  I had an expectation of hearing something magical, instead when I heard it, I felt that the spacialness was limiting the sound.  The bass was there, the mids were there - better than the LCD-2, and the upper end also performed better than the LCD-2.  Just for fun, I cupped my hands over the headphones, and they just sounded better.  Not as magical as say from a high-end digital movie cinema sound, which I was hoping to hear.  Yet I get that feeling with the Grado RS-325.  Because of my limited audition time, I am willing to give the Audezes another audition.

My tastes are to get a full-body sound - good layers of bass with low bass extension, a smooth midrange and nice highs and clarity (not recessed) with good specialness and separation of sound.  I would not consider myself a bass-head at the expense of clarity by any means.

 

[enthusiast]

Beyerdynamics T5p ( I heard the 1770 pro) are not in the same ballpark imho. They sound great, no question, but they are by far less dynamic sounding, less lush, less spacious than the Fostex THs imho. They sound more realistic, but they just sound to constrained if that makes sense. 

 

[enthusiast]

I now bought the TH 900 and it is a very very good headphone. I use $3K amping and Dac-ing for it, only the best.
 
With Jazz and Movie-Watching the headphones shine. I burned them in about 40 hours. The Revenant was a revelation with these headphone, absolutely unbelievable spacious and realistic sounds. 10/10 for that, can't imagine anything better.
 
However - Mids are recessed, while you can't hear it in Jazz and Guitar or Celli, you will hear it with Piano and with Voices and when you are a good listener, you will hear it with Orchestral music. I have to crank the volume up to almost unbearable levels to get the kind of mids out of them which I prefer. This would be ok, if not the bass now kicked in, produced by e.g. brass or timbals in the orchestra. The bass will kill your eardrums. The bass is always, always, always there!
 
And like I said, I got the TH900 already neutrally dac-ed and amped. Synths, Electronica, Solo Violin, Bass Guitar and such are absolutely great on the TH900, but when you crank them up to get the mids that are needed for classical / serious music, also very slightly the highs shine through, really not much, but enough to make in combination with the brutal bass an extended listening experience fatiguing.
 
Thus, the TH900 must go! Now I think the LCD-3 will provide the kind of sound I like. Rolled of heighs, subtler bass and potent mids for classical music. If they also do not work out for me I am thinking about going speaker again.

 

[montanari]

Dear guys
I'm a very happy owner of lcd3f from over 2years
I use the Hugo as a dac only and a very neutral fast and detailed class A artisan ss amp that provide aBout 2W to the Audeze impedance
The combo is wonderful
I m thinking from a while of getting a th900, that I already tried and liked them with the Hugo , just to use them with the Hugo dac/amp for a much more portable setup, use all the potential of the Hugo dac and AMP and also a more comfortable can to wear..
I think the lcd3 is superior to the fostex, but you know, after a couple of years maybe I would like to change the sound signature also..?
I mostly listen to electronic soul funk hip hop and jazz. Ecm and act style of the latter
I'm sure about the electronic and hip hop, less about jazz folk and soul
Do you think I will regret the selling of the lcd3 soon?
Thanks
DM

 

[dmalley]

My experience is similar as others have reported.  I find the Audeze "presence" is a bit much for me over time.  The TH900's are just delightful but sometimes I wish they would grab me or assert themselves more like the Audeze's have done depending on the creation I am listening to.  The TH900s transparency is improved by the implementation of the Moon Audio Silver Dragon cable.  Foster also came out with a new version of the TH900s.  They might be even "better".  I'd love to trade up to the new TH900s.

 

[warrior1975]

Supposedly the only difference is the detachable cable.

 

[Canadian411]

Supposedly the only difference is the detachable cable.

and sometimes hard wiring is better

 

[montanari]

bought the th900  so i have both and i will keep both as well because they are too cool!
the fostex is much easier to drive and comfortable but the lcd3f amped is superior and much all rounder imo

 

[eddprzz]

imo the lcd3 have a pleasant sound to them they dont get to fatiguing so you can hear loads of music and feel great but with the fostex i feel the bass is punchy mid range isnt the greatest and highs are better but for me i dont really care for highs so i would recommend the lcd 3 but whichever headphone they both sound amazing.  

 

[quantx]

TH900 with HPA8 is vastly superior to LCD3, which is too clean and clinical.
Even with + 15 dB gain on LCD3 (set on HPA8), TH900 gives much more dynamics, percussive bass,
notably with Schoenberg piano concerto. LCD3 restrains music, giving it a clean and subdued tone (a bit
like HD800), which I find boring.
TH900 + HPA8 is really a winning team. 
Only rival so far which I found convincing : Ultrasone 10 (despite all the babbling about sibilance, etc.), 
this is a very, very musical headphone too.

 

[omniweltall]

My main cans are th900 and he1000 v1. I drive them from burson conductor v2+ (great amp).

Though he1000 sounds amazing, i would say they are a different animal than th900. I tested them with a bass sampling album with very fast bass tracks, to my ears, th900 eats he1000 for breakfast. Yes i know he1000 has Godly sub bass, but th900 is no slouch either. To my ears, he1000 simply cant keep up with the fast bass. Another impressive thing i find with th900 is the soundstage and imaging. Although he1000 sounstage is better, th900 is not far behind. He1000 is the overall winner though.

Try watching action movies with th900. That bass and that soundstage...wow. better than he1000.

As for audeze, i only tried lcd 2f and lcd x. In the end, i chose to buy th900. They have diff type of bass. Th900 sounds crisper to me. Both sounds good overall. But my nexk cant stand the lcd weight. Th900 is simply comfortable for me.