[Dan Lee]

I love Head-Fi. One person poses the question as to which is better the 4 or the 4z. Keeping in mind these headphones maintain a shared flagship status by the company that made them, Audeze. So it is well known that there sound signatures will be incredibly close to one another. Yet we debate as to which of the two is going to sound better. In truth I believe we are all incredibly fortunate to be able to share a dialogue as to which $4,000 headphone sounds the best. Whether in the end one chooses the 4 or 4z is of little consequence as both will unquestionably sound fantastic.

I absolutely love this hobby. I do wish I didn't or that it was cheaper haha. Cause like all of debating the difference in sound between these two magical headphones, I imagine that there isn't one amongst us that wouldn't have both if that was the option. The overwhelming myriad of possible combinations in sourcing, amping, cabling etc. means that there is a great likelihood that both headphones sound identical, but that it is simply as stated above by @johnzz4 that the amp pairing and other parts involved in the chain will determine which you prefer. I come to this conclusion because it is almost even the number who said they prefer the 4 vs the number who said they prefer the 4z. Typically if one is distinctly different you have a far less even outcome.

Hell, what do I know haha. I've just gone off on a weird rant in essence for my love of this hobby and also for my love of these Audeze cans. Pick one and thou shall be happy. If thou are not leave ye this hobby and save yourself some money.

 

[Softable]

Hello,

I just got an RME ADI 2 DAC, and was doing some listening, and a song came on with some good bass, until I ended up feeling some thumping in my right ear, physical in nature. I thought, well sometimes I can hear/feel my heartbeat in my ear, but no, it was the LCD-4s. ¿What? Like seriously? The bass is physical in nature? I had to remove them again to check if it was actually the headphones and not my heart beating in my head? How is that even possible? The song isn't bass heavy, it is way in the background, something I had hardly noticed on any other headphones before. It wasn't uncontrolled sloppy obvious head pounding bass, where it is heard and felt, but a more elegant controlled, subwoofer like bass, felt instead of truly heard, like on the edge of hearing range or something. This, this is a new level of music experience I hope the RME is powerful enough as an amp for now? I have it at -30 dB and am very comfortable listening. I hope to get an amp maybe, the Jotunheim is has almost the exact same footprint, so it would be an interesting stack in that regard. Or maybe I should go for the Violectric if I can hear a discernible difference between the RME against the Schiit stack that is by my bedside.

Thanks for Reading.

 

[Dan Lee]

@Softable
How long have you had your 4's and what were you running them through before the RME?

Audeze is pretty much famous for their amazing bass sound and feel all while maintaining beautiful accuracy and clarity. Glad you are enjoying them, and also congrats on the fantastic DAC choice. I would like to own the RME along with my pro idsd and had a hard time choosing between the two.

In regard to an amp. If you are noticing a better sound from just your DAC that happens to also have an amp function then you will most definitely benefit from a fantastic amp to go with it. Also if you are choosing between a Jot and Violectric that decision is very easy. Jot is great if your broke or just starting out or don't have a DAC like the RME. Get something that is going to be of similar quality to your DAC. V281 from Violectric has been well praised in this thread for use with the 4.

Of course these are just my opinions. Happy listening my friend.

 

[Softable]

@Dan Lee

I had my LCD-4s since 04/05/2019, running them with the Schiit Fulla 2. Big step up from the Fulla with the RME. I chose the RME as people said it sounded identical to the Hugo 2, and according to Audio Science Review's measurements, people recommended the RME over the Yggdrasil (which some say is also comparable to the Hugo 2), which is like, twice the price. I am thinking of getting the Violectric in June or so, treat myself for my birthday. Yes, I have seen lots of praise for the Violectric on this thread, and have also seen that it pairs well with good complimentary headphones like the HD800, but those would be much further down the line. I also have the Audeze balanced cable, and a balanced cable from Amplifier Surgery, so I plan to use one of those with the Violectric V281/280. The Violectric website is a bit confusing, but if I am reading it correctly, it says 5.6 watts into 100 ohms? Or is "Pa" different from milliwatts?

Yup, I am very happy listening and studying right now, dare I might say even a bit distracted by the LCD-4s and the awesome people on this thread.

Thanks guys.

 

[syn959]

Hello,

I just got an RME ADI 2 DAC, and was doing some listening, and a song came on with some good bass, until I ended up feeling some thumping in my right ear, physical in nature. I thought, well sometimes I can hear/feel my heartbeat in my ear, but no, it was the LCD-4s. ¿What? Like seriously? The bass is physical in nature? I had to remove them again to check if it was actually the headphones and not my heart beating in my head? How is that even possible? The song isn't bass heavy, it is way in the background, something I had hardly noticed on any other headphones before. It wasn't uncontrolled sloppy obvious head pounding bass, where it is heard and felt, but a more elegant controlled, subwoofer like bass, felt instead of truly heard, like on the edge of hearing range or something. This, this is a new level of music experience I hope the RME is powerful enough as an amp for now? I have it at -30 dB and am very comfortable listening. I hope to get an amp maybe, the Jotunheim is has almost the exact same footprint, so it would be an interesting stack in that regard. Or maybe I should go for the Violectric if I can hear a discernible difference between the RME against the Schiit stack that is by my bedside.

Thanks for Reading.

Nice! I normally listen to my LCD-4 via RME ADI-2 direct between -20 to -30 dB too. I’m curious what song you were listening to since what you described seems like sub-bass which you can feel and below hearing. I like to experience this myself!

 

[mixman]

I love Head-Fi. One person poses the question as to which is better the 4 or the 4z. Keeping in mind these headphones maintain a shared flagship status by the company that made them, Audeze. So it is well known that there sound signatures will be incredibly close to one another. Yet we debate as to which of the two is going to sound better. In truth I believe we are all incredibly fortunate to be able to share a dialogue as to which $4,000 headphone sounds the best. Whether in the end one chooses the 4 or 4z is of little consequence as both will unquestionably sound fantastic.

I absolutely love this hobby. I do wish I didn't or that it was cheaper haha. Cause like all of debating the difference in sound between these two magical headphones, I imagine that there isn't one amongst us that wouldn't have both if that was the option. The overwhelming myriad of possible combinations in sourcing, amping, cabling etc. means that there is a great likelihood that both headphones sound identical, but that it is simply as stated above by @johnzz4 that the amp pairing and other parts involved in the chain will determine which you prefer. I come to this conclusion because it is almost even the number who said they prefer the 4 vs the number who said they prefer the 4z. Typically if one is distinctly different you have a far less even outcome.

Hell, what do I know haha. I've just gone off on a weird rant in essence for my love of this hobby and also for my love of these Audeze cans. Pick one and thou shall be happy. If thou are not leave ye this hobby and save yourself some money.

Well said Dan. I know.....We have a lot of first world problems, debating the merits of two $4K headphones, when in reality either one is better than 99% of all HP's ever made!

Hello,

I just got an RME ADI 2 DAC, and was doing some listening, and a song came on with some good bass, until I ended up feeling some thumping in my right ear, physical in nature. I thought, well sometimes I can hear/feel my heartbeat in my ear, but no, it was the LCD-4s. ¿What? Like seriously? The bass is physical in nature? I had to remove them again to check if it was actually the headphones and not my heart beating in my head? How is that even possible? The song isn't bass heavy, it is way in the background, something I had hardly noticed on any other headphones before. It wasn't uncontrolled sloppy obvious head pounding bass, where it is heard and felt, but a more elegant controlled, subwoofer like bass, felt instead of truly heard, like on the edge of hearing range or something. This, this is a new level of music experience I hope the RME is powerful enough as an amp for now? I have it at -30 dB and am very comfortable listening. I hope to get an amp maybe, the Jotunheim is has almost the exact same footprint, so it would be an interesting stack in that regard. Or maybe I should go for the Violectric if I can hear a discernible difference between the RME against the Schiit stack that is by my bedside.

Thanks for Reading.

I wouldn't even bother with a Jot unless you really like it's sound. I have a THX AAA which is highly praised and I have to tell you that it is only about as good as the amp in the RME as far as SQ. You are going to have to spend a pretty penny to really get something better than the amp in the RME as far as sound and power, not to mention if you want balanced too. As Dan said.....The Violectric would be the best choice.

 

[protoss]

The violectric v281 is kind of old now. 2013? And still expensive at 2K

I rather go for Gsx-mini @2k

Plus my JDS Atom powers the 4Z like a champ. Have to put it on low gain because its too damn powerful.

 

[mixman]

The violectric v281 is kind of old now. 2013? And still expensive at 2K

I rather go for Gsx-mini @2k

Plus my JDS Atom powers the 4Z like a champ. Have to put it on low gain because its too damn powerful.

Forgot about the GSx mini. Is that out yet? I heard it at CanJam powering the Susvara just fine. How it would sound against the Violectric? I don't know.

 

[Focux]

The violectric v281 is kind of old now. 2013? And still expensive at 2K

I rather go for Gsx-mini @2k

Plus my JDS Atom powers the 4Z like a champ. Have to put it on low gain because its too damn powerful.

v glad to hear this as i'm using my Atom for the LCD X (when it arrives)

 

[801evan]

I tried the GSX mkii with the LCD2c, mx4 on SE and focal Utopia on XLR.

The noise floor isn't that great and the highs sound tuned. I tried it on the Hugo TT on RCA. The owner later on upgraded to XLR cables and mentions the better SQ performance which it should since the design is for XLR and is only using half the power if the inputs is on SE.

 

[commtrd]

On top of personal differences in hearing in general, and preferences in particular, then there is differentiation in upstream componentry. Dacs and amps play a huge part in how a particular headphone will sound.
One can inquire of others endlessly about sonic performance of a device, but the rubber meets the road at the time of personal EXTENDED audition within one's own setup. Until then, it is all really just conjecture.

 

[donato]

On top of personal differences in hearing in general, and preferences in particular, then there is differentiation in upstream componentry. Dacs and amps play a huge part in how a particular headphone will sound.
One can inquire of others endlessly about sonic performance of a device, but the rubber meets the road at the time of personal EXTENDED audition within one's own setup. Until then, it is all really just conjecture.

I completely agree on both points. When I first started in this hobby, I had headphones that were highly regarded (HE-500, HD800S, etc.), but I didn't really enjoy them at all and honestly just preferred to continue using my HD650. I didn't ever think I would like anything neutral since they always seemed too bright too me. Part of that I think was due to my upstream components and in many cases this was due to DAC (esp. Sabre DACs, but also fairly recently the Auralic Vega) for me. As I've sorted that out to my personal taste (now Schiit Yggy A2 and Vioelectric V281 which is a popular combo here). With the LCD-4, it seemed all was set. The interesting thing though is that I went back to my Ether Flows just because I had them sitting around and picked up some other headphones that would be considered more neutral (e.g. ZMF Auteur) and I find that I can enjoy them for what they are (which now also led to me buying Ether 2 and Verite). That's possibly not something I would have been able to suss out in a quick listen at a meetup or probably even in a store with equipment that wasn't the same as mine (I probably would have written them off too quickly). You can try and get an understanding from reading the reviews and comments here and ideally find others with similar equipment and also importantly similar taste/preferences and improve the likelihood that those opinions will correlate with your own experience. Maybe I'm waxing philosophic here, but it's kind of like a relationship, you might have all of these perceptions and expectations of what you think it's going to be like, but it's not a substitute for a fully realized experience. In some cases, things might end up a bit different than you expected and in some cases pleasantly so; you might learn something about yourself too (e.g your preferences, what's important to you, what tradeoffs you can live with, etc.). At the end of the day, there is no absolute "best" - my "best" doesn't necessarily or perhaps even likely translate into your "best" and further to that, my liking or dislking something doesn't invalidate anyone else's opinion or preferences. (okay, end soapbox ).

 

[Dan Lee]

Since we seem to be somewhat focused on sourcing for the time being I am going to offer some information about the ifi Pro iDSD. Most are aware this is a fantastic DAC, obviously there are much better at much larger prices, but this unit is lovely. It has a bloody slew of sound capabilities so suit every taste especially when couple with the iCAN Pro. I was a bit overwhelmed by the volume of options when I first started using it and just kinda picked what I thought was supposed to be the best sound and stuck with that one for a while. Later someone suggested that upsampling to DSD 1024 would net a better quality sound then Bit Perfect which I was typically using. I found this to be true and had been running it that way for the last few months and enjoyed it. I recently read some things about transient alignment and upsampling and decided to try something. I turned DSD upsampling off completely and put only the Transient Aligned filter on and my god people. I've not heard a more perfect or beautiful sound up to this point. Everything sounded way more accurate and a bit sharper and see through. I know it is better at accuracy specifically because it highlights poor recordings even more then it previously did. All I gotta say is damn.

So yeah, when someone says that crazy crap about how little the effect of a DAC has on the sound quality of your listening experience feel free to tell them they are insane. These ears are in a rather enlightened and overjoyed place utilizing these settings with the LCD-4's.

 

[commtrd]

Of course the dac is the most important part of the chain, aside from the headphones themselves. Just a critical piece.

 

[Focux]

Since we seem to be somewhat focused on sourcing for the time being I am going to offer some information about the ifi Pro iDSD. Most are aware this is a fantastic DAC, obviously there are much better at much larger prices, but this unit is lovely. It has a bloody slew of sound capabilities so suit every taste especially when couple with the iCAN Pro. I was a bit overwhelmed by the volume of options when I first started using it and just kinda picked what I thought was supposed to be the best sound and stuck with that one for a while. Later someone suggested that upsampling to DSD 1024 would net a better quality sound then Bit Perfect which I was typically using. I found this to be true and had been running it that way for the last few months and enjoyed it. I recently read some things about transient alignment and upsampling and decided to try something. I turned DSD upsampling off completely and put only the Transient Aligned filter on and my god people. I've not heard a more perfect or beautiful sound up to this point. Everything sounded way more accurate and a bit sharper and see through. I know it is better at accuracy specifically because it highlights poor recordings even more then it previously did. All I gotta say is damn.

So yeah, when someone says that crazy crap about how little the effect of a DAC has on the sound quality of your listening experience feel free to tell them they are insane. These ears are in a rather enlightened and overjoyed place utilizing these settings with the LCD-4's.

U make me wanna sell my Mojo and Atom for the iDSD BL loll