[UntilThen]

One more day before I audition LCD5 at A2A. I hope I won't like it more than the LCD4.

 

[Grizzleberry]

Hi everyone, I'm about to be the owner of a 2021 LCD-4. I realized the Arya V2 isn't for me, and was going to stick with my LCD-X (which I love) when I stumbled on an amazing deal for a like-new LCD-4.

Because I hit the limit of my current budget getting the LCD-4, I'm going to be running it off my Magni 3+ for a bit . Technically the Magni 3+ has the Audeze-recommended 500+mW at 200 ohms, but I guess I'll find out for myself how well this works in practice.

Question: has anyone run their LCD-4 off the Burson Soloist 3X Performance? I believe member @Korean audiophile ran his LCD-4 off the Soloist 3X before he sold it. On paper the Soloist doesn't seem to have the recommended 500+ mW at 200 ohms even though it has a lot of power at lower impedances. I'm wondering if I should save up more for the Headamp GS-X Mini. Sound quality aside, I like the price and the volume controller of the Soloist.

 

[Korean audiophile]

Hi everyone, I'm about to be the owner of a 2021 LCD-4. I realized the Arya V2 isn't for me, and was going to stick with my LCD-X (which I love) when I stumbled on an amazing deal for a like-new LCD-4.

Because I hit the limit of my current budget getting the LCD-4, I'm going to be running it off my Magni 3+ for a bit . Technically the Magni 3+ has the Audeze-recommended 500+mW at 200 ohms, but I guess I'll find out for myself how well this works in practice.

Question: has anyone run their LCD-4 off the Burson Soloist 3X Performance? I believe member @Korean audiophile ran his LCD-4 off the Soloist 3X before he sold it. On paper the Soloist doesn't seem to have the recommended 500+ mW at 200 ohms even though it has a lot of power at lower impedances. I'm wondering if I should save up more for the Headamp GS-X Mini. Sound quality aside, I like the price and the volume controller of the Soloist.

Nice you will love the LCD-4 it's soo sweet n warm with top tier detail n texture bass one of the TOLHP in terms of dynamics. Am not sure when they stopped production but I heard the 2021 replacement Audeze LCD earpads makes them sound better even resolve mentions this for a brief moment in his review comparison of the LCD 5 vs LCD 4 something I will be ordering tonight from their website $80 upgrade.

As for the Soloist 3xp great amp it was the first time moving up the ladder from the A90 train that would change my mind of measurements. I think when u reach a certain point up the audio chain ladder it's not about having perfect measurements but music nuances like the Diana V2 or LCD-4 both measure far from perfect but just makes u enjoy music more.

The Soloist 3xp does that in spades holographic, a hint of body n texture , a heft to the bass, more engaging than anything under a $1000 dollars. Paired with the Arya V2 plenty of head space on high gain volume pot at 20-30. The LCD-4 on high gain 40-50. The thing is the more power the LCD 4 gets the more they open up I felt although they sounded awesome on the Soloist 3XP I still would want that extra jump in power that's why I pre-ordered the Soloist GT now remind you I haven't tried the 3XP with the added supercharger which should making a difference. The GS-X mini to me is a mix bag on some forums I hear the Soundstage isn't wide enough for a $2000 amp the mids gets muddy sometimes on complicated tracks also DMS mentioned it could use more power for the harder to drive TOLHP's.

To me Sandu's review of the LCD-4 is the best he is spot on about what some initial toughts can be prior to adding the right equipment to properly driving the LCD-4'S.

 

[Grizzleberry]

Nice you will love the LCD-4 it's soo sweet n warm with top tier detail n texture bass one of the TOLHP in terms of dynamics. Am not sure when they stopped production but I heard the 2021 replacement Audeze LCD earpads makes them sound better even resolve mentions this for a brief moment in his review comparison of the LCD 5 vs LCD 4 something I will be ordering tonight from their website $80 upgrade.

As for the Soloist 3xp great amp it was the first time moving up the ladder from the A90 train that would change my mind of measurements. I think when u reach a certain point up the audio chain ladder it's not about having perfect measurements but music nuances like the Diana V2 or LCD-4 both measure far from perfect but just makes u enjoy music more.

The Soloist 3xp does that in spades holographic, a hint of body n texture , a heft to the bass, more engaging than anything under a $1000 dollars. Paired with the Arya V2 plenty of head space on high gain volume pot at 20-30. The LCD-4 on high gain 40-50. The thing is the more power the LCD 4 gets the more they open up I felt although they sounded awesome on the Soloist 3XP I still would want that extra jump in power that's why I pre-ordered the Soloist GT now remind you I haven't tried the 3XP with the added supercharger which should making a difference. The GS-X mini to me is a mix bag on some forums I hear the Soundstage isn't wide enough for a $2000 amp the mids gets muddy sometimes on complicated tracks also DMS mentioned it could use more power for the harder to drive TOLHP's.

To me Sandu's review of the LCD-4 is the best he is spot on about what some initial toughts can be prior to adding the right equipment to properly driving the LCD-4'S.

Thanks for the insight. Those are great reviews by Sandu. Interesting about the mixed opinions on the GS-X Mini. I definitely have found some people who prefer the Soloist over the Mini. I think I'm sold on getting the Soloist. Maybe someday down the road I'll upgrade to the GT.

 

[Grizzleberry]

For anyone interested, I contacted Burson Audio and asked if the Soloist 3X Performance would be able to fully power the LCD-4. Ryan got back to me and told me that the output of the amp at 200 ohms is 1.9W in balanced and 950mW in SE (Audeze recommends 500+ mW for the LCD-4). I'm not sure why there's a discrepancy in the listed specs for the amp, but this lines up with Sandu's experience. In his review, Sandu wrote: "I don’t know exactly how Burson measured it at 8 Watts, because a friend of mine measured its output at 15 Watts and my first-hand experience tells me that Soloist 3X is a lot more powerful to its official specs."
https://soundnews.net/amplifiers/headphone-amps/burson-soloist-3x-review/

I also asked Ryan about the Soloist 3X GT, and he said the improvement in sound quality over the 3X Performance isn't due to power output (though the GT is more powerful), but rather due to the aggressive/over-engineered power supply that makes the amp faster.

In summary, I feel pretty confident that the Soloist 3X Performance has plenty of power for the LCD-4. I'm probably going to get the 3X P in the near future, then consider the GT down the line.

 

[Korean audiophile]

For anyone interested, I contacted Burson Audio and asked if the Soloist 3X Performance would be able to fully power the LCD-4. Ryan got back to me and told me that the output of the amp at 200 ohms is 1.9W in balanced and 950mW in SE (Audeze recommends 500+ mW for the LCD-4). I'm not sure why there's a discrepancy in the listed specs for the amp, but this lines up with Sandu's experience. In his review, Sandu wrote: "I don’t know exactly how Burson measured it at 8 Watts, because a friend of mine measured its output at 15 Watts and my first-hand experience tells me that Soloist 3X is a lot more powerful to its official specs."
https://soundnews.net/amplifiers/headphone-amps/burson-soloist-3x-review/

I also asked Ryan about the Soloist 3X GT, and he said the improvement in sound quality over the 3X Performance isn't due to power output (though the GT is more powerful), but rather due to the aggressive/over-engineered power supply that makes the amp faster.

In summary, I feel pretty confident that the Soloist 3X Performance has plenty of power for the LCD-4. I'm probably going to get the 3X P in the near future, then consider the GT down the line.

Selling my 3X because of my GT coming soon let me know if your interested I will give u a good price.

 

[Stereolab42]

The GT looks like kind of ludicrous overkill... 90 watts power consumption just sitting idle? On a solid-state headphone amp?

 

[Korean audiophile]

@Gizzleberry when running it with a dedicated streamer on high gain the volume pot was at 25-35 and loud enough with plenty of headroom. Plus if u buy a supercharger by Burson it ups the performance by 10% from what I read on post and video reviews

 

[Ciggavelli]

So, all the EQ talk in the LCD-5 thread made me try the Audeze Preset in Roon for the LCD-4. I typically dislike EQ-ing, but I do use a convolution filter with my SR1as. Anyway, wow, the LCD-4 preset is pretty fukcing great. That bass

I think I’m going to use the EQ preset in Roon for my LCD-4s from now on. Perhaps EQ-ing is much better than I thought

 

[chargedcapacitor]

So, all the EQ talk in the LCD-5 thread made me try the Audeze Preset in Roon for the LCD-4. I typically dislike EQ-ing, but I do use a convolution filter with my SR1as. Anyway, wow, the LCD-4 preset is pretty fukcing great. That bass

I think I’m going to use the EQ preset in Roon for my LCD-4s from now on. Perhaps EQ-ing is much better than I thought

Welcome to the dark side!

 

[UntilThen]

So, all the EQ talk in the LCD-5 thread made me try the Audeze Preset in Roon for the LCD-4. I typically dislike EQ-ing, but I do use a convolution filter with my SR1as. Anyway, wow, the LCD-4 preset is pretty fukcing great. That bass

I think I’m going to use the EQ preset in Roon for my LCD-4s from now on. Perhaps EQ-ing is much better than I thought

Heartily agree. Don't know why it took me so long to set it but am loving it now. Treble is more extended and that bass as you said. Tight and harder hitting.

 

[thecrow]

i am tempted to upgrade to lcd5, but i decided for now not to do that, as the creamy lcd4 would be missed, and besides 2500 usd for upgrading i assume will be the same price for a soon used lcd5 to pop up in the second hand thread

Crikey!!

a hp dropping from 4500 new to 2500 second hand in a time frame considered “soon” appears to me to be a radical drop.

or maybe it’s a reflection of my impatience in what i consider “soon” versus your interpretation of it.

maybe i could then buy your lcd4 for $1250

 

[MatW]

So, all the EQ talk in the LCD-5 thread made me try the Audeze Preset in Roon for the LCD-4. I typically dislike EQ-ing, but I do use a convolution filter with my SR1as. Anyway, wow, the LCD-4 preset is pretty fukcing great. That bass

I think I’m going to use the EQ preset in Roon for my LCD-4s from now on. Perhaps EQ-ing is much better than I thought

EQ is your friend. And it's free!

I also use the Roon presets for the LCD-4. And I have made some profiles for other headphones, e.g. the Utopia I'm currently listening to. Sounds much better to me with a bit of EQ, to take the edge off.

 

[Grizzleberry]

So, all the EQ talk in the LCD-5 thread made me try the Audeze Preset in Roon for the LCD-4. I typically dislike EQ-ing, but I do use a convolution filter with my SR1as. Anyway, wow, the LCD-4 preset is pretty fukcing great. That bass

I think I’m going to use the EQ preset in Roon for my LCD-4s from now on. Perhaps EQ-ing is much better than I thought

I agree, when I first used EQ on my LCD-X, it was like suddenly listening to a new headphone. Instantly hooked! And yeah, the bass you can get from EQ'ing good planars is worth it on its own.

 

[Grizzleberry]

The GT looks like kind of ludicrous overkill... 90 watts power consumption just sitting idle? On a solid-state headphone amp?

Yeah, I think their goal was to take things to the extreme. It's the only headphone amp that I know of (I'm not familiar with super high end) that requires active cooling.