ok,I have used my LCD-4 with my Hugo which is a top notch amp/dac that i love and it just doesnt have enough power IMHO to truly take advantage of the LCD-4 ...I am not speaking here of an inexpensive low end product....my LCD-4 is dramatically better with my moon neo 430 and Yiggy.......the point i am making is not that the LCD-4 cannot be used with less powerful sources,just that it sounds dramatically better with more powerful options.....people are welcome to buy and listen to anything they choose but it seems to me that at 4K the LCD-4 cries out for top end equipment...if one wants to use lower powered amps i would suggest something like the LCD-x or the Hifiman-edition x
Hi jlbrach,
I agree with you that the LCD-4 needs power to shine. Unfortunately, I have never auditioned/paired the Moon Neo 430 nor the Yiggy, to experience first hand the dramatic improvement in the LCD4. Also, it is quite obvious that a $4k, 200 ohm pair of open planar headphones was not primarily meant for portable/transportable sources.
Nonetheless, I disagree with the statement of the Hugo not having enough power. Hugo specs wise it shows that it can output 110dB SPL into a 300ohm headphone load:
Advanced digital volume control
Crossfeed filter network
Battery powered for approximately 12 hours operation
Input, sample rate and volume level indication by colour-change LEDs
26K tap-length filter (more than double when compared to the QuteHD DAC)
Headphone output: 110dB SPL into a 300ohm headphone load
Output power - 1KHz 1V sinewave both channels driven 0.1% distortion
600 ohms 35mW
300 ohms 70mW
56 ohms 320mW
32 ohms 600mW
8 ohms 720mW
THD - 1KHz 3V output: 0.0005%
Dynamic Range: 120dB
Output impedance: 0.075 ohms
Damping factor >100
Weight: 0.4kg
Dimensions: 100x20x132mm (WxHxD)
Additionally in my humble opinion; it also depends on the level of listening volume an individual is used to. Personally with the Hugo at almost Max volume (white light on the volume control), I find out that I usually reduce the volume after 2 or 3 songs (depending on albums/tracks).
Cheers