For a long time now, I’ve remained confused by Head-Fi’s email preferences. Some threads, I only get notifications for once in a while. Sometimes, I get notifications for every new post. One of these days I will have to figure out it.
One thing’s for sure, I get email updates for every single post to this thread...and I have for years, ever since I became determined to buy a pair of these headphones. And, I can say quite authoritatively that I’m growing tired of seeing the same nonsensical conversation flood my email inbox once every few months, and I can no longer sit on the sidelines here and just let this take place. I feel as if I may have responded before to this particular topic of discussion on this thread, but I can’t remember.
According to the above poster, based on the numbers, even the output of an iPhone is sufficient to drive the LCD4s to “sufficiently loud” levels. This is beyond nonsensical. Having now owned 3 separate iPhones & an iPad during the time I’ve owned my 4s, I can tell you confidently that at maximum volume, they are barely audible above ambient noise in the house.
Furthermore, for about 7 months, my only manner of amplification for the 4s was the Chord Mojo. This was capable of pushing my HD700s not just to the point of physical pain, but indeed well past it. In fact I’m almost certain it had enough power to damage them if played at max volume. Certainly couldn’t put them anywhere near my head at that level. However - the LCD4s are a different story entirely. While it was just barely capable of driving them, it certainly was not to full potential. It began to distort and clip at power levels required to reach what I consider adequate volume. Now, it still had room to go on the dial...er...buttons...and, yes, it could certainly reproduce noise of some sort at high volume levels. But quite clearly the amplifier did not have control of the driver at all at this point. You could turn a Mojo all the way up into a pair of LCD4s, however all you’d get is static, noise & distortion. You wouldn’t have anything close to listenable music. The power was just not there. It’s quite obvious the voltage is not there. The circuitry does not have the power to deliver the full spectrum of frequencies at the proper level of power. It simply will not work. I may like listening louder than some, but even at what I consider to be low listening volumes, it was apparent the output stage of the Mojo was tapped out. It had nothing more to give. It was not meant to drive power-hungry high-impedance planars.
Finally, I purchased a Pro iCan, and suffice it to say the difference vastly exceeds “night and day” - with proper power available, any amount of voltage or current required at any point in in the signal is available. The bass hits hard, the treble is clean and distortion free, even at volumes that are well past what I can stand to listen to. Again, this amplifier has enough power, on the right track, to damage the 4s, most likely. Although I confess with some extremely quiet lossless tracks, I use high gain and can get close to the maximum volume just fine, mostly because the incoming signal is so low.
It’s quite obvious that these, along with a few other headphones, need power to function properly. Constantly regurgitating the same line about dB/mW is nonsensical and hardly all there is to the picture. I’m quite sure that with an amplifier that was designed a certain way, you could certainly get a single tone with no complexity out of the LCD4s at 120 dB with 36 mW. I’m sure it’s possible. In terms of distortion, or for how long, I don’t know. I suppose if adequate voltage was being supplied, it could work. But that’s not what music is, nor is the same as a highly complex input signal with many, many complex frequencies and transients covering a massive dynamic range with huge differences in harmonics, tonality & timing. Equating a pure sine wave in a lab to reproducing complex music is to be disconnected from reality. That’s not at all how any of this works. And, that’s assuming the numbers given by Audeze are dead accurate, and that the numbers given by all amp manufacturers are dead on. It’s quite obvious that the LCD4s along with other planars, need voltage to function properly. And I promise you’re not getting it as needed from a Chord Mojo. You’re getting closer with Hugo 2, I personally have not heard the combo but I’d like something for transporting around the house and to the office, so it’s been in the back of my mind. I suspect, given the specs, that it’s still not ideal. Headphones like the HE-6, Susvara, LCD4s, Abyss and maybe a few others will only ever benefit from as much voltage as you can throw at them. Suggesting that you can power them properly with a tiny little device simply because theoretically it outputs the correct mW rating to produce a sine wave at some given dB/mW rating is not just reductionist, it’s fantastical and incorrect.
