[Renegadeblue]

I have a topping ADI-2 --> A90 chain, do you think that would be suitable? I only got into the audio game in the last year because UK has been in lockdown for almost a year.... Trying not to spend tooo much too soon tho!

The A90 is more than powerful enough for the LCD-4. There are people who run the LCD-4 off of the THX-789 and the A90 has more power than that. The A90 is also a better overall amp is pretty much every respect than the 789. It is one of the best midrange amps you can get by most accounts. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you you need a $3k amp to power them or make them sound worthwhile. The law of diminishing returns is a real thing.

 

[MasterZen]

Great thanks - I use it on my Abyss Diana which are power hungry and on high gain its only around 10 o clock and those are power hungry too.

Good to know I wont need to upgrade amp for now

 

[jlbrach]

the a90 will easily drive the lcd-4 but better and yes more expensive amps will sound better...there are laws of diminishing returns but they kick in above the a90 which is a fine amp for the money

 

[Renegadeblue]

Great thanks - I use it on my Abyss Diana which are power hungry and on high gain its only around 10 o clock and those are power hungry too.

Good to know I wont need to upgrade amp for now

Are you running balanced? You’ll obviously get more power balanced as well.

 

[JLoud]

The amount of people saying that you need to EQ the LCD4 has put me off buying them, it is good to know there are people who like and use them as they come. Makes me reconsider selling my Rad-0 for them , think it's a worthy upgrade?

I currently have both the LCD4 and Rad-0 and enjoy both. The LCD4 has more detail and lusher mids. The Rad-0 is more forgiving of bad recordings and also is probably more accurate tonally without EQ. You may like the LCD4 without the Reveal plugin, I go back and forth. It is definitely not necessary but nice to have as an option as others have said.

 

[Renegadeblue]

the a90 will easily drive the lcd-4 but better and yes more expensive amps will sound better...there are laws of diminishing returns but they kick in above the a90 which is a fine amp for the money

Just curious, where do you think the law of diminishing returns really starts to kick in as far as amps and dacs? I pretty much assumed like most other things that once you get into the upper mid-range of prices the diminishing returns are already in full effect with spending significantly more money netting you a quantifiable percentage of improvement in the single digits or so.

 

[InstantSilence]

Just curious, where do you think the law of diminishing returns really starts to kick in as far as amps and dacs? I pretty much assumed like most other things that once you get into the upper mid-range of prices the diminishing returns are already in full effect with spending significantly more money netting you a quantifiable percentage of improvement in the single digits or so.

It's all about pocket power and enjoyment value.
Go cheap if you are worried.
As being worried means you can't nget benchmark grade stuff. Which is OK, value driven stuff are still enjoyable

 

[MasterZen]

Are you running balanced? You’ll obviously get more power balanced as well.

Yes run balanced, definitely notice the extra oomph compared to when I plug things the unbalanced SE socket

 

[MasterZen]

I currently have both the LCD4 and Rad-0 and enjoy both. The LCD4 has more detail and lusher mids. The Rad-0 is more forgiving of bad recordings and also is probably more accurate tonally without EQ. You may like the LCD4 without the Reveal plugin, I go back and forth. It is definitely not necessary but nice to have as an option as others have said.

Thanks for the comparison, lusher mids do sound appealing! If you absolutely had to keep one, which would it be?

 

[vonBaron]

D8000

 

[MasterZen]

D8000

The person I bought my Rad-0 from said he sold them because he preferred the D8000 he had. Similiar but better he said but I've not heard the D8000 either yet

 

[vonBaron]

You should listen them!

 

[JLoud]

Thanks for the comparison, lusher mids do sound appealing! If you absolutely had to keep one, which would it be?

LCD4 would be my choice. For an all rounder it would be my choice out of all the headphones I have.

 

[Renegadeblue]

Anyone have opinions on if it’s worth owning both the LCD-4 and the ZMF Verite? Are the sound signatures different enough to justify it? Are the technicalities on the same level? I currently own the LCD-4 and was looking for something complimentary.

 

[pippen99]

I had both for a considerable amount of time. The Verite (open) does everything well. Ultimately when I took a serious look at my listening habits the LCD-4 was getting about 90% of my listening time. Everything the Verite did the LCD-4 did better. The Verite was easier to drive and more comfortable but my amps are more than capable of driving the LCD-4. I also rarely listen more than 2 hrs at a time so comfort was not a real issue for me. Stop and consider if your current amp is capable of driving the LCD-4 to its full potential or if not are you willing to spend the money to upgrade?