Right: I believe that was George. (Progresso George) Can't remember the spelling, but I recall he likes to take walks with his MX4. I don't mind the weight of Audeze HPs, but I don't find them that portable. But, TEHO.Agreed but I believe someone posted in this thread or the MX4 thread that he walks around with his MX4 or LCD4Z while commuting.
Audeze LCD-4z - Impressions Thread
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terminatetrails
Head-Fier
Frequently take my LCDi4 out and about, but they are tiny and no one knows what/how much they are!
On the 4 vs 4z debate, the convenience of being able to go "semi-portable" with the 4z is the game changer to me (even if the 4's may be perforable to most when driven properly). Of course you most likely wouldn't want to rock these on a plane or a bus! But they are light/compact enough that you could take them on a business trip and easy enough to drive from a mid-level DAP. The 4z sounded amazing just out of my Pioneer DAP with a Fiio A5 amp when I auditioned them AGAIN yesterday. [Friends don't let friends listen to $4k hp's with a phone unless they have an LG V30 or similar].
4z or i4? This is the one nut I can't crack. I'm back and forth. Obviously the performance of a full-sized hp's is preferable (most in-ears, even expensive ones IMHO, simply suck by comparison), but the i4's break all the rules. Because they are open backed and rest gently on the OUTSIDE of your ear canal, they really do sound comparable to full-sized hp's. Sorry guys and gals, I think I am going to have to vote for BOTH! (At least until I change my mind again).
Bonus anecdote: I really wanted to buy the Chord Quetest yesterday because I liked the Hugo 2 so much on previous auditions and thought I could save some cash. Auditioned the Quetest extensively vs. various configurations of amps and Audeze hp's (i4, 4, 4z). However, the biggest difference in the chain for me was the hp and then the amplifier. Through my cheap portable amp (A5) I could hardly hear the boost that the Quetest brought to the table vs. my little portable DAP with an off the shelf dac in it. This was disappointing enough to me that it gave me a nightmare. In the dream my brother in law had sold off all of his high end audio because he said "everything sounds the same"---I woke up in a cold sweat. Moral of the story for me- confirmed my mantra: Invest 1st in good hp's/speakers, THEN in good amplifiers, THEN in dacs.
Edit- my nightmare came true, my brother in law did sell off all his gear. I'm still crying.
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I have the LCDi4 and Mojo for whenever I travel. At home is the Hugo 2 and the i4 sounds darn nice with the H2. BUT I prefer the LCD-X with Solvine cable and H2 comparatively. Will likely end up with the 4Z as upgrade to my venerable old LCD-X. I thought about selling the i4, but already have the Norne Audio Therium cable for it and it is kinda hard to sell them they sound so good. Just not the same as a good over ear open back headphone though.
Paul McGowan says the same thing. choose the best speakers/headphones and augment the chain backward from there. Kinda makes sence to me too.
roshambo
100+ Head-Fier
So a follow up to my previous post...
I took my personal Mjolnir 2 amp down to the Source AV and re-tested the LCD-4z against the Utopia. The " highly cohesive" and excellent bass comments on the LCD-4z still agreed highly but the dynamics and resolution advantages of the Utopia were pretty obvious. The LCD-4z sounded slightly compressed in comparison on this setup, and as expected, the low impedance didn't allow leveraging of the MJ2's power.
So, if given $4k, and using my MJ2 amp, I'd have to swing my vote back to Utopia.
I took my personal Mjolnir 2 amp down to the Source AV and re-tested the LCD-4z against the Utopia. The " highly cohesive" and excellent bass comments on the LCD-4z still agreed highly but the dynamics and resolution advantages of the Utopia were pretty obvious. The LCD-4z sounded slightly compressed in comparison on this setup, and as expected, the low impedance didn't allow leveraging of the MJ2's power.
So, if given $4k, and using my MJ2 amp, I'd have to swing my vote back to Utopia.
After a week of solid LCD-4Z listening, I love them! They are very much in line with the LCD-4, but don't require my GS-X MK2 to get them to fully hit their stride. Soundstaging is a bit bigger on the LCD-4, but the upper mids / treble seems a bit more natural on the LCD-4Z. Both are closer to each other than not and you can't loose with either one IMO. Headphones like this make reviewing audio gear an absolute pleasure!
I'd take an LCD-4z with me back and forth to work for use with my Hugo 2, if only I liked the LCD series. But I don't, so I no longer have to worry about that. Amusingly, the regular LCD-4 doesn't even fit in a headphone case I consider portable.
2thfixr
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That's why I have the Utopias and LCD-4.
2thfixr
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I took my LCD-4 back and forth using the ridiculously large pelican type case and yes... it got old quick.
Yes, the case is quite large for a set of headphones. It's like carrying small luggage.
vortrex
100+ Head-Fier
So, with the Pathos Aurium hybrid amp (3.6w into 16 ohm) it seems like the LCD-4 would be a better choice? I don't know what the output is at 200 ohm.
I dunno bout this... seems to me the up stream components are critical to feeding quality signal to the final elements whether HP or loudspeaker. I have come around to thinking the dac is actually the most critical first item to get right. Most current TOTL HPs tend to be sort of partial to correct upstream gear to perform their best. Without which SQ yield will not be optimized. As usual opinion etc...
You mean would be a better choice? It would be, because if it only outputs 3.6W RMS into 16 ohms then the output into 200 ohms will be very very low, too low for the LCD-4.
vortrex
100+ Head-Fier
OK, I didn't know the output would drop that much. I've emailed Pathos to see what the output will be at 200 ohm.
Yeah, the old chicken/egg thing. I just felt that my Xs responded to better upstream equipment, including audio cables. I'm inclined to think that if one doesn't have a well-chosen set of phones (or speakers), you could put the best gear ahead of them and not get the benefit. I'm not an idiologue about the matter, and I could always change my mind from listening to people and gear. It just makes sence to me at this time. Being a Hugo2 owner, makes me tend to agree with you that the DAC is quite important.
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