[OneEyedHito]

DCA STEALTH

Hey Brother (in my best Buster Bluth voice), I go to the ASR Stealth thread and tell everyone the LCD5 is the best, we are like Twins.

Micheal hears better detail than the ASR Stealth in the LCD5, only requires mild amplification unlike the ASR Stealth.

 

[dfiled]

I have been listening to the LCD-5s for a day of so. I am going to put comfort issues to the side for now, partly because they probably don't apply to those with normal-sized craniums and partly because I am hopeful there will be a fix at some point.

I am someone who loves music and loves headphones but am not good at analyzing technicalities or putting my analysis into words. I will say at this point, that listening to these with Resolve's EQ settings I prefer these to the Susvara. They have detail and clarity comparable to the Susvaras but are much more fun for rock and related genres. Bass slam is good with EQ added.

I will say that without EQ, I would like these a lot less. As everyone has said, they are quite mid-forward. With EQ, however, they sound pretty amazing. More in a week or so....

(Chain is Macbook (FLAC) -> Schiit Yggdrasil -> Kinki Ex-M1 (through speaker taps)

 

[OneEyedHito]

"I am someone who loves music and loves headphones but am not good at analyzing technicalities or putting my analysis into words. I will say at this point, that listening to these with Resolve's EQ settings I prefer these to the Susvara. They have detail and clarity comparable to the Susvaras but are much more fun for rock and related genres. Bass slam is good with EQ added.

I will say that without EQ, I would like these a lot less. As everyone has said, they are quite mid-forward. With EQ, however, they sound pretty amazing. More in a week or so...."

You are speaking exactly what I am hearing, thanks. The Susvara still has that silky smoothness to it that I am struggling to get my heart around to try and part with them (10K in headphones on a stand isn't ideal for me) but I think the LCD5 is the perfect all-rounder for my tastes and most listened to genres of music.

 

[dleblanc343]

I agree the LCD5 sounds better than Susvara once EQ’d.

Even stock sound, it’s really hard to decide as they both trade blows.

Thing is, Susvara also is EQ’ble and even more benefitting to it as it’s leaner sounding than it graphs.

The 2 kings of planars for sure for me, followed closed by LCD4, HE6 & Diana Phi, and to a slightly lesser degree the 1266 TC I recently owned.

 

[chargedcapacitor]

I agree the LCD5 sounds better than Susvara once EQ’d.

Even stock sound, it’s really hard to decide as they both trade blows.

Thing is, Susvara also is EQ’ble and even more benefitting to it as it’s leaner sounding than it graphs.

The 2 kings of planars for sure for me, followed closed by LCD4, HE6 & Diana Phi, and to a slightly lesser degree the 1266 TC I recently owned.

Bass impact can't be EQ'ed, which was the biggest letdown for me on the susvara.

 

[Trance_Gott]

Bass impact can't be EQ'ed, which was the biggest letdown for me on the susvara.

Bass impact on Susvara with Niimbus and Forza Noir HPC is more then enough for me. And I hear 95% only metal. The DCA Stealth has more of that Subwoofer bass shaking quality but Susvara is hitting harder.
Sometimes I have the feeling the older Susvaras with 2,5mm plugs had lower bass impact and are brighter when I read the descriptions here. But I never heared the old one only know the new one.

 

[Trance_Gott]

Bass impact can't be EQ'ed, which was the biggest letdown for me on the susvara.

That's correct I tested it with 009s to bring more impact more slam. No chance. You get more volume up down but the kicks are no step harder. Shame.

 

[geomaso44]

One huge advantage to Susvara is also the ability to easily swap ear pads. People complaining about Susvara sounding soft and lacking impact are mostly complaining about the stock ear pads which are making them sound that way. The stock pleather material is unnaturally diffuse-sounding and the overall lack of mass in the pads is making the headphone somewhat weak in midbass (despite being able to sound impressively visceral due to their subbass reach). These issues I am describing cannot be fully compensated by speaker amps (analog domain) or by EQ'ing them (digital domain), as they demand to be addressed in the acoustic domain directly.

Put some ZMF Eikon hybrid pads on them and let them be instantly transformed into a perfect blend of HE-6's raw energy with stock Susvara's grandiose. This is how their potential is truly unlocked for those looking for a true genre master summit headphone. Would love to follow the same path with LCD-5s... but Audeze again failed to allow sensible pad-rolling.

NOTE: Stock Susvara indeed do measure as lean-sounding against my personal target curve (somewhat too muted/thin in upper mids and somewhat too airy in highs) but the reference followed by guys like Resolve or crin seems too "forgiving" (aka treble happy) to account for that. For those wanting even more rock/metal oriented sound, other pads like ZMF Universe hybrid or DCA Ether 2 perf are also great while not going too far away from overall neutrality.

 

[Trance_Gott]

Does the ZMF Eikon hybrid pads fit without problems on Susvara? I never tested to remove them to look inside. Read here something with a credit card trick.

 

[geomaso44]

Does the ZMF Eikon hybrid pads fit without problems on Susvara? I never tested to remove them to look inside. Read here something with a credit card trick.

Yes, they do fit very well.

I cannot link to one of the other headphone sites on the internet but if you search well, you would find my measurements as well as confirmation of the above post of mine from another user who tried the same pads and who also owns HE-6 as well as Susvara. Apart from HE-6, one of my inspirations have always been LCD-4s. Despite their strong tonal flaws, LCD-4s have an excellent timbre.

Btw, for those in love with Dekoni pads, my recommendation for Susvara are the TH900 elite hybrid pads. (Not the Susvara elite hybrids or Hifiman elite hybrids.

 

[Ranathum]

hi,
I need to know how is details retrieval, soundstage, layering and pinpoint position of LCD-5, I ask because I'm searching for a new headphone for music but for pc games too.
Did someone here had tested LCD-5 on pc gaming? If someone could compare these specs between DCA Stealth and LCD-5 I would be thankful, these two headphones are my currently choices for music and gaming, if someone have some advice about this decision.

 

[OneEyedHito]

hi,
I need to know how is details retrieval, soundstage, layering and pinpoint position of LCD-5, I ask because I'm searching for a new headphone for music but for pc games too.
Did someone here had tested LCD-5 on pc gaming? If someone could compare these specs between DCA Stealth and LCD-5 I would be thankful, these two headphones are my currently choices for music and gaming, if someone have some advice about this decision.

I find "details retrieval, soundstage, layering and pinpoint position of LCD-5" great for FPS games, I use it a few nights a week for competitive gaming, I have been using the Liric for a few nights also and find the LCD5 much better suited to Competitive FPS but the open back nature can bleed sound a bit if you mic is close to you so that is worth noting. The Stealth is also very very good for FPS gaming but it is much harder to drive so take that in consideration.

 

[dfiled]

Yes, they do fit very well.

I cannot link to one of the other headphone sites on the internet but if you search well, you would find my measurements as well as confirmation of the above post of mine from another user who tried the same pads and who also owns HE-6 as well as Susvara. Apart from HE-6, one of my inspirations have always been LCD-4s. Despite their strong tonal flaws, LCD-4s have an excellent timbre.

Btw, for those in love with Dekoni pads, my recommendation for Susvara are the TH900 elite hybrid pads. (Not the Susvara elite hybrids or Hifiman elite hybrids.

Is changing the pads on the Susvara a big hassle?

 

[nwavesailor]

Is changing the pads on the Susvara a big hassle?

Changing to the aftermarket Dekoni pads with a cc is a breeze. Using ZMF pads would require a pair of HM susvara pad mounting rings. Not sure that the rings can be easily removed from the stock HM susvara pads but I haven't tried.
I did buy these rings years ago from HM when I was using aftermarket pads on an old 400S but it took some explaining to get the right parts.

 

[dfiled]

You criticized Audeze for not having a sensible pad rolling option, but the zmf option for the Suvara that you extolled sounds like quite a production.