Audeze LCD-5 Review, Measurements, Interview

[shafat777]

 

[hawk13]

Damn, nice pics.

 

[Slim1970]

Damn, nice pics.

No kidding those are some excellent shots!

 

[mat.1]

I got Hum to on woo WA 33, any suggestion ?

 

[zen87192]

Gosh... either these LCD-5 's are super sensitive or they are pointing out serious Grounding issues with certain pieces of audio equipment and/or their power supplies. Anyone try different headphone cables with the LCD-5 to see if there's a resolve the 'Hum' issue?

 

[shafat777]

Gosh... either these LCD-5 's are super sensitive or they are pointing out serious Grounding issues with certain pieces of audio equipment and/or their power supplies. Anyone try different headphone cables with the LCD-5 to see if there's a resolve the 'Hum' issue?

No hum with my LCD-5. Ive tried ZMF 2k copper, Norne Silvergrade S4, Norne Vykari and Forza Noir Hybrid with MJ2, GSX-mini. I hear nothing but silence.

If it helps, my dacs are feed by a DDC and all the power cords are powered by a Furman Power Conditioner.

 

[Slim1970]

No hum with my LCD-5. Ive tried ZMF 2k copper, Norne Silvergrade S4, Norne Vykari and Forza Noir Hybrid with MJ2, GSX-mini. I hear nothing but silence.

If it helps, my dacs are feed by a DDC and all the power cords are powered by a Furman Power Conditioner.

What cable have you decided to keep on the LCD-5’s?

 

[shafat777]

What cable have you decided to keep on the LCD-5’s?

When i m listening to my MJ2, i use the 2k copper. With the mini, i prefer the Silvergrade S4.

The sound difference, IMO, is very subtle but noticeable. Dont wanna start any debate/argument over cable sound signature. But for those of us, who try different cables with our beloved headphones, if you know, you know.

 

[cantara256]

I got Hum to on woo WA 33, any suggestion ?

iFi Groundhog connected to the RCA, so you'd have: IEC cable -> Groundhog IEC/RCA -> WA33 RCA. That got rid of the hum on my Hugo TT2.

 

[Slim1970]

When i m listening to my MJ2, i use the 2k copper. With the mini, i prefer the Silvergrade S4.

The sound difference, IMO, is very subtle but noticeable. Dont wanna start any debate/argument over cable sound signature. But for those of us, who try different cables with our beloved headphones, if you know, you know.

Yep, the differences in sound may be subtle, but it’s there. The LCD-5’s let you hear those subtleties.

 

[Arnold Schwartz]

Rob Watts posted new slides introducing the Mojo 2 in his “Watt’s Up” thread. Why am I posting this here? Because if you didn’t believe me or others that have been saying all along that EQ is lossy then maybe you’ll believe him - less resolution and depth perception “flatter sound”. Food for thought for all those advocates of EQ likes it’s some panacea.

 

[phthora]

Rob Watts posted new slides introducing the Mojo 2 in his “Watt’s Up” thread. Why am I posting this here? Because if you didn’t believe me or others that have been saying all along that EQ is lossy then maybe you’ll believe him - less resolution and depth perception “flatter sound”. Food for thought for all those advocates of EQ likes it’s some panacea.

So, I read this post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/watts-up.800264/page-198#post-16792307

What he defines as "lossy" is EQ that does not meet a threefold standard:
1) able to "reproduce a -301 dB signal with an amplitude accuracy of +/- 0.001dB"
2) "phase shift needs to be identical with the different amplitudes (identical meaning within +/- 0.001 deg)"
3) noise floor modulation "well below measurable limits"

Those are extraordinarily high standards, in excess of what it is even possible to measure in one case, and personally I am highly skeptical that such minute differences are indeed audible. I am impressed that Chord products can meet those standards, but I have no reason to believe that there is any necessity to meet them in order to sound lossless. If he clarifies this elsewhere or if I got something wrong, I'd love to see it.

 

[801evan]

So, I read this post: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/watts-up.800264/page-198#post-16792307

What he defines as "lossy" is EQ that does not meet a threefold standard:
1) able to "reproduce a -301 dB signal with an amplitude accuracy of +/- 0.001dB"
2) "phase shift needs to be identical with the different amplitudes (identical meaning within +/- 0.001 deg)"
3) noise floor modulation "well below measurable limits"

Those are extraordinarily high standards, in excess of what it is even possible to measure in one case, and personally I am highly skeptical that such minute differences are indeed audible. I am impressed that Chord products can meet those standards, but I have no reason to believe that there is any necessity to meet them in order to sound lossless. If he clarifies this elsewhere or if I got something wrong, I'd love to see it.

He also said the USB input of Hugo 2 is close to 200dB worth of filtering...but any veteran Chord owner knows to bypass the USB input and use the spdif input to get a much noticeable sonic upgrade.

 

[cantara256]

He also said the USB input of Hugo 2 is close to 200dB worth of filtering...but any veteran Chord owner knows to bypass the USB input and use the spdif input to get a much noticeable sonic upgrade.

The original Hugo TT considered it's galvanic USB the superior input; and the M Scaler can upscale several times higher output sample rates from a USB input compared to optical. Why would optical beat USB?

 

[801evan]

The original Hugo TT considered it's galvanic USB the superior input; and the M Scaler can upscale several times higher output sample rates from a USB input compared to optical. Why would optical beat USB?

USB implementation isn't transparent enough

Even doing spdif on the HMS input side is ideal.