[cactus_farmer]

Andrew from The Headphone Show seems supremely confident that the Focal Clear is a tier above the Audeze LCD-X (2020 Ed.) for slam/impact/physicality - supposedly a frequency-response-independent subjective value that denotes how 'hard-hitting' you feel the impact of things such as drum strikes, forceful guitar chugs and other highly percussive elements.

He places the Focal Clear as having 'good' impact and the Audeze LCD-X as merely being 'average' in this regard.

To my ear, the LCD-X gives up no ground on the physicality front compared to the Clear - and I have heard both side-by-side. I'm always impressed by how forceful everything sounds.

Are my ears bad or have others noted the same observation?

 

[ST33L]

I owned both the Clear OG and LCD-X (‘22) and felt that the OG had more slam. EQ can get them close…

 

[jonathan c]

I do own Focal Clear OG and Audeze LCD-X (2016). Whether driven by OTC tube h/p/a or by SS h/p/a, Clear OG presents music with more force, more heft, more ‘slam’ than does LCD-X.

 

[TWerk]

I do own Focal Clear OG and Audeze LCD-X (2016). Whether driven by OTC tube h/p/a or by SS h/p/a, Clear OG presents music with more force, more heft, more ‘slam’ than does LCD-X.

Haha, Jonathan - you do also own every other headphone in existence, let's not forget!

 

[jonathan c]

I owned both the Clear OG and LCD-X (‘22) and felt that the OG had more slam. EQ can get them close…

EQ can only address frequency response / relative loudness. EQ =/= …… .

 

[PixelSquish]

bwahahahahahaha

The Focal headphones can barely handle bass at any volume above average. The LCD-X with a bit of EQ destroy the Focal Clear in anything impact (I tried two pairs of the Clear MG before giving up because I like slam at above quiet volumes)

 

[jonathan c]

Haha, Jonathan - you do also own every other headphone in existence, let's not forget!

… that means that I am half done …

 

[cactus_farmer]

I still do not find the LCD-X lacking at all in slam. In fact they pretty much excel. They're not behind my Focal Mg Pro's at all - sometimes they even seem to have more impact for certain passages of certain tracks.

I wonder what I'm missing that the guys over at The Headphone Show keep talking about. They rate pretty much only Focals, some Fostex models, and the original Hifiman HE-6 (when driver well) as exceptional in terms of slam, and they rate the LCD-X as only 'average' in this regard, yet I don't find this to be the case, having compared them specifically for this 'slam' quality...

Does anyone else feel the same way?

 

[PixelSquish]

I still do not find the LCD-X lacking at all in slam. In fact they pretty much excel. They're not behind my Focal Mg Pro's at all - sometimes they even seem to have more impact for certain passages of certain tracks.

I wonder what I'm missing that the guys over at The Headphone Show keep talking about. They rate pretty much only Focals, some Fostex models, and the original Hifiman HE-6 (when driver well) as exceptional in terms of slam, and they rate the LCD-X as only 'average' in this regard, yet I don't find this to be the case, having compared them specifically for this 'slam' quality...

Does anyone else feel the same way?

Those guys are either paid shills or ****ing deaf.

Or don't use EQ ever. The LCD-X bass EQ'd is excellent in all those categories

 

[JackarlTwo]

Dynamic drivers tend to sound more punchy because of their mid-bass bump. Without EQ I find the LCD-X 2021 to have "nice slam", but it's a planar with no peaks or dips down to the very lowest frequencies. The drivers can do a lot more with no noticeable distortion. On my pair a 4db low shelf at 100Hz, and an additional 6db low shelf at ~35Hz works really well. Deep sub bass, with a strong sense of punch. I haven't heard Focal Clears but I doubt a dynamic driver can handle the same amount of low frequency EQ as easily. But even with that amount of bass boost the TH900 is more punchy because of its massive mid-bass boost. YMMV.

 

[OnlySoMany]

Is this thread only limited to the two mentioned? Any closed back is likely going to "slam" more than an open headphone.

 

[cactus_farmer]

Dynamic drivers tend to sound more punchy because of their mid-bass bump. Without EQ I find the LCD-X 2021 to have "nice slam", but it's a planar with no peaks or dips down to the very lowest frequencies. The drivers can do a lot more with no noticeable distortion. On my pair a 4db low shelf at 100Hz, and an additional 6db low shelf at ~35Hz works really well. Deep sub bass, with a strong sense of punch. I haven't heard Focal Clears but I doubt a dynamic driver can handle the same amount of low frequency EQ as easily. But even with that amount of bass boost the TH900 is more punchy because of its massive mid-bass boost. YMMV.

The guys at The Headphone Show claim that slam/dynamics is a variable that is independent of frequency response. So in theory it wouldn't matter if you put +14dB sub-bass shelf on the LCD-X - it would still lack slam compared to a 'slammy' headphone with much less bass such as an HE-6.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

LCD-X 2021 and Focal Clear MG here. LCD-X has more bass volume and more technical, Focals are more dynamic with harder hitting bass (slam), they are just faster.

 

[cactus_farmer]

LCD-X 2021 and Focal Clear MG here. LCD-X has more bass volume and more technical, Focals are more dynamic with harder hitting bass (slam), they are just faster.

Great, but I just don't hear it.

Maybe I don't have the acquired listening skills to perceive that sort of subjective difference yet.

Can you give an example of what track - and what element of that track (e.g. kick drum, bass synth...etc...) you hear this difference in bass dynamics?

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Great, but I just don't hear it.

Maybe I don't have the acquired listening skills to perceive that sort of subjective difference yet.

Can you give an example of what track - and what element of that track (e.g. kick drum, bass synth...etc...) you hear this difference in bass dynamics?

What's your upstream system?