Audeze LCD-X

[ClintonL]

Awesome, also wondering if these will run alright on a cambridge dac magic plus amp? I heard they don't require much juice. Also have an audiogd nfb10-se too.

 

[SuperU]

  IMO they play Trance much better than HD 800. 

Love them for Trance.

 

[Travis9]

Just getting around to buying the WA7 + tp..
 
Should I bother buying any of the upgrade tubes that Woo offers on their website? So far I have just the Sylvania JAN 5814 in mind. I'd like to have tubes that'll give me a feel for how different they can make the sound.. Any suggestions for start-out tubes?
 
And just to clarify, I only really need a pair of 2 tubes for in the power supply, not 4? (I could, but it wouldn't improve the sound much. Am I understanding that correctly?)

 

[McClelland]

  I can't fully concur. With LCD-X, I definitely prefer SE outputs over balanced from my Taurus II (Audeze original cables). Sound more dynamic, punchier, better transients. May depend on the output impedance of an amp, LCD-X being a 22 Ohm headphone. Taurus has cca cca 5 Ohm output impedance on balanced outputs which might not be sufficiently low for LCD-X. SE outputs are cca 1 Ohm and the ratio should be, as far as know,1:10 at least to ensure good control of the amp over the headphones. I am not an expert, I'd appreciate further comments.

I'll go back and do some A-B comparisons.  It's a bit clumsy because I have to switch the Audeze cables (both stock Audeze), but I am curious. By the detail you offer, my sense is you can address this with more knowledge than I know how to interpret.  Here are some of the numbers for the Mjolnir2.  I've been listening on low gain mode.  Thanks for introducing me to the Taurus, though, Tyl certainly looked it on innerfidelity and all for solid reasons.  I'm interested in the effects of tubes at this point, but the Taurus would be on my list for solid state options.
Maximum Power, 32 ohms: 8.0W RMS per channel

Maximum Power, 50 ohms: 5.0W RMS per channel

Maximum Power, 300 ohms: 850mW RMS per channel

Maximum Power, 600 ohms: 425mW RMS per channel

THD: <0.005%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS

IMD: <0.006%, CCIF
, at 1V RMS
SNR: >104db, unweighted, referenced to 1V RMS, in low gain mode
Crosstalk: >-75dB, 20 Hz-20KHz

Output Impedance: 1 ohm 
(high gain), 0.3 ohms (low gain)
Gain: 8 (18dB) or 1(0db), via front-panel switch

 

[MrDerrick]

  Definitely worth using the balanced cable.  When I got Schiit stack with balanced outs and the Audeze stock balanced cable for the LCD-X I heard one of the more notable differences in SQ that I've gotten so far.

 
I ordered an adapter cable from Norne, it arrived however I made a silly mistake of ordering dual male 3 pin XLR instead of female connectors. There were some logistic issues that took longer than expected for the cable to arrive also from Norne however that was all sorted.
 
New connectors came over last weekend that I sourced locally and I changed the connector over from male to female and had it hooked up to the M-DAC. I only have initial testing of the LCD-X in balanced output and it is hard to do a proper A/B as it's fiddly to change the connections over.
 
Will do more listening to see if any differences. 

 

[McClelland]

  Will do more listening to see if any differences. 

A-B testing with cable changes is definitely a clumsy process.  Holding unto a subjective memory of SQ for any length of time is challenging and there is always the issue of self-fulfilling convictions, but I continued to think they made an important difference and to some degree this is about something that is personally fulfilling.  I am curious about the input from @zeid2 and am doing some of my own comparisons again. 
 
Funny how that waxes and wanes, spending a period of time intently listening for variations and other periods of time totally going with whatever seems to work best and just listening until some other variable of interest comes along.  That maybe the part that fairly deserves to be called a "hobby." Maybe not, as there are lots of things I work on that get to a certain point that I enjoy until something draws me back to fiddling with it.

 

[Badas]

Just getting around to buying the WA7 + tp..

Should I bother buying any of the upgrade tubes that Woo offers on their website? So far I have just the Sylvania JAN 5814 in mind. I'd like to have tubes that'll give me a feel for how different they can make the sound.. Any suggestions for start-out tubes?

And just to clarify, I only really need a pair of 2 tubes for in the power supply, not 4? (I could, but it wouldn't improve the sound much. Am I understanding that correctly?)

Woo is not the best place for tubes. He pushes average tubes as the best and demands top $$'s for them. Go to the WA7 thread and see what others say. Then go hunting for them.

At a guess I would say changing all tubes would provide the best sound from the amp.

 

[AudioMan612]

  Just getting around to buying the WA7 + tp..
 
Should I bother buying any of the upgrade tubes that Woo offers on their website? So far I have just the Sylvania JAN 5814 in mind. I'd like to have tubes that'll give me a feel for how different they can make the sound.. Any suggestions for start-out tubes?
 
And just to clarify, I only really need a pair of 2 tubes for in the power supply, not 4? (I could, but it wouldn't improve the sound much. Am I understanding that correctly?)

I don't have the tube power supply yet, so I can't speak to which tubes are best for it, but the Electro-Harmonix Gold Pin tubes in the amp definitely make a difference.  Keep in mind that the amp and the power supply do not use the same tubes, as your wording implied.  I've heard that they might be discontinued, so in case that's true, I would probably buy them as soon as possible.  You can always resell them if you don't like them.

The upgrade amp tubes mainly increase extension a bit in both highs and lows.

Also, with the WA7, make sure you run the amp with the low impedance setting with the LCD-X (go figure, they are low impedance headphones).  The high impedance setting won't sound awful, but it does cause the highs to get a bit of an unnatural boost.  A friend of mine who has produced a few small records, but who is not really an audiophile noticed it when I forgot to change the impedance after switching from my HD 700's.

 

[TimeLord]

Just getting around to buying the WA7 + tp..

Should I bother buying any of the upgrade tubes that Woo offers on their website? So far I have just the Sylvania JAN 5814 in mind. I'd like to have tubes that'll give me a feel for how different they can make the sound.. Any suggestions for start-out tubes?

And just to clarify, I only really need a pair of 2 tubes for in the power supply, not 4? (I could, but it wouldn't improve the sound much. Am I understanding that correctly?)

I don't have the tube power supply yet, so I can't speak to which tubes are best for it, but the Electro-Harmonix Gold Pin tubes in the amp definitely make a difference.  Keep in mind that the amp and the power supply do not use the same tubes, as your wording implied.  I've heard that they might be discontinued, so in case that's true, I would probably buy them as soon as possible.  You can always resell them if you don't like them.

After testing several types of tubes (Mullard, RCA, Sovtek, CBS, Electro Harmonix) both in the amp and the power supply, the best combination I have found is the gold pin Electro Harmonix upgrades from Woo combined with Electro Harmonix tubes in the power supply.

Interestingly, my tp came with Electro Harmonix tubes, which is not Woo's usual default tubes for the tp. The tp normally ships with RCA tubes.

Keep in mind tube upgrades won't make earth-shattering improvement. They are subtle changes. For instance, my pair of Beyer T1s have much better highs control with this setup. This wouldn't have been as noticeable on LCD-X.

 

[McClelland]

At a guess I would say changing all tubes would provide the best sound from the amp.

 
 

  The upgrade amp tubes mainly increase extension a bit in both highs and lows.
 

 

Woo is not the best place for tubes. He pushes average tubes as the best and demands top $$'s for them. Go to the WA7 thread and see what others say. Then go hunting for them.

At a guess I would say changing all tubes would provide the best sound from the amp.

 
 

 
I don't have the tube power supply yet, so I can't speak to which tubes are best for it, but the Electro-Harmonix Gold Pin tubes in the amp definitely make a difference.  Keep in mind that the amp and the power supply do not use the same tubes, as your wording implied.  I've heard that they might be discontinued, so in case that's true, I would probably buy them as soon as possible.  You can always resell them if you don't like them.

The upgrade amp tubes mainly increase extension a bit in both highs and lows.

Also, with the WA7, make sure you run the amp with the low impedance setting with the LCD-X (go figure, they are low impedance headphones).  The high impedance setting won't sound awful, but it does cause the highs to get a bit of an unnatural boost.  A friend of mine who has produced a few small records, but who is not really an audiophile noticed it when I forgot to change the impedance after switching from my HD 700's.

 
 

After testing several types of tubes (Mullard, RCA, Sovtek, CBS, Electro Harmonix) both in the amp and the power supply, the best combination I have found is the gold pin Electro Harmonix upgrades from Woo combined with Electro Harmonix tubes in the power supply.

 

I know that these thoughts about tubes are in regard to the WA7 with the LCD-X's, but I'm interested if anyone has recommendations for tubes to explore with a Gumby/Mjolnir 2/LCD-X setup. 

 

[Frosty3258]

hey everyone,  i already sent a ticket to audeze but my right driver is making a soft clicking noise even when there is nothing playing. when plugging my hd598 into my centrance which is what my lcd x is in there is no popping, any causes of this?

 

[DivergeUnify]

Go to the lyr tube rolling thread. Should be lots of impressions with the X





I know that these thoughts about tubes are in regard to the WA7 with the LCD-X's, but I'm interested if anyone has recommendations for tubes to explore with a Gumby/Mjolnir 2/LCD-X setup. 

 

[groovyd]

  hey everyone,  i already sent a ticket to audeze but my right driver is making a soft clicking noise even when there is nothing playing. when plugging my hd598 into my centrance which is what my lcd x is in there is no popping, any causes of this?

capacitive discharge

 

[Frosty3258]

sooooo, is it due to something in the driver, I haven't tried the other cable yet.

 

[groovyd]

  sooooo, is it due to something in the driver, I haven't tried the other cable yet.

sounds to me like a driver issue assuming all connectors are snug. it could also be a bad cap in the amp that is under more stress due to the LCD-X impedance vs the hd598.