Audeze LCD-X
Oct 18, 2017 at 2:36 AM Post #9,631 of 12,748
What about Mr Speaker’s ? The design is nice though

Yea, the Ehter Flow looks lighter, design seems better, better headband, also looks more comfortable. On the other side LCDX might have better lambskin pads which is great also important I always like them a lot.
But I did not hear Ehter Flow (only Ehter on meet) but in past from what I read on headfi some people prefered LCDX and some prefered Ether Flow, so again depends on taste and sure system, as I said LCDX really play great with big energy dynamic even from all in one DAC/AMPs.
 
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Oct 18, 2017 at 5:51 AM Post #9,632 of 12,748
And it is great.
I was also pretty good with my Fostex HP-A4.

For Mjolnir 2, do you use the Schiit solid state tubes and run it on solid state or use some other tubes and make it hybrid? If you have both options available to you, i.e. solid state and tube, what's your though on LCD-X pairing with them? I am also considering getting Fostex HP-A4 balanced just for the balanced output, but not sure how much would it improve over the regular a4. thanks a lot for the info .
 
Oct 18, 2017 at 6:58 AM Post #9,633 of 12,748
For Mjolnir 2, do you use the Schiit solid state tubes and run it on solid state or use some other tubes and make it hybrid? If you have both options available to you, i.e. solid state and tube, what's your though on LCD-X pairing with them? I am also considering getting Fostex HP-A4 balanced just for the balanced output, but not sure how much would it improve over the regular a4. thanks a lot for the info .

I use LISST and 6BZ7 tubes. Well, regular tube are smoother than LISST. Both are quite great !
Don't really know about HP A4BL dispite the fact that it is 3 times more powerfull than regular one. Which is already powerfull enough for LCD-X I believe.
 
Oct 24, 2017 at 12:11 AM Post #9,638 of 12,748
I used both the dac of my NFB10-ES2 and a Meridian Explorer

Sounded a bit better off the NFB, slightly more clarity and upper end, but that's kind of stereotypical of Sabre dacs.
 
Oct 24, 2017 at 2:19 AM Post #9,639 of 12,748
I used both the dac of my NFB10-ES2 and a Meridian Explorer

Sounded a bit better off the NFB, slightly more clarity and upper end, but that's kind of stereotypical of Sabre dacs.
Any suggestions for a dac opposed to gumby? I heard the denafrips ares r2r for only around 550 USD is something that can even outperform the holo spring.
I'm also under the impression that the denafrips ares r2r has a very neutral sound, while the gumby has its own house sound, which is interpreted as 'warm'.
Given the Sangaku has a slightly warm sound, as stated by Currawong, would it be more advised to get a denafrips over the gumby if i'm not interested in a warmer sound? Or is the denafrips too inferior to the gumby to consider it?
 
Oct 24, 2017 at 2:36 AM Post #9,640 of 12,748
Based on the more recent reviews I've seen of Denafrips Pontus and Ares, they're not worth getting.

The Soekris Dac1541 however, seems to be on equal footing with Gumby with even slightly more clarity and a flatter sound, so it would pair well with Sangaku if you don't want an overly warm setup.
(EDIT) The 1541 is roughly the same size as Sangaku too so it would be a very nice looking stack

Another option, though it hasn't gotten any reviews yet, may be the Onyx/Jade from Metrum; but they're solidly in a different price bracket.
 
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Oct 24, 2017 at 2:49 AM Post #9,641 of 12,748
Based on the more recent reviews I've seen of Denafrips Pontus and Ares, they're not worth getting.

The Soekris Dac1541 however, seems to be on equal footing with Gumby with even slightly more clarity and a flatter sound, so it would pair well with Sangaku if you don't want an overly warm setup.
(EDIT) The 1541 is roughly the same size as Sangaku too so it would be a very nice looking stack

Another option, though it hasn't gotten any reviews yet, may be the Onyx/Jade from Metrum; but they're solidly in a different price bracket.
The Onyx and Jade certainly are in a different price bracket. That's definitely out of question for me.
As for the Soekris 1541, it seems to retail for 1516.98 USD, which is about 1.5 times a second hand gumby. If I were to find a 1541 for less than 1k second hand, I would definitely purchase it.
 
Oct 25, 2017 at 11:32 AM Post #9,642 of 12,748
I admit, I find it a bit peculiar to really be spending top-dollar on an amp for the LCD-X, given that it was intentionally made to be efficient and not require burly amplification.

I got the Deckard largely because Audeze tuned it to the X, and I can understand if people are expecting to get other sets to power, but spending $1500+ to amplify the X is odd.
 
Oct 25, 2017 at 11:40 AM Post #9,643 of 12,748
Just because they don't need a lot of power to hit listening volume doesn't mean they don't improve with better power, which is what a higher end amp will deliver.
Having cleaner signal amplification will benefit any can resolving enough to hear the difference.
 
Oct 25, 2017 at 12:21 PM Post #9,644 of 12,748
I admit, I find it a bit peculiar to really be spending top-dollar on an amp for the LCD-X, given that it was intentionally made to be efficient and not require burly amplification.

I got the Deckard largely because Audeze tuned it to the X, and I can understand if people are expecting to get other sets to power, but spending $1500+ to amplify the X is odd.
Its been agreed among others that the Lcd Xs can sound good with very low end setups, but also benefit quite a bit from having proper amplification. I will definitely give you my verdict on that once I get my setup.
 
Oct 25, 2017 at 2:24 PM Post #9,645 of 12,748
Has anyone tried LCD-X with Bravo audio's V2? Despite some people's opinion about tube amp pairing with planar magnetic headphones, it sounded amazing to me, like AMAZING. I got the headphone a few months ago and was looking for an amp that can pair with it. For an amp that's only 65 bucks in the US, I couldn't imagine a cheaper solution. In fact, there aren't many better solutions either.

I bought Audeze's own amp, Audeze Deckard, and thought it was gonna be a great pair with their own headphone. Yet I was disappointed. I tried all three gains but the improvement was not that much. It still sounded much better than just coming out of the dac but it definitely didn't worth a 700 dollars investment. Comparing to Audeze Deckard, V2 improved the sound stage dramatically to my ears and the separation of music instruments is greatly improved comparing to the Deckard. Moreover, I found the highs a little bit too harsh coming out of the Deckard, since I listen to a lot of classics; the highs on V2, however, were never a problem.

I don't know what you guys use to pair with the LCD-Xs but I have to say at $65, the Bravo Audio V2 was definitely worth trying (if you don't already have a tube amp that works well with low impedance planar).
I've never heard the Bravo Audio V2, but for $65 USD, I guess it won't hurt most wallets or bank accounts to try it. I tend to do all that I can to research the headphones or gear I'm interested in without hearing them first. It's a very expensive trial and error method, but thankfully it has worked out so far

*heavy sigh*

If you decide to get the Bravo Audio V2, please give us your impressions. Even if you settle on something else, I'm always curious to hear about different set-ups and gear
 

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