[mixman]

Thanks. This stuff serves dual purpose for me. I use it for my studio and just listening. Generally it is my idea to try as much of this stuff as my fund will allow. Just want general guidance so I am not all over the place wasting my time on things that aren't very good.

 

[SheriDublin126]

Hello all,

I just purchased the Lcd- x's this week, and am looking for a good amp to pair it with. I'm quite the noob when it comes to the power requirements of planar cans, and wa hoping someone could point me in the right direction (to a guide) when it comes to what Voltage, or MW etc. I should keep as a baseline to drive Lcd's in general. The Audeze website recommends the following:

Minimum power requirement >100mW
Recommended power level >250mW

However, I have a bit of difficulty of making sense of those numbers. I currently own the following amps:

The kingsound M03:
Maximum Output Voltage :
3 Vrms / 1 kΩ (3.5 mm output)
125 mW / 32 Ω (3.5 mm output)
DC Output : DC 5V (1A) output
------------------------------------------
Audient ID22:

MAXIMUM OUTPUT LEVEL: +18dBu
DIGITAL REFERENCE LEVEL: 0dBFS = +18dBu
OUTPUT IMPEDANCE: <50Ω Balanced
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: +/-0.5dB 5Hz to Fs/2
CROSSTALK: -110dBu @ 1kHz & 10kHz
THD+N @ -1dBFS (1kHz): <0.0008% (-101dB)
DYNAMIC RANGE: 110dB un-weighted
114dB A-weighted

MAX LEVEL INTO 30ohms: +8dBu, 0.0032%
THD+N, 2.75Vpk
Power: 250mW or Pavg 125mW

MAX LEVEL INTO 60ohms: +11dBu, 0.0022%
THD+N, 4.3Vpk
Power: 300mW or Pavg 150mW

MAX LEVEL INTO 600ohms: +17.2dBu, 0.0013%
THD+N, 7.94Vpk
Power: 105mW or Pavg 52.5mW
1/4” JACK: TIP (Hot), RING (Cold) & SLEEVE (Shield)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earstudio Es 100
Output RMS Power

• 3.5mm Unbalanced: 1.1 V
  
  
• 2.5mm Balanced: 2.2 V

SNR* (1KHz, 20KHz AES17)

• 3.5mm Unbalanced: 109dB (+2.8dBu)
• 2.5mm Balanced: 110dB (+8.8dBu

Any advice would be most welcome.

Cheers

 

[commtrd]

How much money ya got? Some good candidates would be: Schiit Mjolnir 2, GSX Mk2, Violectric 281, any of the GD amps like Master 9, Wells Audio, Chord Hugo 2, lots of choices most good to great, depends on budget really. It is a slippery slope.
Probably not a bad idea to start at the start with fully balanced system, DAC and amp and cabling if one could swing it.

 

[the finisher]

My experience is they don't need a lot of power to work.

But they work better with some power.

I dedicated headphone amp would work better than the pro audio stuff.

Unless you buy SPL

You needn't spend a ton of money here, my favorite headphone amp is actually a Schiit Lyr2 I got used for a couple hundred. Get some good tubes and Bob's your uncle.

 

[phthora]

The LCD-X is one of those headphones that definitely scales well. It will reward you if you splurge a bit on an amp. In particular, the X will often out resolve a lower-tier amp.

Personally, I like the iFi Micro iDSD Black Label as a less expensive (at least used) option. On the higher end, Audio-gd amps in general do very well with planars due to their exceptional amount of power, particularly current. Audio-gd amps have tons of control and do especially well making the LCD-X bass sound its best.

The truth about amps is that most amps will drive most headphones. It just doesn't require that much power to move the transducers enough to make loud sound. Getting good sound is more difficult. There is a temptation to think that more power means a better amp, but that isn't necessarily true. There are enough powerful, mediocre amps out there to throw that strategy out the window. The issue gets confused, however, because there is a tendency for good amps to have more power. But, again, not always. Don't worry about the numbers so much, and just focus on finding a quality amp that produces good clean power. Lots of suggestions above. Unless you're wanting tubes, picking an amp is fairly straightforward.

 

[the finisher]

I also use the Jotunheim balanced.

With some heavy duty Bass centric music it will rattle your brain inside your head.

I actually prefer the solid state Jotunheim to the tube amp for certain kinds of music.

Add that to a amp that responds very well to rolling tubes and I am pretty satisfied right now.

 

[SheriDublin126]

Thanks all, these replies help greatly, and it's starting to make sense. I'm currently looking at a dac/amp option under $400and i would like to run it balanced (preferably around 300). This comes to mind currently: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/topping-dx7s#overview, and https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-liquid-carbon-x-sdac-dac-amp#overview. Or this https://www.amazon.com/SMSL-Headphone-Amplifier-Balanced-Performance/dp/B07JQ1QDR9 and pair it with a seperate dac. Thanks for the input and it might have helped me save some money.

Cheers

 

[HungryPanda]

I'm using this https://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/HP-A4BL.shtml

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Hello all,

I just purchased the Lcd- x's this week, and am looking for a good amp to pair it with. I'm quite the noob when it comes to the power requirements of planar cans, and wa hoping someone could point me in the right direction (to a guide) when it comes to what Voltage, or MW etc. I should keep as a baseline to drive Lcd's in general. The Audeze website recommends the following:

Minimum power requirement >100mW
Recommended power level >250mW

However, I have a bit of difficulty of making sense of those numbers. I currently own the following amps:

The kingsound M03:
Maximum Output Voltage :
3 Vrms / 1 kΩ (3.5 mm output)
125 mW / 32 Ω (3.5 mm output)
DC Output : DC 5V (1A) output
------------------------------------------
Audient ID22:

MAXIMUM OUTPUT LEVEL: +18dBu
DIGITAL REFERENCE LEVEL: 0dBFS = +18dBu
OUTPUT IMPEDANCE: <50Ω Balanced
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: +/-0.5dB 5Hz to Fs/2
CROSSTALK: -110dBu @ 1kHz & 10kHz
THD+N @ -1dBFS (1kHz): <0.0008% (-101dB)
DYNAMIC RANGE: 110dB un-weighted
114dB A-weighted

MAX LEVEL INTO 30ohms: +8dBu, 0.0032%
THD+N, 2.75Vpk
Power: 250mW or Pavg 125mW

MAX LEVEL INTO 60ohms: +11dBu, 0.0022%
THD+N, 4.3Vpk
Power: 300mW or Pavg 150mW

MAX LEVEL INTO 600ohms: +17.2dBu, 0.0013%
THD+N, 7.94Vpk
Power: 105mW or Pavg 52.5mW
1/4” JACK: TIP (Hot), RING (Cold) & SLEEVE (Shield)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earstudio Es 100
Output RMS Power

• 3.5mm Unbalanced: 1.1 V
  
  
• 2.5mm Balanced: 2.2 V

SNR* (1KHz, 20KHz AES17)

• 3.5mm Unbalanced: 109dB (+2.8dBu)
• 2.5mm Balanced: 110dB (+8.8dBu

Any advice would be most welcome.

Cheers

Try a THX 789 from Massdrop. Read and watch the reviews and measurements on Audio Science Review, Johh Valour, Zeos, etc. I don't think you could go wrong with it.

 

[potkettleblack]

Hello all,

I just purchased the Lcd- x's this week, and am looking for a good amp to pair it with. I'm quite the noob when it comes to the power requirements of planar cans, and wa hoping someone could point me in the right direction (to a guide) when it comes to what Voltage, or MW etc. I should keep as a baseline to drive Lcd's in general. The Audeze website recommends the following:

Minimum power requirement >100mW
Recommended power level >250mW

However, I have a bit of difficulty of making sense of those numbers. I currently own the following amps:

The kingsound M03:
Maximum Output Voltage :
3 Vrms / 1 kΩ (3.5 mm output)
125 mW / 32 Ω (3.5 mm output)
DC Output : DC 5V (1A) output
------------------------------------------
Audient ID22:

MAXIMUM OUTPUT LEVEL: +18dBu
DIGITAL REFERENCE LEVEL: 0dBFS = +18dBu
OUTPUT IMPEDANCE: <50Ω Balanced
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: +/-0.5dB 5Hz to Fs/2
CROSSTALK: -110dBu @ 1kHz & 10kHz
THD+N @ -1dBFS (1kHz): <0.0008% (-101dB)
DYNAMIC RANGE: 110dB un-weighted
114dB A-weighted

MAX LEVEL INTO 30ohms: +8dBu, 0.0032%
THD+N, 2.75Vpk
Power: 250mW or Pavg 125mW

MAX LEVEL INTO 60ohms: +11dBu, 0.0022%
THD+N, 4.3Vpk
Power: 300mW or Pavg 150mW

MAX LEVEL INTO 600ohms: +17.2dBu, 0.0013%
THD+N, 7.94Vpk
Power: 105mW or Pavg 52.5mW
1/4” JACK: TIP (Hot), RING (Cold) & SLEEVE (Shield)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earstudio Es 100
Output RMS Power

• 3.5mm Unbalanced: 1.1 V
  
  
• 2.5mm Balanced: 2.2 V

SNR* (1KHz, 20KHz AES17)

• 3.5mm Unbalanced: 109dB (+2.8dBu)
• 2.5mm Balanced: 110dB (+8.8dBu

Any advice would be most welcome.

Cheers

I can say that IFI idsd (original) sounds great with the LCD X

 

[thebkt]

Sounds awesome out of my NFB-1. Can also vouch for the iDSD BL.

 

[potkettleblack]

Any recent impressions of the LCD X? I owned it back in 2015 and it was so, so good. I might be looking to get it again later this year. It was heavy, cumbersome and I couldn't wear it longer than 1 hot but it was worth it. I liked everything part from the withdrawn mids- and even those didn't bother unless I compared it to my more forward share 846's.

Would love an update from you guys.

Thanks

Lee

 

[thebkt]

Any recent impressions of the LCD X? I owned it back in 2015 and it was so, so good. I might be looking to get it again later this year. It was heavy, cumbersome and I couldn't wear it longer than 1 hot but it was worth it. I liked everything part from the withdrawn mids- and even those didn't bother unless I compared it to my more forward share 846's.

Would love an update from you guys.

Thanks

Lee

I originally auditioned the X before the suspension headband was available and discounted them based on comfort.

Fast forward 2 years I took the plunge on a new pair with the updated headband enjoyed them for hours at a time. I've only since upgraded due to having enough money at the right time when the mx4 was on sale. I still thoroughly enjoy the X whenever I listen to it.

Hope that helps.

 

[514077]

Any recent impressions of the LCD X? I owned it back in 2015 and it was so, so good. I might be looking to get it again later this year. It was heavy, cumbersome and I couldn't wear it longer than 1 hot but it was worth it. I liked everything part from the withdrawn mids- and even those didn't bother unless I compared it to my more forward share 846's.

Would love an update from you guys.

Thanks

Lee

Can't see myself ever parting with them. Maybe if I could afford and/or hear some 4Zs...but, they're still my favourites.

 

[mixman]

I originally auditioned the X before the suspension headband was available and discounted them based on comfort.

Fast forward 2 years I took the plunge on a new pair with the updated headband enjoyed them for hours at a time. I've only since upgraded due to having enough money at the right time when the mx4 was on sale. I still thoroughly enjoy the X whenever I listen to it.

Hope that helps.

How are the MX4's compared to the X's? I heard the MX at CanJam but cannot say I was that impressed, but I only heard them for a little over 5 minutes. The MX4 did not seem to have as much detail as the X and the midrange seemed a bit wonky too.