[x RELIC x]

Question. Which is better? Schiit or Audio-GD?  

At this level I think 'better' is not very relevant as they both are very good at what they do. I don't have any Schiit gear but I've read a lot about them and, compared to Audio-gd, Schiit has been said to have a brighter, more clinical signature, but again I haven't heard the latest Schiit solid state gear so I can't really say from experience.

In your price range I would say that these two options seem to be the best value. Hopefully someone who has heard both can compare directly, or you'll just need to go to the appropriate threads and ask there. Good luck.

 

[punit]

  Question. Which is better? Schiit or Audio-GD?  

If by better you mean build quality, I have owned / own gear from both companies. Quality is great on both. Sound is a subjective preference. I really like the Sc Mjolnir, Rag & AGD M9 with XC.

 

[Sweetmeat]

Just ordered a pair of LCD-XCs from the Audeze website. I use my LCD-3s at home (when they're not in the shop) so the XCs will be my work phones. I was using a pair of TH600 with the Lawton dampening mod and Camphor Burl chambers. But last week they just fell apart, and try as I might, I can't get them back together. I was already considering an upgrade to either LCD-XC or TH900 for my work phones, but now that I see how crappy the TH600 (and TH900) are built, I don't want another pair like that. I am hoping the LCD-XC drivers won't fail as often as my LCD-3 drivers have. At least Audeze provides excellent customer service, so far I can't find anybody willing to fix my TH600s.

 

[greenkiwi]

@Sweetmeat I'm surprised you didn't go for one XC and try the Ether Cs...

 

[Sweetmeat]

  @Sweetmeat I'm surprised you didn't go for one XC and try the Ether Cs...

I am told Ether is skimpy in the bass department. That's why I stopped listening to Stax - no impact. Technically perfect but boring IMHO.

 

[DamienShepard]

Question. Which is better? Schiit or Audio-GD?  

Hi. I have owned a combo of schitt ragnarok and yggdrasil for a month till now and I tried pairing them with my lcd-xc a few times. Honestly, I don't find a substantial improvement over my $500 Mini-pro there... My Akg K712pro rocks with the new schitt stack though. The XC doesn't scale as much, imo. Is it a good thing or bad? I dunno...

 

[punit]

That's the beauty of XC for me, does not require TOTL amps to sound its best. From my HM901s using balanced amp card to my Cavalli LG is minor difference.

 

[Sweetmeat]

Just unboxed my new LCD-XC headphones and had my first listening session, and I'm a little underwhelmed. Do these things have an extensive break-in period because my LCD-3 headphones didn't. They have that great Audeze house sound which is good, but with no bass slam and a shouty midrange. Can I expect this to improve and how long will it take?

 

[IceClass]

  Just unboxed my new LCD-XC headphones and had my first listening session, and I'm a little underwhelmed. Do these things have an extensive break-in period because my LCD-3 headphones didn't. They have that great Audeze house sound which is good, but with no bass slam and a shouty midrange. Can I expect this to improve and how long will it take?

 
 
That was pretty much my impression to begin with. Things do improve. Dunno how long it took but the treble energy gets under control and the midrange gets a little less "shouty" as you put it.
The bass has improved but obviously lacks the slam my closed back dynamics had.

 

[Sweetmeat]

Good thing Audeze will take them back but let's hope that won't be necessary.

 

[x RELIC x]

The XC is known to have elevated upper mids which would offset the sense of presence in the bass. When I bought my pair the dealer made a point of mentioning the upper mids to me. Also, not all XC frequency response graphs appear to be the same. My pair are lower in the bass region by around -3db to -5db compared to a few other graphs I've seen.

What I love about my pair is the speed of the drivers compared to the LCD-2. Coming from the LCD-3 I imagine they would feel about the same where speed, texture and decay are concerned, so not much improvement for you there.

 

[greenkiwi]

I have the XC and 2s, I noticed two things. 
 
1. the XCs have a tremendous amount of bass ability, but because they also have a lot of higher energy sound, the bass sounds has less presence.
 
2. The image they present and sound is SO much clearer than that of the LCD-2s that it was shocking.  As best I can describe it, the LCD-2s are like looking at something through glass.  It could be museum grade glass, but still through glass.  With the XCs, the glass has been removed.  I didn't notice until I started swapping back and forth.  (I'm a little scared to listen to the 3s, as I think that they might be everything I love about the 2s and the XCs put together.)

 

[DamienShepard]

Just unboxed my new LCD-XC headphones and had my first listening session, and I'm a little underwhelmed. Do these things have an extensive break-in period because my LCD-3 headphones didn't. They have that great Audeze house sound which is good, but with no bass slam and a shouty midrange. Can I expect this to improve and how long will it take?

I think you have seized the character of the XC perfectly. The one thing you have problem with is how you like it. I also have an LCD-X for comparison so I can easily understand your... frustration. In my memory the X sound quite similar to the 3F I have demo'ed, only that the 3F is too "creamy" sounding to my taste.
The potent bass slam of X is what XC, its sister shy of. And due to the closed-back design, the XC has a small lift on its mid-high and it lacks some openness, even though it's one of the most open sounding closed-backs in the market. For me, the weight is much more of an issue.
Will burn-on make things better? No, I'm afraid. And forget about the aftermarket cables or any other attempt to alter the sound signature of XC - nothing will change, other than an empty purse, a broken heart. Maybe your perspective will change over time (not the sound) and you'll finally receive the XC's elegance. For me it's a top replacement for LCD-X if I don't want to disturb other people in the same room. Still, I usually have the X over my head.
XC is a great, state-of-art headphone and I hope you will like it. Or else, don't hesitate returning it to your dealer if it doesn't suit your need, then look for other options instead.

 

[greenkiwi]

@Sweetmeat You might think about returning it (if you aren't in love with the sound signature) and trying the Mr Speakers Ether C.  Not may people have heard it yet, but those that have, like them.... and they are considerably lighter.  I'm tempted to get a pair for work.

 

[Sweetmeat]

After another day of listening I'm beginning to warm up to them. Maybe it's driver burn-in or brain burn-in, but it seems like after 10-12 hours of play the loud upper midrange smoothed out a bit. When that happened, I was able to turn it up louder, and the bass kicked in. Before that I couldn't turn it up past 9 o'clock (on my Conductor SL 9018), now I'm playing it at 10 o'clock regularly. Towards the end of the day, I had a very, very enjoyable hour or two of listening.
 
I did a lot of searching on LCD-X driver burn-in (same driver), and numerous owners feel it does require an extensive break-in period. Some of my other gear has benefitted from break-in (although my LCD-3 was perfect right out of the box). So just to make sure, it is currently undergoing my standard break-in session: 60 hours of XLO Reference Recordings - Test & Burn-In CD (Track 9 on repeat).
 
Monday I will take it back to work and try the LCD-XCs again. I love that Audeze house sound and I really want to keep the phones assuming they get a little smoother. At the very minimum I can say they already sound excellent on older, mellower recordings like Pink Floyd and Brian Auger. Not so good with newer, hotter recordings like Steve Wilson and Izz, for now anyway.