[rudi0504]

Well, then I think you missed out. The LCD-XCs sound great out of my iDevices or portable amp alone, but I would hardly say that I get anywhere close to what I'm hearing with my GS-X Mk2 / BDA-2 combo.

FWIW, the 15% restocking fee is totally understandable IMO. Keeps the "I just wanna try it crowd and then return it" crowd.

I am agree With MH , LCD XC as demo unit i heard With Alo studio Six , than i heard With My portable set Up like what i have posted In previous page.
And now For My brand New LCD XC i use IPhone 5s + Theorem = sound quality is very Good .

With iPhone 4s + Class solo original + Duet


With iPhone 5s + Theorem

 

[ag8908]

I am agree With MH , LCD XC as demo unit i heard With Alo studio Six , than i heard With My portable set Up like what i have posted In previous page.
And now For My brand New LCD XC i use IPhone 5s + Theorem = sound quality is very Good .

With iPhone 4s + Class solo original + Duet


With iPhone 5s + Theorem
 

 
Enjoy your LCD XC. I had no issues with the sound quality and would give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. The problem was that for all of my music, I would prefer the HD800's sound signature (subjective) and so there was no need to keep the LCD XC around as a decoration. I saw a video of Aude'ze at the Colorado convention touting the fact that the XC can be driven by an Iphone, which is also what they told me, so all that amplification should not have a huge impact.
 
P.S. I hope you got a new and untouched LCD XC, and not one someone else returned.

 

[ag8908]

Here is the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7cwlwUJaBk

 

[sbradley02]

   
Enjoy your LCD XC. I had no issues with the sound quality and would give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. The problem was that for all of my music, I would prefer the HD800's sound signature (subjective) and so there was no need to keep the LCD XC around as a decoration. I saw a video of Aude'ze at the Colorado convention touting the fact that the XC can be driven by an Iphone, which is also what they told me, so all that amplification should not have a huge impact.

I feel they are doing their customers a dis-service by making this claim. While an iPhone may have enough amplitude to drive it, you are not going to get satisfactory performance out of it under those conditions.
 
I have had my pair at the office for about a month now, and contrary to some other observations, I have noticed them mellowing over time (or else I simply became more used to them). There was still a little of a "shouty" quality as others have observed, but I know from long experience that I feel the Asgard (and other Schiit amps I have heard) are marginal with planars, so I brought them home and tried them out with the rig I use for Head-Fi meets. They completely smoothed out, and I am very happy with the sound. I still need to find a desktop rig that works as well, I have high hopes for the Geek Pulse when it comes out. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of proper amplification with planars. Spend your money first on the best electronics you can afford, and only then worry about cables, which make more subtle differences IMO.
 
It took a fair amount of switching back and forth with my Thunderpants to identify the differences. The Audeze has better defined (and often deeper) bass, and better resolution throughout. The Thunderpants are considerably more recessed in the mids. But the phones were more similar than different. It was not like switching back and forth between the 'pants and the LCD2.2 which are my favorites, more of a difference there. While I prefer the LCD-XC over the 'Pants, based on a year old memory of the LCD2.2, I think they are better yet. Looking forward to doing a direct comparo at the next Portland meet. Too bad open 'phones are a non-starter for me. But for now I am a happy customer.

 

[ag8908]

I'm not kidding you. I got beautiful treble, booming bass and outstanding male vocals with my galaxy note 2 and laptop (2.3w amp). Maybe it's not the best they can do, but it was very good. I didn't realize what an engineering feat this was until I learned more about orthos.
 
This is actually a huge selling point for the Aude'ze in my opinion. They have to be the only orthos that you can play from a portable mp3 player.

 

[NZtechfreak]

  This is actually a huge selling point for the Aude'ze in my opinion. They have to be the only orthos that you can play from a portable mp3 player.

 
Not my experience at all.
 
Recently heard the XC off my HeadAmp Pico DAC/amp fed by USB audio from a Galaxy Note 3 and the sound was not good. Bass was boomy and the clarity and imaging were really quite poor. No doubt they will scale a lot with better amplification, but that is irrelevant to my use-case scenarios where I'd only want them for portable.

 

[ag8908]

   
Not my experience at all.
 
Recently heard the XC off my HeadAmp Pico DAC/amp fed by USB audio from a Galaxy Note 3 and the sound was not good. Bass was boomy and the clarity and imaging were really quite poor. No doubt they will scale a lot with better amplification, but that is irrelevant to my use-case scenarios where I'd only want them for portable.

 
I didn't even use an amp, I just plugged it into my note 2! But in your example aren't you using an amp, the Pico?
 
I can concur that the bass was more boomy than I like (but I wouldn't say objectively boomy, since I'm very bass averse), and imaging/spatials was like that of a closed back (if I want imaging I'm going to the HD800 any way) but they were very detailed and clear. any way, I may not have heard them at their best but still that was pretty good for an ortho from a galaxy note 2!
 
Keep in mind that I am very protective of my hearing, and I used a DB meter to ensure that I play music around 61db ear level normally, 65db ear level for fun, and absolutely never above 70db ear level. So that might explain a bit of it.
 
Edit: One comment on the note 3, which I hear has the same DAC as my new LG G Flex (the one with the curved screen) -- I don't like the new DACs as much as the DAC on my note 2. Not sure why because this is supposed to be better but just thought I would let you know.

 

[Canadian411]

@NZtechfreak Do you think T5p retrieves more detail than LCDXC ? and how about the sound stage ?
I am looking for a neutral closed headphone.

 

[NZtechfreak]

  @NZtechfreak Do you think T5p retrieves more detail than LCDXC ? and how about the sound stage ?
I am looking for a neutral closed headphone.

 
From portable sources (even including some portable amps like the Pico I used) the T5p has a considerable advantage in clarity, detail retrieval and sound stage based on the listening I had earlier this week. If your intended use is not portable (you want a closed can for desktop use in other words), then my feedback has no relevance whatsoever as it pertains only to use from a portable source. I also cannot discount that I may have been listening to an XC that is some kind of outlier (whose sonic qualities are not generalisable to the model in general), having heard only the one pair. I will update when I have a chance to hear another soon as to whether I feel like a different set sounds markedly better from the same portable source.
 
@ag8908 Agree that from a portable source the XC isn't bad for an ortho by any means.

 

[Currawong]

While they are sensitive enough to get volume from a portable, as soon as the music becomes in the least complex, you'll hear the soundstage collapse and the sound become congested. Listening at quieter volumes though it may not be so noticeable. Volume makes a considerable difference in the perception of headphones, as does the music being played.
 
ag8908: I hope you get a chance to try them with a better amp than straight out of your phone. 

 

[NZtechfreak]

While they are sensitive enough to get volume from a portable, as soon as the music becomes in the least complex, you'll hear the soundstage collapse and the sound become congested. Listening at quieter volumes though it may not be so noticeable. Volume makes a considerable difference in the perception of headphones, as does the music being played.

ag8908: I hope you get a chance to try them with a better amp than straight out of your phone. 

Exactly. Any HE-6 owner who has heard them well driven and not so well driven will tell you there is more to driving a headphone than merely attaining adequate volume. I should have mentioned that volume-wise everything was fine from my Pico, it was soundstage and imaging that suffered (creating congestion, as you put it).

 

[Canadian411]

@currawong are you saying that about t5p?

I want a good closed headphone for my work. I have burson ha160ds and sr71b/clas -db.

At the same time I want a very comfortable neutral headphone.

 

[NZtechfreak]

@currawong are you saying that about t5p?

I want a good closed headphone for my work. I have burson ha160ds and sr71b/clas -db.

At the same time I want a very comfortable neutral headphone.

From context I think he's talking the XC. The T5p are comfy, they're not exactly neutral though with less than neutral bass presence and slightly hot treble. As to whether that would bother you or not I don't know - for myself my little bit of high-frequency hearing loss attenuates the treble and the bass I'm generally OK with as it's really tight and pretty nicely extended (I don't mind EQ'ing it a bit when the song benefits, as at least the quality is there to start with).

 

[David1961]

I mostly use my XC's with my GS-Xmk2 / K-01, but occasionally I listen to them with my Pico Slim / iPod. Obviously using the XC's with the Pico Slim / iPod doesn't offer me the same SQ as the other combo, but I find the SQ is still very good, plus if I wanted to listen and be on the move, I could do so with the XC's / Pico Slim / iPod.

 

[ag8908]

While they are sensitive enough to get volume from a portable, as soon as the music becomes in the least complex, you'll hear the soundstage collapse and the sound become congested. Listening at quieter volumes though it may not be so noticeable. Volume makes a considerable difference in the perception of headphones, as does the music being played.

ag8908: I hope you get a chance to try them with a better amp than straight out of your phone. 

I'm trying to figure out the db volume at which most people listen to headphones. 90 percent of the time I'm in the 60 to 62 dB range. The note 2 maxed out at around 80-85 dBm when driving the xc and it probably didn't sound good at that volume although i didn't have it up to my ears.

You can easily do a rough test by clamping the xc's ear muffs tightly together and inserting a db meter inside playing an average pop song (but not classical since their db volume fluctuates significantly depending on where you are in the song). Also Dba not the other db measurements.