[midnightfrolic]

That looks neat.
I was also thinking about the iFi Audio micro iDSD Black Label, any idea how they compare?

I apologize. I do not have that particular DAC/AMP. Perhaps someone with some experience with it can chime in.

Looking at the specs, it's fantastic. If you don't mind not using the XLR, I'd tap it. Here's Head-Fi's review of it.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-micro-idsd-black-label-in-depth-review.833933/

Pros:

1. Feature rich with high performance to price ratio.
2. Neutral sound quality with superb transparency, speed, and detail retrieval.
3. Good multi-platforms compatibility with various operating systems.
4. Isolated USB and analog ground with excellent USB EMI noise rejection.
5. Various digital and analog filters to suit listening preference.
6. A wide range of gain and headphone output power settings to suit various loads, from sensitive IEMs to demanding headphones.
7. Useful and good sounding analog bass boost and stereo enhancement analog circuit.
8. Good battery life.

Cons:

1. 1-2 seconds of silence at the beginning of playback (from a stop). This short period of silence causes the first 1-2 seconds of the song gets muted at the start. This can be quite annoying for some songs that start immediately at the 1st second. This is the only most annoying flaw of iFi micro iDSD Black-Label so far, but I believe it can be fixed by firmware update if iFi is willing to fix it, or probably by releasing a special driver only for PCM playback. I notice that the silence period is slightly longer on the iFi micro iDSD Black-Label compared to the iFi micro iDSD. Due to the short review time, I’ve only tested it with foobar v1.3.12 (WASAPI and DSD ASIO). Probably there is a way to shorten the silence from the setting, but I didn’t have enough time to play around with the setting or checked this symptom using other media player applications. This short period of silence at the beginning of playback is could be due to ‘pop’ issue described here:

http://ifi-audio.com/audio_blog/pop-goes-dsd-why-does-this-happen/

1. 1 LED indicator to indicate many operating conditions. It is not user-friendly to expect a user to memorize so many color codes from a single LED indicator.
2. Volume level indicator is hard to see.

Suggestions for improvements:

1. To shorten the start play silence.
2. A more user-friendly LED indicator. Suggested 3 LEDs indicator as described at the end part of this review.
3. White or silver volume level indicator for better visibility.
4. Better design rubber feet with a stronger attachment to the metal case. It is preferable to have better rubber feet that have been fixed to the metal case from the factory.

 

[Astral Abyss]

I apologize. I do not have that particular DAC/AMP. Perhaps someone with some experience with it can chime in.

Looking at the specs, it's fantastic. If you don't mind not using the XLR, I'd tap it. Here's Head-Fi's review of it.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-micro-idsd-black-label-in-depth-review.833933/

Pros:

1. Feature rich with high performance to price ratio.
2. Neutral sound quality with superb transparency, speed, and detail retrieval.
3. Good multi-platforms compatibility with various operating systems.
4. Isolated USB and analog ground with excellent USB EMI noise rejection.
5. Various digital and analog filters to suit listening preference.
6. A wide range of gain and headphone output power settings to suit various loads, from sensitive IEMs to demanding headphones.
7. Useful and good sounding analog bass boost and stereo enhancement analog circuit.
8. Good battery life.

Cons:

1. 1-2 seconds of silence at the beginning of playback (from a stop). This short period of silence causes the first 1-2 seconds of the song gets muted at the start. This can be quite annoying for some songs that start immediately at the 1st second. This is the only most annoying flaw of iFi micro iDSD Black-Label so far, but I believe it can be fixed by firmware update if iFi is willing to fix it, or probably by releasing a special driver only for PCM playback. I notice that the silence period is slightly longer on the iFi micro iDSD Black-Label compared to the iFi micro iDSD. Due to the short review time, I’ve only tested it with foobar v1.3.12 (WASAPI and DSD ASIO). Probably there is a way to shorten the silence from the setting, but I didn’t have enough time to play around with the setting or checked this symptom using other media player applications. This short period of silence at the beginning of playback is could be due to ‘pop’ issue described here:

http://ifi-audio.com/audio_blog/pop-goes-dsd-why-does-this-happen/

1. 1 LED indicator to indicate many operating conditions. It is not user-friendly to expect a user to memorize so many color codes from a single LED indicator.
2. Volume level indicator is hard to see.

Suggestions for improvements:

1. To shorten the start play silence.
2. A more user-friendly LED indicator. Suggested 3 LEDs indicator as described at the end part of this review.
3. White or silver volume level indicator for better visibility.
4. Better design rubber feet with a stronger attachment to the metal case. It is preferable to have better rubber feet that have been fixed to the metal case from the factory.

Just wanted to mention that, yes there's a way to add a variable delay to the start of both Foobar and JRiver. Haven't used Foobar for a while so I can't remember the process, but it was easy. It'll get rid of that delay issue completely. I had to use it with my DAC-19.

 

[fuzz0r87]

Anyone got the Carbon Fiber Headband for the XC? Is it worth it?

 

[PinoNL]

It's definitely worth it! Especially the weight distribution and isolation improved

 

[UprightMan]

not tried the Carbon Fiber one, but lobb's strap makes mine comfy enough...

 

[SonicTrance]

Anyone got the Carbon Fiber Headband for the XC? Is it worth it?

I bought two when they first came out. Not from Audeze but from some UK retailer. I had to modify the leather straps by shortening them as they were touching the carbon, creating a hot spot on top of the head. Pretty embarrassing for such an expensive product. Don't know if they have fixed the issue since though.

 

[PinoNL]

I bought two when they first came out. Not from Audeze but from some UK retailer. I had to modify the leather straps by shortening them as they were touching the carbon, creating a hot spot on top of the head. Pretty embarrassing for such an expensive product. Don't know if they have fixed the issue since though.

Can't say I recognize this problem. Mine arrived a couple of weeks ago. Maybe they fixed the issue.

 

[Astral Abyss]

Can't say I recognize this problem. Mine arrived a couple of weeks ago. Maybe they fixed the issue.

It was an issue on the early bands, but was corrected shortly afterwards. I remember reading about it. If you were to order one now, it wouldn't have that problem.

 

[Slim1970]

How can you tell if you have the latest drivers in the LCD-XC's? Is it serial number based like the other LCD series headphones? If so, what's the serial number that indicates the newest drivers?

 

[SLC1966]

How can you tell if you have the latest drivers in the LCD-XC's? Is it serial number based like the other LCD series headphones? If so, what's the serial number that indicates the newest drivers?

Yes. I found the best way to confirm and be certain is to contact Audeze directly with the seriel number.

 

[Odin412]

Last night I installed the new Reveal DSP plugin from Audeze, and it makes quite a difference to the sound of my LCD-XCs. With the Reveal plugin the sounds is noticeably darker and reminds me of listening to speakers in a small, intimate room. Audeze says that the plugin is designed to emulate the sound of 'high quality studio reference monitors in an acoustically treated room', and I'd say that they succeeded in their goal. I haven't quite decided if I prefer the sound with or without the plugin, but it's nice to have the choice. The plugin is free, so there's no harm in trying it out.

 

[PinoNL]

Last night I installed the new Reveal DSP plugin from Audeze, and it makes quite a difference to the sound of my LCD-XCs. With the Reveal plugin the sounds is noticeably darker and reminds me of listening to speakers in a small, intimate room. Audeze says that the plugin is designed to emulate the sound of 'high quality studio reference monitors in an acoustically treated room', and I'd say that they succeeded in their goal. I haven't quite decided if I prefer the sound with or without the plugin, but it's nice to have the choice. The plugin is free, so there's no harm in trying it out.

Do you know how to use the plug-in with Audirvana?

 

[Odin412]

Do you know how to use the plug-in with Audirvana?

Sorry, I don't. I use J River and there it was just a matter of running the Reveal setup program, adding the plugin to J River and then turning it on in the J River DSP Studio.

 

[KMann]

Do you know how to use the plug-in with Audirvana?

Please see my post here and dial down the gain by about -3 to -4dB to avoid any clipping.

 

[kertong]

Late to the party, but I just welcomed home a pair of new audeze LCD-XC's last night!

My first set of cans were the grado SR80, then the SR225; since then have pretty much been all IEMs with the exception of the stax L500.

I gotta say; I've been missing out. The *huge* sound of these LCD-XC's are fantastic. I feel that having the closed back helps with isolation, and yet you get such an incredibly spacious sound. I demo'ed them against the aeon flow closed headset, and while those were stellar, the LCD-XC's just felt like they were a notch above. Silky, powerful, well extended on both ends; yet just slightly dark and syrupy enough to relax to with a nice drink in hand and the lights down low.

I'm in love with these full size cans, I think my IEMs are going to have to take a back seat for a little while...

powering these off my astell&kern KANN atm, using the single ended output (4V rms iirc). Have a 2.5mm TRRS cable on the way to get the full 7V rms output from the balanced port, but the output impedance changes as well so I'm hoping the sound doesn't darken, or thin out too much. My Kaiser Encores when going from SE on my 120ii (2 ohm OI), to the balanced (1 ohm OI), started getting shouty and borderline sibilant; lost some musicality. Hoping for the opposite effect since reading on the web, strangely the Kann goes *up* in OI from se to balanced (balanced being higher OI?) Maybe due to lacking a dual dac and opamp stage, who knows. Can't wait to hear the results either way.

Feel like upgradeitis/GAS has been staved away for a little bit thanks to these LCD-XC's. Have heard nothing like them; makes classical/orchestral tracks sound so damn good before.