[pandastyle]

Great thread!  I love hearing about this stuff.
 
My story began when I was a kid.  My dad had a very nice hi-fi system he never really listened to (he was abusing his ears with a cassette player for their ease of use) and one day when I first started to listen to music around the time I was like 7 or 8 he decided to force my brother and I to listen to his vinyl records.  We were busy listening to kris kross or whatever, but when he played us the music on vinyl I remember being blown away by it.  Specifically I remember listening to Live at Leeds by the Who over and over again.  It was so cool at the time to be able to share that experience with my brother and father.
 
When I got into high school I started to listen to electronic music a lot and decided that I wanted to start DJing.  This was around 1999 so there were still dance music record shops around in most major cities so I went to Yo****oshi in my hometown of Washington DC and they set me on the right track.  I went out and bought a set of numark turntables (I was on a budget of whatever money I had from holidays and my meager allowance) and a mixer.  I realized there was nothing in the house to play them on so I bought a cheap Sony receiver and some speakers (I don't even think they had a brand).  While this was not what anyone here would call a high end stereo, it was still higher quality than just about anything my friends had and it started my love of vinyl.
 
Cut to about 6 years ago I had given up on vinyl and I had built up a huge collection of high quality mp3s and was listening to them on a set of logitech speakers that I had picked up for about $100.  I saw a set of bose speakers at the PX (I was in the military at the time) that I decided I wanted to buy.  I didn't know much about high end audio gear at the time and decided to purchase them.  I remember getting home and listening to them.  They were hollow sounding and the sound was just terrible to my ears.  I had, for several years prior, a set of Shure IEMs and was attempting to recreate the sound quality of them from my computer.  They were immediately returned to the store and I set about researching audio gear.  I ended up doing TONS of research on the subject and ended up buying a Marantz integrated amp and a set of Mordaunt Short speakers.  I still have this setup and love it.  I kind of got the itch to get back into vinyl and got my mom's old turntable out of the attic.  After digging around up there for a while I found all of my old house records and just fell back in love.  While I no longer cared for DJing with vinyl, the sound of them just got the itch for vinyl back in me. 
 
While I've spent thousands upon thousands of dollars between then and now on vinyl and equipment I can't really let it open up now.  I recently moved into an apartment with my girlfriend and a VERY sound sensitive neighbor.  The girlfriend gets on my case everytime I even attempt to turn the stereo up to a level I find acceptable due to her not wanting to make enemies with the neighbor downstairs so I've wound up here.  While I've had several sets of pretty decent headphones in the past nothing is really up to the quality that I have from my stereo and I find the headphones I have to be too isolating and irritating to wear for multiple hours. 
 
Thanks to this forum I've spent a ton of hours researching headphones from the wealth of knowledge here and earlier this morning I purchased a set of Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pros and hopefully they'll allow me to continue my love of high end audio.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Quote:

Great thread!  I love hearing about this stuff.
 
My story began when I was a kid.  My dad had a very nice hi-fi system he never really listened to (he was abusing his ears with a cassette player for their ease of use) and one day when I first started to listen to music around the time I was like 7 or 8 he decided to force my brother and I to listen to his vinyl records.  We were busy listening to kris kross or whatever, but when he played us the music on vinyl I remember being blown away by it.  Specifically I remember listening to Live at Leeds by the Who over and over again.  It was so cool at the time to be able to share that experience with my brother and father.
 
When I got into high school I started to listen to electronic music a lot and decided that I wanted to start DJing.  This was around 1999 so there were still dance music record shops around in most major cities so I went to Yo****oshi in my hometown of Washington DC and they set me on the right track.  I went out and bought a set of numark turntables (I was on a budget of whatever money I had from holidays and my meager allowance) and a mixer.  I realized there was nothing in the house to play them on so I bought a cheap Sony receiver and some speakers (I don't even think they had a brand).  While this was not what anyone here would call a high end stereo, it was still higher quality than just about anything my friends had and it started my love of vinyl.
 
Cut to about 6 years ago I had given up on vinyl and I had built up a huge collection of high quality mp3s and was listening to them on a set of logitech speakers that I had picked up for about $100.  I saw a set of bose speakers at the PX (I was in the military at the time) that I decided I wanted to buy.  I didn't know much about high end audio gear at the time and decided to purchase them.  I remember getting home and listening to them.  They were hollow sounding and the sound was just terrible to my ears.  I had, for several years prior, a set of Shure IEMs and was attempting to recreate the sound quality of them from my computer.  They were immediately returned to the store and I set about researching audio gear.  I ended up doing TONS of research on the subject and ended up buying a Marantz integrated amp and a set of Mordaunt Short speakers.  I still have this setup and love it.  I kind of got the itch to get back into vinyl and got my mom's old turntable out of the attic.  After digging around up there for a while I found all of my old house records and just fell back in love.  While I no longer cared for DJing with vinyl, the sound of them just got the itch for vinyl back in me. 
 
While I've spent thousands upon thousands of dollars between then and now on vinyl and equipment I can't really let it open up now.  I recently moved into an apartment with my girlfriend and a VERY sound sensitive neighbor.  The girlfriend gets on my case everytime I even attempt to turn the stereo up to a level I find acceptable due to her not wanting to make enemies with the neighbor downstairs so I've wound up here.  While I've had several sets of pretty decent headphones in the past nothing is really up to the quality that I have from my stereo and I find the headphones I have to be too isolating and irritating to wear for multiple hours. 
 
Thanks to this forum I've spent a ton of hours researching headphones from the wealth of knowledge here and earlier this morning I purchased a set of Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pros and hopefully they'll allow me to continue my love of high end audio.

 
Good story pandastyle 

. Thanks for sharing !
Actually, when I was a kid I also listened to a lot of vinyls from my father. I might have inherited   this hobby from him. He  also loves music, especially classical music. In college every time he had money he bought a vinyl. We have over 200 now. 
I really should get a new turntable and start re-listening those!!

 

[dan.gheorghe]

 
Previous:
 
 
The Hobby: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobby: The Desolation of my wallet
The Hobby: There And Back Again
The fellowship of the Broken Wallets
The fellowship of the Broken Wallets: Part 2
 
 
 

The Two Titans: HD800 & LCD2

 
Hey guys.
 
I'm back to continue with the journey. Well, after the purchase of the power conditioner and the cables, all was going smoothly in my sound system. I really loved the combination of HD650 (with zu mobius cable) + Burson HA-160ds +power conditioner. The ha-160ds gave speed  to hd650 making it more alive and enjoyable with all music genres.  As I told you in the last post, I had the chance to listen to some other headphones at the audiophile meeting Avstore hosted. I was not impressed with any of them. Even if in some aspects were better than hd650 the overall presentation of hd650 impressed me more. Of course I wanted an upgrade but did not know what to buy. I was thinking of HD800 and keeping the hd650.
 
One day while speaking with Sandu, of course, he said he loves his new headphones, Audeze Lcd2, more than anything he had.
Actually here is his review. I was intrigued by what he said and what he wrote there. He invited me at his place to listen to his new toy. Well... I can say I liked it very much, but did not realize just yet what I had on my head. You cannot make a good impression of a new headphone in 10 minutes. He also had the hd800 near the lcd2. I tried them both, but the changing between them was very strange, as the sound signature is extremely different. Hd800 is very airy, with a huge soundstage , while lcd2 has a meaty sound with a more intimate soundstage. I liked the lcd2 more than hd800. The sound seemed more natural, more organic, and hd800 seemed to bright for my sensible ears.
Ah and the bass on lcd2 was fabulous compared to hd800. However I couldn't get a good grip about both headphones. Sandu asked me of my impressions. I told him something similar to what I wrote here, and he told me that he wants to loan me the lcd2 for a week and then the hd800 for a week to get a better grip on both headphones and decide which of those will be my "future".
I was shocked and a little scared at the same time.
 

 
To borrow something as such great value brings a lot of responsibility. I could not refuse the offer though, so I went home with the LCD2.
 
I made myself comfortable, took a glass of red wine, shut off the lights and started listening. Well... i was amazed... I was stuck on the chair...These headphones rocked my world. I did not recognize some of my songs, as they were completely different on lcd2 than on hd650 (for example nightwish sounded completely different). I rediscovered all my songs. I was amazed. The bass was fantastic: the slam, the quality, the extension the depth, etc...
The details were much better, the soundstage wider and more natural than hd650 . The mids were just incredible. The sound was so lush and warm. Well....while listening to music the time passed away in a fast manner and the time became 3:00am. I couldn't get off the chair, I wanted to listen to more music. I fell asleep with the headphones on, while listening to music.
After a week I had to give them back. It was not easy, i tell ya...not easy.. )
I will tell you more of lcd2 further in the story, in a future post.
 
 
In that week, never once have I felt the need to listen to my hd650. Lcd2 was exactly what I was looking for, it was like a HD650 on steroids, bettering it in every way possible.
When I put the hd650 back on the head, I felt like it was a toy compared to the lcd2.
The next week Sandu gave me his HD800.
The first moment I put them and listened quietly at my home, I felt the high tech in it. It was so fast...so precise. I felt my ears waving from the air displaced by the so fast drivers.
The level of details were amazing and the soundstage was incredible. The problem was that after one hour or so, my ears started to get tired. The sound was to bright for me, I couldn't listen to all music genres on them, and suddenly I reached for my hd650.
The somehow lacked feeling and passion.
I did not find the hd800 and burson ha-160ds combo to be a good pair at all.
One night I watched one episode of Game of Thrones with the hd800. I heard all the leaves the horses stepped on with those headphones. Both headphones are great for movies.
However, the battle in this case, with my amplifier and due to my subjective tastes was easily won by lcd2.
 
 
Lcd2 seemed more natural to my ears, you could have long listening sessions without hurting your ears, ah..and that bass.....the mids...
Unfortunately or fortunately... all my money were going in the wedding preparations, so I couldn't buy any lcd2 or hd800, but the good part is that I knew what I wanted. Now my future upgrade had a name, Audeze LCD2.
 
Next:
 
 

The Return Of The King

Burson Conductor: Ambush of the Wallet

The End of The Wallet: AKG K550, Creative Aurvana Live & Fiio E17

InToxicated Mind

Wrath of the Titans: Audeze LCD2 vs LCD3 & Burson Conductor vs M2Tech Vaughan

From Hobby to Obssesion and back to Hobby
The Ambush of the combos: AudioQuest Dragonfly vs FIIO E17 & Dragonfly with Burson Soloist; Dragonfly vs Conductor's DAC
The Ambush Continues: AKG K550 vs Sennheiser Momentum
The Audiophile USB Cable Surprise: Wireworld Starlight Red vs Chord USB Silver Plus
The Titans are Back: Sennheiser HD800 vs Audeze LCD2 & Burson Conductor
A nice surprise: Focal Spirit One
AudioPhile Power Cables Shootout
Focal Spirit One vs Sennheiser Amperior

 

[ohhgourami]

I supposed I'll write about my journey.
 
All my life I've always enjoyed music very much. When I was younger I never had any good equipment, so during highschool even a pair of cheap $20 2.1 Creatives sounded great at the time. And then I finally moved away to college and without the oppression of my parents, I bought a pair of Logitech Z2300 2.1 speakers for $100 and man did it sound good at the time. A year past by and a good friend came over to my dorm and noticed I had speakers and he was wanting to buy something himself. I talked about 320 CBR and how it's supposed to be the best quality mp3. He went home and did some research on gear and audio. He came back and told me how there's something called FLAC which made me intrigued. A week later, he bought some Monster Miles Davis IEMs which immediately hooked me in. I only had some $20 Sony IEMs at the time, but $300 for IEMs seemed like a stretch but I was willing. I did some research myself and got some Ortofon e-Q7s. A month later he bought a pair of nice Swan speakers (MK III's?) with a MiniVee sub so I wanted more out of my music. I moved from a Sansa Clip+ to a Hifiman HM-602.
 
My friend lost interest in audio while I was completely hooked. It was time for me get some full-sized cans. Another friend that lives close to my hometown noticed I was an audiophile too so we agreed to demo cans at a shop (DXC store before it closed down). They had SOOO much gear! Probably the most wonderful feeling I ever had in a retail store. We were drooling

I tried all their flagships like the LCD-2, T1, HD800, PS1000, RS1, etc. After reading all the craze about the HD800, I was a bit disappointed by their performance and sound signature. Although the gear I had them plugged into was poor HM-602, I still expected better - not my cup of tea. I wasn't much of a fan of the Grados either, a bit too sharp even though I really love my treble. The LCD-2 blew me away at first listening though. I never knew music could have such texture - bass was amazing and the mids were fantastic, but the treble was disappointing. The T1's was my favorite of the bunch, had the sound sig I was looking for and great detail, but I wanted better mids.
 
After returning home, I couldn't listen to my IEMs the same way anymore. I HAD to get a flagship, but none of the ones I tried were perfect. So back to reading reviews and impressions, and I stumbled across the HE-6. This headphone had to be the one, but I had no DAC or amp. At the time I really wanted the audio-gd Reference 7 DAC since I heard production of the PCM 1704UK chips were going out and wanted one before I couldn't get my hands on one. But I saw a decent deal on an NFB-10ES on FS section and made the leap and got a DT880 600ohm because of my lack of funds. When my DT880s came in, I expected them to sound like the T1s, but was disappointed by the midrange's performance. I wanted MORE! At this time, I also discovered I did not like warm sounding gear anymore and how fantastic the ES9018 chip is on DACs. Neutral, detailed, and accurate sound was above all. Transparency of gear brought music to the highest pedestal. Music needs no coloration, music is beautiful just by itself!
 
From the disappointment of the DT880s, I was trying to figure out how I'd afford the HE-6. Then the idea slapped me in the face like a slippery fish: sell my old textbooks, DUH! So I ordered my HE-6. It was probably most grueling 4 days while I waited for them to come in. But once they came and put them on for a listen, I finally found the PERFECT can. EVERYTHING was there! This can has no weakness! Neutral sound with soo much detail.
 
The cans don't need touching anymore, but I swapped DACs and amps for the past year and finally got my perfect DAC too - the NFB-7.32. Back to that natural, accurate sound the ES9018 offers. Now I'm saving up for a nice amp...
 
Sorry my writing sucks and just sounds like incoherent rambling.

 

[Grevlin]

Wow!
 
Excellent layout of your journey.
 
 
My story is...well...short - because I'm maybe a week into it. But we all start somewhere, and I've had a few obsessions so far and I tend to submerse myself and slowly plow through.
 
I guess a few things sort of came together recently to get me on the audiophile path.
 
One:
I've been a fan of the Airborne Toxic Event since I saw them here in Charlotte NC on Nov 11th 2011 at the Filmore. At the concert I bought a blu-ray concert they made of their concert at the Disney Music Hall in California. I've watched that concert way TOO many times to date. I researched and put together my home theater like 4 years ago. I'm a HUGE movie buff and I had to have a really good home theater. (Another obsession) The Airborne concert always sounded fantastic on my system. Maybe a month ago, I took it over to a friends house and played it there. I'm sorry to say it sounded...much diminished. I guess that was my first moment of recognizing huge differences in sound quality. 
 
Two:
I'm planning out the concerts my Nephew and I want to hit this year. We have a short list:
Metric (Also saw them last year at Filmore Uptown Charlotte)
Muse
Airborne Toxic Event (of course)
I, of course, started listening to all of their CD's again - REALLY listening. Broke out my other CD's as well. I've even started buying new CD's.

 
Three:
I discovered "The Piano Guys" on YouTube and became an instant fan.
 
I'm really loving piano, string, and wind at this point. So I decide I need better equipment.
 
So here I am, a member. Like 4 posts.

 
I called in to Headroom and spoke for a while and then ordered:
Headroom Total BitHead DAC/Amp combo unit
Audio-technica ATH-M50 headphones 
 
I sorted out my Laptop - set-up Foobar 2000 and then ripped all my CD's into WAV format.
 
I'm slowly doing my research. The above equip is certainly not epic, but it will be a HUGE improvement to what I have. It will also provide me a fix while I plan out my next purchases. I'm planning to get a turntable and preamp. Maybe a Rega RP1 - I have no idea on the pre-amp yet. I'm also gonna hit the local record shops (had NO idea they were still around!)
 
I also want some pretty nice desktop speakers - maybe AudioEngine A2W desktop speakers.
 
My current research topic is how to best set-up a turntable AND headphones to a set of desktop speakers....not sure yet.
 
 
So...glad to be here.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

I supposed I'll write about my journey.
 
All my life I've always enjoyed music very much. When I was younger I never had any good equipment, so during highschool even a pair of cheap $20 2.1 Creatives sounded great at the time. And then I finally moved away to college and without the oppression of my parents, I bought a pair of Logitech Z2300 2.1 speakers for $100 and man did it sound good at the time. A year past by and a good friend came over to my dorm and noticed I had speakers and he was wanting to buy something himself. I talked about 320 CBR and how it's supposed to be the best quality mp3. He went home and did some research on gear and audio. He came back and told me how there's something called FLAC which made me intrigued. A week later, he bought some Monster Miles Davis IEMs which immediately hooked me in. I only had some $20 Sony IEMs at the time, but $300 for IEMs seemed like a stretch but I was willing. I did some research myself and got some Ortofon e-Q7s. A month later he bought a pair of nice Swan speakers (MK III's?) with a MiniVee sub so I wanted more out of my music. I moved from a Sansa Clip+ to a Hifiman HM-602.
 
My friend lost interest in audio while I was completely hooked. It was time for me get some full-sized cans. Another friend that lives close to my hometown noticed I was an audiophile too so we agreed to demo cans at a shop (DXC store before it closed down). They had SOOO much gear! Probably the most wonderful feeling I ever had in a retail store. We were drooling 

 I tried all their flagships like the LCD-2, T1, HD800, PS1000, RS1, etc. After reading all the craze about the HD800, I was a bit disappointed by their performance and sound signature. Although the gear I had them plugged into was poor HM-602, I still expected better - not my cup of tea. I wasn't much of a fan of the Grados either, a bit too sharp even though I really love my treble. The LCD-2 blew me away at first listening though. I never knew music could have such texture - bass was amazing and the mids were fantastic, but the treble was disappointing. The T1's was my favorite of the bunch, had the sound sig I was looking for and great detail, but I wanted better mids.
 
After returning home, I couldn't listen to my IEMs the same way anymore. I HAD to get a flagship, but none of the ones I tried were perfect. So back to reading reviews and impressions, and I stumbled across the HE-6. This headphone had to be the one, but I had no DAC or amp. At the time I really wanted the audio-gd Reference 7 DAC since I heard production of the PCM 1704UK chips were going out and wanted one before I couldn't get my hands on one. But I saw a decent deal on an NFB-10ES on FS section and made the leap and got a DT880 600ohm because of my lack of funds. When my DT880s came in, I expected them to sound like the T1s, but was disappointed by the midrange's performance. I wanted MORE! At this time, I also discovered I did not like warm sounding gear anymore and how fantastic the ES9018 chip is on DACs. Neutral, detailed, and accurate sound was above all. Transparency of gear brought music to the highest pedestal. Music needs no coloration, music is beautiful just by itself!
 
From the disappointment of the DT880s, I was trying to figure out how I'd afford the HE-6. Then the idea slapped me in the face like a slippery fish: sell my old textbooks, DUH! So I ordered my HE-6. It was probably most grueling 4 days while I waited for them to come in. But once they came and put them on for a listen, I finally found the PERFECT can. EVERYTHING was there! This can has no weakness! Neutral sound with soo much detail.
 
The cans don't need touching anymore, but I swapped DACs and amps for the past year and finally got my perfect DAC too - the NFB-7.32. Back to that natural, accurate sound the ES9018 offers. Now I'm saving up for a nice amp...
 
Sorry my writing sucks and just sounds like incoherent rambling.
 

 
 
Good story and nice read! I am curios about HE-6 myself. I hope I hear it one day. 
 
Quote:

Wow!
 
Excellent layout of your journey.
 
 
My story is...well...short - because I'm maybe a week into it. But we all start somewhere, and I've had a few obsessions so far and I tend to submerse myself and slowly plow through.
 
I guess a few things sort of came together recently to get me on the audiophile path.
 
One:
I've been a fan of the Airborne Toxic Event since I saw them here in Charlotte NC on Nov 11th 2011 at the Filmore. At the concert I bought a blu-ray concert they made of their concert at the Disney Music Hall in California. I've watched that concert way TOO many times to date. I researched and put together my home theater like 4 years ago. I'm a HUGE movie buff and I had to have a really good home theater. (Another obsession) The Airborne concert always sounded fantastic on my system. Maybe a month ago, I took it over to a friends house and played it there. I'm sorry to say it sounded...much diminished. I guess that was my first moment of recognizing huge differences in sound quality. 
 
Two:
I'm planning out the concerts my Nephew and I want to hit this year. We have a short list:
Metric (Also saw them last year at Filmore Uptown Charlotte)
Muse
Airborne Toxic Event (of course)
I, of course, started listening to all of their CD's again - REALLY listening. Broke out my other CD's as well. I've even started buying new CD's.

 
Three:
I discovered "The Piano Guys" on YouTube and became an instant fan.
 
I'm really loving piano, string, and wind at this point. So I decide I need better equipment.
 
So here I am, a member. Like 4 posts.

 
I called in to Headroom and spoke for a while and then ordered:
Headroom Total BitHead DAC/Amp combo unit
Audio-technica ATH-M50 headphones 
 
I sorted out my Laptop - set-up Foobar 2000 and then ripped all my CD's into WAV format.
 
I'm slowly doing my research. The above equip is certainly not epic, but it will be a HUGE improvement to what I have. It will also provide me a fix while I plan out my next purchases. I'm planning to get a turntable and preamp. Maybe a Rega RP1 - I have no idea on the pre-amp yet. I'm also gonna hit the local record shops (had NO idea they were still around!)
 
I also want some pretty nice desktop speakers - maybe AudioEngine A2W desktop speakers.
 
My current research topic is how to best set-up a turntable AND headphones to a set of desktop speakers....not sure yet.
 
 
So...glad to be here.

Ha...I always wanted to say this: " Welcome to headfi Grevlin. We are sorry for your wallet though! "
 
Nice story there! You are at the beginning of your journey and I think you're in for a good ride 

 
Here is a good tutorial about foobar and how to set it up.
Here are 2 other tutorials on how to set up the environment :
Computer Audio Playback - Setup Guide
Windows 7 Audio Playback - Setup Guide

 

[Grevlin]

Quote:

 
 
Good story and nice read! I am curios about HE-6 myself. I hope I hear it one day. 
 

Ha...I always wanted to say this: " Welcome to headfi Grevlin. We are sorry for your wallet though! "
 
Nice story there! You are at the beginning of your journey and I think you're in for a good ride 

 
Here is a good tutorial about foobar and how to set it up.
Here are 2 other tutorials on how to set up the environment :

 
Hey thanks.
 
I'm somewhat familiar to "wallet pain" since I put together my home theater. I found a sweet spot with home theater and got my system settled in and just right. I'm wondering if I would ever reach a sweet spot with audio - you know, something like "so I'm good with this rig for a while."

 

[dan.gheorghe]

Previous:

 
 
The Hobby: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobby: The Desolation of my wallet
The Hobby: There And Back Again
The fellowship of the Broken Wallets
The fellowship of the Broken Wallets: Part 2
The Two Titans: HD800 & LCD2

 

 

The Return of The King

 
 
 
Hey guys!
 
This post is about one of my most important stories in all of my journey.
As I told you in my last post,  I started the preparations for the wedding. All spare money I had, I put into the wedding preparations. After I had both LCD2 and HD800 at home, I never really stopped thinking of LCD2.
Meantime, after one year of hard preparations we did the wedding and actually despite everyone said (that i wouldn't have the time to enjoy myself), it was the greates party of my life. We really enjoyed it
 

 
Even had a fake bride prepared as a surprise ) (one of my best friends - > you can see him in the last picture).
 

 
After that we went to a beautiful place in Greece in our honeymoon. We went to Skiathos, the place where "Mamma Mia!" was filmed. It was gorgeus!
 
 

 
 
Ok... I hope I did not bore you with these details. Let's get back to business!
 
After we came back from the honeymoon, I realized It was time to get my lcd2. I have sold my HD650 and RS2i and waited for Avstore to become a Audeze dealer. It took some time, and I was out of headphones...I did not have anything to listen to for a month...It was not easy at all...but the thought of lcd2 was cheering me up .
 
I have contacted the Audeze support to get an update on the dealer status. Until then i thought their support was not so good. My opinion changed dramatically in the next weeks. They explained the situation and we started talking. I have related my first impression on their product. They liked my words and they gave me a gift for that (a Liquid Stranger CD, Earpads, an Audeze key ring and 2 pencils). I was amazed with their gift and gesture. I thank them again for that.
The wait was a little longer than I planned, but it was worth it. I got my brand new pair of Audeze LCD2 Bamboo .
They are absolutely great. Have you ever listened to Leonard Cohen on LCD2?
If not, please do! His amazing voice is extraordinarily reproduced by these headphones.
 
I was listening to a violin in a classical opera and I suddenly for the first time in my life got an urge to start playing the violin. I was already seeing myself with the violin hold down with my chin and playing it frenetically . I really thought for a minute of getting a payed class or something...
 
I am sure many of you guys received a lot of friends and tried to share the joy, and many of your friends did not get the best of the sound quality, saying he does not hear the differences or he will never give that sort of money on headphones.
I got that a lot with my former headphones. I ended up explaining to them it is not something to get immediately, that your ears refine in time, your brain adjusts to the sound, etc ...
Well....with LCD2 i did not have to explain myself any-longer
I can tell you that these headphones really impressed a lot of people in my circle
 
 
My father also likes music, especially classical music. In college every time he had money he bought a vinyl. We have over 200 now. He sat down and i let him listen for over 15 minutes alone in the room. When i returned he had tears in his eyes. He found a fine interpretation of Bach sonata 3, and on these headphones, the music became very emotional.
My mother, whom is not into these kind of things and never understood this passion and the sums of money paid for it ), was really impressed with these headphones. After she listened she begun to understand my passion, which is a major thing coming from my mother.

 
 
I have a friend that just begun to work at the national opera in Bucharest.
He has an extraordinary voice. He has sang and recorded the Tosca opera .
 
I gave his father to listen his interpretation on the headphones.
He was astonished, listening with his eyes closed just like my father.
He said that he liked it better on the headphones than real life.
I have convinced my wife to listen Leonard Cohen (one of her favourite artists) with LCD2. She started singing along, and then it was hard to remove the headphones off her head ). WIth my previous headphones she walked away after the first song.
I have managed to record her listening and singing in the same time, without her seing me at first, because it was dark in the room for a better listening experience
 

When she left, she dedicated Abbas' "Thank you for the music" song to me, as I take my hat off to Audeze and dedicate it to them.
 

 
If she knows i linked her here, she will kill me ) , but i could not help myself, this material was gold )
 
(Edit: in the meantime she found out and I got her permission )
 
 
One w/e I also had a friend come for a little audiophile get-together and we listened to a lot of headphones that day. Needless to say, he started to get the money to buy LCD2 )
This picture was taken before LCD2 rocked his world . (Actually he bought one just one month after!)


 
 
So thank you for a great product Audeze, and thank you Avstore]Avstore for becoming first authorised Audeze dealer in Romania.
I also thank you DarKu for the guidance and for introducing me the LCD2   , and for being a good friend!
And do not forget Burson ha-160ds. It is a great pair for lcd2 even though it does not have sufficient power in theory, and I am sure you could find better.
I was already thinking of Bursons' new product, Conductor which would be an even better pair, considering the fact that it has a similar amplifier to Soloist.
 
 
So...after one year, the king returned, finally lcd2 was back into my home .
 
 
Happy listening,
 
 
Dan
P.S. These headphones are an audiophile trap. This is the most efficient chain I have seen until now. It chains the audiophile to the computer or audio rig starting the moment he puts them on. Be careful, it works on normal people too, and normal people may become audiophiles.
Another friend that was thrown back with his feet up by the lcd2s (he was the fake bride):
 

 
 
 
 
Next:
 
 

Burson Conductor: Ambush of the Wallet

The End of The Wallet: AKG K550, Creative Aurvana Live & Fiio E17

InToxicated Mind

Wrath of the Titans: Audeze LCD2 vs LCD3 & Burson Conductor vs M2Tech Vaughan

From Hobby to Obssesion and back to Hobby
The Ambush of the combos: AudioQuest Dragonfly vs FIIO E17 & Dragonfly with Burson Soloist; Dragonfly vs Conductor's DAC
The Ambush Continues: AKG K550 vs Sennheiser Momentum
The Audiophile USB Cable Surprise: Wireworld Starlight Red vs Chord USB Silver Plus
The Titans are Back: Sennheiser HD800 vs Audeze LCD2 & Burson Conductor
A nice surprise: Focal Spirit One
AudioPhile Power Cables Shootout
Focal Spirit One vs Sennheiser Amperior
 

 

[preproman]

 

[Happy Camper]

Another HE-6 soulmate here. But if it weren't for the 6s, I'd have the T-1's on a tube amp. Now that I've heard the LCD-3, I've given new consideration for the Audeze sound. Late bloomers.

 

[davidsh]

Oooh, seems like theres something magical about those audeze's. Just don't hear that a lot about hifimans

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Oooh, seems like theres something magical about those audeze's. Just don't hear that a lot about hifimans

Hifiman users are too busy immersed in their music to type anything coherent

 

[dan.gheorghe]

I haven't heard any hifimans yet, but I would sure love to, as I am sure they are great headphones from what I have read.

 

[ohhgourami]

Quote:

Hifiman users are too busy immersed in their music to type anything coherent

It's true.

 

[ej8989]

Great journey! Great write-up! I really enjoyed reading your story
One question: You heard the LCD3s yet?