[catspaw]

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Hi,
 

I felt the same thing when I auditioned the HE-500 recently. Maybe this is the signature of Planars? I do not get the same feeling with Stax Electrostatics.

Cheers Rich

Could be.
I still belive it might be recording related as it does not happen in every song in the same ranges of the HZ spectrum.
It is very hard for me to pinpoint the issues since i am fairly new to high quality audio (2 months ago i did not know what a DAC was, or that amps improved quality of sound in headphones).

 

[DavidMahler]

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So is it safe to say that, to your ears, the LCD2 rev 2 is going to be the same ranking as rev 1?

It's possible, although I clearly like the Rev 2 more than the Rev 1.  We shall see! I may find that the Rev 2 will move up a spot.
 
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So David, any initial impressions about the next 'phones to be added to the list? Even if you won't tell us which they are? 

I don't want to say just yet but in the next week or so I will give a clue or two
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I think after testing so many high end HP, one is boud to have a huge mind F... aobut what they like more or less.
I mean, ears are in a way like smell, once you test too many diffrent things, they confuse the brain and its hard to know exactly whats better or worse.
 
Since this review, i bought the HE-400, however i have some issues with its sound (not sure if signature or lack of amp, using a E17 at the moment). Main problem is that i feel some music generes "distant", especially in a few mids/highs.
I noted this with Rock mostly.
 
I am unable to use the terminology in this forum like "recesed mids" or so, since i dont have enought expirience with diffrent HP, but even in a few games like Mass Efect 2, some sounds seem to be strongly lowered in terms of volume.
One example:
I used to play this map where the music was really cool, so i used to lower the sounds, and increase the music, but with these Its hard to get the sound working. I can hear the bass strong, i can hear the gun im shooting strong (high pitching sounds), i can hear the weapon exchange very clearly, but the rest of the music that is suppoed to be there (perfectly audible in my speakers, Z-5500 logitech, and my older headphone, Sennhesier HD 380 Pro) feels very low on volume.
 
Kinda Muddy, like overwhelmed by other sounds.
This does not happen in every game, and that would clue me to belive its an amp issue (and im praying that it is that actually).
 
David, can you confirm if the HE-400 on a weak amp can have issues of this kind? 
I dont really know how to better explain this .
 
EDIT: Also note that i am using the Fiio E17 as a Dac, where i normally used the X-fi titanium on my speakers and my older Sennheisers 380 Pro. Ofc id test this if i could, but for now i cant due to the fact that i dont have my PC with me, and im using my laptop.

In my experience, I would not say that the HE-400 was muddy, but the mids are clearly recessed yes.
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That wouldn't happen to David though. He's special. He's our hero. 

LOL oh gawd
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This article was a fantastic read, actually helped me deciding on my first headphone!
 
Cheers for all the work/fun.

Thanks! What did you choose?
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Hey David, i got a question i think you might answer with relative ease:
If i already have the HE-400, what other HP in the same rpice range would you recommend to see a sound signature diffrent/oposite to it? 
HD 600 could be an example?

I think every headphone collection could benefit from an HD600!

 

[dennybrig]

David one simple question, according to your review and your experience, which are the best $500 dollars heaphones ( i will use a computer video card, the ASUS XONAR PHOEBUS to drive them and i am the owner of the Beyerdynamic DT 880 600 ohm version)?
 
Please let me know

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

David one simple question, according to your review and your experience, which are the best $500 dollars heaphones ( i will use a computer video card, the ASUS XONAR PHOEBUS to drive them and i am the owner of the Beyerdynamic DT 880 600 ohm version)?
 
Please let me know

does it matter to you if they are open back or not? Is it for gaming? and lastly, have you had success driving the DT 880 600 ohm out of your setup?

 

[RustA]

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I broke out my frequency charts to confirm if what I was hearing would be reflected in their measurements as provided by Audeze.  Sure enough here it is "in black and white"....
 
 
 

 
Wow, that graph looks extremely close to mine (rev2 with angled connectors)! Definitely focus on in depth comparison with LCD-3, please!

 

[pp312]

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 which are the best $500 dollars heaphones
 
i am the owner of the Beyerdynamic DT 880 600 ohm version)?
 
 

 
Isn't that the question with the answer below?

 

[DavidMahler]

Comparing the LCD-2 rev 2 and LCD3 quite a bit tonight and it is striking to me how much darker the LCD-3 is.  It is more open sounding in terms of space, but a lot darker.  For those who have had both pairs, I'm wondering if you shared this experience?  I should mention I've heard one other LCD-3 and it sounded more or less the same as my current pair.  It was slightly more raised at 10 khz, but I actually preferred the sound of my pair. 

 

[MacedonianHero]

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Comparing the LCD-2 rev 2 and LCD3 quite a bit tonight and it is striking to me how much darker the LCD-3 is.  It is more open sounding in terms of space, but a lot darker.  For those who have had both pairs, I'm wondering if you shared this experience?  I should mention I've heard one other LCD-3 and it sounded more or less the same as my current pair.  It was slightly more raised at 10 khz, but I actually preferred the sound of my pair. 

I found the LCD-3s smoother and not as etched in the treble (in comparative terms only...definitely not in absolute terms) as the LCD-2 rev.2s. Overall that gave an impression that the LCD-2s were brighter (and conversely the LCD-3s darker...but quite a bit smoother). Throw in better detail retrieval and imaging on the LCD-3s and they are my second favourite headphones I've ever heard.

 

[beatfreak]

After owning the He400's for three weeks and listening for many hours, I found that the are exceptional when listening to electronic music.  My issue is while listening to Norah Jones, or Adele 21, I find that the instruments are up front, but the vocals seem to be 10 rows back.  Which direction should i go as far as finding a HP that brings the vocals more up front.  Sorry about my terminology, kinda new at this.  I will be keeping the He400's as enjoy them for electronic music.
 
I have changed to the velour ear-pads, they are more comfortable and sound better.  

 

[bracko]

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Which direction should i go as far as finding a HP that brings the vocals more up front.

 
Maybe a used AKG k501?

 

[TheGrumpyOldMan]

Depends on your budget, but for vocals specifically I think the ATH-3000ANV is a great choice, and I think this much was said in the review in this thread as well. While the LCD-3 remains my favourite all-round headphone, it's harder to drive to its full potential and even then, I still enjoy putting on the 3000ANV for that kind of playlist...
I see there's one last regular-priced one (out of 2000 made) on Amazon right now

 

[beatfreak]

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Maybe a used AKG k501?

 
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Depends on your budget, but for vocals specifically I think the ATH-3000ANV is a great choice, and I think this much was said in the review in this thread as well. While the LCD-3 remains my favourite all-round headphone, it's harder to drive to its full potential and even then, I still enjoy putting on the 300ANV for that kind of playlist...
I see there's one last regular-priced one (out of 2000 made) on Amazon right now

Thanks for the suggestions.  I will look into both of them.  

 

[jerg]

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After owning the He400's for three weeks and listening for many hours, I found that the are exceptional when listening to electronic music.  My issue is while listening to Norah Jones, or Adele 21, I find that the instruments are up front, but the vocals seem to be 10 rows back.  Which direction should i go as far as finding a HP that brings the vocals more up front.  Sorry about my terminology, kinda new at this.  I will be keeping the He400's as enjoy them for electronic music.
 
I have changed to the velour ear-pads, they are more comfortable and sound better.  

HE500. I have both side-to-side for the last few days just swapping between them with music and trying out different earpads, and really in the end, vocals:instruments ratio for HE400 is 1:2 maybe 1:3, while for HE500 is perfectly 1:1. That and the fact that HE500's treble doesn't have the stringency that HE400's treble has, means vocals shine through with HE500 like a glorious golden halo.
 
However HE500 doesn't have the sense of air or space that HE400 has. So for non-vocal music HE400 sounds much more lively and clear, as opposed to HE500 which sounds almost too romantic and with less energy. That's not to say HE500 is lacking though, it's just that HE400 does it so well (the only other headphone I've heard that retains this sense of air and openness while still having the ridiculously great bass and lower midrange is HE6).

 

[TMRaven]

I never understood the vocal vs instrumental forward backwards thing.  We do know that both vocals and the majority of instruments' sound occupy the mids?  Shouldn't the larger treble spike on the HE-400 compared to the HE-500 give the HE-400 more vocal presence, since people like to complain about it having too much sibilance?  

  Sibilance is a vocal trait, no?

 

[beatfreak]

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HE500. I have both side-to-side for the last few days just swapping between them with music and trying out different earpads, and really in the end, vocals:instruments ratio for HE400 is 1:2 maybe 1:3, while for HE500 is perfectly 1:1. That and the fact that HE500's treble doesn't have the stringency that HE400's treble has, means vocals shine through with HE500 like a glorious golden halo.
 
However HE500 doesn't have the sense of air or space that HE400 has. So for non-vocal music HE400 sounds much more lively and clear, as opposed to HE500 which sounds almost too romantic and with less energy. That's not to say HE500 is lacking though, it's just that HE400 does it so well (the only other headphone I've heard that retains this sense of air and openness while still having the ridiculously great bass and lower midrange is HE6).

Yes I am interested in trying both of those Hp's.  I think that He6's might be out of my price range considering I would more than likely have to upgrade my amp.