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I would like to ask if anybody can compare the LCD-2 and the th-900. I saw a few very brief comparisons just stating the th-900 is better, and that's pretty obvious!
I like everything abt the LCD-2 but the physical weight and the slight lack of bass bloom makes electronic slightly boring. Plus, a LCD-2 plus a lyr and bitfrost is the same price as a th-900.
I'm think of running the th-900 using a budget tube amp (bravo ocean) and dacless out of a iPhone 4S.
So LCD 2 + lyr + bitfrost
Or
TH-900 plus bravo ocean?
I have the LCD 2.2 and TH900.
Cautione lector: I am not a sound engineer, nor am I conversant in the minutia of of high-end audio as are many here, so please take the following FWIW keeping that in mind.
I think the two are very different headphones in a couple of key respects. First, they are tuned-- if that's the correct word-- quite differently. The LCD 2.2 are often described as dark, and they have a prominent midrange to my ears; bass is certainly not lacking in these as far as I'm concerned, and on the other end of the spectrum I've heard the treble described as a bit "rolled off" and that seems about right to me. On the other hand, the TH900 bass seems more detailed and definitely extends deeper than the LCD 2.2 to my ears. Perhaps the graphs & etc. would say otherwise, but that's what I'm hearing. The TH900 seem less "boomy" to me in the bass and midrange, but the LCD 2.2 midrange is just... better to me for lack of another descriptor. The TH900 treble has much more sparkle to me which for me can be a good and a bad thing depending upon the recording and music type. I think the two headphones are complementary as far as tone goes.
Second, the TH900 are low impedance and thus require little in the way of amplification to function-- they sound quite good right out of my various Macs, iPhone and iPods with nothing more than a mini adaptor. This is not to say that they don'y benefit immensely from decent amplification; improvements across the spectrum are apparent to my ears out of a CLAS > RSA SR-71B, and even more improvement via PS Audio DL III or Anedio D1 > V200. I am currently waiting on a RWA Bellina HPA that I am eager to plug the TH900 into. I know RWA doesn't get a lot of love here, but I liked the sound of my RWA Corvina (balanced) a lot driving various HPs, and well, they're my ears. On the other hand, the LCD 2.2 absolutely demand decent amplification, and this is apparent event to my amateur ears. I've heard the LCD 2.2 out of the Schiit products (as well as the V181 and the Apex Peak/volcano) and they were good, but not as good as the RWA Corvina (again, my ears). The RSA SR-71B out of the balanced output does OK with the LCD 2.2.
Bottom line: if I were looking to lower my budget ceiling with just one of the two, I'd go TH900 because it can be easily driven, and you can take your time marshaling resources to buy quality amplification.
(edit for auto-spelling mishaps... aack!)