MarioD
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2015
- Posts
- 65
- Likes
- 23
Hi there,
After a few months with these headphones I've decided to throw in here a brief comparison (don't want to bore anyone with endless blabber), as i think it may help people who are wondering which one to choose, but can't audition both at the same time and with the appropriate gear.
A quick word about my system:
Source - Modded Raspberry Pi 2 with linear power supply - WAV CD-audio rips on a 64GB flash stick - Linux ALSA core and MPD
DAC - Etheraudio Dac For Music 1 (PCM58 based with military 6N1P-EV tubes and ETO4 output caps)
Amp - DIY. With custom-wound output transformers with 4ohm, 20ohm and 300ohm taps. First stage: 6N1P-EV or Tungsram E80CC with EA tube voltage stabilizers. Last stage, military GU-50 or SRS-552N. Not sure about the max output power, but this is basically a speaker amp, so it's way more than enough to force any headphone to make you bleed to death through your ears.
Power Conditioner - Etheraudio PowerFilter
Wires - both headphones have exactly the same proprietary pulled high purity silver wires that suffer from no phase distortions, no ringing, etc. Nothing like the commercial stuff you can buy. (anyway, complicated matter, so let's just say the cables are the same and good enough
I'm not going to discuss comfort, build quality and such, as I only care about the sound. In terms of sound reproduction my reference is my speaker based system, which has been developed for years and has undergone countless upgrades; and to my ears it has excellent tonal accuracy, dynamics and most of all clarity.
So how do these headphones compare to each other?
It's not a difficult task, really. LCD-X gives you a better octave to octave extension, despite a rolloff at the extreme high frequencies. It's got a lot better sound clarity. In terms of tonal balance HD800 is spot on in the mids, but it lacks upper treble extension relative to the lower treble and upper mids and hence lacks a bit of sparkle, LCD-X is very close to my reference system, but it can sound just a bit thin in the lower midrange. Base-wise LCD-X wins hands down. In terms of dynamics HD800 wins hands down. To my ears LCD-X compresses pretty hard. They seem to sound best at one particular volume level. As a dynamic headphone HD800 has got the general "punch" and "strike", which LCD-X doesn't have. It's got the swing
and compresses only when you push it hard. I'm not going to discuss soundstage, because when I try to compare to my speaker system I truly get depressed about the headphones. HD800 gives you more out-of-the-head feeling, sort of artificial spacious presentations, etc; whereas LCD-X is right into your ears. Despite this though HD800 gives me more of a mono-sound feeling, because it has less clarity than LCD-X. HD800 is a well designed headphone, but I feel the neodymium magnet lets it down. Just as any other dynamic headphone or dynamic speaker transducer i've owned - they all have an annoying and tiresome edginess to the sound, which is particularly evident in the treble. Yet HD800 is the best among all dynamic phones. Interestingly, the neo magnets seems to work well in planars. Go figure... that's beyond my knowledge. And those angled transducers... boy, oh, boy... it looks like only Stax know how to get it right.
Verdict: Both LCD-X and HD800 are great headphones (or equally bad, depending on how you look at it). (What a helpful review, huh?!)
Final note: LCD-X seems to be better suited to reproduction of modern recordings than HD800. You know, unfortunately there's only so much classical or (well recorded) instrumental music you can listen to before you get bored to death. With the new music made today I discover creativity mostly in electronic music, where dynamics hardly matter; and low profile instrumental performers, whose recordings are usually compressed to the very top. Also, if you intend to listen to music for many ours a day, LCD-X is the better choice for it's sound clarity. Sound distortion is what gives you headaches after a listening session, therefore sound clarity is of paramount importance to me personally.
Well, I hope my review was of any use to anyone out there.
After a few months with these headphones I've decided to throw in here a brief comparison (don't want to bore anyone with endless blabber), as i think it may help people who are wondering which one to choose, but can't audition both at the same time and with the appropriate gear.
A quick word about my system:
Source - Modded Raspberry Pi 2 with linear power supply - WAV CD-audio rips on a 64GB flash stick - Linux ALSA core and MPD
DAC - Etheraudio Dac For Music 1 (PCM58 based with military 6N1P-EV tubes and ETO4 output caps)
Amp - DIY. With custom-wound output transformers with 4ohm, 20ohm and 300ohm taps. First stage: 6N1P-EV or Tungsram E80CC with EA tube voltage stabilizers. Last stage, military GU-50 or SRS-552N. Not sure about the max output power, but this is basically a speaker amp, so it's way more than enough to force any headphone to make you bleed to death through your ears.
Power Conditioner - Etheraudio PowerFilter
Wires - both headphones have exactly the same proprietary pulled high purity silver wires that suffer from no phase distortions, no ringing, etc. Nothing like the commercial stuff you can buy. (anyway, complicated matter, so let's just say the cables are the same and good enough
I'm not going to discuss comfort, build quality and such, as I only care about the sound. In terms of sound reproduction my reference is my speaker based system, which has been developed for years and has undergone countless upgrades; and to my ears it has excellent tonal accuracy, dynamics and most of all clarity.
So how do these headphones compare to each other?
It's not a difficult task, really. LCD-X gives you a better octave to octave extension, despite a rolloff at the extreme high frequencies. It's got a lot better sound clarity. In terms of tonal balance HD800 is spot on in the mids, but it lacks upper treble extension relative to the lower treble and upper mids and hence lacks a bit of sparkle, LCD-X is very close to my reference system, but it can sound just a bit thin in the lower midrange. Base-wise LCD-X wins hands down. In terms of dynamics HD800 wins hands down. To my ears LCD-X compresses pretty hard. They seem to sound best at one particular volume level. As a dynamic headphone HD800 has got the general "punch" and "strike", which LCD-X doesn't have. It's got the swing
and compresses only when you push it hard. I'm not going to discuss soundstage, because when I try to compare to my speaker system I truly get depressed about the headphones. HD800 gives you more out-of-the-head feeling, sort of artificial spacious presentations, etc; whereas LCD-X is right into your ears. Despite this though HD800 gives me more of a mono-sound feeling, because it has less clarity than LCD-X. HD800 is a well designed headphone, but I feel the neodymium magnet lets it down. Just as any other dynamic headphone or dynamic speaker transducer i've owned - they all have an annoying and tiresome edginess to the sound, which is particularly evident in the treble. Yet HD800 is the best among all dynamic phones. Interestingly, the neo magnets seems to work well in planars. Go figure... that's beyond my knowledge. And those angled transducers... boy, oh, boy... it looks like only Stax know how to get it right.
Verdict: Both LCD-X and HD800 are great headphones (or equally bad, depending on how you look at it). (What a helpful review, huh?!)
Final note: LCD-X seems to be better suited to reproduction of modern recordings than HD800. You know, unfortunately there's only so much classical or (well recorded) instrumental music you can listen to before you get bored to death. With the new music made today I discover creativity mostly in electronic music, where dynamics hardly matter; and low profile instrumental performers, whose recordings are usually compressed to the very top. Also, if you intend to listen to music for many ours a day, LCD-X is the better choice for it's sound clarity. Sound distortion is what gives you headaches after a listening session, therefore sound clarity is of paramount importance to me personally.
Well, I hope my review was of any use to anyone out there.