Received the LCD-2 demo pair from Malveux today
Here are some of my initial impressions after wearing/listening for a couple of hours. The last headphone I have listened to was my HE-500 about a week ago, so I consider myself "fresh" coming into this headphone.
Aesthetics
I like the appearance of the bamboo LCD-2. Doesn't look to "retro" to me or anything. Looks good next to my amp. I think is looks better in person than the photos I have seen online.
The LCD-2 is more comfortable IMO. The earpads are made of super soft leather and are very cushiony. The earcups and headband have a nice pivot/swivel joint which allows the earcups to position themselves easily and properly for whoever is wearing them. The height adjustment has some nice grooves to lock it in place. Since the headphones are new, they are decently tight on my head. Stretching them out (which I will not be doing) would make the headphones perfectly comfortable to me. But even with this tightness, I still find them comfortable. After an hour and a half of listening, I have yet to sweat from these leather pads.
The LCD2 is slightly less "open" than the he500 in terms of letting sound in from your surrounding, but surprisingly leak sound out more so than the he500 does when turned up. However, at my normal listening levels, I can't hear the music externally when I take the headphone off.
After reading Mad Lust Envy's initial impressions of the LCD-2 during his demo (p.19), his displeasure of feeling a "pressure" similar to cabin pressure on an airplane had me afraid I would not like the feel of the LCD-2. I was expecting the headphones to feel similar to a Bose "quiet comfort" noise cancelling headphone (which I hate and cannot stand the feeling of); fortunately, I did not find this to be the case at all. I do not feel any sort of pressure. When I first put them on, the clamping for of the LCD-2 combined with somewhat closed in feeling of the open back LCD-2 kind of seemed odd at first, but it doesn't bother me at all now.
The LCD-2 headband is more comfortable than the HE-500. I have always read comments of people complaining about the HE-500 headband, but I never had a problem with it or found it discomforting in any way; however, after wearing the LCD2 I notice a comfort to its headband relative to my experience wearing the HE500. The headband is better, and I will probably be altering my he-500 headband now because of it.
Overall, the design of the LCD-2 is great. I like the look and I find it very comfortable relative to my HE-500. Aesthetically, I pretty much prefer everything about the lcd-2 over the HE-500.
Sound
My initial thought upon hearing my first song with the LCD-2: "woah, this sounds like the HE-500."
The similarity must come from the orthodynamic sound signature I suppose. Upon further listening, I found the LCD2 to sound similar the he-500, but with tighter bass and less treble.
The LCD-2 has excellent mids, and I love this bass. I do not find the bass to be too much, feel over emphasized, or have too much presence. I thought this might be the case based on some impressions I have read about this headphone. The bass is nice and tight, hits hard and deep, and is well balanced.
The LCD-2 is laid back. More so than the HE-500, or atleast this is my impression thus far.
Currently, I am feeling as though I prefer the LCD-2 over my HE-500. Maybe I do, or maybe its because I'm listening to the LCD-2 coming off of a week-long headphone drought.
I am going to do some more listening with the LCD-2 before directly comparing it with my HE-500. I will be updating with those impressions/comparisons soon.
Day 2, 3
I preferred the LCD-2 over the HE-500 with the pleather pads in every aspect.
I threw on the velours and the he500 sounded less like the lcd-2. It was more airy and soundstage ever so slightly wider, or it gave that impression atleast. The airy treble extension of the he500 makes it a really nice "change up" headphone from the lcd-2. I thought the "wider" soundstage and treble extension to make some songs (more commonly in rock, alternative) more enjoyable.
With most of the music I listen to (primarily electronic, trance, orchestral, instrumentals, occasional dubstep) I prefered the LCD-2 because it had a "closer" sound. Its sound seemed to carry more weight, sounded thicker, and more intimate as you feel closer By comparison the HE500 velour was relaxed, laid back, open and airy sounding. I consider the lcd-2 to sound "laid back"
to begin with, but it seemed more "up front" when compared to the he500.
Ultimately, I can't say that one headphone is "better" than the other. I think they are excellent compliments to each other and each would make a great second pair as a change of pace. obviously not many people can afford even one of these HPs, let alone 2, so if I had to pick one, I would take the LCD-2 as it suited my personal tastes a little bit better during these comparisons. Despite my partiality towards the lcd-2, I would be perfectly happy with the HE500. For me, the he500 is on the same plane, just a slightly different sound.
