I'm sorry, but you probably mentioned somewhere what source you were using when testing the lcd3f vs hex. And assume you had both headphones in hand and were using the same source and also testing back to back. Not just from memory of course. You mention the hex as having a grey background? Do you mean a higher noise floor? It's a very low impedance headphone and paired with the wrong source... Well... Yea, issues can arise. High powered amps with like implementation would cause this issue with the hex. I would like to try the lcd3f with my hex and hd800 and he1000 all on my master11 to get a good impression. A local guy just picked up a pair of hd800s and the lcd4's. So those will be tested as well
that's the plan.
But the plan is to give every headphone the ideal testing platform. I know when I had my he560's that about 80% of the amps I used it with did no justice for them. Absolute crap imho... Yet they sound sublime on my m11 and a handful of other amps. I'm super picky too. What sounds excellent to one person may sound "acceptable" or "good" to me. Source is key. And sadly many Dac and amps sounds "meh"
I find the hex is somewhat picky in a different way. It does not pair well or synergize with powerful amps that are not designed for ultra sensitive headphones. It's like many iems sound like crap on most amps with higher output impedance. The noise floor is higher and as you might say ... Has "a grey background"
Personally I say the Hex has an incredibly black blackity black background.
I have a lot of high end headphones and it doesn't fall into a few of the categories you mention... At least with my gear.
I will test all these headphones on my wife's rig, an audio-gd nfb28, which, to be honest I don't think will sound bad with any of the headphones I am testing against the hex. The nfb28 is also implemented very well to scale with any headphone and plenty of headroom.
I'm totally interested to get a pair of lcd3f's and compare them now. When I read your review I see and think to myself... There must be a significant difference between the two in noise floor. I thought the hex was incredibly dark black sounding noise floor. Sounds come from no where. Even at high volumes. If it's possible to have a pair of headphones they outclass the hex as much as you experienced than the lcd3f's must put the he1000 and hd800's to shame!
The hd800's, I just got my pair yesterday...well, not impressed yet. I will do all the mods everyone claims to make them the ultimate headphones. But I only have them for reference. Hd800 sounds better on my system than other systems I've heard it on... Talk about a picky headphone! I have noticed it's rare to find an amp/Dac that scales well to any headphone/iem/speaker. A good amp will simply make everything sound it's best. I would bet less than 5% of amps can achieve this. I don't want to start naming off brands and models as I don't want to start an argument... But ask yourself if your amp can be ideal for sensitive iems, high sensitivity cans like hex, pm3 or thx00, medium sensitive cans like Audeze or ethers, or high impedance cans like hd800, and to top it all off, can your amp drive efficient speakers too?
The ragnarok can't even do all these things, but most of them. The m11 can. I don't really know of another amp that does. I would love to find one, it would be in my list of future gear.
that's the plan.
