[kothganesh]

Quote:

Lol, no. I'm just happy. I was really scared the vegan pads would harm the SQ. It sounds just like I remember the other ones sounding, in fact it might sound more open, with no loss of bass. Still, since I can't directly A/B I can't be sure. All I know is that the bass and mids are sublime. Endgame music headphone, indeed.

I can't get over that bass. Like, holy smokes.

Just looked at all the graphs... they all have a steeper roll off after 1khz. Mine measured LCD2 is actually more tonally balanced/flat than Headroom, Tyll, and some of Purrin's graphs. I have to trust my ears in saying they do sound not as rolled off as the other leather padded pair in terms of sparkle. My LCD2's 10khz is almost perfectly level with the bass/mids, yet, the bass hits just as hard.

MLE,
thanks for helping me making up my mind. Vegan it is.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Its worth it. The only thing worth noting is that it's not as warm/smooth as the leather padded ones, so it actually sounds cleaner and faster. Congestion is something im not hearing here, which I heard with the leather.

 

[gopanthersgo1]

What mods are there for the HE400s? I want to do the Grill mod, headband mod, Jergpad mod, and possibly a repaint, are there any others I could try? I also want to do a recable... Stock is too thick and ugly, I'll probably use a mini-XLR to hifiman adapter (So it will work with LCD2s which are in my future), and make it balanced... Opinions?

 

[Okamoto]

Just got a custom(DIY) Bravo amp from a fellow here in Brazil for testing.
 
 
It's my first experience with tube amps. Any tubes suggestions?

 

[Faithless]

Quote:

Just got a custom(DIY) Bravo amp from a fellow here in Brazil for testing.
 
 
It's my first experience with tube amps. Any tubes suggestions?

 
Hi Okamoto...
 
I'm from Brazil.
And have/has manny Bravos.
Include heavy moded ones.
 
Check wicht version is yours.
V1 uses EH 6922 tubes.
V2 uses chinese 12AU7.
 
I can help you with tubes.
Just send me a e-mail (check your MPs).
 

JC.

 

[gopanthersgo1]

Is the Bravo a great amp? How could I DIY one, or at least what are some heavy mods to make it worth the $100?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Jerg, you might be interested in this...

Vegan vs Leather LCD2 first day impression. After having spent the day with them, here are the differences from memory between the leather vs vegan as I hear it.

To my ears, bass in all manner of ways sounds the same to me, albeit with more speed now.

Mids are also the same.

The differences lie in the tonality and treble, which more than likely go hand in hand.

The vegan pads sounds more neutral, compared to the leather which sounds warmer. The treble is better integrated into the sound, with less congestion, and more air. The soundstage is also improved. It no longer sounds like a wall keeps sound cues from reaching further out.

That all sounds like vegan is better than leather, but the tradeoff is that the LCD2 isn't as warm as I remember, nor as velvety. I mean, it is still warm and rich, but not AS much. It's more tonally accurate.

While I compared the leather LCD2 to my K702 Anniversary, it was no question that the LCD2 was very thick, warm and congested in direct comparison. Much warmer. Now with the vegan pads, it shares a similar warmth and smoothness, that comes closer to true balance on a warm side, than a heavy tip towards warmth. The vegan LCD2 is still an LCD2, but that extra treble energy at 10khz basically fixed the treble roll off, which is a double edged sword to me. It makes the LCD2 technically better overall, but slightly takes away from that chocolatey goodness you get from leather LCD2 pads.

I would almost consider this a Hifiman-infused LCD2.

I wanna state that it's a subtle difference. You can expect warmth, incredible depth and texture in bass, stellar mids. But now, you can also expect a very agreeable amount of treble as well. If you want super smooth treble, go with leather. If you want a hint of sparkle, vegan is the way to go.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Jerg, you might be interested in this...

Vegan vs Leather LCD2 first day impression. After having spent the day with them, here are the differences from memory between the leather vs vegan as I hear it.

To my ears, bass in all manner of ways sounds the same to me, albeit with more speed now.

Mids are also the same.

The differences lie in the tonality and treble, which more than likely go hand in hand.

The vegan pads sounds more neutral, compared to the leather which sounds warmer. The treble is better integrated into the sound, with less congestion, and more air. The soundstage is also improved. It no longer sounds like a wall keeps sound cues from reaching further out.

That all sounds like vegan is better than leather, but the tradeoff is that the LCD2 isn't as warm as I remember, nor as velvety. I mean, it is still warm and rich, but not AS much. It's more tonally accurate.

While I compared the leather LCD2 to my K702 Anniversary, it was no question that the LCD2 was very thick, warm and congested in direct comparison. Much warmer. Now with the vegan pads, it shares a similar warmth and smoothness, that comes closer to true balance on a warm side, than a heavy tip towards warmth. The vegan LCD2 is still an LCD2, but that extra treble energy at 10khz basically fixed the treble roll off, which is a double edged sword to me. It makes the LCD2 technically better overall, but slightly takes away from that chocolatey goodness you get from leather LCD2 pads.

I would almost consider this a Hifiman-infused LCD2.

I wanna state that it's a subtle difference. You can expect warmth, incredible depth and texture in bass, stellar mids. But now, you can also expect a very agreeable amount of treble as well. If you want super smooth treble, go with leather. If you want a hint of sparkle, vegan is the way to go.

That is typically the effect of fabric-covered earpads vs leather/pleathers, you get significantly more chamber damping, in effect making treble/upper mids jump out more because the lower end gets less thick. (In the case of Hifiman pads, IMO it was a bit too well-damped with velours, making lower end too thin and upper end too energetic to be enjoyable for me)
 
The real question is the magnitude of difference, not that there is a difference (there undoubtedly is). The basis of the LCD2 sound is still its drivers, pad-fi can only change so much.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

It's still very much the same as I remember, just a slight tonality change towards more neutrality as opposed to a LOT of warmth. It's still quite warm and thick sounding. The vegan is undoubtedly more suited for those who thought the LCD2 lacked in treble, air, and energy. It's ultimately not gonna be a dealbreaker either way, but people can gauge what suits them more. Definitely not as much as say, the difference between the K702 Anniversary pads vs the non-Annie pads, which have a considerably larger difference than the LCD2's pads, IMHO. Those change bass, tonality, AND treble.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

It's still very much the same as I remember, just a slight tonality change towards more neutrality as opposed to a LOT of warmth. It's still quite warm and thick sounding. The vegan is undoubtedly more suited for those who thought the LCD2 lacked in treble, air, and energy. It's ultimately not gonna be a dealbreaker either way, but people can gauge what suits them more.

 
Funny thing is the current revision of LCD2 does not quite lack treble or upper end energy with leathers IMO, I A/B'd it back when I had the pre-sibilance r2 HE400s, and LCD2s actually had more upper end bite than the HE400s (may it rest in peace). It however did lack in air and dynamics big time, more-so than any other high end headphones we tested. It's good that just switching to the suede pads helps attenuate that issue, but there is no way to tell by how much if vegan-LCD2 owners don't gauge the change against some reference point.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yeah, gonna be hard to see people being able to compare vegan vs leather. I was fortunate enough to demo them. Swapping pads seems like a chore on the LCD2, so it's more of a commitment. If it were easy and quick, I may have ordered some leather pads to keep around for winter time. I really did enjoy all that overly warm goodness, but like you, I didn't find them to be 'lacking' in treble. Just like the HD650 to me. That says a lot, for a guy who loves the DT990 and HE-400 with their emphasized treble peaks.

It's crazy how the graphs of today's LCD2 differs from the older LCD2s. Even the rev 2's were quite rolled off by the looks of every graph I've seen other than Purrin's.



I wonder how accurate my graph is here. I could swear the leather LCD2 demo I had, had a roll off at 10khz (in it's graph), in comparison to here where it's almost up to the bass/mids.

 

[Fearless1]

Quote:

It's still very much the same as I remember, just a slight tonality change towards more neutrality as opposed to a LOT of warmth. It's still quite warm and thick sounding. The vegan is undoubtedly more suited for those who thought the LCD2 lacked in treble, air, and energy. It's ultimately not gonna be a dealbreaker either way, but people can gauge what suits them more. Definitely not as much as say, the difference between the K702 Anniversary pads vs the non-Annie pads, which have a considerably larger difference than the LCD2's pads, IMHO. Those change bass, tonality, AND treble.

I thought that pad swaps were all Hyperbole? at least you said that a month ago.....

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I said that people needed to be careful with over exaggerating differences, not that pads didn't make a difference. Like when people went from pleather to velour, and everyone jumped that bandwagon, then someonme said pleather sounded better, and everyone jumped BACK to pleather, then J$, then jergpads. People can't make up their minds and follow everyone else. Not saying jerg's pads aren't legit. He has proof. I was just tired of the bandwagon mentality here, is all. I wasn't interested in anything other than velour, and jerg's latest pads which have a velour top.

In the case of the vegan vs leather for the LCD2, differences are ultimately subtle, and I can't say one is truly superior to the other. Both have their pros and cons. It's not a magical fix.

 

[InCreD1Ble]

Do you guys use any equalizer settings/dolby emulators, or any dsp's at all for these phones? The treble sounds a bit too aggressive/bright to me. Anyone has any solutions? I'm using foobar2000 btw.

 

[Fearless1]

Quote:

I said that people needed to be careful with over exaggerating differences, not that pads didn't make a difference. Like when people went from pleather to velour, and everyone jumped that bandwagon, then someonme said pleather sounded better, and everyone jumped BACK to pleather, then J$, then jergpads. People can't make up their minds and follow everyone else. Not saying jerg's pads aren't legit. He has proof. I was just tired of the bandwagon mentality here, is all. I wasn't interested in anything other than velour, and jerg's latest pads which have a velour top.

In the case of the vegan vs leather for the LCD2, differences are ultimately subtle, and I can't say one is truly superior to the other. Both have their pros and cons. It's not a magical fix.

I was just messing around with you.  I find the leather pads on my Lcd's comfortable, but if the vegans do retain the sound signature I may try them. I just hate to waste 80 bucks and not like them.