[NiGHTS4EVA]

Will agree that weight distribution is excellent, these do not feel like 600+ grams on your head. Darn my “3-D” ears

 

[paradoxper]

I can't remember the Fazors being as large on the 4 or 4Z and of course they are not on my LCD 2.1. But, if they are indeed larger, I would not mess around with them. I think Audeze pulled out all their tricks with this design before they move on. They knew people wouldn't get along with "only the Jotunheim-A" or whatever people complain about, so they just made a limited amount for the folks who really just want the penultimate LCD. This is just my conjecture though.

I still can't nail down any comparable experience - it is really "special"

It would seem using a more-filled pad would be the solution. It's ridiculous how much the pads do compress.

It frankly doesn't seem logical that Audeze will not pursue a revised design of these headphones. They simply sound too good not to.

 

[Rubin]

Are these the same as the thinner pads on the 2021 LCD-X and XC? If so, then switching to a thicker or denser pads would likely adversely affect the frequency response. Seems the thicker pads exaggerated the 4k dip.

 

[04gto]

Are these the same as the thinner pads on the 2021 LCD-X and XC? If so, then switching to a thicker or denser pads would likely adversely affect the frequency response. Seems the thicker pads exaggerated the 4k dip.

It likely was not the thickness or depth that was most affecting the sound, it was the difference in density and/or make up of the foam. Older version was like memory foam or was memory foam. New one a lot different in feel.

 

[NiGHTS4EVA]

Dekoni does have measurements for plenty of Audeze models, some sticking pretty close to stock, though not sure if the same should be expected with the Rs. One a brighter note I may have found a position for the headphones that really helps with the fazors, if I move the headband back to about where half of the strap is on my head I no longer get the “digging to my ear” feeling. They still press on my ear and leave a line from the fazors but it’s more like resting on top than any real pressure.

Update: Sadly still makes my ear look like a BBQ grill

 

[chargedcapacitor]

I got mine this morning, so far it's been within expectations with fast clean mids. Bass isn't completely void but it isn't anything special. I am starting to wonder where it's the Jot holding it back versus the headphone lacking.

All that being said, the susvara still has the better tonality in most cases, if just by a hair. I would really like to try these on a different amp to see if the Jot-A is holding them back. I would imagine it is. But for $2500, less than half the price of a USED susvara / decent amp, the LCD-R is a knockout for the value. If this is the direction Audeze is going, then Hifiman will have a bit of a race on their hands.

I just got LCD-R in yesterday, and it is very tempting to plug it into my NCore 252MP amp. The amp is rated at 180W into 2 ohms, so it should be safe. Hold my speaker taps, I'm jumping in!

Alright, I just took the plunge and tested the LCD-R out on the NCore 252MP speaker amplifier.

At first, I plugged the one driver of the cans up directly to the amp. I used my pre-amp to attenuate it to it's lowest output. I just used a set of banana plug-xlr adapters, the same I used for my susvara's.

The first thing I noticed when I turned up the volume was the static/background noise; is was almost as loud as the music! This concerned me quite a bit, so I quickly turned the output off and unplugged the LCD-R. I tested it back on the Jot-A to make sure I hadn't broke it luckily, it worked perfectly fine and no damage had been done.

After a bit of pondering, I decided to try a resistor attenuator circuit. Basically, I put one resistor in parallel with my speaker taps, and one resistor in series with the + output tap and the + can connector. I hooked everything up, slowly turned up the volume, and...

A little background to my results.

Yesterday evening I had found something that quite disappointed me on the LCD-R, something that the susvara has in abundance and is kind of a big deal to me. The susvara has a certain "snap" to it. Speed, if you will. When there's clapping in a song, or bean shakers, or electronic percussion taps, the susvara will do it's best to tickle your brain with a detailed impulse response.

For instance, on DroeLoe's "sunburn" (reimagined), the song is littered with all sort of detailed snaps and taps. The susvara really drives this sound home in a way no other headphone I've tried can.

When I played this song on the LCD-R, and A/B'd it with the susy, I was disappointed to hear that the LCD joined it's siblings in that it couldn't express the certain kinds of sounds in the same way the susvara could.

Well, all that changed when I switched amps. With the adapter and circuit I set up, the LCD-R now springs to life with the same "snap" and "speed" of the susvara.

The transformation was extremely noticable, on the very first listen. The Jot-A is seriously rounding off the transients on the LCD-R, which is quite a shame in my opinion. If audeze really wanted people to experience the LCD-R to it's potential, why didn't they just include some sort of special adapter?

Anyway, back to the sound. The overall clarity is much greater, to the point I actually now hear details on the LCD-R that I missed on the susvara. Not saying the susvara has less detail, I still have a lot more listening to do to determine that.

The bass doesn't seem to have changed too much, but it might be slightly more textured. It's going to be difficult to A/B test the amps for nuance like that. I would still put the bass on par with the susvara's, although the LCD has more overall bass presence. But one thing I don't need an AB test to know is that the Jot-A is certainly holding the LCD-R back in transients and clarity.


Ok, spill over. Let me know if you have any questions or want me to test anything out, I'll try my best to oblige!

 

[NiGHTS4EVA]

Alright, I just took the plunge and tested the LCD-R out on the NCore 252MP speaker amplifier.

At first, I plugged the one driver of the cans up directly to the amp. I used my pre-amp to attenuate it to it's lowest output. I just used a set of banana plug-xlr adapters, the same I used for my susvara's.

The first thing I noticed when I turned up the volume was the static/background noise; is was almost as loud as the music! This concerned me quite a bit, so I quickly turned the output off and unplugged the LCD-R. I tested it back on the Jot-A to make sure I hadn't broke it luckily, it worked perfectly fine and no damage had been done.

After a bit of pondering, I decided to try a resistor attenuator circuit. Basically, I put one resistor in parallel with my speaker taps, and one resistor in series with the + output tap and the + can connector. I hooked everything up, slowly turned up the volume, and...

A little background to my results.

Yesterday evening I had found something that quite disappointed me on the LCD-R, something that the susvara has in abundance and is kind of a big deal to me. The susvara has a certain "snap" to it. Speed, if you will. When there's clapping in a song, or bean shakers, or electronic percussion taps, the susvara will do it's best to tickle your brain with a detailed impulse response.

For instance, on DroeLoe's "sunburn" (reimagined), the song is littered with all sort of detailed snaps and taps. The susvara really drives this sound home in a way no other headphone I've tried can.

When I played this song on the LCD-R, and A/B'd it with the susy, I was disappointed to hear that the LCD joined it's siblings in that it couldn't express the certain kinds of sounds in the same way the susvara could.

Well, all that changed when I switched amps. With the adapter and circuit I set up, the LCD-R now springs to life with the same "snap" and "speed" of the susvara.

The transformation was extremely noticable, on the very first listen. The Jot-A is seriously rounding off the transients on the LCD-R, which is quite a shame in my opinion. If audeze really wanted people to experience the LCD-R to it's potential, why didn't they just include some sort of special adapter?

Anyway, back to the sound. The overall clarity is much greater, to the point I actually now hear details on the LCD-R that I missed on the susvara. Not saying the susvara has less detail, I still have a lot more listening to do to determine that.

The bass doesn't seem to have changed too much, but it might be slightly more textured. It's going to be difficult to A/B test the amps for nuance like that. I would still put the bass on par with the susvara's, although the LCD has more overall bass presence. But one thing I don't need an AB test to know is that the Jot-A is certainly holding the LCD-R back in transients and clarity.


Ok, spill over. Let me know if you have any questions or want me to test anything out, I'll try my best to oblige!

When you plugged it in did a blackhole form around the Jot A for your sins? But seriously glad to see people breaking the shackles and seeing what these bad boys can really do!

 

[qboogie]

When you plugged it in did a blackhole form around the Jot A for your sins? But seriously glad to see people breaking the shackles and seeing what these bad boys can really do!

1+ for Droeloe fan @chargedcapacitor

 

[sahmen]

Alright, I just took the plunge and tested the LCD-R out on the NCore 252MP speaker amplifier.

At first, I plugged the one driver of the cans up directly to the amp. I used my pre-amp to attenuate it to it's lowest output. I just used a set of banana plug-xlr adapters, the same I used for my susvara's.

The first thing I noticed when I turned up the volume was the static/background noise; is was almost as loud as the music! This concerned me quite a bit, so I quickly turned the output off and unplugged the LCD-R. I tested it back on the Jot-A to make sure I hadn't broke it luckily, it worked perfectly fine and no damage had been done.

After a bit of pondering, I decided to try a resistor attenuator circuit. Basically, I put one resistor in parallel with my speaker taps, and one resistor in series with the + output tap and the + can connector. I hooked everything up, slowly turned up the volume, and...

A little background to my results.

Yesterday evening I had found something that quite disappointed me on the LCD-R, something that the susvara has in abundance and is kind of a big deal to me. The susvara has a certain "snap" to it. Speed, if you will. When there's clapping in a song, or bean shakers, or electronic percussion taps, the susvara will do it's best to tickle your brain with a detailed impulse response.

For instance, on DroeLoe's "sunburn" (reimagined), the song is littered with all sort of detailed snaps and taps. The susvara really drives this sound home in a way no other headphone I've tried can.

When I played this song on the LCD-R, and A/B'd it with the susy, I was disappointed to hear that the LCD joined it's siblings in that it couldn't express the certain kinds of sounds in the same way the susvara could.

Well, all that changed when I switched amps. With the adapter and circuit I set up, the LCD-R now springs to life with the same "snap" and "speed" of the susvara.

The transformation was extremely noticable, on the very first listen. The Jot-A is seriously rounding off the transients on the LCD-R, which is quite a shame in my opinion. If audeze really wanted people to experience the LCD-R to it's potential, why didn't they just include some sort of special adapter?

Anyway, back to the sound. The overall clarity is much greater, to the point I actually now hear details on the LCD-R that I missed on the susvara. Not saying the susvara has less detail, I still have a lot more listening to do to determine that.

The bass doesn't seem to have changed too much, but it might be slightly more textured. It's going to be difficult to A/B test the amps for nuance like that. I would still put the bass on par with the susvara's, although the LCD has more overall bass presence. But one thing I don't need an AB test to know is that the Jot-A is certainly holding the LCD-R back in transients and clarity.


Ok, spill over. Let me know if you have any questions or want me to test anything out, I'll try my best to oblige!

Okay, I find this adventurous experimentation to be both exhilarating and concerning, because I have a nagging question which might not be too popular at this moment, but I have got to raise it. It is about--yeah you guessed right--the whole Audeze warning about voiding the warranty by experimenting with amps other than the Jot. Do you have any workaround regarding this possibility by any chance?

I ask in peace, and not for the sake of causing unnecessary trouble or being a party-p**per

 

[eskamobob1]

Okay, I find this adventurous experimentation to be both exhilarating and concerning, because I have a nagging question which might not be too popular at this moment, but I have got to raise it. It is about--yeah you guessed right--the whole Audeze warning about voiding the warranty by experimenting with amps other than the Jot. Do you have any workaround regarding this possibility by any chance?

I ask in peace, and not for the sake of causing unnecessary trouble or being a party-p**per

I have no idea if they would even know, bjt they have at least confirmed to me that they can repair out of wartenty devices at cost

 

[chargedcapacitor]

Okay, I find this adventurous experimentation to be both exhilarating and concerning, because I have a nagging question which might not be too popular at this moment, but I have got to raise it. It is about--yeah you guessed right--the whole Audeze warning about voiding the warranty by experimenting with amps other than the Jot. Do you have any workaround regarding this possibility by any chance?

I ask in peace, and not for the sake of causing unnecessary trouble or being a party-p**per

No party pooping! Haha no I have no workaround, but I understand where Audeze is coming from. A 2 ohm load will trip or fry many headphone amps, since they are usually rated for 10 ohms and up. I can see how they would not want to be held liable for a $6k woo amp.

I did my test on an Ncore amp that is rated for 4 ohm loads, but can handle 2 ohms. So I had no concern with damaging my equipment.

As for the warranty issue, I see it the same way I see manufacturers placing "void if removed" stickers. It's not enforceable, and the legal area is pretty grey. Since they only shipped 67 units, it might be pretty easy to trace down evidence of which customer it might have been who broke the rules. That doesn't matter to me, after hearing what these cans are capable of, I wont be returning them. And if the time comes where I do want to sell them, I'm sure I can find a buyer who can get past the lack of warranty (as long as they still work).

Here's a bit of my setup, I pretty much just wrapped the resistors around the banana plugs. I'll definitely be making a more permanent solution in the future!

 

[Bonddam]

Guys you can buy car audio amps. Crescendo Audio doesn't cost much Korean boards from underground American brand. Purchase inverter and battery and screw home amps. Cheaper and 2 ohm stable. It's over kill with 3000 watts rms. But $589. Class D full range. Go crazy buy nice Zapco amp for sound quality. The Zapco 250 ×2 into 2 ohm class ab. I'm just saying if you feel limited find away.

 

[chargedcapacitor]

Guys you can buy car audio amps. Crescendo Audio doesn't cost much Korean boards from underground American brand. Purchase inverter and battery and screw home amps. Cheaper and 2 ohm stable. It's over kill with 3000 watts rms. But $589. Class D full range. Go crazy buy nice Zapco amp for sound quality. The Zapco 250 ×2 into 2 ohm class ab. I'm just saying if you feel limited find away.

You wont be able to easily attenuate a 3Kw amp into it's best performing range... for the same price I would recommend the Ncore or purify amps, if you want reasonably priced and clean performing class D amps.

 

[paradoxper]

And that is why Audeze disclaims you will void the warranty by doing stupid things. LMAO

 

[NiGHTS4EVA]

Here's a bit of my setup, I pretty much just wrapped the resistors around the banana plugs. I'll definitely be making a more permanent solution in the future!

Is that a Hart Audio cable I see?