Introduction and Request of Assistance

[Makiah S]

ewww I want one, how does the LCD XC compare to the HE 400 q.q bass wise 

 

[Naugrim]

  ewww I want one, how does the LCD XC compare to the HE 400 q.q bass wise 

Well it just so happens I have them both right here.  Off the top of my head - the XC has the kind of base that just oozes through your head - it's not punchy (which is how i experienced the Fostex TH1900s) but it just lays there mellow and makes it's presence known.  I'm gonna listen to the Song Isaac, by Bear's Den on both and tell you what I think. One minute.

 

[warrenpchi]

 

   
Ohhh, okay.  Mine came with bass! 

  It's all good.

 
I don't know you well enough to say for sure, but I think you're pulling my chain...yeah....I'm pretty sure you're pulling my chain.  No worries..I'm sitting here dreaming of a new DAC and Power supply.

 

  Lol, that's me.  I'm a chain puller.  I pull chains.  You'll get used to it, it's part of my charm. 
 

 

  If you do decide to buy it, please ask him to remove the foam insert that typically sits between the cups.  That thing pushes against the driver in both cups and is STUPID as it could damage the drivers!

 
So how do I remove the foam?  
 
And I have a bit of a problem in that my big ears are actually touching the plastic grill inside the headphones.  Wonder if there is a mod to deal with this.  I had a problem with the Mad Dog Pros because of my ear size too.  And I don't have especially great hearing or the ability to fly - which kinda sucks.

 
If you don't see it, it's probably already gone.  It's just a hard piece of foam that is initially included to keep the two cups apart.  As for the ear touching the grills thing... unfortunately I don't have a solution for that. 

 

[Naugrim]

OK, so I just listened to both of them on the first 10 seconds of the song Isaac (which you should check out).  It has this great acoustic bass that comes in after a few frames.
 
I'd say that the bass feels more forward in the HE-400's - it's more dominant.  In the XC's it feels more natural in the song - but it literally makes my heart beat faster because it is so pure.  It is just more pleasurable - it goes through my head with no resistance.  Subtle is a way you could describe it - but in a way that make my jaw drop.  It's just perfect. Also, I feel like the base in the HE-400s covers more spectrum, if thats how you say it, where the XC has it as just one part of the whole - so you can still hear everything else.  Gah, I do not yet have the vocabulary to describe what I'm hearing.  I still found the HE0400s fun and amazing - for a second I wondered if I had just made a huge $1300 dollar mistake..but then I went back and I could really tell the difference.  
 
I'll tell you what though - I don't know what I'm going to do about the fact that i can now tell the difference between Spotify and lossless.  And regular MP3's just suck.  My MacBook Pro doesn't have a CD reader either.  I downloaded Skyfall on that HD tracks service and then played it on Spotify and could easily tell the difference. 

 

[Makiah S]

  OK, so I just listened to both of them on the first 10 seconds of the song Isaac (which you should check out).  It has this great acoustic bass that comes in after a few frames.
 
I'd say that the bass feels more forward in the HE-400's - it's more dominant.  In the XC's it feels more natural in the song - but it literally makes my heart beat faster because it is so pure.  It is just more pleasurable - it goes through my head with no resistance.  Subtle is a way you could describe it - but in a way that make my jaw drop.  It's just perfect. Also, I feel like the base in the HE-400s covers more spectrum, if thats how you say it, where the XC has it as just one part of the whole - so you can still hear everything else.  Gah, I do not yet have the vocabulary to describe what I'm hearing.  I still found the HE0400s fun and amazing - for a second I wondered if I had just made a huge $1300 dollar mistake..but then I went back and I could really tell the difference.  
 
I'll tell you what though - I don't know what I'm going to do about the fact that i can now tell the difference between Spotify and lossless.  And regular MP3's just suck.  My MacBook Pro doesn't have a CD reader either.  I downloaded Skyfall on that HD tracks service and then played it on Spotify and could easily tell the difference. 

yea good cans eat mp3s and spit em out literally, and Hmmm... I wish I could hear the LCD XC and compare it to my HE 4, although I'd imagine if anything the LCD XC has to be tighter than my old LA MD D2k 

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I'm sharing a living room with my wife pretty much all the time I'm home, so an open back doesn't work for either of us.  She was watching TV wearing the Bose (wirelessly) the HE-400's were driving her bonkers through all of it - which drove me bonkers because I was really wanting to listen to them.  In fact, that's kinda the point.  So, this seems like the ultimate solution.  I feel bad that I'm not getting the quality of the LCD -3's - but hopefully I won't notice because I don't have them sitting here to compare them to.  And everything I read says there amazing (and I listened to them and agreed).  Plus, they're just purty.
 
And yes, I agree with the face palm..but I'm not complaining!  Only thing I don't know is if they are lambskin or not.  I'll post pics when I get home tonight..leaving in 15 minutes to go get them.
 
And as for music to listen to, I downloaded an HD version of Skyfall - which seems pretty dynamic.  Love that song!

 
Whenever a fancy audiophile with a large collection mentions using a headphone around the wife, it's usually the LCD-XC. I don't have a large collection, the LCD-XC, or a wife. Sucks for me, huh?
 
Although the LCD-3 remains Audeze's flagship, personal preference also remains the primary factor. Plenty of people like the LCD-X, LCD-XC, and even LCD-2 more. Plus, there are different versions of the first and last one. The LCD-3 used to sound much more lush and sweet; now, with the new Fazor technology, it's a bit closer to neutral, though not as much as the LCD-X.
 

  Well it just so happens I have them both right here.  Off the top of my head - the XC has the kind of base that just oozes through your head - it's not punchy (which is how i experienced the Fostex TH1900s) but it just lays there mellow and makes it's presence known.  I'm gonna listen to the Song Isaac, by Bear's Den on both and tell you what I think. One minute.

 
You're still saying base instead of bass! Bad habit, man...
 
If I knew that type of audiophile sound and mellow bass was what you wanted, I could have recommended the LCD-XC over the TH-900 to you off the bat.
 

  OK, so I just listened to both of them on the first 10 seconds of the song Isaac (which you should check out).  It has this great acoustic bass that comes in after a few frames.
 
I'd say that the bass feels more forward in the HE-400's - it's more dominant.  In the XC's it feels more natural in the song - but it literally makes my heart beat faster because it is so pure.  It is just more pleasurable - it goes through my head with no resistance.  Subtle is a way you could describe it - but in a way that make my jaw drop.  It's just perfect. Also, I feel like the base in the HE-400s covers more spectrum, if thats how you say it, where the XC has it as just one part of the whole - so you can still hear everything else.  Gah, I do not yet have the vocabulary to describe what I'm hearing.  I still found the HE0400s fun and amazing - for a second I wondered if I had just made a huge $1300 dollar mistake..but then I went back and I could really tell the difference.  
 
I'll tell you what though - I don't know what I'm going to do about the fact that i can now tell the difference between Spotify and lossless.  And regular MP3's just suck.  My MacBook Pro doesn't have a CD reader either.  I downloaded Skyfall on that HD tracks service and then played it on Spotify and could easily tell the difference. 

 
Wait until you hear the bass on the Abyss. Even people who hate the headphone admit it has the highest quality bass ever.
 
Finally! You can hear the difference between lossy and lossless. Told yaaa. =P

 

[Music Alchemist]

  yea good cans eat mp3s and spit em out literally, and Hmmm... I wish I could hear the LCD XC and compare it to my HE 4, although I'd imagine if anything the LCD XC has to be tighter than my old LA MD D2k 

 
It also depends on the headphone's sound signature. Neutral, analytical models like the HD 800 can really make a bad recording or low resolution file sound horrible; but many of the best headphones that aren't so analytical can bring the best out of even MP3s.
 
...before I post this, you have precisely 10,000 more posts than me!

 

[dudeskis]

In my work I travel over a 3 state area and there are stores that sell used CDs at very low costs(No surprise to most). Pawn shops can also be a source of used CDs at even cheaper prices. Once brought home and ripped to FLAC they sound great on my monitors. To save cash you may enjoy doing this. I'll admit that albeit time consuming I find flipping through the albums that still contain the cover sleeves and artwork quite satisfying.

 

[Naugrim]

Sounds fun! I imagine eBay might be a good source as well.

 

[Makiah S]

In my work I travel over a 3 state area and there are stores that sell used CDs at very low costs(No surprise to most). Pawn shops can also be a source of used CDs at even cheaper prices. Once brought home and ripped to FLAC they sound great on my monitors. To save cash you may enjoy doing this. I'll admit that albeit time consuming I find flipping through the albums that still contain the cover sleeves and artwork quite satisfying.

I agree hunting for cd's is a rather funny hobby 

 

[Music Alchemist]

In my work I travel over a 3 state area and there are stores that sell used CDs at very low costs(No surprise to most). Pawn shops can also be a source of used CDs at even cheaper prices. Once brought home and ripped to FLAC they sound great on my monitors. To save cash you may enjoy doing this. I'll admit that albeit time consuming I find flipping through the albums that still contain the cover sleeves and artwork quite satisfying.

 

Sounds fun! I imagine eBay might be a good source as well.

 

  I agree hunting for cd's is a rather funny hobby 

 
I used to collect a lot of rare music. Add Discogs, Amazon, and directly from record labels to your list of sources for deals.

 

[Naugrim]

All right. So, I'm done.  For now anyway.
 
Since you have all been through most of my little journey the last few weeks - I figure I'd give you a visual of what it looked like (coming mostly through my Amazon orders view).
 
It all started out with wanting to get some new computer speakers - I was sick of my huge 5.1 system with a sub that would rattle my neighbors apartments.  So I picked up these:
 

Audioengine A2+ AND
 

an Audioengine D1 DAC (mostly for the volume knob)
 
Unhappy with the A2+'s, despite general internet approval, I returned the A2+'s and ordered these:
 

Audioengine A5+'s 
 
They were better - but I had one small problem - at $400 they couldn't compare to these
 

JBL LSR305 (x2) - at $250
 
So I returned the A5+'s and these were my new speakers - and I loved them!  Only problem was, my wife wasn't so enthused.
 
So, it was time to get some headphones.  After a few hours searching online I came up with these bad boys:
 

Phillips L1/28 Fidelios 
 
I bought them because they looked so pretty!  But they sounded kinda..blah
 
Which is when I found you guys and asked for advice.  After talking it over with you and reading more on this site, I got rid of the Auidoengine D1 DAC and got an
 
 and 
 
Schiit Asgard 2       Behringer UCA202 DAC
 
I also got a few headphones to try out
 
 
AKG K712Pro  & HiFiMAN HE-400
 
Loved the HE-400's, returned the K712Pro's - I just liked the planars.
 
After much complaining by the wife that she could "hear my music even when she had her Bose headphones on" I decided to find some closed headphones.
 

MrSpeakers Mad Dogs
 
Which I liked well enough to eventually upgrade them to the 
 

MrSpeakers Mad Dog Pros
 
And all was well and good.  Except I had gone to the CanMania event and listened to the Audeze's and other high end headphone.  
 
Upon returning, I managed to talk my wife into letting me get anything I wanted (TM).  And as you know, I found these on craigslist for a cool $1300
 

               Audeze LDC-XC
 
And all was good..except I couldn't have a cheesy little DAC - so I ordered this:
 

 Schiit Modi
 
Which was nice and all - but somebody said something to the effect that I wasn't hearing all I could with my headphones with the Modi ... so I just this eveinng received
 

Schiit Bifrost
 
 
and I think I'm done!  Beautiful sound is emanating right now and all is good in the world.  Maybe one day I'll save up and get this:

 
                  Cavali Liquid Glass AMP
 
and possibly a more mobile headphones like the
 

           Fostex TH900's
 
or an open backed one
 
 
      HiFiMan HE400i
 
 
 
Thanks for joining me on this journey!  Here's a picture of my setup as of this evening....
 

 

[warrenpchi]

Wow... welcome to Head-Fi. 

  Sorry about your wallet. 

 

[Naugrim]

That needs to be a thing... The thing.

 

[warrenpchi]

The "sorry about your wallet" thing you mean?