[AgainstTheGrain]

I've been searching for weeks on a comparison of these 3 but one doesn't exist. I mainly listen to electronica, a lot of down tempo and atmospheric music, also jazz and classical and hip hop. Don't listen to rock so its not a factor which headphone is better with rock music.

I have a Schiit Asgard with a bifrost on the way. I do not want to upgrade my amps right now so I want one of these headphones to work well with that combo. Music is primarily Flac and 320kbs files from my HP laptop. I use Foobar of course.

There is a strong following for the LCD-2, it is also the cheapest but its so huge. Also I have read that the Signature Pro has better bass vs. the LCD-2. The T1 is said to be the most balanced and have the biggest soundstage which would sound awesome. I recently sold my D7000 so I would definitely want an upgrade over them. If anyone has knowledge of these headphones and how they compare to the D7000 that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance Head-fi community.

 

[mrbigsby]

Not sure any of these are summit-fi, but that aside... Based on your amp paring, previous cans, and music choices my personal opinion is to go for the signature DJ. Sure its not on your list, but it should be. If you like the Sig Pro, its basically the same, just a little more bass. the LCD2 has a great quality bass, apparently one of the best, but its quantity you will miss at first. Some learn to live with it (and call it "evolving taste"), some regret their purchase in quiet and sell them for some "unrelated" reason.  If you love bass, which it sounds like you do, you have two issues. The first one is pairing to the asgard/bifrost, which isnt hard at all, they pair easily with a lot of cans and they shine in the highs, they dont exactly add warmth to bass though like you woud expect a tube amp to. Most will recommend a Sennheiser like the HD 600 or 650 here. The second issue and far more promenant one is finding a "high end" headphone with enough bass in quantum (not quality). Most higher end kit is designed flat, for reference grade, rather than fun, which is why some people love the higher end cans.
 
Try the Signature DJ, and the Pro, and the DT990, and (even though its cheaper) the HP100 by soundmagic. Id be interested to hear what you have to say about these!

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

the LCD2 has a great quality bass, apparently one of the best, but its quantity you will miss at first. Some learn to live with it (and call it "evolving taste"), some regret their purchase in quiet and sell them for some "unrelated" reason.

LCD2 lacks in bass quantity? Would be interesting to know in reference to which phones.

 

[stacker45]

 

[mrbigsby]

I dont think LCD2 lack at all! I just don't think they have a smiley style eq sig. They are relatively flat, which is what you expect in a reference grade $1000+ headphone. As I said the bass QUALITY is punchy tight and gorgeous! Will it respond to electeonica like denons, no.

It's only one mans opinion, but if I were looking to pair that stack with a headphone for atmospheric music and hip hop, Andy reference point were denons, not sure I'd be blown away by the LCD2 bass QUANTITY. Especially with a more sterile amp and DAC.

 

[AgainstTheGrain]

I dont think LCD2 lack at all! I just don't think they have a smiley style eq sig. They are relatively flat, which is what you expect in a reference grade $1000+ headphone. As I said the bass QUALITY is punchy tight and gorgeous! Will it respond to electeonica like denons, no.

It's only one mans opinion, but if I were looking to pair that stack with a headphone for atmospheric music and hip hop, Andy reference point were denons, not sure I'd be blown away by the LCD2 bass QUANTITY. Especially with a more sterile amp and DAC.

Hmmm so you would recommend the ultrasone sound then? I did have the HD600 before and I loved them. They were bass shy though. The D7000 were bass rich. I need something more towards the middle that also compliments my components. I did own the Pro900 briefly but I returned them because they were too sibilant for me and I couldn't tolerate them. I do really want something with good sound stage and good bass.

 

[mrbigsby]

It's a bug ask to have soundstage and bass. First that comes to mind is DT990

 

[AgainstTheGrain]

It's a bug ask to have soundstage and bass. First that comes to mind is DT990

I had the dt770 back in my early audiophile days. From reviews the T1 is like a better DT990/880. So these in essense would have soundstage and bass. Ugh I'm so confused. I wish I could try all 3. Is the soundstage bad with the LCD-2 or Sig Pro?

 

[oblique63]

Quote:

Is the soundstage bad with the LCD-2 or Sig Pro?

Going from Denons to the LCD-2, yeah, the soundstage isn't the greatest. I have no idea about the Signature Pro, but Ultrasones have that S-logic thing that's supposed to improve the soundstage right? Never tried them, so I have no clue. I have heard that they compare quite favorably to the TH-900's though...

 

[AgainstTheGrain]

Going from Denons to the LCD-2, yeah, the soundstage isn't the greatest. I have no idea about the Signature Pro, but Ultrasones have that S-logic thing that's supposed to improve the soundstage right? Never tried them, so I have no clue. I have heard that they compare quite favorably to the TH-900's though...

I'm really leaning heavily towards the Signature Pros. The LCD-2's size is definitely putting me off from them. I like that the SP are portable and isolate well.. I also believe they will pair better with my current setup vs. The others.

 

[mrbigsby]

I would try sig pro, sig DJ, and DT990. The 990 is nothin like the 770 or 880, I recommend trying it before making any decisions

 

[Sorrodje]

Sig pro's soundstage is good but it is not its bigger strength IMO. Nothing comparable to good open cans ( I've two good cans for soundstage) .
 
Nevertheless Soundstage is good, deep and precise.  What I like the most with SP is that this headphone seems to immerse yourself in the music. It seems that you're sitting next to the sound engineer . I'm in love with that feeling

 

[MEDO]

I had the denon D5000 which its sound should be close to the D7000, going from denons to beyerdynamic T1 was a big step technically ( sound stage, treble, details and controlled bass ... ) but the sound of the T1 was kinda of anemic compared to the D5000, bright and stripped of any kind musicality that my D5k offered. Don't expect to be blown away be the T1, I'm saying that you can't smoke the magic out of them unless you spend more than 600$ on the amp alone, i sold them after a while and replaced them with the Audeze LCD-2 and 160$ amp\dac combo. At first the sound was VERY DARK that i took them off and relaxed for a minute or so, I'm used to the sound of beyerdynamics, Denons, Audio Technica headphones. it took me a while to get used to them and i thought the sound was kind of smooth but after the burn-in process i knew this will be the last headphones I'll ever buy. It has all the details, the musicality, the natural tone (maybe neutral), deep tight bass and that non-fatigue sound, what more could you ask for !! the sound stage is very intimate and deep but not huge like the T1 but they makes up for that by their precise imaging, actually the T1 was more precise but they sound very bright and boring compared to the fun musical sound of the Audeze.

 

[RustA]

The bass on LCD-2 rev2 is pretty much flat from the bottom to the top, measurements on innerfidelity or other sources confirms it... Mids are also pretty flat, very near to ideal. Treble is very nice - not overly bright like with the majority of headphones on the market... But, the most important thing, it's consistent! No painful peaks or harsh sound.
 
Denon D7000 have pretty unreal boomby subwooferish bass in comparison to LCD-2 rev2. Mids are definitely recessed. Not dramatically but very significantly in direct comparison. Their treble is inconsistent, thin, painful to listen with a lot of music without using crossfeed for example.
 
I find the soundstaging ability to be very nice with LCD-2 rev2 - it's not claustrophobic at all, nicely deep, wide enough for modern music or jazz (but not classical) but you still get this "coherent/solid/meaty" sound... It's an excellent phone for modern music and I've seen many excited posts about LCD-2 being very nice for jazz too. However, for classical and atmospheric music, you most probably need something with wider and more defined soundstage. T1 should be better here.
 
I haven't heard T1 so I cannot elaborate but they should be significantly brighter than LCD-2 rev2 and also significantly less forgiving to bad recordings. On LCD-2 rev2, everything (regardless quality) sounds great once you get used to the fact that you hear the bass the way it's on the recording (as I said, the bass is pretty much flat here). It's also very easy to find a suitable amp for this headphone from what I've read here. Not so easy with T1...
 
I think it will be difficult to decide for you which one to choose... I personally love LCD-2 rev2 for not being overly bright along with their very nice detail (better than on D7000) and overall sound signature. But, maybe, if you are searching for a great soundstage and more versatile performer generally, T1 may be a better choice (I've seen several people prefering T1's soundstage over HD800 by the way).

 

[Sorrodje]

Quote:

The bass on LCD-2 rev2 is pretty much flat from the bottom to the top, measurements on innerfidelity or other sources confirms it... Mids are also pretty flat, very near to ideal. Treble is very nice - not overly bright like with the majority of headphones on the market... But, the most important thing, it's consistent! No painful peaks or harsh sound.
 
...
 
I find the soundstaging ability to be very nice with LCD-2 rev2 - it's not claustrophobic at all, nicely deep, wide enough for modern music or jazz (but not classical) but you still get this "coherent/solid/meaty" sound... It's an excellent phone for modern music and I've seen many excited posts about LCD-2 being very nice for jazz too. However, for classical and atmospheric music, you most probably need something with wider and more defined soundstage. T1 should be better here.
 

 

I would have written same things about my sig pro .. funny !

 
I really should try these LCD2