[MayUseAny]

Hey!

I am new here, sorry if this is a wrong place to post this.

I got LCD-5 recently, I tried listening to them with Topping D90+A90, Mscaller+Dave, Bottlehead Crack. Compared them to Utopias and HD650 and I have to say they are very clear sounding but umh, cause some sort of listening fatigue. Compared to both Utopias and HD650 they make your ears tense and give certain unpleasurable sounds signature.

Interestingly enough switching to DSD mode on Dave helps a lot, but still they are a bit too sharp..

Is it just me, or they are less impressive than most reviewers said they are? Whats your latest impressions?

 

[SilverEars]

That is odd reading that. I never associate sharp sounding and fatigue with Audeze stuff. What is even more odd is that you compare next to Utopia. Which is known to sound very sharp and can get fatiguing for some people.

Bottlehead Crack is terrible for planars. Dave is rediculously overpriced for either amping or DAC (or both). Toppings are pretty underwhelming for what you get as well.

650 would obviously sound awsome on Crack, but shouldn't compare planars on a Crack.

I generally associate Audeze with dulled out upper-mids that causes fuzziness in the mids. Most Audeze, not all.

 

[chesebert]

Hey!

I am new here, sorry if this is a wrong place to post this.

I got LCD-5 recently, I tried listening to them with Topping D90+A90, Mscaller+Dave, Bottlehead Crack. Compared them to Utopias and HD650 and I have to say they are very clear sounding but umh, cause some sort of listening fatigue. Compared to both Utopias and HD650 they make your ears tense and give certain unpleasurable sounds signature.

Interestingly enough switching to DSD mode on Dave helps a lot, but still they are a bit too sharp..

Is it just me, or they are less impressive than most reviewers said they are? Whats your latest impressions?

Wrong electronics, if I were to guess. You are trying to drive big planar with wimpy amps no wonder things didn’t end well.

 

[MayUseAny]

Fair enough!

I am getting back into this hobby after a while and I am waiting for a riviera aic10-bal I have ordered. I hope this will change things, I want to love the LCD-5, but it just doesn’t sound right. I do hope its the amps.

However the shop owner who sold me riviera aic10-bal said that he is very disapointed with LCD-5 and recommends Diana TC.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

That is odd reading that. I never associate sharp sounding and fatigue with Audeze stuff. What is even more odd is that you compare next to Utopia. Which is known to sound very sharp and can get fatiguing for some people.

Bottlehead Crack is terrible for planars. Dave is rediculously overpriced for either amping or DAC (or both). Toppings are pretty underwhelming for what you get as well.

650 would obviously sound awsome on Crack, but shouldn't compare planars on a Crack.

I generally associate Audeze with dulled out upper-mids that causes fuzziness in the mids. Most Audeze, not all.

Well then you are definitely not up to speed on the LCD 5. It has no resemblance to the older Audeze house sound. It is tuned with elevated upper mids and less bass punch than previous models. A lot of people say it needs EQ, and can be quite fatiguing without it.

 

[nieveulv]

Wrong electronics, if I were to guess. You are trying to drive big planar with wimpy amps no wonder things didn’t end well.

the d90/a90 with 7600mw power is wimpy

was looking at the lcd-5, and zeos of z reviews said the same thing of the lcd-5
lcd-5 z reviews

its pretty flawed if it needs a power plant(more than 7600mw of balanced power) or eq to actually sound any good for $4500....

 

[MayUseAny]

I just don’t get why there is that fatigue feeling. It bothers me. What EQ would you recommend? I feel dirty even thinking about EQing but I might as well need to try it…

 

[chesebert]

the d90/a90 with 7600mw power is wimpy

was looking at the lcd-5, and zeos of z reviews said the same thing of the lcd-5
lcd-5 z reviews

its pretty flawed if it needs a power plant(more than 7600mw of balanced power) or eq to actually sound any good for $4500....

Topping is current limited. “Watt” spec alone is misleading.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Topping is current limited. “Watt” spec alone is misleading.

A90 produce 7,6 watt at 16 ohm. LCD-5 is 15 ohm. There is no current limited issue here. If you don't like the pairing, simply the sound is not your preference. Don't blame current/voltage/watt.

Oh, and actually Dave produce 2.8 watt at 15 ohm, which is way more than enough for LCD-5. Again, if you don't like the pairing, don't blame the power requirement.

 

[SilverEars]

Wow, I had no idea it was only 15 ohms. I think the lowest Hifiman I've heard of is 25 ohms?

Anyway, for such l low impedance headphone go with solid-state of low output impedance. Better off avoiding tubes unless you know which ones can output a lot of power.

 

[nieveulv]

A90 produce 7,6 watt at 16 ohm. LCD-5 is 15 ohm. There is no current limited issue here. If you don't like the pairing, simply the sound is not your preference. Don't blame current/voltage/watt.

Oh, and actually Dave produce 2.8 watt at 15 ohm, which is way more than enough for LCD-5. Again, if you don't like the pairing, don't blame the power requirement.

exactly....

 

[chesebert]

A90 produce 7,6 watt at 16 ohm. LCD-5 is 15 ohm. There is no current limited issue here. If you don't like the pairing, simply the sound is not your preference. Don't blame current/voltage/watt.

Oh, and actually Dave produce 2.8 watt at 15 ohm, which is way more than enough for LCD-5. Again, if you don't like the pairing, don't blame the power requirement.

Don’t think you know ohms law.

 

[Toad_of_Toad_Hall]

Hey!

I am new here, sorry if this is a wrong place to post this.

I got LCD-5 recently, I tried listening to them with Topping D90+A90, Mscaller+Dave, Bottlehead Crack. Compared them to Utopias and HD650 and I have to say they are very clear sounding but umh, cause some sort of listening fatigue. Compared to both Utopias and HD650 they make your ears tense and give certain unpleasurable sounds signature.

Interestingly enough switching to DSD mode on Dave helps a lot, but still they are a bit too sharp..

Is it just me, or they are less impressive than most reviewers said they are? Whats your latest impressions?

Feel free to send them to me for testing LOL!

 

[kumar402]

Fair enough!

I am getting back into this hobby after a while and I am waiting for a riviera aic10-bal I have ordered. I hope this will change things, I want to love the LCD-5, but it just doesn’t sound right. I do hope its the amps.

However the shop owner who sold me riviera aic10-bal said that he is very disapointed with LCD-5 and recommends Diana TC.

I haven’t heard it but may be pushed up upper mids is causing fatigue for you. I for one dislike a pushed upper mids And no electronics is gonna fix that for you Unless you EQ Or you can try some DAC/Amp combo that pulls back that hot upper mids but I would rather get a better headphone.

 

[Volote]

I run my LCD-5 off of my TT2 as well as my iFi zen stack (depending what room I’m in). I have zero issues currently and did experience some light fatigue but no longer.
As everyone says, different strokes different folks and something about miles