LCD-X and XC Update
May 29, 2023 at 1:52 PM Post #2,477 of 2,694
Ok, I stick with adhesive pads.

Anyone trieda velour or perforated ones on XC?
This is just my personal opinion.... the LCD-x or LCD-xc have a better listening experience when they are EQ'd.... even Audese uses EQ to enhance the headphones via Roon/Reveal+ plugin and the various EQ found on the internet are options... many owners will shy away from EQ but if you are a fan of the Harmon Curve Target then you should use EQ and there is an option of using the EQ from the head-fi member Jonne Haven on this forum that shares some really nice EQ away from the Harmon Curve Target.... the point being is that the LCD-X and LCD-XC perform very very well with proper EQ adjustments.... to me pad rolling for my use would be for mainly comfort vs sound signature differences...
 
May 29, 2023 at 4:18 PM Post #2,479 of 2,694
This is just my personal opinion.... the LCD-x or LCD-xc have a better listening experience when they are EQ'd.... even Audese uses EQ to enhance the headphones via Roon/Reveal+ plugin and the various EQ found on the internet are options... many owners will shy away from EQ but if you are a fan of the Harmon Curve Target then you should use EQ and there is an option of using the EQ from the head-fi member Jonne Haven on this forum that shares some really nice EQ away from the Harmon Curve Target.... the point being is that the LCD-X and LCD-XC perform very very well with proper EQ adjustments.... to me pad rolling for my use would be for mainly comfort vs sound signature differences...
Although you are correct to say that these headphones require tuning, be it with EQ or mods, such as pad rolling.
The problem is, EQ is not a magic wand. I am not accusing you of this, but there are EQ junkies out there who have certain EQ sets pre-programmed in their DAPs, while waiting for their headphones to come through the post.
If I can tune my headphones acoustically (even partially), I do that first! as a last resort, I will EQ - but only as a last resort.
Otherwise, I could buy a £50 pair of headphones and EQ the crap out of them, to make them sound like an XC!
EQ has many pitfalls, use it sparingly.
 
May 29, 2023 at 4:27 PM Post #2,480 of 2,694
Although you are correct to say that these headphones require tuning, be it with EQ or mods, such as pad rolling.
The problem is, EQ is not a magic wand. I am not accusing you of this, but there are EQ junkies out there who have certain EQ sets pre-programmed in their DAPs, while waiting for their headphones to come through the post.
If I can tune my headphones acoustically (even partially), I do that first! as a last resort, I will EQ - but only as a last resort.
Otherwise, I could buy a £50 pair of headphones and EQ the crap out of them, to make them sound like an XC!
EQ has many pitfalls, use it sparingly.

ahahahahhhaa you could make a 50 buck headphones sound like an XC with EQ bwahahahahaha.

I cant' take you seriously.
 
May 29, 2023 at 4:42 PM Post #2,481 of 2,694
This is just my personal opinion.... the LCD-x or LCD-xc have a better listening experience when they are EQ'd.... even Audese uses EQ to enhance the headphones via Roon/Reveal+ plugin and the various EQ found on the internet are options... many owners will shy away from EQ but if you are a fan of the Harmon Curve Target then you should use EQ and there is an option of using the EQ from the head-fi member Jonne Haven on this forum that shares some really nice EQ away from the Harmon Curve Target.... the point being is that the LCD-X and LCD-XC perform very very well with proper EQ adjustments.... to me pad rolling for my use would be for mainly comfort vs sound signature differences...
Although you are correct to say that these headphones require tuning, be it with EQ or mods, such as pad rolling.
The problem is, EQ is not a magic wand. I am not accusing you of this, but there are EQ junkies out there who have certain EQ sets pre-programmed in their DAPs, while waiting for their headphones to come through the post.
If I can tune my headphones acoustically (even partially), I do that first! as a last resort, I will EQ - but only as a last resort.
Otherwise, I could buy a £50 pair of headphones and EQ the crap out of them, to make them sound like an XC!
EQ has many pitfalls, use it sparingly.
I think people need to realise that EQ is kinda like papering over the cracks.

You see when you EQ you are messing around with what the headphone driver has been designed to do, it’s not in its natural state.

In my experience the sound stage tends to collapse and the music is just not that engaging.

You just end up kinda limiting the headphones potential, personally I would rather a natural sound then a processed one but that’s just my opinion.
 
May 29, 2023 at 4:50 PM Post #2,482 of 2,694
Although you are correct to say that these headphones require tuning, be it with EQ or mods, such as pad rolling.
The problem is, EQ is not a magic wand. I am not accusing you of this, but there are EQ junkies out there who have certain EQ sets pre-programmed in their DAPs, while waiting for their headphones to come through the post.
If I can tune my headphones acoustically (even partially), I do that first! as a last resort, I will EQ - but only as a last resort.
Otherwise, I could buy a £50 pair of headphones and EQ the crap out of them, to make them sound like an XC!
EQ has many pitfalls, use it sparingly.
EQ can change the tonality, to a degree. but technicalities? This is quite a "boastful" post. And kinda useless.
 
May 29, 2023 at 5:11 PM Post #2,483 of 2,694
Although you are correct to say that these headphones require tuning, be it with EQ or mods, such as pad rolling.
The problem is, EQ is not a magic wand. I am not accusing you of this, but there are EQ junkies out there who have certain EQ sets pre-programmed in their DAPs, while waiting for their headphones to come through the post.
If I can tune my headphones acoustically (even partially), I do that first! as a last resort, I will EQ - but only as a last resort.
Otherwise, I could buy a £50 pair of headphones and EQ the crap out of them, to make them sound like an XC!
EQ has many pitfalls, use it sparingly.
Their is no way you are gonna make a £50 headphone sound like a £1000 one.

To give an example I own the LCD-X and the letshouer s12, now both of them are planars and have similar strengths such as speed and slam.

But when you listen to the LCD-X instead of the S12 you realise how much more detail is coming through and of course the resolution goes up a couple of notches.

The list could go on but in general the higher you go up the hifi ladder the more refined the sound tends to become.

I’m no engineer but my guess would be that it is due to the quality of the parts being used.
 
May 29, 2023 at 5:43 PM Post #2,484 of 2,694
Their is no way you are gonna make a £50 headphone sound like a £1000 one.
Of course you can not.
I said IF EQ was a magic wand, then .....
I got a pair of XCs. you think I would have paid £1200 for them if I could get away with £50?
 
May 29, 2023 at 5:44 PM Post #2,485 of 2,694
I have tried them off my IFI Zen Can and that combo just doesn't work for me. Just sharing for what it's worth.

Duly noted, thanks! Was there anything in particular that you didn't like?
 
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May 29, 2023 at 6:37 PM Post #2,486 of 2,694
Of course you can not.
I said IF EQ was a magic wand, then .....
I got a pair of XCs. you think I would have paid £1200 for them if I could get away with £50?

no that's not what you said

If I can tune my headphones acoustically (even partially), I do that first! as a last resort, I will EQ - but only as a last resort.
Otherwise, I could buy a £50 pair of headphones and EQ the crap out of them, to make them sound like an XC!
EQ has many pitfalls, use it sparingly.

nothing you said there said anything of the sort.

you have no idea about EQ.
 
May 29, 2023 at 6:57 PM Post #2,487 of 2,694
depends... you won't make a $50 headphone sound like a $1200 headphone... but you can with DSP EQ make a $1200 headphone sound like a room of 24 speakers that would cost you $150,000 .... modern day DSP and EQ isn't like it was in the old days... and the planar headphones love a good EQ
 
May 29, 2023 at 8:04 PM Post #2,488 of 2,694
no that's not what you said
nothing you said there said anything of the sort.
you have no idea about EQ.
Why would you lie? it is so easy to catch you.

https://www.head-fi.org/goto/post?id=17581184

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May 29, 2023 at 8:31 PM Post #2,489 of 2,694
People forget that besides distorting output and ruining particular phones "character" as intended by the manufacturer, with EQ you also pay heavy price by giving up on bit-perfect output and resorting to shared mode with OS kernel crappy resampling and volume control and all the junk audio output generated by other apps mixed into your track.
At least this is the case on PC with equalizer APO. It just amazes me that people invest such money into high end audio equipment just to feed that garbage into it.
 
May 29, 2023 at 8:58 PM Post #2,490 of 2,694
People forget that besides distorting output and ruining particular phones "character" as intended by the manufacturer, with EQ you also pay heavy price by giving up on bit-perfect output and resorting to shared mode with OS kernel crappy resampling and volume control and all the junk audio output generated by other apps mixed into your track.
At least this is the case on PC with equalizer APO. It just amazes me that people invest such money into high end audio equipment just to feed that garbage into it.
Exactly.

People need to understand that their is more to an audio system then just the headphones and amp.

Your source has quite a big impact on the performance, you want to keep the signal as clean as possible.

Their definitely needs to be more awareness of what EQ is doing to the sound.

I would imagine that quite a few people out there believe that it’s the answer to everything without actually realising that they maybe making their system sound worse.
 

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