[ThanatosVI]

only question is do I buy the LCD-X 2021 or wait and see if they release a new flagship...and maybe buy that instead.

That's a purely financial question.

If they are to Release a new flagship it certainly won't cost less than 4000$

Which is 2-3x the price of a LCD-X

 

[Sense]

That's a purely financial question.

If they are to Release a new flagship it certainly won't cost less than 4000$

Which is 2-3x the price of a LCD-X

Oh I understand the cost difference, i don’t think it’s purely a financial decision. If they are changing their house sound to fix some of the issues people tend to fix themselves with EQing...that just opens up my choices...which means I might lean toward the higher end headphone.

Not to sound like everyone else who doesn’t have access to (or want to put the effort into) an EQ, but if your house sound is messed up to the point that lots of people feel they have to EQ a $1,000 to $4,000 headphone....then they really do need to rethink their house sound in my opinion.

So I might wait and see...or maybe buy the X now and once they upgrade the full line...pick up the 3 or 4.

but I’m not here to argue against or for EQing. I just want to upgrade my headphone collection from $300-$400 headphones...to $1000-$4000 headphones...slowly over time.

 

[Zubo]

Hi, I'm Stefan and new to headphones.

...

I am just being helped in the XC thread... thanks for reading

 

[FullBright1]

Oh I understand the cost difference, i don’t think it’s purely a financial decision. If they are changing their house sound to fix some of the issues people tend to fix themselves with EQing...that just opens up my choices...which means I might lean toward the higher end headphone.

Not to sound like everyone else who doesn’t have access to (or want to put the effort into) an EQ, but if your house sound is messed up to the point that lots of people feel they have to EQ a $1,000 to $4,000 headphone....then they really do need to rethink their house sound in my opinion.

So I might wait and see...or maybe buy the X now and once they upgrade the full line...pick up the 3 or 4.

but I’m not here to argue against or for EQing. I just want to upgrade my headphone collection from $300-$400 headphones...to $1000-$4000 headphones...slowly over time.

Definition of Insanity ?

A.) Having to mod or EQ a $2000 - $6000 set of headphones to get them to "sound Good"..

B.) The $4 Cables that come with the Hifiman HE1000se or the Susvara.

C.) The $2 Box that is provided with the $6000 Susvara.

 

[headchiq]

Oh I understand the cost difference, i don’t think it’s purely a financial decision. If they are changing their house sound to fix some of the issues people tend to fix themselves with EQing...that just opens up my choices...which means I might lean toward the higher end headphone.

Not to sound like everyone else who doesn’t have access to (or want to put the effort into) an EQ, but if your house sound is messed up to the point that lots of people feel they have to EQ a $1,000 to $4,000 headphone....then they really do need to rethink their house sound in my opinion.

So I might wait and see...or maybe buy the X now and once they upgrade the full line...pick up the 3 or 4.

but I’m not here to argue against or for EQing. I just want to upgrade my headphone collection from $300-$400 headphones...to $1000-$4000 headphones...slowly over time.

Probably just buy the x. They're pretty much "eq optional" according to the headphones.com guy in the newest X video.

You can always sell them when the new 3 or 4 you want come out.

I have the x, 2021 model. They are my first pair of high-end headphones so I have nothing to compare them to

 

[Sense]

Probably just buy the x. They're pretty much "eq optional" according to the headphones.com guy in the newest X video.

You can always sell them when the new 3 or 4 you want come out.

I have the x, 2021 model. They are my first pair of high-end headphones so I have nothing to compare them to

I almost pulled the trigger yesterday. I have the D90 and A90 on the way...my first mid-tier dac/amp...so I want something new to plug into them.

I might wait for the review though. I’m mostly rock music...the headphones.com guy said the recession in the upper mids/low treble may be beneficial to electric guitars...so maybe this becomes my rock/metal headphone.
Wouldn’t mind having a headphone collection geared towards different types of music.

 

[rthomas]

Definition of Insanity ?

A.) Having to mod or EQ a $2000 - $6000 set of headphones to get them to "sound Good"..

B.) The $4 Cables that come with the Hifiman HE1000se or the Susvara.

C.) The $2 Box that is provided with the $6000 Susvara.

Definition of insanity:

1. Spending thousands on amps or DACS to ''tame'' the brightness or bring out the bass of a headphone instead of dialling in a touch of EQ which is free and takes 5 minutes.
If EQ is insane Grammy award winning mastering engineer Bob Katz is insane as he EQs his Audezes and his speakers.

I wonder why audiophiles are against EQ when the people who make the music we listen to use it extensively.

A sky high headphone price tag does not guarantee a tonal balance that will be pleasing to your ears. There's nothing wrong in taking a very good headphone like the LCD4 and bringing up the upper mids to create a great headphone. There's nothing wrong in EQing down the treble of the Focal Utopia or the SR009S. I've done all this and been very happy with the results.

I bought the 2021 XC. Sounds great but the upper treble was a bit too much for my ears. Added a touch of EQ and the harshness is gone while keeping all the other great qualities.

I'm agree with your thoughts on Hifiman. The new LCDXC sounds better than the Susvara IMHO but of course that goes against Headfi's ''if it's expensive it must be summit-fi'' mantra.....

I'm willing to bet that the LCDXC costs more to manufacture than the Susvara.

 

[InvisibleInk]

I have the D90 and A90 on the way...

Unfortunate. That same headphones.com guy Andrew says the A90 is "the deadest sounding amp." He recommends the Rebel amp.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Oh I understand the cost difference, i don’t think it’s purely a financial decision. If they are changing their house sound to fix some of the issues people tend to fix themselves with EQing...that just opens up my choices...which means I might lean toward the higher end headphone.

Not to sound like everyone else who doesn’t have access to (or want to put the effort into) an EQ, but if your house sound is messed up to the point that lots of people feel they have to EQ a $1,000 to $4,000 headphone....then they really do need to rethink their house sound in my opinion.

So I might wait and see...or maybe buy the X now and once they upgrade the full line...pick up the 3 or 4.

but I’m not here to argue against or for EQing. I just want to upgrade my headphone collection from $300-$400 headphones...to $1000-$4000 headphones...slowly over time.

I personally see nothing wrong with the house Sound. I really like Audeze for their tuning and probably would like the new X the least, because it is the most neutral.

Of course there is nothing wrong with EQ (I use some EQ myself) but if someone doesn't like a headphones tuning he might just look for a different one instead of extensively changing the FR with EQ.

I'm pretty sure that most users don't use EQ at all even on their LCDs (or use it in the same way as on any other headphone, i.e a x db bass shelf or something)
Those who don't like the tuning Grab for a different pair of headphones.

Of course I don't have any empirical evidence to back up my claim.
However I am in favor of a characteristical "house sound"

 

[FYFL]

LCDX sounds good on rock/metal. I don’t think it’s a secret.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if Rebel smoked A90.

 

[headchiq]

Honestly, I think the EQ argument is silly. Everybody's ears are different, we all hear things differently, we all have different degrees of hearing loss. EQ is the way to go to make the sound work (for any headphone, or any speaker) on a personal level.

High end headphones do an amazing job to sound fantastic to all the different ways people hear.

EQ can fine tune things after the fact, and thats about it. in my opinion.

I dont think there's any factory headphone or speaker in the history or future of the planet that will be "perfect", simply because of our physiological downfalls (hearing loss, genetic makeup, etc).

For example, arguing that "XYZ" headphone has a 2db reduction in frequency at 4k and needs to be boosted using EQ, is kind of silly, because the person listening might have hearing loss at 4k of 2db, and might actually need twice the amount of gain.

Or conversely, that person might naturally hear better by 4db at 4k, and might actually need a reduction.

 

[FYFL]

I’m sure EQ can be helpful. And if you have necessary skill and knowledge and are able to finetune headphones to where you feel they will be most enjoyable??? Then great. I’m all for it.
With that being said. I don’t touch EQ. For many reasons but mainly:
-I don’t feel comfortable with the process.
-We should try to reduce processing and countless A/D/D/A conversions, not adding to it.
-It takes time. Especially for those with sizable headphone stable.
- Do I really need EQ to enjoy my music???

 

[Sense]

Unfortunate. That same headphones.com guy Andrew says the A90 is "the deadest sounding amp." He recommends the Rebel amp.

Well...to someone who doesn’t know what he means by deadest sound amp...well...would be nice if reviewers didn’t just assume everyone knows the lingo.

I don’t see a review of the D90 from him but I found no negative reviews of the D90...so I picked it up.

the Chord Qutest is on my list and so is the RME ADI-2. Eventually...for now...I don’t have a dac and I needed something.
Also...not for nothing but I don’t take all of the reviews as gospel. I like hearing people’s POV but I use to review things on YouTube and can say for sure that reviews get too cozy with the people that make what they review.

I’m still trying to learn all the mumbo jumbo people use to describe sound. I think I have the basics...but again...never heard someone call a dac “dead” and ran into someone calling timber “plastic”...which I wasn’t able to find a definition of that. Feels like it’s hard to describe sound in video form.

 

[InvisibleInk]

Well...to someone who doesn’t know what he means by deadest sound amp...well...would be nice if reviewers didn’t just assume everyone knows the lingo.

I don’t see a review of the D90 from him but I found no negative reviews of the D90...so I picked it up.

the Chord Qutest is on my list and so is the RME ADI-2. Eventually...for now...I don’t have a dac and I needed something.
Also...not for nothing but I don’t take all of the reviews as gospel. I like hearing people’s POV but I use to review things on YouTube and can say for sure that reviews get too cozy with the people that make what they review.

I’m still trying to learn all the mumbo jumbo people use to describe sound. I think I have the basics...but again...never heard someone call a dac “dead” and ran into someone calling timber “plastic”...which I wasn’t able to find a definition of that. Feels like it’s hard to describe sound in video form.

I never said anything about dead-sounding DACs

 

[dleblanc343]

I'm agree with your thoughts on Hifiman. The new LCDXC sounds better than the Susvara IMHO but of course that goes against Headfi's ''if it's expensive it must be summit-fi'' mantra.....

I'm willing to bet that the LCDXC costs more to manufacture than the Susvara.

Lol it gets crazier here day by day... but I guess personal tastes play a factor in what we like.

I just got the 2021 LCD-X and XC on backorder now 2 weeks... Been thoroughly enjoying.

That being said, it's immediately not as impressive as my HE6... and nowhere near my Susvara.

I agree that HiFiMAN has some shoddy craftsmanship, but Susvara is actually a very finely crafted and has one of the most cutting edge drivers on market.. they've come a long way since their beginnings. But they also don't offer good value/$ as they used to.