[inertianinja]

I had about 6 hours of listening to my new LCD-XC today out of an iFi iDSD BL.

Liking it very much so far.
Sound has been great with most genres, it feels neutral.
I like the bass of this, but it highlights how "sweetened" the TH900's bass is.
I didn't like the sound with the iFi's bass boost enabled, but I really never like bass boost on amps. the 3D Audio did work well, though.
Isolation is very good (working from home, wife and 3-year-old home with me today, window open in NYC).
It made me realize that I found the HD820 "fatiguing" because I was cranking the volume up to compensate for the dip in its midrange.
It does sound more "closed" than the HD820, but that's fine.
The weight of this headphone is unfortunate, that's really the only complaint I had today.

Makes me wonder if @Audeze could do something with 3D printed metal (i.e. hollow titanium) or more carbon fiber without sacrificing the sound.

 

[bust3r]

Got the LCD-X's in earlier today but haven't had a chance to test them. I'm hoping to get to them in a little bit. I have APO and PEACE installed as well. Is this EQ specifically for these headphones? I tried the EQ out earlier with the HD650's for a min, but didn't seem to hear any real difference using the EQ, no matter the frequency. It was def on and enabled.

I got a chance to listen to them for a little bit thru the Nu audio with the Burson OPAMP/Atom amp combo (ASIO+Foobar2k) and the first impression is that its very detailed in the high end, midrangy, but thin in the low end, and i'm guessing its due to my setup. I think the atom is underpowered and have a Schiit magni 3+ due tomorrow. Its quite a bit more powerful than the atom and I should have gotten that in the first place.

Have you guys heard of running a white noise to break in headphones?

 

[TheRH]

Is there a way to cushion the headband?

 

[Vzyenyx]

Is there a way to cushion the headband?

dekoni nuggets or zmf pilot pad maybe? could also get one of those headband wraps that people like to use on focal headphones on amazon

 

[iFi audio]

I had about 6 hours of listening to my new LCD-XC today out of an iFi iDSD BL.

Liking it very much so far.
Sound has been great with most genres, it feels neutral.
I like the bass of this, but it highlights how "sweetened" the TH900's bass is.
I didn't like the sound with the iFi's bass boost enabled, but I really never like bass boost on amps. the 3D Audio did work well, though.
Isolation is very good (working from home, wife and 3-year-old home with me today, window open in NYC).
It made me realize that I found the HD820 "fatiguing" because I was cranking the volume up to compensate for the dip in its midrange.
It does sound more "closed" than the HD820, but that's fine.
The weight of this headphone is unfortunate, that's really the only complaint I had today.

Makes me wonder if @Audeze could do something with 3D printed metal (i.e. hollow titanium) or more carbon fiber without sacrificing the sound.

Great stuff, good to know that you like what iDSD BL does to your XCs. And I agree, TH900's bass is differently textured and in a way sweeter.

 

[vsg28]

FYI I had a sneak peek at the new update of Reveal+ (2.2.0.35, coming soon), which supports the LCD-X (2021), LCD-XC (2021), and Euclid.

I just did a quick test on my LCD-XC and Euclid on an older profile that uses a selfie from my phone as most people would, but I will do a more in-depth testing of the DSP working with Embody to also take a look at how well the process works. As a preview, here's my HRTF map generated from a DSLR image of my ear:

 

[bust3r]

Some early observations: The LCD-X's are very forward, much more than I'm used to.
The Atom amp is much cleaner than the Schiit magni 3+ with my setup and sounds much better with the HD650's than the Schiit does. The Schiit does hit harder though and can drive the 600ohm 13yr old Senn cans quite well while the atom starts to peak after about 11 o'clock and bass response starts to die out. It is good up until then, though. This doesn't happen with the Schiit.

The LCD-x's with the Atom amp is over the top midrange and highs with some lows to the point where I started second guessing the LCD-X's. But these LCD-X's are brand new and I assume they will 'soften up' as they break in (I hope ). With the Schiit, the LCD-X's sound fuller and with better bass extension as expected, and seemed to tame the sound down a bit due to its bassier nature. but still isn't as clean as the atom.

 

[adeadcrab]

Some early observations: The LCD-X's are very forward, much more than I'm used to.
The Atom amp is much cleaner than the Schiit magni 3+ with my setup and sounds much better with the HD650's than the Schiit does. The Schiit does hit harder though and can drive the 600ohm 13yr old Senn cans quite well while the atom starts to peak after about 11 o'clock and bass response starts to die out. It is good up until then, though. This doesn't happen with the Schiit.

The LCD-x's with the Atom amp is over the top midrange and highs with some lows to the point where I started second guessing the LCD-X's. But these LCD-X's are brand new and I assume they will 'soften up' as they break in (I hope ). With the Schiit, the LCD-X's sound fuller and with better bass extension as expected, and seemed to tame the sound down a bit due to its bassier nature. but still isn't as clean as the atom.

The very top end (10 Khz area) is a bit over the top for me with the LCD-X through the 789, which reflects the frequency graphs that show some elevation in that area. Through my tube amp that area is cut off drastically while not affecting the lower spectrum too much (depending on tubes used).

Everything else is either dead flat or a little dark / recessed.

 

[393699]

Alright, after horsing around with my LCD-X 2021 for the last 10 days since I received it, it has become clear that this headphone should not be equalized with varying Q values. The LCD-X produces far better results when the stock Q 4.32 value is used, along with many additional frequency band adjustments to fine tune the headphone. My LCD-X 2021 has probably 50 hours of run time on it now, and this EQ that I have come up with is the best yet. This headphone definitely changes and matures in sound after multiple hours of usage. Keep in mind that the LCD-X 2021 still has driver variance, so if you use this EQ, you may need to still slightly adjust it to be appropriate for use on your own unit. I see some people doing an EQ adjustment on their unit of +6 to the 3-4kHz region, but in my opinion, there is just no way it needs that much. This headphone utilizes quality transducers, and a 2 or 3db adjustment to any frequency band will produce a massive alteration in the sound characteristics that are achieved.

Pre-Amp = -5

21Hz = +2 Q 4.32
30Hz = +1 Q 4.32
70Hz = +0.5 Q 4.32
80Hz = +0.5 Q 4.32
100Hz = +0.5 Q 4.32
350Hz = +0.5 Q 4.32
400Hz = +1 Q 4.32
500Hz = +1 Q 4.32
750Hz = -1 Q 4.32
1kHz = +0.5 Q 4.32
1.85kHz = +1 Q 4.32
3.5kHz = +3 Q 4.32
4kHz = +1.5 Q 4.32
4.5kHz = +0.5 Q 4.32
5kHz = +0.5 Q 4.32
8.2kHz = +1 Q 4.32
12.1kHz = -2.5 Q 4.32

 

[bust3r]

One question - I've downloaded the APO EQ and PEACE, have launched them, etc but do not hear much, if any, perceivable sound difference, or, its extremely subtle when using the EQ. The Nu Audio EQ will make drastic changes to the sound with just a couple db adjustment. To be honest, I'm not even sure if its working. Both EQ says ON in PEACE, If someone could explain how its suppsed to work it would be greatly appreciated as I feel like i'm doing something wrong here or missing something. A link would be fine too of course.

 

[393699]

Equalizer APO does not work with the EVGA Nu Audio sound cards. EVGA knows about this, but they continue to ignore the issue.

 

[bust3r]

Equalizer APO does not work with the EVGA Nu Audio sound cards. EVGA knows about this, but they continue to ignore the issue.

Wonderful, I did not know this. This may change things unfortunately. I have to think about this.

EDIT: Well, in order to use the headphones I have 3 options, 2 of which will cost more money. Either use reveal+ (200$) or buy a difference DAC (100$+), when I already have one that is excellent already. We all know what the 3rd option is and that may be the option I have to go with if the headphones NEED an EQ, and I have to replace existing hardware and I cant use what is already there.

So it looks like i'll be shopping around for other headphones, something that doesn't require such heavy EQ'ing. And something that hits the deep registers like the audeze does, but doesnt need EQ'ing to do, if it exists. I hear people recommend the focal clears, but those dont hit the deep bass registers like planars do. I'm hoping to find something that doesnt roll off drastically under 50hz, which I hear the focals do but planars dont (usually).

 

[393699]

The Focal Clear is a good headphone, but just note that the treble response has a metallic sound to it which can not be completely corrected with EQ.

 

[bust3r]

The Focal Clear is a good headphone, but just note that the treble response has a metallic sound to it which can not be completely corrected with EQ.

I have heard that as well. I guess its a stupid question seeing the particular thread I'm in, but is there anything else like the audeze to consider? Sub bass rumble is practically a must, but dont want to go BEATS to get it

I'll have to play around I guess with the nu audio EQ even though it has aggressive EQ tuning. I'm hesitant to return them because i know what they're capable of but at the same time dont want to invest more $$ in equipment I already have.

 

[393699]

What about selling your Nu Audio sound card and getting yourself a Creative AE-7 or Creative AE-9 instead ? I would not bother with the AE-7 though, since it does not allow the changing out of opamps. Both of those sound cards have no issues working with Equalizer APO.