LCD-X vs HE1000se

[martel80]

Also, if you haven't used your vsx since the 4.0 software update or the 4.5.3 update...i suggest giving them a go before selling. Whatever they did in the rescan of all the rooms...it was massive.

I'll give it a last shot when I get back home in April.

Good idea for the LCD-X. I'll try to see if I can get a demo somewhere.

 

[martel80]

I want to chime in as a fellow audio engineer and having owned the HE1000 stealth in the past, with the HE1000SE on the way, which I can update after spending some time with. Haven't heard the LCD-X so apologies.

If details and critical listening is what you are searching for, I think it's hard to top the HE1000 for the price, especially current prices.

It's the Hifiman "house sound", so neutral bright, slightly recessed mids. I think the stock sound is reference-like and would still be relatively "sterile" compared to other house sounds.

Ironically all this talk of "neutral bright" is kind of an oxymoron if you're in pro audio. They are bright - at least the Stealth is out of the box, a bit sibilant for modern mixed music (pop, hiphop).

Once EQ'd however, just awesome to listen to...

As for using them for mixing/mastering work, they can be an awesome tool. Soundstage is nice and wide, micro details and separation/layering/imaging is pretty effortless which comes in handy.

At the end of the day, you probably know this but it comes down to truly knowing how your gear translates, regardless of if it is perfectly flat or slightly colored.

Anyways, I'm more of a studio monitors guy myself when it comes to work, but these hifi headphones can serve a purpose.

Have you received your SE yet ?

Were you able to compare them to your stealth ?

 

[szore]

Haven't heard the 1K; I own the Arya stealth, but the X soundstage was very small to my ears, deal breaker.

 

[martel80]

Haven't heard the 1K; I own the Arya stealth, but the X soundstage was very small to my ears, deal breaker.

I’ve heard the Arya organic and they were too wide for my use case. I just can’t work with stuff that makes me feel like im in a cathedral. I made so many panning mistakes with my Q701 for that same exact reason. I’m not concerned with the LCD-X soundstage to be honest. What concerns me is it’s supposedly “unaproval” from the company to get them EQ’d or they lose their “magic”. when I read that a month ago, I thought to myself, that can’t be good in any way I look at it.

 

[szore]

I’ve heard the Arya organic and they were too wide for my use case. I just can’t work with stuff that makes me feel like im in a cathedral. I made so many panning mistakes with my Q701 for that same exact reason. I’m not concerned with the LCD-X soundstage to be honest. What concerns me is it’s supposedly “unaproval” from the company to get them EQ’d or they lose their “magic”. when I read that a month ago, I thought to myself, that can’t be good in any way I look at it.

LOL, I hate EQ, to me EQ ruins the fidelity of the sound, but to each his own!

 

[martel80]

LOL, I hate EQ, to me EQ ruins the fidelity of the sound, but to each his own!

Yeah, I use cans for audio engineering. Can’t afford to get different balance in different devices. That would be counterintuitive and make me lose too much time.

 

[rickvdk]

Thought I'd chime in... a bit late to the party but just now stumbled upon this thread, so hopefully my input will help someone down the line.

I started out with the LCD-X (Sonarworks first, then Acustica Sienna, then Realphones 2 tuned to a custom Harman curve, more about that later) - I liked the LCD-X but not that much to be willing to deal with the weight of these cans. They are so heavy! So I started looking for a replacement.. did quite some research and landed on the HE1000se tuned to the Harman curve in combination with the Topping D70 Pro dac (Sabre Version) + A70 Pro pre-amp.
My problem: I was expecting perfect translation due to the amazing resolution the HE1000se offers, but somehow, they make crappy mixes sound great! and for me when mixing, that is a problem! I also find it hard to set the right volume for lead vocals, something I never struggled with before.

After tweaking my setup for long enough with the various measurements floating around on the internet, one Friday night I read on some forum that for the LCD-X, the only eq curve worthy of trying is the Oratory measurement (one can find on here). So of course I had to try.

I put the LCD-X back on, this time using Oratory's Harman curve slightly adjusted to my personal liking, and BOOM! There it was. The Lcd-x have never sounded better. It has a weighty bass but not overblown, punchy smooth mids, crisp details in the highs, and a beautiful honest sound stage.. truly magnificent. I spent the next few hours enjoying and rediscovering my old music catalog. Perhaps its a personal thing, but I absolutely love how they now sound. I ended up going back from the HE1000se to the LCD-X and I'm willing to compromise on the weight. Heck, it will force me to take more breaks
Truth be told, I'm contemplating on selling the 3 months old HE1000se, no longer needed.

Honorable mention to the Topping D70 Sabre dac (not The Octo version which I absolutely hated, everything sounded strangely mellow.)
I always thought it was a myth, and I had no idea that a dac would have such an impact on the sound. Before, everything was going from my ssl2+ into my Atom 2 headphone amp. Speakers still connected to the ssl. To my surprise, even my Yamaha HS8 monitors got an unexpected upgrade from the D70 Pro Sabre. Did not expect that at all.

Curious to see what Martel80 ended up choosing for his setup.
Peace!

 

[Metalingus]

If you like to hear layers to your bass and unmatched slam lcd-x,

Tonal accuracy and treble detail goes to HEK

 

[rickvdk]

If you like to hear layers to your bass and unmatched slam lcd-x,

Tonal accuracy and treble detail goes to HEK

Unless it's due to my specific setup and EQ, I would have to disagree with you on this one.

 

[Metalingus]

Unless it's due to my specific setup and EQ, I would have to disagree with you on this one.

Interesting, can you explain?

 

[OrionDayz]

I recently sold the LCD-X. Did AB with my he1000se with various amps and sources, on and off (to come back with fresh ears)over a span of a month. Apart from the slightly better bass on the lcd-x, the he1kse is better in every possible way. He1kse responds very well to eq which I recently found out. Getting a really good bass out of it now. (Posted in the he1000se thread). The lcd-x sounds congested in certain areas too.