LFF's Enigma (new from the maker of the Paradox)

[Villy]

Hi Jozurr, thx for the tip on the vegan pads, I'll order me a pair to try them out. And will post some pictures hopefully later today of what I did with the strap in terms of comfort.

 

[Jozurr]

Hi Jozurr, thx for the tip on the vegan pads, I'll order me a pair to try them out. And will post some pictures hopefully later today of what I did with the strap in terms of comfort.

 
$62 instead of $80
 
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1116989-REG/audeze_1002097_lcd_ep_lf_bl_black_leather_free_earpad.html

 

[punit]

 
Now my only complaint with them is the headband clamp. 

I kept them stretched using a book for couple of weeks , they are now quite comfortable.

 

[fogsound]

I replaced with an Audeze headband. No need to drill new holes, but it ended up being too loose. 

 

[Jozurr]

I replaced with an Audeze headband. No need to drill new holes, but it ended up being too loose. 

When you say loose, what do you mean?

Also, can you share some pics.

 

[Villy]

Here is what I did to improve the comfort on my Enigmas, basically created my own pilot band from a strip of wide elastic band:
 
- took one of my daughter's elastic pen bands ($2 from Amazon), it seemed to me that it will be very good for the purpose because of its width and what it felt like just the right elasticity
- with a utility knife carefully separated the elastic band from the cotton strips the form the pen pockets also one in the middle which holds the band's ends together, trying not to damage the elastic band
- cut one 8" piece (that length was my guess based on how elastic the band felt, and amazingly I got it right so didn't have to redo anything)
- cut 2 pieces about 2" long each, from thin black lace (pulled if from my wife's sewing materials)
- reused some of the cotton piece which held together the ends and sewed the laces at the ends
- covered the newly created pilot band with wool cover, I got bunch of these from eBay for about $3-4 each
- I then stretched the stainless steel headband by putting my thumbs on the middle and pulling the sides up as if trying to straighten it. Again carefully, a little bit at a time, trying then stretching again until it felt right
 
I think it is important that the headband stretching happens only after one has the pilot band ready, as the two will work together. So now the pilot band applies very uniform pressure around my head, which for me is very important because the latter is as bold as an egg

The wool cover comes very handy for the same reason, and I think it will be even more important for heads full of hair. The headphones' weight btw falls entirely on the pilot band, with the sturdy headband coming down within a fraction of an inch to resting on top of it, kind of touching it but still hanging in the air and not actually resting on it. This is was my intention - to have the headphones' weight spread across the stretch band uniformly, while at the same time letting the headband drop down as much as possible without resting on it. Mission accomplished!
 
How it looks? Honestly, I don't care as long as it is comfortable, and it is very, very comfortable - I spend hours at a time without any sensations of fatigue whatsoever. Here are some photos, click on each to enlarge for details. I used red background because on white the contrast with black is so intense, that the camera's aperture closes so much that the details on the black material become unrecognizable.
 
 

 

 

 


 
Hope that helps, and please ask questions as needed. And yes, sewing machine is preferable but I think sewing the ends by hand will work all the same even if not so sightly - it won't be seen under the band cover anyway.

 

[fogsound]

Here is a picture. They were fine on my head when sitting, but if I tilted my head too much or walked around they would slip around. Just didn't have the required clamping force to stay secure.
 

 

[Contrails]

G'day everyone,
 
Anyone own the Enigmas and LCD-X or heard them side by side? Could you please give a comparison between the two? I own the X and thinking of getting the Enigma and using the WA22 amp to power it.
 
Regards

 

[Villy]

Working from memory here, to me the Enigmas are better than X in every way, literally every way, including imaging. Except maybe for soundstage width, maybe, need to do A-B to confirm that for myself. If it helps, here is a short mention by zerodeefex about preferring the Enigmas over LCD-3. I haven't heard the 3s but based on what I've read they stand all around above X.

 

[Jozurr]

I have not compared the enigmas to the LCD-x but to me they sounded better than the LCD-XC.

 

[Contrails]

Thanks for the replies.  The X has gone on sale and as soon as it sells, here come the Enigmas.
 
Edit: Are the Enigmas faster than the X/XC? 

 

[Villy]

...here come the Enigmas.  
Edit: Are the Enigmas faster than the X/XC? 

 
Go for it, I'm certain you won't regret it in the slightest. For me, it has been the best decision I ever made when comes to headphones. I am so stumped as to why there's so little buzz if any about them here on Had-Fi. I think they can stand up to any set of cans in the <$2-3K category, and I'm eagerly looking forward to test that in few weeks, by pitting them against the best during New York's annual meet and report back.
 
What an incredible job Luis has done, one can never praise his work enough. Absolutely the most exciting headphones I've listened to and I've listened and own quite few. With very detailed yet never offending highs, great mids, simply great, and wait 'till you hear the low, just wait 

- not the boomy, dynamic sound the Fostexes of the world. Theirs' is deep, controlled and fast, with ton of details, and yes they rumble in the true sense of the word. I would say the lows are pushed up by few decibels, maybe 3 at most, but they are not exaggerated, not at all. You know how you hear bass all the time from what is considered headphones with potent bass, nothing like that. The bass is there to the extend that it is present in the recording and if that happens to be a well produced one, the Enigmas will shake with vigor to a point that it may uncomfortable for some (if not many). Take for comparison TH900, where the bass will be constantly present but booming and exaggerating everything there is or isn't present - in the end it is all bloated up in comparison. The LCD-X's lows are more like Enigma's, the latter's though are more refined which makes them more potent. Alright, that's enough for me, gotta go, and you go and get a pair when opportunity presents itself

 

 

[Contrails]

Thanks for the reply Villy.  Enigmas are definitely on the list then.  

 

[Villy]

  .... Going back to the vegans, I could feel the sound open up, with a little bit less bass impact....
 
 

 
I decided to get ZMF's protein pads for I also happen to acquire a pair of Omni, and I'm not a big fan of alcantra/velour type pads such as Audeze's vegans. It didn't take me long to concur with Jozurr that the sound indeed opened up, with little if any impact to lows. In fact the lows seem even better controlled now, if there is really a room for an improvement there. Without trying to do A-B comparison, which isn't going to be exactly A-B because of the time needed to swap pads, I thought that the stage became a bit wider (or so it feels to me), and the level of detail certainly increased, a bit of more clarity to everything that makes you feel right in the middle of the stage, especially on good live recordings. If that is indeed possible, the Enigmas we taking me on stage every time before swapping pads

 

[HemiSam]

I'm curious about these cans.  How much do they weigh?  I'd like to compare them to my TH900's and my HD650's.
 
Thanks.
 
HS