Meet Alpha Prime

[aamefford]

  I've been thinking about this...
But I don't compare products in reviews - as I believe the product being reviewed should be judged on its own merit (as many cans differ in design philosophy and certainly execution, etc.) - 
 
But - I have both, and love em - but the XC has remained my number ! closed-back planar
but the Prime is really damn good
 
maybe I should tackle this - hey, its not a review on a site  - I'd be doing this for the love of it here on HF...
 
Hmmmmmm
  

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

  

 

 
Mike - You just have to decide the most neutral way of doing so.  I have not spent a lot of time with the XC, just 15 minutes or so at a meet.  I came away feeling the sound signature of the Alpha Dogs was my preference over the XC's.  I suspect the Alpha Prime house sound will have me feeling roughly the same about the Primes.  However.... My XC experience is meet conditions, unfamiliar rig, noisy, trying to be critical, and being well familiar with the AD's, and unfamiliar with the XC's.  You have had the chance to live with both of them.  Your comments will be interesting. You (and most here at head-fi) have a greater love for the Audeze house sound than I do (except for the LCD3 - I lust after that one).  It will be hard to be unbiased, but it will be interesting to see what you find are the relative strengths and weakness of each can.  One man's point of view so to speak.  I say give it a go - it will be fun for us peanut gallery folk.  It wouldn't even have to be long and involved.  For the record - I am sending my AD's in for the upgrade today or tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to getting them back.  Mr. Speakers voicing really suits my sonic preferences, so I expect to be happy with the upgrade.

 

[hemtmaker]

I love the Alpha Prime w/ the AK240 - utilizing the 2.5mm TRRS balanced output!

I use Double Helix Cables Molecule Elite balanced w/ the 240 - 
and the synergy is fantastic: Silky mids, wide and deep soundstage, excellent low-end, and the highs are nice and detailed without a hint of brightness!

GREAT pairing!

Thanks for the impression. I am just using shure 846 IEM at the moment, not sure what to expect from using the prime. You reckon i will gain a lot apart from soundstage?

 

[hemtmaker]

Thanks. Nice review

I tried it with the AK100 II. Sounded very good.
It did miss some very low bass.

You can find a whole set of systems tried with them;  from my phone up to AK 100II + Centrance:
http://www.head-fi.org/products/mrspeakers-alpha-prime/reviews/11939


Hope it helps,

CasperBxl

 

[saxelrod92]

  I've been thinking about this...
But I don't compare products in reviews - as I believe the product being reviewed should be judged on its own merit (as many cans differ in design philosophy and certainly execution, etc.) - 
 
But - I have both, and love em - but the XC has remained my number ! closed-back planar
but the Prime is really damn good
 
maybe I should tackle this - hey, its not a review on a site  - I'd be doing this for the love of it here on HF...
 
Hmmmmmm
    

Could you also include the LCD-2f in that comparison? Simply because they are the same price, and I'm looking to either upgrade to a 2f, or just go for the prime because they are closed back. So a comparison of them would be cool to see what is better for the same money. Example being: go 2f, even though the open sound can get annoying when everything is not dead silent in my room, but put up with it because sonically its better. or go prime because closed keeps everything quieter, and sonically they are better. It would help figuring out what is what. thanks in advance!

 

[john57]

My experience with the  Audeze LCD-2 which is very similar to the  Audeze LCD-2F is that it is a very dark sounding headphone. Not neutral at all.

 

[saxelrod92]

  My experience with the  Audeze LCD-2 which is very similar to the  Audeze LCD-2F is that it is a very dark sounding headphone. Not neutral at all.

Yea, I currently own that version, pre-fazor, not totally happy with it for being too dark and slightly weak in the bass (good fullness, just not that great slam). I tried brighter headphones like the hd800, and he-560, and they were a bit too far in that direction. I was going to buy a LCD-2f hoping it would be some sort of middle ground, at the very least an imrovement over my current pre-fazor lcd-2. but I just learned of the Alpha prime and since its the same price, I was curious how it stacked up. I never bought a modded headphone before, so spending 1000 dollars on something modded vs. something completely proprietary would require some serious quality in sound for me to feel comfortable about it (my "logic" being a driver created from scratch to sound high end somehow is better than a low end driver with extreme modification to push it into the high end sound. I want to be proven wrong though). either way it would help to know a side by side comparison of these two 1000 dollar headphones. It would be cool to have a closed back planar headphone that has a higher fidelity/better sound overall than the lcd-2, even if slightly, for the same price.

 

[hemtmaker]

Will there be a black friday sale next week Dan?

 

[mikemercer]

 
Could you also include the LCD-2f in that comparison? Simply because they are the same price, and I'm looking to either upgrade to a 2f, or just go for the prime because they are closed back. So a comparison of them would be cool to see what is better for the same money. Example being: go 2f, even though the open sound can get annoying when everything is not dead silent in my room, but put up with it because sonically its better. or go prime because closed keeps everything quieter, and sonically they are better. It would help figuring out what is what. thanks in advance!

Yeah I'll add my LCD-2F to the comparison..
Just gimme a lil' time.
 
We all interpret differently. That's why I don't believe in the word "best" for anything in audio (Harry Pearson taught me that) because, when it comes down to it: We're all reacting to music, which is an emotional medium, period.
 
Like some people here, and Ive heard others say they thought the 2 and 3 were too dark.
I didn't think so, but I couldn't argue about what somebody else experiences!
 
And it's usually the other person trying t convince me it's dark!! 

 
But then Id just say hey, don't take my word for it, ask legendary Producer Frank Fillipetti, who used to mix on LCD-3s before his Xs!!!
 
Back to the PRIME:
The Alpha Prime f_____ BUMPS, its clear, light, easy to deal with - and it's downright FUN.
And I still gotta send in my review pair for an update and I'm lovin em...
 
  

 

[saxelrod92]

  Yeah I'll add my LCD-2F to the comparison..
Just gimme a lil' time.
 
We all interpret differently. That's why I don't believe in the word "best" for anything in audio (Harry Pearson taught me that) because, when it comes down to it: We're all reacting to music, which is an emotional medium, period.
 
Like some people here, and Ive heard others say they thought the 2 and 3 were too dark.
I didn't think so, but I couldn't argue about what somebody else experiences!
 
And it's usually the other person trying t convince me it's dark!! 

 
But then Id just say hey, don't take my word for it, ask legendary Producer Frank Fillipetti, who used to mix on LCD-3s before his Xs!!!
 
Back to the PRIME:
The Alpha Prime f_____ BUMPS, its clear, light, easy to deal with - and it's downright FUN.
And I still gotta send in my review pair for an update and I'm lovin em...
 
  

Thanks for the insights man! I totally agree with you that everybody hears differently. I should have worded my original post a bit differently lol, I was curious what the general consensus was in comparison, since I found the lcd-2 pre fazor a bit too soft, dark, and congested. Either way I already was sold on the Alpha Prime and put an order in earlier today Look for my lcd-2s in the classified threads soon lol.
 
Also whats the current shipping time frame for placing an order today? It's a little vague on the site. (this is a general question for the whole thread/mainly Dan, sorry if it sounded like I'm only asking you lol).
 
Thanks!

 

[DetroitEARS]

I just purchased the LCD-XC... But I am very curious about the Prime. I may have to make the purchase, LCD-XC leaks a lot of sound, and not sure its gonna work out for a work headphone. Anyone have info on sound leakage with the Prime?
 
Also how easy is it to drive?

 

[gelocks]

  I just purchased the LCD-XC... But I am very curious about the Prime. I may have to make the purchase, LCD-XC leaks a lot of sound, and not sure its gonna work out for a work headphone. Anyone have info on sound leakage with the Prime?
 
Also how easy is it to drive?

 
The XC leaks?! Man, you must be really pushing them then!!
If the Primes are like the Alpha Dogs, they will only leak if you are blasting your brains at a horrible very loud volume...
 
The XCs are easier to drive than the normal Alpha Dogs. I don't think that has changed with the Prime, but I could be wrong...

 

[tuckers]

The Primes don't leak at all for me.  I am in a room with two other people at work, and they haven't heard a thing when I am wearing them.

 

[SteveloRCA]

There is very little leakage from the Prime if any, will depend on volume however. The pads are thick and comfortable, they seem to keep in a lot of sound. Driving them I would suggest an amp. I have the volume cranked on my MacBook Air when playing them directly out of the computer. When I add my Cypher Labs Therom 720 to the string I need to turn the volume down as this drives them nicely. If you want the benefit of these cans I think any amp will drive them to an extent. The better the AMP/DAC the better quality of sound. If you just need power a cheap Fiio may drive them enough for you.
 
Steve

 

[john57]

  I just purchased the LCD-XC... But I am very curious about the Prime. I may have to make the purchase, LCD-XC leaks a lot of sound, and not sure its gonna work out for a work headphone. Anyone have info on sound leakage with the Prime?
 
Also how easy is it to drive?

On Inter Fidelity graphs I can see that the Alpha dog has a isolation rating -23db with power needed for 90DB SPL at .92mW while the XC has a isolation rating -13db.  Dan stated that the Alpha Prime has a bit more isolation than the Alpha Dog. 

 

[CasperBxl]

   
The XCs are easier to drive than the normal Alpha Dogs. I don't think that has changed with the Prime, but I could be wrong...

 
First the obvious, sound levels with the combinations …. Does it push the Alpha Primes?
(

= happy,

= it works,

= not happy)
 

Source​	Volume (0-10)​	Bass​	Treble​	Quality​	Feels like​
Samsung Galaxy S5	7​	8​	9​	8​
AK 100 II	9​	9​	9​	10​
FIIO X1	9​	9​	9​	9​	Impressed​
iPod Classic	5​	8​	8​	8​	-
PC (Asus Xonar Xense)	10​	10​	10​	10​
	​	​	​	​	​
Samsung Galaxy S5 (OTG) + FIIO E18	10​	10​	10​	9​
AK 100 II (optical) + Centrance M8 LX	10​	10​	10​	10​
FIIO X1 + E18 (analog, only AMP)	10​	10​	10​	9​
iPod Classic + E18 (analog, only AMP)	10​	10​	10​	8​ (only lossy possible)​

 
 
Some tests I did, it might be of use.
http://www.head-fi.org/products/mrspeakers-alpha-prime/reviews/11939
 
 
Kind regards,
 
CasperBxl