[TWIFOSP]

Very nice write up.  You've described a lot of the same issues that I had with the LCD2 sound stage very e[size=10pt]loquently[/size]. 

 

[knopi]

LCD2 for me positives: mids, vocals far from head, overall "quite" natural tones vocals, black window.
Big negatives too much dark and I do not kow why, thicker, air and soundstage, treble, and too much bass presence
Although it is imperefect headphone it sounds nice and enjoyble and I would probably buy them again and I think Audeze have big potencial to make really great headphone in future one day but the price if it will be still grow I dont understand because LCD3 is already very high and it is still sure imperfect..  
 
HD800 I never had them at home so I could change my opinion in future but from a few visits and it was on pretty excellent systems. Very good headpohne and sound technicaly better than LCD2... Soundstage is big but negative for me vocals seems to be forward and overall tones vocals a little artifical to me. But many systems out there which I did not hear so I can change my opinion in future.

 

[TMRaven]

I fail to see how ANYBODY considers LCD-2 to have too much bass presence, maybe it does on their deliberately dark amps they pair with their HD800s to make it less bright of a headphone than it is by default.  It has the tightest and-- if you will-- most dynamic bass I've ever heard.  It can make the HE-400 bass sound one-noted at times by comparison, and that's something that's extremely hard to do, because HE-400 already has a very technically great bass.  Nevertheless it wasn't the amount of impact increase I was expecting coming from the HE-400, in fact often times the two are hand-in-hand.
 
LCD-2 unfortunately, does have lots of things that it could do better.  I don't actually mind its treble response, in fact I don't think it's lacking as much as it's a bit hard and wonky in the lower treble area, plus there's a general lack of air and nimbleness throughout.  I heard the LCD-3 fixes this issue while keeping the treble the same or even darker.
 
I don't mind the thickness to the sound so much of the LCD-2, except that at times I think it makes the mids too syrupy, and sometimes lacking texture in my ears.  Everything tends to flow together.  I thought the HE-400 did this when I first got largely as a result of higher thd numbers in the mids, but now I just realize it's a planar magnetic thing.  It's something I don't mind, but I feel the lack of air makes it a problem for the LCD-2.  If I were to get the LCD-2, I'd want it in a closed form factor.  If I don't get the presentation of an open can that I want a closed can so I can extract as much detail from isolation as I can.
 
The pads and wood on the LCD-2 are great.  I consider it a by far better aesthetic and build quality than the HD800, but Sennheiser has HD800's quality control nailed down.

 

[TWIFOSP]

Quote:

I fail to see how ANYBODY considers LCD-2 to have too much bass presence, maybe it does on their deliberately dark amps they pair with their HD800s to make it less bright of a headphone than it is by default.  It has the tightest and-- if you will-- most dynamic bass I've ever heard.  

 
I have to disagree.  The LCD2 sounds like it does because the frequencies sound so far into your ears.  The effect is, that at first listen, the bass sounds much more dynamic than it really is.  I was also impressed by the LCD2 bass, until I started doing lots of comparisons when I got the HD800s.  I came to the conclusion that the LCD2 bass has an illusionary quality to it.  Mainly due to how far inside your ears the bass sounds like it is coming from.
 
The HD800, in comparison, sounds more outside your head.  The bass actually sounds like it is coming from the instrument in the sound stage, rather than being injected directly into your ear canal.  You don't tend to focus on this, because the bass is a part of the music, but if you choose to focus, you find the the bass is quicker, more natural sounding, and even has more extension (with a good amp). 
 
I'm not nearly good as explaining this as other people, but that is how it sounds to me.

 

[Maxvla]

Nice review max! Violin luthier at the age of... 18?! I imagine violin luthiers as being old and I guess you fit that description now. 

I'm 30, almost 31. But yes I've been doing this at increasing competency level for about 13 years. Right out of highschool.

 

[Maxvla]

LCD2 for me positives: mids, vocals far from head, overall "quite" natural tones vocals, black window.

Big negatives too much dark and I do not kow why, thicker, air and soundstage, treble, and too much bass presence
Although it is imperefect headphone it sounds nice and enjoyble and I would probably buy them again and I think Audeze have big potencial to make really great headphone in future one day but the price if it will be still grow I dont understand because LCD3 is already very high and it is still sure imperfect..  
 
HD800 I never had them at home so I could change my opinion in future but from a few visits and it was on pretty excellent systems. Very good headpohne and sound technicaly better than LCD2... Soundstage is big but negative for me vocals seems to be forward and overall tones vocals a little artifical to me. But many systems out there which I did not hear so I can change my opinion in future.

I agree the tone of the LCD-2 vocals is one of the best out there, unfortunately with the center focus lacking so much, it is poorly defined, and thus I can't call LCD-2 as having the best vocals.

 

[brokenthumb]

Nice comparison and I agree with everything you said, especially the HD800 bass.  It is the best I've heard.

 

[TMRaven]

Quote:

 
I have to disagree.  The LCD2 sounds like it does because the frequencies sound so far into your ears.  The effect is, that at first listen, the bass sounds much more dynamic than it really is.  I was also impressed by the LCD2 bass, until I started doing lots of comparisons when I got the HD800s.  I came to the conclusion that the LCD2 bass has an illusionary quality to it.  Mainly due to how far inside your ears the bass sounds like it is coming from.
 
The HD800, in comparison, sounds more outside your head.  The bass actually sounds like it is coming from the instrument in the sound stage, rather than being injected directly into your ear canal.  You don't tend to focus on this, because the bass is a part of the music, but if you choose to focus, you find the the bass is quicker, more natural sounding, and even has more extension (with a good amp). 
 
I'm not nearly good as explaining this as other people, but that is how it sounds to me.

 
 
That's mostly a component of soundstage.  By dynamic, I speak purely about how much one-noted the bass is-- or lack thereof.  LCD-2 is extremely tight in its bass reproduction, drums and orchestral instruments are rendered without a hint of bloat, yet very forceful.  HD800 on the other hand, doesn't have bloat because it lacks the amount of bass it should have to be neutral, especially down low.  This is why I often feel people say the HD800 has more 'bass texture' than the LCD-2.  What they think is more bass texture is ultimately less bass and more upper harmonics of bass instruments coming through as a result of it.  At the end of the day for me, the LCD-2's bass has the most dynamics by being able to completely hide any bloat when it shouldn't be there, yet coming out of nowhere with a huge thud of force when the song calls for it.  HD800 isn't able to do that as well.
 
HD800 has more extension than the LCD-2 with a good amp?  I doubt an amp is able to change the physical limitations of a headphone, and if so, then the LCD-2 should benefit from it just as much, if not more.

 

[Maxvla]

That's mostly a component of soundstage.  By dynamic, I speak purely about how much one-noted the bass is-- or lack thereof.  LCD-2 is extremely tight in its bass reproduction, drums and orchestral instruments are rendered without a hint of bloat, yet very forceful.  HD800 on the other hand, doesn't have bloat because it lacks the amount of bass it should have to be neutral, especially down low.  This is why I often feel people say the HD800 has more 'bass texture' than the LCD-2.  What they think is more bass texture is ultimately less bass and more upper harmonics of bass instruments coming through as a result of it.  At the end of the day for me, the LCD-2's bass has the most dynamics by being able to completely hide any bloat when it shouldn't be there, yet coming out of nowhere with a huge thud of force when the song calls for it.  HD800 isn't able to do that as well.

I don't agree. I don't see how this relates to soundstaging at all. LCD-2 bass is sort of this ominous ever present cloud of bass that is not exactly all or nothing, but close. Where the HD800 can have subtle low volume bass, the LCD-2 can't. It has the finesse of a 18 wheeler, in regards to volume.

 

[MorbidToaster]

The HD800 has more variance and texture in the bass than the LCD 2.2. It was one of the reasons I sold them in favor of the HD800.
 
It was better bass, IMO.

 

[TMRaven]

Can't say I really agree either.  I've had plenty of instances where LCD-2 never added more bass than what was called for.

 

[paradoxper]

Nice writeup, Max. 

 

[Girls Generation]

Thanks so much for the great read. I'm planning to get the HD800 myself to see if I like them better than my Audeze. 

 

[preproman]

IMO the LCD-2.2 always adds bass when it's not called for.  That's the first thing you notice about these headphones is the bass.  It maybe neutral bass but it's also emphasized bass as well.  
 
Where the HD800 and the HE-6 does a great job in giving the right about of bass when it's called for = more accurate.  IMO

 

[TWIFOSP]

Quote:

 
 
That's mostly a component of soundstage.  By dynamic, I speak purely about how much one-noted the bass is-- or lack thereof.  LCD-2 is extremely tight in its bass reproduction, drums and orchestral instruments are rendered without a hint of bloat, yet very forceful.  HD800 on the other hand, doesn't have bloat because it lacks the amount of bass it should have to be neutral, especially down low.  This is why I often feel people say the HD800 has more 'bass texture' than the LCD-2.  What they think is more bass texture is ultimately less bass and more upper harmonics of bass instruments coming through as a result of it.  At the end of the day for me, the LCD-2's bass has the most dynamics by being able to completely hide any bloat when it shouldn't be there, yet coming out of nowhere with a huge thud of force when the song calls for it.  HD800 isn't able to do that as well.
 
HD800 has more extension than the LCD-2 with a good amp?  I doubt an amp is able to change the physical limitations of a headphone, and if so, then the LCD-2 should benefit from it just as much, if not more.

My hd800s go lower with electronic music than the LCD2s do.  The LCD2s are just more in your face about it and bring the lower frequencies more to focus.
 
The HD800s don't thud, because they don't try and force the sound into your ear.  Again, the music sounds like it is coming from outside your head, so the thud sounds like a thud would if it was in front of you.  The lcd2s make the thud sound like it originated inside your own face.