[ianmedium]

I think we all know visual guy does not like Audeze's but I find it fascinating having read his for sale posts that all his phones have only had a few hours on each of them! I know for me it takes more than a few hours to fully appreciate whatever I have purchased. Reading these post from him was very informative as far as comments about anything sonic from him now.

 

[metalgear]

Quote:

by resonsance i mean just that.  certain sounds resonate inside the ear cup.  particularly midrange sounds like piano or acoustic guitar.
some songs sound great, and this problem never appears.
other songs, i'll hear piano, for instance, and think that the pianist forgot to use the foot petal...
 
re:  soundstage:  i don't wish to debate this.
but, owning several high-end headphoens - as do you, metalgear - the LCD-2 does not image and soundstage in the same way as the HD800.  can we at least agree on that?
if it is imagined, then my brain imagines a larger soundstage with the HD800 each and every time.
 
 

Thanks for clarifying .... apologies if my question seemed abrupt, or even rude... I realise and wish that I had spent more time wording it better. Maybe my explanation below would help:
 
In the context of comparing the LCD2 and the LCD3, personally I think that the LCD2 has a strong palpability factor for all instruments wooden. To some its a mid-range emphasis, but what it does brings the listener very close to the instrument - almost  like touching the instrument - and feeling the vibrations (resonance?)... in an acoustic way that very likely musicians will be able to appreciate. I play the piano, and therefore love listening to "close-mic" recordings, for instance those under the Three Blind Mice recoding label. With "Midnight Sugar" from the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio, the LCD-2's strengths come to the limelight. The characteristics of the LCD2 makes me feel like I'm playing with the band or at least positioned immediately beside the piano (- narrower soundstage).  On the other hand the LCD3 makes me feel I'm close up to the band but watching in an audience in the front row (- wider soundstage).
 
For these type of music I prefer the LCD2. The narrower soundstage is actually more palpable and portrays the soundstage of one being in the midst of the band The LCD3 changes the soundstage and portrays one being a part of the audience.  Of course all soundstage stuff is only figment of my imagination, I have never played with a jazz band in a bar. But the LCD2 creates that illusion for me better than the LCD3.
 

 

[goofyvic]

The characteristics of the LCD2 makes me feel like I'm playing with the band or at least positioned immediately beside the piano (- narrower soundstage).  On the other hand the LCD3 makes me feel I'm close up to the band but watching in an audience in the front row (- wider soundstage).
 
For these type of music I prefer the LCD2. The narrower soundstage is actually more palpable and portrays the soundstage of one being in the midst of the band The LCD3 changes the soundstage and portrays one being a part of the audience.  Of course all soundstage stuff is only figment of my imagination, I have never played with a jazz band in a bar. But the LCD2 creates that illusion for me better than the LCD3.
 

I assume you are referring to LCD2 rev 1.

 

[visualguy]

Quote:

I think we all know visual guy does not like Audeze's but I find it fascinating having read his for sale posts that all his phones have only had a few hours on each of them! I know for me it takes more than a few hours to fully appreciate whatever I have purchased. Reading these post from him was very informative as far as comments about anything sonic from him now.

I don't dislike them that much. They have strengths such as really good bass impact. They certainly work well with some types of music.
 
I thought my LCD-2r2 were among the best 10 headphones that I heard (although closer to the bottom of that list than the top). The LCD-2r1 and LCD-3 weren't - too dark and lacking in detail resoluton. Maybe some units are better than others. For example, the FR graph posted by Audeze for the LCD-3 looked quite a bit better than mine.
 
Yes - a few hours are enough for me to figure out what headphones sound like.
 

 

[LFF]

Quote:

Seems that your line is shorter than the one I'm standing in

. But that's cool. I hear micro details in great detail with Jazz at the Pawnshop, all the crowd sounds; including the really small details are all there...not forced in front of me like on my HD800s, but in proper proportion to what I would hear if I was in the Pawnshop with them. As I mentioned, might be your upstream amp/rig, but then again, they may not be to your taste, but to say details are not resolved across the spectrum is wrong...plain and simple. The LCD-3s offer this more than both the LCD-2 R1 and R2 (owned both the LCD-3 and LCD-2 R2...and A-B'd directly at home over 2 days and confirmed it with every recording I heard). I posted a wiki if you're interested.
 

 
See...that's just the thing. Jazz at the Pawnshop will provide micro details with just about every single headphone out there. It's one of those recordings that sounds good on anything...much like those Chesky recordings everyone plays at audiophile trade shows. You have to try to make those things sound bad.
 
The recordings I played were some Blue Note recordings, a Frank Sinatra recording and a particular Riverside recordings of Bill Evans, all of which are usually missing at audiophile meets and trade shows. These are all recordings I know by heart and know extremely well so when I say the LCD-3 is not resolving across the spectrum, I can bet my life on it. The R1 and R2 are no better either. Well...maybe the R2. Sometimes, the real test of a piece of stereo equipment comes not in how well it reproduce an excellent recording but in how it reproduces the flaws within a normal, mediocre recording. 
 

 

[Steve Eddy]

Quote:

Don't OCC cable oxidizes in time? Of course you don't see the oxidation unless you take the insulation off.

No more so than any other copper cable.
 
se
 

 

[wuwhere]

That's an excellent point LFF, bad recordings should not be glossed over.

 

[googleli]

I think you guys really need to spend north of 5K on front ends to start to appreciate the real strengths of the 3. On my previous rig with the LCD2, the LCD3 sounds no more than a slightly improved Rev 1. On my home rig, however, the last bit of minute detail picked up by the Esoteric K01 is reflected in the LCD3, although not as clear as the 009. And by details I mean mid range and low registers, not just trebles. So just for the LCD3 I have already ordered the Cavalli Liquid Fire and a Rega Saturn CD player to replace my office portable front end for the LCD2. It is a pain but IMO only equipment of this calibre or above can do real justice to the LCD3.

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

No more so than any other copper cable.
 
se
 

So what is the effect of oxidation on a copper cable?

 

[Audiowood]

Lcd-3 improves much after a weeks of burn-in. I certainly like the bass... the treble has just the right amount .. just enough to make it sound real live... I agree on the live music are never bright, I have been to many live performance to know that they are never bright. LCD-3 sound the most similar to live sound. Not bright, yet detail, bass is best I have ever heard in headphones... its so tuneful that each note on the bass is highly distinguishable... Bass impact is powerful and real.. I am enjoying YO-YO MA's plays Ennio Morricone CD as I type and ... the bass is so so real.. It makes the whole musical very powerful..
 
The LCD-3 is a keeper for sure and in my opinion, its worth its value.... even with my limited gear, I still like to very much. By comparison, LCD-2 r.2 mid is more forward.. more treble (it does mean it has more details) it sure lack some bass muscle as compare to LCD-3.
 
I am keeping both for sure.
 
 
 

 

[LFF]

Quote:

I think you guys really need to spend north of 5K on front ends to start to appreciate the real strengths of the 3.

 

 

[skeptic]

Quote:Originally Posted by visualguy Huh? What on earth? Where does all this come from? Seriously bizarre... Brightness can describe the sound of live instruments. For example, some trumpets are brighter than other trumpets - in fact, mutes are often used to adjust the brightness of a trumpet (not coincidentally, by the way, LCD-2/3 headphones are quite bad with brass, including trumpets).   As mentioned, I've played trumpet for about 34 years and I'm VERY familiar with the sound of the instrument (including all the different mutes...straight, cup, etc. I have them all right here next to me ) and of all the headphones I own, the LCD-3s sound the closest. Brightness is there with the LCD-3s, just does not make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up (just like in real life where they also don't stand up). 

Can't comment on the lcd 3s, but your comments about your experience with live treble are quite interesting. Having played horn in a brass section or two myself, for more than a few years, and in some decent groups (played the Sydney Opera House, yada yada and also sang with the LA opera and in a number of film scores) , I have to wonder how much your perception of treble has been shaped by the fact that you've been sitting behind the trumpet rather than in front of it. Maybe it boils down to a simple difference in treble sensitivity?

To my ears, depending on the music and the musician, trumpets certainly can be blindingly bright, just as sopranos can be piercing and violins can scream (as called for by the music, conductor or director). All three of the foregoing treble sections have raised the hair on my neck countless times in live performances.

 

[googleli]

Then stop adding used toilet papers to your LCD3.

Quote:

 

 
 

 

[purrin]

Quote:

I don't dislike them that much. They have strengths such as really good bass impact. They certainly work well with some types of music.
 
I thought my LCD-2r2 were among the best 10 headphones that I heard (although closer to the bottom of that list than the top). The LCD-2r1 and LCD-3 weren't - too dark and lacking in detail resoluton. Maybe some units are better than others. For example, the FR graph posted by Audeze for the LCD-3 looked quite a bit better than mine.
 
Yes - a few hours are enough for me to figure out what headphones sound like.
 

 
I would concur. If you know what you don't like, it shouldn't take anyone that long to figure out. There are quiet a few headphones which didn't last more than a minute on my head. To evaluate them further would be torture.
 
 
Quote:

I think you guys really need to spend north of 5K on front ends to start to appreciate the real strengths of the 3.

Another recommendation would be to get an relatively inexpensive turntable with a decent MC cartridge < $1000. You will get better resolution, but with some errors of commission (static, noise, rumble, etc.) compared to CD.
 

 

[visualguy]

Quote:

I agree on the live music are never bright, I have been to many live performance to know that they are never bright.
 

Strange - the high notes on my wife's violin are pretty bright, and so was Gil Shaham's violin last time I heard him play Part's Tabula Rasa live.