[olegausany]

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I am gonna get these headphones and was thinking about what DAC+Amp to get. I see that the asgard is quite a common recommendation on here. What about a DAC? I will be using these only with my PC and was wondering if a DAC is needed since I already have a Asus Xonar D1 soundcard?

You should first try them by connecting asgard to output of your Xonar card and if you don't kike get external DAC

 

[olegausany]

 
 
 
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by jerg /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I auditioned lots of other headphones (LFF Paradox, AKG Q701, AudioTechnica AD900, HD800s, Denon D5000+full lawton mod) and compared them to the HE400s, if anyone wants my opinions on those I'd be glad to share it while my memory is still fresh.

Very interested to hear about Paradox and modded D5000. Also were D5000 recabled or used stock cable?
 

 

[jerg]

Quote:

 
 
 
 
Very interested to hear about Paradox and modded D5000. Also were D5000 recabled or used stock cable?
 

Stock I think. A/Bing it against the LCD2r2 it was very apparent that the modded D5k had a pretty prominent V-shaped response with a (to my ears) treble peak that hurts. Its bass response is also significantly less textured compared to the Audezes.

 

[olegausany]

Quote:

Stock I think. A/Bing it against the LCD2r2 it was very apparent that the modded D5k had a pretty prominent V-shaped response with a (to my ears) treble peak that hurts. Its bass response is also significantly less textured compared to the Audezes.

How would you compare D5000's bass against HE-400?

 

[jerg]

Quote:

How would you compare D5000's bass against HE-400?

 
Pretty similar, the D5ks had more subbass and has more bass volume overall. The HE400s had a slightly tighter bass probably due to the somewhat lesser subbass volume.
 
All of the Audezes just massacred everything else in terms of bass though, in all respects. Bass level, bass neutrality, bass texture, extension, etc, nothing could touch them, except maybe the HE6s which with the really great system setup there seemed to have a bass as good as the LCD2s, but the LCD3s still crushed it in bass quality.

 

[RushNerd]

Quote:

 
Pretty similar, the D5ks had more subbass and has more bass volume overall. The HE400s had a slightly tighter bass probably due to the somewhat lesser subbass volume.

That accurately reflects how MattTCG compared the two for me. It would be cool to have both, but the 5k is much more my style. The HE-6 and the LCD cans seem almost mythical, doubt i'll ever throw down so much for cans though

 

[olegausany]

Never heard anything special from LCD2 and while LCD3 is totally different story I wouldn't spend $1900, getting like new T1 for $850-900 would be fine for me 

 

[jerg]

Quote:

That accurately reflects how MattTCG compared the two for me. It would be cool to have both, but the 5k is much more my style. The HE-6 and the LCD cans seem almost mythical, doubt i'll ever throw down so much for cans though

No need to justify, if you like the sound, you like the sound. Do try to attend any local / somewhat local head-fi meets though, it can indeed be quite eye-opening (or rather, ear-opening).

 

[RushNerd]

Quote:

No need to justify, if you like the sound, you like the sound. Do try to attend any local / somewhat local head-fi meets though, it can indeed be quite eye-opening (or rather, ear-opening).

Portland,OR 2010
And yes it was very enlightening, hell it was the first time I heard my D2k's through an amp (WA3 of all things, god-like). I got a chance to breifly sample the D5k's there that i'll be getting in this week, can't wait!
 
I was WAY lucky enough there also to try out a newer pair of STAX which were pretty remarkable. But I really want to make it to another meet at some point so I can hear any of the LCD's, the Senn 650 again and the Hifiman series because Planar is extremely interesting to me.

 

[Aravind]

Lcd2.2 is aggressive in mids or treble? Can you post more detailed impressions of your comparison between the lcd2.2 &he400.. I'm considering buying one of these and your impressions will be helpful...I have no way to audition either...also pls comment on what source/amp you used for the audition..
Quote:

. LCD2r2 is much more forward and aggressive than HE400s, but because of that has some bright treble sibilance and is in the end a bit less natural in timbre.
 
 
 

 

[TheDuke990]

LCD2.2 and aggressive ? The LCD2.2 is the smoothest headphone I ever heard.

 

[jerg]

Quote:

Lcd2.2 is aggressive in mids or treble? Can you post more detailed impressions of your comparison between the lcd2.2 &he400.. I'm considering buying one of these and your impressions will be helpful...I have no way to audition either...also pls comment on what source/amp you used for the audition..

 
Quote:

LCD2.2 and aggressive ? The LCD2.2 is the smoothest headphone I ever heard.

 
 
 
First off, just FYI I don't put stock in what things are supposed to sound like when I audition and compare, only what they do indeed sound like to my ears, no BS.
 
The system (I checked) combo that was used at the meet for all comparisons was a Bryston BHA1 + Wyred4Sound DAC2 combo. I went through a few electronic and acoustic tracks from the guy's laptop (all lossless .wav), and the difference plain and simple is that LCD2r2 had a much more forward upper mids and lower treble, and to my ears they sounded too energetic in that frequency range to really be smooth and be of the correct timbre. On the other hand the HE400s were much more laid-back and polite in the whole upper frequency range, with the treble at just the right amount for the timbre with vocals to not sound off.
 
I even asked 2 another guys (including the guy who owns the combo) at the meet to listen to the LCD2r2 vs HE400 and they both noted the significantly more forward upper mids and lower treble, though different people have different tolerances so they might perceive the extra energy as better.
 
On the contrary LCD2r1 on the same system was a touch too dim in the treble, and thus to sound very slightly muffled.
 
And the LCD3s on that system was just a bliss, a near-perfect timbre, the treble was so dang smooth it was just a joy to listen to.

 

[MattTCG]

I wished you'd quite talking about the lcd3 in those terms, when you know that I can't afford it. 

 

[jerg]

Quote:

I wished you'd quite talking about the lcd3 in those terms, when you know that I can't afford it. 

 
Well if there are downsides to LCD3s, they are like I mentioned a lack of air and openness in imaging. However even those are comparable to HE400s, just not as good as HE6s. HD800s have more of those still, but to a point that I feel is too unnatural.

 

[draven5494]

Seeing all of the positive reviews for the HE400s I feel that I should give them another chance. I bought them a few months ago and found them lacking in certain areas. It almost felt that the HE400s were severely recessed in a few areas. Mainly in the upper-mids and highs. Comparing them to my Q701s I could easily tell that they were not giving me the same amount of detail.

I confess though, I don't remember if the ones I bought were rev.1 or rev.2.(I think they were rev.2 but not 100% sure) I also didn't try the velour pads with them either.

Before I give them another shot I wanted to ask you guys if you have experienced anything like this with your HE400s. For someone like me, who wants to hear every detail (i am a detail freak) in a song with a great soundstage and nice bass would the HE400s work?

I plan on using these with my ODAC and matrix m-stage.