[keokio]

So I got these headphones about 2 weeks ago and have been listening to them but have this weird buzzing / distortion noise from these headphones especially during vocal parts of the song
 
I tested it with my regular cheap headphones and have no buzzing
 
I also tried different combinations
 
DAC> Asgard 2> LCD2
seems to be less obvious but still there now and then
 
Asgard 2> LCD2
still there
 
computer speaker out > LCD2
 
 
most obvious comes from computer out to lcd2, but when i plug in my regular headphones no distortion so i've narrowed it down to the headphones
 
 
I recorded the clip here:
Nora Jones 
the part where she says "kneeling" you'll hear the buzz which is more apparent in real life considering im recording it
 
https://soundcloud.com/keokio7/vocal-prob#t=0:06
 
Now i bought these refurbished maybe that may be the problem, but i want to make sure 
 
if you guys can help me out much appreciated.. considering these are $1000 headphones this buzzing sound is driving me nuts

 

[NA Blur]

Do us a quick favor and listen to a portable player, preferably an iPod, and report back if any tracks buzz / distort.
 
We want to get to the bottom of this, but absolutely want to make sure it is the headphones.

 

[keokio]

  Do us a quick favor and listen to a portable player, preferably an iPod, and report back if any tracks buzz / distort.
 
We want to get to the bottom of this, but absolutely want to make sure it is the headphones.

 
 
i did it with my android but it doesnt get loud enough for me to tell, but i did comparison between my old headphones and the LCD2 plugged into my computer.  The $70 sennheiser no matter how loud i put it, doesnt have that buzz like the lcd does.  This buzz also occurs although less frequently when connected to my dac>amp

 

[keokio]

ok i did the next best thing which is plug my android into my asgard 2 amp and im still getting that distortion in the vocals

 

[NA Blur]

It does sounds like you have a bad pair of headphones.  At some point all headphones distort, but a nice high-end headphone like the LCD-2F should be able to not distort at high levels.  Can you return them?

 

[keokio]

  It does sounds like you have a bad pair of headphones.  At some point all headphones distort, but a nice high-end headphone like the LCD-2F should be able to not distort at high levels.  Can you return them?

 
ok so i did more testing, and if i listen carefully the buzz is there from my other headphones as well, so the LCD may or may not be the culprit.  I started a thread in sound science to see if anyone can tell me what is causing this because its happening across a lot of my vocal heavy tracks, these are all lossless quality ripped from CDs.  Its a little disheartening when you drop a couple grand into music equipment and you hear this noticeable distortion regularly.  Anyways thanks for your help

 

[joe]

If you believe that the headphones are the issue, you may want to contact Audeze to see if they can do anything for you. 
 
https://www.audeze.com/contact-us
 
That being said, if it's happening with other headphones, then I can't imagine its the Audeze's. Is there an EQ setting on your source? If so, have you made adjustments to those EQ settings?

 

[NA Blur]

The buzz can be from any part of the audio train, but most likely from the DAC.  If it is more of a hum and remains very consistent then it is probably from your amp.  PC listening is very noisy so if the buzz is more random sounding then a better DAC should clear that up.
 
A few things it could be before you are too disheartened:
 
1.)  It could be the type of compression used leading to artifacting in your music.  The solution would be to try FLAC or AAC formats.
Do you hear the buzz / distortion on this track?  None of my gear can hear any distortion on this track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my1md-2TJzk
 
2.)  If the DAC your are using is not isolating ground well enough or capable of playing the bit rate and bit depth of the tracks you have then there may be distortion issues.  What DAC are you using?
 
3.)  If the amp has a bad component or is improperly matching the impedance of your headphone ( i.e. the output impedance of the amp > 5 Ohms there may be distortion issues )  This is something we can look at as a last resort because most amps just take the signal before it and increase the voltage.
 
A decent USB DAC almost always clears up issues such as yours.

 

[Audeze]

  If you believe that the headphones are the issue, you may want to contact Audeze to see if they can do anything for you. 
 
https://www.audeze.com/contact-us
 

Hi, suggest instead that you contact Support@Audeze.com if there's some problem traced back to  your LCD-2s.

 

[keokio]

  Hi, suggest instead that you contact Support@Audeze.com if there's some problem traced back to  your LCD-2s.

ok I sent in a support ticket