[CountChoculaBot]

I got the LCD2 last week, and unfortunately it's NOWHERE near as good as I'd hoped.  Reading through the amp suggestions thread got my hopes up though, since it appears I simply suffer from the symptoms of a mismatched amp and/or DAC.
Anyway, the sound I'd like is
 
Very realistic vocals
Musical, warm-ish  (basically a tube sound, except with realistic vocals)
 
In pursuit of that, I think I've narrowed it down to these amps:
 
Violectric V200 + 24/96 USB DAC $1000
Roc SA + Ref 8 $2500 (sheesh)
GHP + some DAC $500+
 
Any opinions?  Right now I'm leaning towards the V200 since it's essentially an all in one whose amp has been getting rave reviews with the LCD2.  The Roc SA is an unknown quantity, but it seems to have potential based on its pedigree and it seems a good match for the Reference 8 musical DAC.  Only problem is the price.  Then there's the Goldpoint headphone pro, which apparently does realistic vocals the best of the three with LCD2, but I don't know what DAC I'd get with it.  Please feel free to suggest any other amp/dac combos as well.

 

[Currawong]

The Ref 8 might be a bit overkill if you're going to go nuts.  The Ref 5 or NFB-1 would work in that list, the latter possibly sounding a tad more lively than the former.
 
Something you might try cheaply, though: Find an old receiver and make a headphone adaptor that you can plug the LCD-2s into the speaker outputs with.  You might get better results with that. The LCD-2s don't have the kind of tipped-up treble that a lot of cans try to make the music exciting with.  They are certainly more lively than their overall tone suggests with a powerful amp though. 

 

[zenpunk]

What are using it with at the moment? The Roc only make sense if you plan to go balanced. The Meier Concerto is also an option if you live in Europe.

 

[CountChoculaBot]

The Roc sa would be used with the reference 8, so I'd make full use of balanced.

In response to curra, I'd like to go with the ref8 in lieu of the ref5 because my dac ATM is the dac19dsp1 and to be honest the vocals aren't quite as realistic as I'd hoped with any of the cans I've used it with. Reviews of the dac3se would suggest it does vocals much better. As a result I'm going for the dac3se line, and since roc is balanced I said to hell with it, I'll go with the balanced musical dac, the ref8.

However it's Hella expensive, so I was looking for input into alternatives, especially that v200 + USB dac.

 

[Currawong]

How are you connecting the DAC19? Some people have reported favourable results with the Digital Interface with it.

 

[oqvist]

The usb dac on the V200 will rape your LCD 2. Only heard the 16-bit DAC on the V200 but it´s what a 20$ DAC chip that sounds like a 20$ DAC chip. Treat the V200 as a standalone amp it´s not really supposed to be a dac/amp combo I believe. They even removed the DAC chip on newer V200 and charge extra for it.
 
What exactly are you not liking with the LCD-2? what amp are you running currently? Going on a big spending spree on fixing something you don´t actually like is risky business indead.
I get you have the DAC 19 DSP? Works very well here. I am also curious about the DAC3SE but the mentioned rolled off treble on it worries me a bit.

 

[vrln]

Another vote against the built-in DAC in the V200... Indeed treat the V200 as an amp only (although if you are looking for a warm musical sound I think you might love it, but test first if possible). The built-in DAC part is worse than pretty much any 200+ dollar dedicated DAC talked on these forums. Your chain would be completely destroyed by using it as your source. All the components in the chain need to be at least the same quality - garbage in, garbage out.

 

[CountChoculaBot]

Quote:

How are you connecting the DAC19? Some people have reported favourable results with the Digital Interface with it.

USB 16/44 =[
 
However, I'm not getting just the digital interface to fix all this, because I'm just going to upgrade everything (upgradeitis and all that).  Digital interface might come with that, if necessary.


 
Quote:

The usb dac on the V200 will rape your LCD 2. Only heard the 16-bit DAC on the V200 but it´s what a 20$ DAC chip that sounds like a 20$ DAC chip. Treat the V200 as a standalone amp it´s not really supposed to be a dac/amp combo I believe. They even removed the DAC chip on newer V200 and charge extra for it.
 
What exactly are you not liking with the LCD-2? what amp are you running currently? Going on a big spending spree on fixing something you don´t actually like is risky business indead.
I get you have the DAC 19 DSP? Works very well here. I am also curious about the DAC3SE but the mentioned rolled off treble on it worries me a bit.

Quote:

Another vote against the built-in DAC in the V200... Indeed treat the V200 as an amp only (although if you are looking for a warm musical sound I think you might love it, but test first if possible). The built-in DAC part is worse than pretty much any 200+ dollar dedicated DAC talked on these forums. Your chain would be completely destroyed by using it as your source. All the components in the chain need to be at least the same quality - garbage in, garbage out.

Ok, I'll avoid the V200 USB DAC then =]
 
The problem I've got with the LCD2 are strained and not-quite-as-realistic-asidhoped vocals.  The strained part I read was a good symptom of having a bad match for an amp (Mapletree Ear+HD Super II, which is weird since it's amazing with Beyer T1 + UE18).  So I'm just using it as an excuse to get rid of everything; I need to get off tubes anyway since I'm going to be transporting quite a bit now.

 

[oqvist]

Maybe the V200s DAC will find some temporary use then if you don´t want to lug around with dac and amp? The footprint on the GHP is extremely small though so should be perfect for such tasks. When I got the Auditor which weights so much more and is like 6x bigger I didn´t have any dreams of the GHP to compare. Surprised that it actually did so much better with most of my low impedance headphones. Auditor did really well with the T1 though except I do feel it needs a thicker bottom end and some tube warmth
 
V200 is a bit bigger perhaps twice the size of the GHP but still transportable definiatly.

 

[CountChoculaBot]

The transportable part's not *too* important; it's not going to be transported too often (just week long breaks from school), it's just that I want to avoid tubes as a result since I don't want to break expensive tubes.
 
And oh hey, you have a GHP + LCD2 =]  How realistic are the vocals on that compared to any other amps you've tried?  Also, general sound signature (leaning towards tubey, warm, or bright etc)?
Thanks in advance =]

 

[oqvist]

I posted some impressions in the LCD-2 amp thread. I did preferr the vocals out of the GHP over the V200 and Auditor.
 
V200 has more treble and thus a bit more open sound signature. But it´s mid range had something about it that I found distracting when listening to music. Bass is equal to the GHP more or less.Sometimes I do wish for more air and treble then any of my current amps gives me. But then I go to my more treble happy headphones and realize why I don´t miss it on the LCD-2. Listening to pan flute albums and such you realize how cray good the treble on the LCD-2 actually is. GHP focuses in the areas the LCD-2 is already strong in and make sure nothing distract you from it. I find it does this with just about all my low impedance headphones anyway they sound more true to life and less coloured. V200 did a bit better with the T1 I feel.  I suspect that is why I find it such a great match...
 
V200 isn´t bad though. If I would have liked the T1 better I would perhaps gone with it instead of the GHP

 

[SP Wild]

Well well well...I have come to the same conclusion...despite the LCD2s already having a full bodied mid with any amp...I found I liked it even warmer.  It was with my Cayin tube amp switched to single ended triode operation that showed me how magnificent the the LCD2s can sound when warmed up some more  - I especially like tube amplification.  Yup...I like it wet and warm - the more the better heheheh.

 
Kwkarth did mention the Burson HA160 had plenty of grip on the LCD2s - I'd imagine if you preferred solid state, this amp should also be considered.  A neutral/lean amp will not warm up the LCD2s any more than they are.
 
Me personally...I am dying to be able to hear the LCD2s out of the WA5 300B single ended triode amplification.

 

[SillyHoney]

Quote:

Something you might try cheaply, though: Find an old receiver and make a headphone adaptor that you can plug the LCD-2s into the speaker outputs with.  You might get better results with that. The LCD-2s don't have the kind of tipped-up treble that a lot of cans try to make the music exciting with.  They are certainly more lively than their overall tone suggests with a powerful amp though. 

You can do that?
 
Which output you would suggest me to plug my LCD-2 into? Here is the back of my receiver. I cannot use Speaker output since I'm using them for my surround system. Can I use the Audio Out on the lower left?

 
And does this one work as an adapter? RCA to 1/4"

Thank you Currawong!

 

[Currawong]

No, it'd have to be the speaker terminals.  Line outputs have little power at all.

 

[oqvist]

I would also be curious if there is any such adapters to buy somewhere.