[hottyson]

So far I’ve not been a huge fan of any suggested eq with them paired to my Valhalla. Unfortunately I’m running max OS so that has been my biggest struggle as of yet.

Yeah, I use MacOS at home on many of my computers. I installed Windows 10 via bootcamp on them in order to EQ with HeSuVi. Now life is complete.

 

[cdacosta]

I'm a big believer in power conditioning for many years. I use it on my stereo rig back in the day and still do, and now for the last 2 years on my headphone rig. I had favorable results with an Audioquest Powerquest 3.

For shitz and giggles, I pulled my Sound Application Line Stage conditioner from my stereo rig and popped it in my headphone rig. Wowsers! Improvements in all areas of the sonic spectrum and easily outperforms the AQ PQ3 as it should due to its higher price tag when in production.

Yes, I know its probably an overkill using a Sound Application Line Stage for my modest headphone setup, but since it's just sitting there, I might as well use it for now since I can't listen to my stereo rig due to family constraints.

I have been treating the setup of the headphone system like I would a main home system. I have a lot of spare high end PLCs and cables from my home system setup adventure which I am using with the headphone system. They make a difference. IMHO every part of the system makes a difference. The sum of all parts to equal the whole. I would not advocate spending multiples of the cost of the amp, DAC and headphones on cables and power conditioning but if you have it, definitely try it.

 

[tylercarrRTR]

I do not know what max OS is but I do know when I got the Audeze LCD-XC 2021 I thought they had no bass, leaned way to much toward neutral and was a tad pitchy in certain frequencies. After tuning with EQ I freaking love these headphones. I can make them sound almost anyway I want which is super cool.

Sorry Max OS. My pre 2021 out of the box have great bass but is a little pitchy in the mids. Male vocals seem to be my downfall. I’ll have to mess with it some more

 

[Smoothstereo]

I have been treating the setup of the headphone system like I would a main home system. I have a lot of spare high end PLCs and cables from my home system setup adventure which I am using with the headphone system. They make a difference. IMHO every part of the system makes a difference. The sum of all parts to equal the whole. I would not advocate spending multiples of the cost of the amp, DAC and headphones on cables and power conditioning but if you have it, definitely try it.

I agree, better to spend the money in line with the gear and ancillary equipment , and cables that are being connected to the power conditioner. Nice balance as they say. I think for my Schiit Jot2/BF2 and sub $1k headphones , the AQ Powerquest 3 does a fine job already. Going from a cheap power strip to the AQ PQ3, I noticed more at ease, better drive, and control on the Jot2, and the BF2 benefited with a darker background, more separation, layering, dynamics, and detail retrieval. For its price, I was amazed how much it improved my hp rig. At the same time it protects my gear from power spikes and surges.

The Sound Application just kicks it up another several notches. When the day I have to swap it back into my stereo rig, I will definitely be reluctant to do so.

 

[cdacosta]

I just got home and am listening to the system, I like doing this when burning in anything so I can hear for changes. About at the 100 hour mark or so and the Jot 2 is starting to feel more relaxed and organic. Timbre is improved, nice. Listening to Jazz "Live Recordings 2019-2020 by Timo Lasey and Teppo Makynen" on Tidal. This whole album is superb to test/listen for timbre, dynamics, micro detail and PRAT (pace rhythm and timing).

 

[cdacosta]

Sorry Max OS. My pre 2021 out of the box have great bass but is a little pitchy in the mids. Male vocals seem to be my downfall. I’ll have to mess with it some more

I will assume the LCD-X are like the LCD-XC (since the XC is a closed back version of the X). If my assumption is correct about the LCD-X, EQ and power is necessary to get the most out of these headphones. Especially if you want them tuned to you.

 

[tylercarrRTR]

I will assume the LCD-X are like the LCD-XC (since the XC is a closed back version of the X). If my assumption is correct about the LCD-X, EQ and power is necessary to get the most out of these headphones. Especially if you want them tuned to you.

I will have to give it some more time and do some more adjusting. Also nice mouse pad!

 

[tjdub]

I will assume the LCD-X are like the LCD-XC (since the XC is a closed back version of the X). If my assumption is correct about the LCD-X, EQ and power is necessary to get the most out of these headphones. Especially if you want them tuned to you.

Very nice set up

By the way the X and Xc are nothing alike they are very differently tuned headphones

 

[tjdub]

Sorry Max OS. My pre 2021 out of the box have great bass but is a little pitchy in the mids. Male vocals seem to be my downfall. I’ll have to mess with it some more

If you don't want to mess with digital eq I highly recommend the lokius, mine works amazing even with my higher end system

 

[cdacosta]

Very nice set up

By the way the X and Xc are nothing alike they are very differently tuned headphones

I know they are tuned differently. My assumption is that to get the most out of the X will be like the XC and will require tuning by EQ.

 

[tjdub]

I know they are tuned differently. My assumption is that to get the most out of the X will be like the XC and will require tuning by EQ.

And you would be correct, the new versions of both sound pretty good with out eq but they really shine with it

 

[tylercarrRTR]

If you don't want to mess with digital eq I highly recommend the lokius, mine works amazing even with my higher end system

I’ll have to look into that

 

[tjdub]

It also looks damn good in a schiit stack

 

[Smoothstereo]

It also looks damn good in a schiit stack

Nice stack ! Curious, have you ever used the Valhalla 2 as a tube preamp/buffer between your Jot2 and BF2? If so, did the Valhalla 2 inject enough tube qualities to the set up?

I have used the Vali 2 in such manner as mentioned in the early part of this thread with ok results. But for the last two months, I have been using a Black Ice Audio FOZ SS-X (soundstage expander/tube buffer) in place of my Vali2 , and the results are amazing and surpasses Vali 2 as a tube preamp/buffer.

But before I bought the FOZ SS-X, I was debating should I buy a Valhalla 2 for such duties. Ultimately, I didn't go that route in case I had the itch to roll tubes, I didn't want to deal with 4 tubes vs 1 on the FOZ SS-X. However, I am still curious though how the Valhalla 2 would have performed instead of the Black Ice Audio.

 

[tjdub]

I have use Valhalla as a pre amp and it works pretty well, it can take some of the edge of the jot2 but obviously the amount of warmth you get will depend on the tubes . The Valhalla is a great amp on it's own especially for dynamic headphones but I don't think it would have given you much of a difference then using the FOZ SSX