[Bill-P]

   
Yep, heard that before.
They were preowned by someone I trust so there was nothing wrong with the phones. They were also properly burned in by him.
At the time everyone was raving about the LCD2. when the LCD3 came out everyone was like, oh sure, the LCD2 wasn't that good but the 3 is much better.
The amps I had at the time were: EAR HP4, Zana, Luxman P-1u, Luxman SQ-N100, Phonitor and Yammy. Not the worst amps as far as I know.
Also, none of the better open phones I owned (K1000, K701, AD2000, GS1000, HD800) sounded as good to my ears than any of my top closed cans (W3000ANV, L3000, LA7000, LA-900).
 
I just read a few impressions by another member who likes the LCD-XC a lot and finds it better than the LCD3, LCD-X or HE-600. Maybe I should give Audeze a second chance and try the XC since I seem to strongly prefer closed cans to open ones.
I also read some very good (and some very bad) impressions about the EL-8C so I must admit that one caught my eye as well.
Apart from  these two the only other phone on my radar for the moment is the Z7 but I wonder if the rumors were true and a real flagship is coming this year.

 
Some LCD-2s have been known to go bad over time, so... actually, being pre-owned and even burned in would increase the likelihood of it being a bad pair. It was a QC nightmare for Audeze, and the LCD-3 got it even worse. You can still see people moaning about dead LCD-3 drivers today. And yeah... it's bad enough that eventually, the driver would just "die" rather than stopping at "going bad".
 
But anyway, that's a story for another thread.
 
I'd say... if you like the D5000/D7000 and TH900, then the XC may just be your ticket after all. I still see it as being the best closed-back headphone on the market. I will eventually own one when I have found a good pair (yeah, QC issues mentioned above), but for not, I'm content with modding my Z7.

 

[zazex]

 
Lossless files > NAD D3020 via coax from Hackintosh > headphones
 
"boomy" was meant to be positive. Maybe punchy/thumpy bass is better.
 
Ad for detail, I edited the entry and clarified with "bright".
 
But there is no doubt to me that the sony's have much more bass thump and audibly extend lower than the DT-770's. The Z7's also have a ton more upper bass and lower mid, so that can sound "veiled" a little, which can come across as less detail, but it's not. The "veil" is NOWHERE near as veiled as the 598's for example. The Z7's just have significantly recessed treble compared to the 770s. 

Overall > agreed. 

 

[AppleheadMay]

   
Some LCD-2s have been known to go bad over time, so... actually, being pre-owned and even burned in would increase the likelihood of it being a bad pair. It was a QC nightmare for Audeze, and the LCD-3 got it even worse. You can still see people moaning about dead LCD-3 drivers today. And yeah... it's bad enough that eventually, the driver would just "die" rather than stopping at "going bad".
 
But anyway, that's a story for another thread.
 
I'd say... if you like the D5000/D7000 and TH900, then the XC may just be your ticket after all. I still see it as being the best closed-back headphone on the market. I will eventually own one when I have found a good pair (yeah, QC issues mentioned above), but for not, I'm content with modding my Z7.

 
Yes, the XC might indeed be a good idea. I started reading the thread. Long thread but I'm not in a hurry anyway, got my eye on a BNIB W3000ANV so I need to jump on that one first.
The Z7 isn't that expensive so I'll see what I can find in the classifieds at a reasonable price and give it a try. I just noticed them for 525€ new on Amazon Germany so second hand they should be fairly affordable.

 

[Bill-P]

Just be warned stock Z7 is quite the thick and dark headphone. I'd even say the stock LCD-2 sounds cleaner and clearer...

 

[TMRaven]

  Finally, at least for the moment, where is the validity of comparing
thousand dollar headphones to seven hundred dollar (street price less)
headphones.?

 
There's always validity in comparing equipment with major price differences in this hobby.  As with most anything in life, there's no black and white here, there's shades of gray in which there's good and bad performers no matter the price.

 

[zazex]

   
There's always validity in comparing equipment with major price differences in this hobby.  As with most anything in life, there's no black and white here, there's shades of gray in which there's good and bad performers no matter the price.

 
Disagree with your statement re: "always'
 
Rarely will 'always' be a correct or even useful descriptor.
IMO it's not one here.
 
"As with most anything in life..."  I'd prefer discussing headphones here,
without your high handed existential comments about 'life'.
 
Thanks.

 

[TMRaven]

And we are discussing headphones here.  We're discussing LCD2 vs Z7.  Just because the LCD2 is 1,000 dollars and the Z7 is 700 dollars does not make the LCD2 inherently a better headphone and an unfair comparison to the Z7.
 
I've found just as much fruit in my personal comparisons between things like the LCD-X and LCD-3 vs the HE-560, the LCD-2 vs the HE-400 etc.  There is no loss in validity here, any comparison is helpful, and you don't have to get so defensive responding to one line referencing life.

 

[money4me247]

I don't mind at all. Actually, thanks for looking it up for me.

I hope you are still enjoying the modded pair. Looking forward to more of your impressions.

I'm almost inclined to ask you to send them back to me whenever you're done so that I can retune them one last time before sending them off to Tyll, but let's work that out later.

tyll doesnt want any headphones that have been previous modded btw.

seen these headphones hit sub-$400 alrdy. btw for new buyers

 

[AppleheadMay]

  Finally, at least for the moment, where is the validity of comparing
thousand dollar headphones to seven hundred dollar (street price less)
headphones.?

 
What do you expect in a thread mentioning Sony and flagship in the title? R10 ring a bell?
 
 

   
Disagree with your statement re: "always'
 
Rarely will 'always' be a correct or even useful descriptor.
IMO it's not one here.
 
"As with most anything in life..."  I'd prefer discussing headphones here,
without your high handed existential comments about 'life'.
 
Thanks.

 
Pretty harsh response no?
If you prefer to discuss headpones here maybe you shouldn't bring speakers into the mix then.
And your post above isn't about headphones as well.

 

[TMRaven]

tyll doesnt want any headphones that have been previous modded btw.

seen these headphones hit sub-$400 alrdy. btw for new buyers

 
I think he's going to put modded headphones in the DIY section; not sure.
 
 
 
Zazex, I apologize if i came off as patronizing or offensive or whatever in the mentioning of life, but I do intend to provide as many different comparisons of headphones I can if someone asks about that particular comparison or any type of comparison that is similar to it regardless of price differences.  I don't think there's anything wrong with it.

 

[money4me247]

No man, I'm not angry or anything.  I just find it amusing that something I've never given a second thought to and experienced over and over again for 30 years is considered by some to be "snake oil".  It boggles my mind.  You could have got those speaker wires made of ANY material and you chose $500 silver wire.  I hope you enjoy them! The NAD house sound is a bit dark, so the Silver wire should be a good match for the HE560, hope it's not too bright though...

lol you've obviously never visited the sound science portion of this website. they treat everything that has not been blind tested as snake oil... considering how expensive cables are, seems like a wise move financially to test. interesting though that I've never come up on a single article that has a listener passing a cable blind test. wld love a link if anyone has if.

edit: not looking to continue that dreaded argument, but wld love to see a link if anyone has one. just PM me

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

   
There's always validity in comparing equipment with major price differences in this hobby.  As with most anything in life, there's no black and white here, there's shades of gray in which there's good and bad performers no matter the price.

....50 shades of gray....???
 
Sorry.... had to do it....

 

[money4me247]

  I got the Z7 for around 400 dollars. Currently, for that price, I can't seem to find anything better. But as some of you said that a planar magnetic is better, I'm looking for a headphone in the 700 dollar range, maybe something like the Audeze EL-8? First impressions of those are not very positive, and the Oppo's aren't much better either. So, in order to get a better headphone, I should be looking in the 1200 dollar price range... I will just stay with the Z7.

mmm... i disagree. i'd say the critical reception of both those headphones were quite good. they are just being compared to flagship offers as Audeze has their own current line of flagships as does Oppo. The Z7 is currently Sony's highest offering & I haven't read many reviews here comparing it against 'higher tier' headphones. I am sure they will hold their own against the mid-fi closed entries.
 
For $400, yes you can find something better, but you may not find something else that suits your personal sound signature tastes, so as long you are happy
 
I'd say that $400 is an acceptable price for the Z7. (I thought the initial MSRP was a bit too much personally)

 

[Bill-P]

tyll doesnt want any headphones that have been previous modded btw.

 
Yeah, he does. There's a DIY section at the very end of the data sheets page:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/headphone-data-sheet-downloads
 
But on that note, Tyll wanted my pair for a different angle. I think he wanted to review the Z7 as a potential modder's headphone.
 
Unfortunately, I think I failed to provide the level of change necessary for him to conclusively say anything positive at all. I guess that's understandable, as my goal was simply to make the Z7 sound cleaner (lower distortions, which does show on Tyll's measurements), rather than "different". You can quite tell from its fan base thus far that the sound signature is already good enough. I think any significant deviation from the current signature would defeat the whole point of the headphone altogether.
 
The Z7 is overly laid-back, relaxed, and easy to listen to at stock, which... I do enjoy. I just wanted to bridge the gap in technicality (or clarity) between it and my planar.

 

[zazex]

After giving this due thought -
Sorry that I allowed my less than stellar mood Saturday to go on display here.
It was inappropriate and I apologize to all involved, especially those reading and posting in
this thread.