[Focker]

   
I auditioned the LCD-X a couple of times recently, and took along my T1s for comparison. This may be heretical but on balance, I prefer the T1. Despite impressing overall, the X just seemed less engaging by comparison, with slightly recessed mids. I was also expecting it to pack some real punch in the low end, having read lots of people on here talk about its bass slam, but I didn't get a whole lot of that either - they went deep for sure, but slam; not so much. Maybe I should give it another listen in future, with some different gear (the place I went to were using a Quad PA-One). Just curious - no criticism implied - what is it that makes you say the X is a step or two above the T1s?

 
Given that the T1s can be had for a fair bit less money than the X, that's great news for you! lol  
 
That's funny that you say the X didn't have slam, and then the guy who posted right after you said they had too much bass. The Xs must be more sensitive to amp pairing, cause the low end I get when paired with the Meier amps is clean with a lot of depth and thump. To the T1s credit, they nearly keep pace also when paired with the Meier gear. 
 
The T1s do everything well and I've loved them since I bought them in 2012. I don't have a negative thing to say about them. To answer your question, my ears have just always responded to planar drivers more than dynamic drivers. I've been a lover and owner of Magnepan speakers for a decade, and the same affinity has held true with planar headphones. Planar drivers (specifically the Audeze X) just have an edge in realism (particularly with vocals) and transparency. They bring music and movies to life for me in a way that I love. The soundstage is pretty even with the T1s, but the Xs have a more layered soundstage. The Maggies have a huge soundstage but average imaging, yet the Xs somehow manage to have pin point imaging. I'm able to place instruments in space all around me. The T1s don't image quite as well to my ears. The T1s have the edge in comfort, which is partly why they tend to be my go-to movie headphone. 
 
I just have to give a ton of credit to Jan Meier. He doesn't advertise at all and his gear doesn't have shiny faceplates that score lots of bling points, but they're amazing performers at their price points. I've had great luck in that the pairing with the T1s and the Audeze phones (first the LCD-2, and now the X) because the sound is just stunning. Plenty of headroom for those dynamic peaks and transients, deep thumping bass, perfectly neutral signature, gobs of detail retrieval, etc, etc. 
 
With the Meier Classic amp, the T1s really do compete well with the Xs. Aside from comfort, there's not really an area where the T1s are BETTER (in terms of my preferences), but that doesnt mean I don't love them...I use them every day, just like the X. Both fantastic headphones. 

 

[SunTanScanMan]

   
Given that the T1s can be had for a fair bit less money than the X, that's great news for you! lol  
 
That's funny that you say the X didn't have slam, and then the guy who posted right after you said they had too much bass. The Xs must be more sensitive to amp pairing, cause the low end I get when paired with the Meier amps is clean with a lot of depth and thump. To the T1s credit, they nearly keep pace also when paired with the Meier gear. 
 
The T1s do everything well and I've loved them since I bought them in 2012. I don't have a negative thing to say about them. To answer your question, my ears have just always responded to planar drivers more than dynamic drivers. I've been a lover and owner of Magnepan speakers for a decade, and the same affinity has held true with planar headphones. Planar drivers (specifically the Audeze X) just have an edge in realism (particularly with vocals) and transparency. They bring music and movies to life for me in a way that I love. The soundstage is pretty even with the T1s, but the Xs have a more layered soundstage. The Maggies have a huge soundstage but average imaging, yet the Xs somehow manage to have pin point imaging. I'm able to place instruments in space all around me. The T1s don't image quite as well to my ears. The T1s have the edge in comfort, which is partly why they tend to be my go-to movie headphone. 
 
I just have to give a ton of credit to Jan Meier. He doesn't advertise at all and his gear doesn't have shiny faceplates that score lots of bling points, but they're amazing performers at their price points. I've had great luck in that the pairing with the T1s and the Audeze phones (first the LCD-2, and now the X) because the sound is just stunning. Plenty of headroom for those dynamic peaks and transients, deep thumping bass, perfectly neutral signature, gobs of detail retrieval, etc, etc. 
 
With the Meier Classic amp, the T1s really do compete well with the Xs. Aside from comfort, there's not really an area where the T1s are BETTER (in terms of my preferences), but that doesnt mean I don't love them...I use them every day, just like the X. Both fantastic headphones. 

Out of curiosity, do you use the high gain on the classic with those headphones? I'm on normal gain with the T1 most of the time.

 

[WraithApe]

   
Given that the T1s can be had for a fair bit less money than the X, that's great news for you! lol  
 
That's funny that you say the X didn't have slam, and then the guy who posted right after you said they had too much bass.
 

 
Yeah, that's true - but to be fair, he was talking about them being 'boomy', which to my mind, is not the same thing as slam - to me, slam implies tight, punchy, impacting bass whereas boomy implies loose. I certainly didn't find the bass loose; on the contrary, it was very well defined, just didn't pack a massive punch (actually marginally less than the T1 I felt).
 
Thanks for your impressions anyway; very interesting to read that comparison. As you say, there are other factors at play when comparing headphones - subjectivity of hearing of course, and individual preference, but also the amp pairing. Hope to demo the LCD-X again in future, with different gear.

 

[Focker]

 
Out of curiosity, do you use the high gain on the classic with those headphones? I'm on normal gain with the T1 most of the time.

 
Nice, a fellow Meier/T1 guy! 
 
Yep, the normal gain setting drives the bejeezus out of the Audezes, so that's where I had it set when I flipped over to the T1s recently. I usually have the T1s hooked up to the Jazz on high gain, so I've been playing around a bit now that I'm letting them hang out with the Classic for a bit. I love that on high gain I still get a perfectly black background...if not for those incredibly bright LEDs on the face panel, you'd never even know the thing was on in between tracks. That's one more thing I love about the Meier amps...absolutely dead quiet. 
 
I didn't notice any sonic improvement with the high gain setting, so I'll probably just leave it on the normal setting for both headphones. 

 

[Focker]

   
Yeah, that's true - but to be fair, he was talking about them being 'boomy', which to my mind, is not the same thing as slam - to me, slam implies tight, punchy, impacting bass whereas boomy implies loose. I certainly didn't find the bass loose; on the contrary, it was very well defined, just didn't pack a massive punch (actually marginally less than the T1 I felt).
 
Thanks for your impressions anyway; very interesting to read that comparison. As you say, there are other factors at play when comparing headphones - subjectivity of hearing of course, and individual preference, but also the amp pairing. Hope to demo the LCD-X again in future, with different gear.

 
Oh I totally agree, I was speaking more to the idea that the headphone/amp pairing must be a larger factor than I thought since three of us had three different opinions on the low end of the Xs. 
 
And yeah, great point about subjectivity. I do try and qualify my remarks (when I remember to do so) with "per MY preferences", so as not to make a blanket statement about the value of one product over another. That's not a game I like to play, cause I don't see any point in turning an audio hobby into a pissing contest. What someone else does or doesnt buy, or what they prefer or dont prefer, has no bearing at all on what I enjoy...and the same holds true in reverse. I just share my experiences as best I can, and if someone happens to find them interesting or helpful in some way, then all the better

 

[olegausany]

  
Given that the T1s can be had for a fair bit less money than the X, that's great news for you! lol  
 
That's funny that you say the X didn't have slam, and then the guy who posted right after you said they had too much bass.
 

 
Yeah, that's true - but to be fair, he was talking about them being 'boomy', which to my mind, is not the same thing as slam - to me, slam implies tight, punchy, impacting bass whereas boomy implies loose. I certainly didn't find the bass loose; on the contrary, it was very well defined, just didn't pack a massive punch (actually marginally less than the T1 I felt).
 
Thanks for your impressions anyway; very interesting to read that comparison. As you say, there are other factors at play when comparing headphones - subjectivity of hearing of course, and individual preference, but also the amp pairing. Hope to demo the LCD-X again in future, with different gear.

For your information I heard LCD-X with 3 different setups. Cheapest had WA5 amp, second was 4k Dac/Amp from Red wine audio and last one had GS-Xmk2 amp costing around 4k just for amp. And unfortunately with none of them bass was tight and punchy as most of us would expect but was boomy instead affecting other frequencies. I also heard HD800 with second and third setups as well as LCD-3 with second one and had no problems with the bass

 

[gab840]

   
Given that the T1s can be had for a fair bit less money than the X, that's great news for you! lol  
 
That's funny that you say the X didn't have slam, and then the guy who posted right after you said they had too much bass. The Xs must be more sensitive to amp pairing, cause the low end I get when paired with the Meier amps is clean with a lot of depth and thump. To the T1s credit, they nearly keep pace also when paired with the Meier gear. 
 
The T1s do everything well and I've loved them since I bought them in 2012. I don't have a negative thing to say about them. To answer your question, my ears have just always responded to planar drivers more than dynamic drivers. I've been a lover and owner of Magnepan speakers for a decade, and the same affinity has held true with planar headphones. Planar drivers (specifically the Audeze X) just have an edge in realism (particularly with vocals) and transparency. They bring music and movies to life for me in a way that I love. The soundstage is pretty even with the T1s, but the Xs have a more layered soundstage. The Maggies have a huge soundstage but average imaging, yet the Xs somehow manage to have pin point imaging. I'm able to place instruments in space all around me. The T1s don't image quite as well to my ears. The T1s have the edge in comfort, which is partly why they tend to be my go-to movie headphone. 
 
I just have to give a ton of credit to Jan Meier. He doesn't advertise at all and his gear doesn't have shiny faceplates that score lots of bling points, but they're amazing performers at their price points. I've had great luck in that the pairing with the T1s and the Audeze phones (first the LCD-2, and now the X) because the sound is just stunning. Plenty of headroom for those dynamic peaks and transients, deep thumping bass, perfectly neutral signature, gobs of detail retrieval, etc, etc. 
 
With the Meier Classic amp, the T1s really do compete well with the Xs. Aside from comfort, there's not really an area where the T1s are BETTER (in terms of my preferences), but that doesnt mean I don't love them...I use them every day, just like the X. Both fantastic headphones. 

Really ... T1 imaging & pin-point accuracy falls behind to LCD-X. I think its just to your ears only becuase T1 have always been reported as the best in imaging precision & pin-point accuracy.

 

[Focker]

  Really ... T1 imaging & pin-point accuracy falls behind to LCD-X. I think its just to your ears only becuase T1 have always been reported as the best in imaging precision & pin-point accuracy.

 
Well, like I said, the X has a more layered sound stage...in other words it has greater depth of field...horizontally, vertically, etc. It's a more 3-D soundfield. And yes, to MY ears lol

 

[groovyd]

I switch between my 2 T1's and my LCD-X and XC regularly and the X and XC blow the T1 away in terms of pin-point accuracy.   The T1 are tilted high and the X and XC match the tonality of my Paradigm speaker setup almost exactly.  Putting on the T1 always takes time to adjust to as it is relatively thin.  I am selling both my T1 if anyone is interested, PM me.

 

[WraithApe]

  I switch between my 2 T1's and my LCD-X and XC regularly and the X and XC blow the T1 away in terms of pin-point accuracy.

 
They most certainly don't - I don't think there is any 'blowing away' going on when we're talking about headphones of this calibre; the differences are never night and day. I have to say, this kind of hyperbolic language does get on my nerves!

 

[Youth]

Do you think Beyerdynamic will release an upgrade to T1 in the near future? Maybe a T2?

 

[groovyd]

   
They most certainly don't - I don't think there is any 'blowing away' going on when we're talking about headphones of this calibre; the differences are never night and day. I have to say, this kind of hyperbolic language does get on my nerves!

your mileage varies, mine doesn't... there is no comparison between the T1 and X/XC in terms of spacial resolution.

 

[barid]

  Do you think Beyerdynamic will release an upgrade to T1 in the near future? Maybe a T2?

 
I heard it will be called "T2: Judgement Day" and will feature a liquid metal headband that morphs to your skull (T1000, patent pending).

 

[Bloodflowerz]

   
I heard it will be called "T2: Judgement Day" and will feature a liquid metal headband that morphs to your skull (T1000, patent pending).

 
Beyer will be releasing new midrange and high end phones by summer this year.

 

[Focker]

  I switch between my 2 T1's and my LCD-X and XC regularly and the X and XC blow the T1 away in terms of pin-point accuracy.   The T1 are tilted high and the X and XC match the tonality of my Paradigm speaker setup almost exactly.  Putting on the T1 always takes time to adjust to as it is relatively thin.  I am selling both my T1 if anyone is interested, PM me.

 
You have the XC, too? Lucky person lol. 
 
Which color/finish did you get?