[internaught]

Long time lurker, first time poster(?)

I spend a lot of time on the PC and I'm a big gamer. I listen to a wide range of music from Drum N Bass and Mindless Self Indulgence to Nils Frahm and Gordon Lightfoot.

I'm using the Massdrop / Fostex TH-X00s with the JDS Labs Element II -- Along with that I have a pair of Yamaha HS-80M's for my speakers. Lately, I've been wanting a little more ... Just more! More fidelity, clarity, a little more bang, looking for a step up in every way.

I've been wondering about getting the Schiit Jotunheim with the multi-bit DAC, but totally open to other suggestions. and Then, for headphones I'd like to stay right around the $1000 ballpark, even going all the way up to $1500 for some kind of Audeze like the LCD2/Closed Back/Classic/XC or something along those lines.

I'm wondering if a speaker like the KEF LS50 Metas would be a big step up from the Yamaha's...

The main thing I'm looking for is a significant step up in quality. I'm looking for some advice on a nice combo, what do you suggest?

 

[DenverW]

The emu teak was my favorite of the fostex variants, and I found the ZMF Atticus to be an upgrade in detail and overall sound quality.

 

[plmon]

Long time lurker, first time poster(?)

I spend a lot of time on the PC and I'm a big gamer. I listen to a wide range of music from Drum N Bass and Mindless Self Indulgence to Nils Frahm and Gordon Lightfoot.

I'm using the Massdrop / Fostex TH-X00s with the JDS Labs Element II -- Along with that I have a pair of Yamaha HS-80M's for my speakers. Lately, I've been wanting a little more ... Just more! More fidelity, clarity, a little more bang, looking for a step up in every way.

I've been wondering about getting the Schiit Jotunheim with the multi-bit DAC, but totally open to other suggestions. and Then, for headphones I'd like to stay right around the $1000 ballpark, even going all the way up to $1500 for some kind of Audeze like the LCD2/Closed Back/Classic/XC or something along those lines.

I'm wondering if a speaker like the KEF LS50 Metas would be a big step up from the Yamaha's...

The main thing I'm looking for is a significant step up in quality. I'm looking for some advice on a nice combo, what do you suggest?

I haven't heard the TH-X00, but I'm assuming it's similar to say the E-MU with Ebony cups since they're largely the same components. If you wanted a straight-up upgrade, I'd say get a TH-900 and then pad swap depending on your tolerance for treble. It has better resolution, aka the smaller details and textures in music are more clearly defined. I also found the imaging to better, it fills up the soundstage more completely.

But the LCD-XC (2021) would be an excellent upgrade as well. You don't get as much slam as the Fostex headphones, but it slams more than other planars. The detail retrieval is a significant step-up from the TH-X00 level, I think a bit more resolving than the TH-900. The tonality of the 2021 revision isn't as wonky as other Audeze either. Potential downside to the LCD-XC is the weight, but otherwise the build quality is very good and the pads are super comfortable.

I also believe the TH-900 and LCD-XC are more sensitive than the TH-X00, so I don't think you'd need an upgrade from the Element (unless you just want to try some other kind of amp lol).

 

[internaught]

How would the LCD-XC's compare to the LCD-X's, the LCD-2's and LCD-2 Classics?

Also, any recommendation on speakers?