[gLer]

Auteur vs LCD-3F (2016 or newer). Complementary or too much overlap? Which is your preference, for what type of music, and why?

Go!

 

[wazzupi]

Auteur vs LCD-3F (2016 or newer). Complementary or too much overlap? Which is your preference, for what type of music, and why?

Go!

Its crazy but i prefer the lcd2c over any other audeze hp. I heard the whole lineup at canjam and at a local store with a audeze rep they were throwing a party. (the store is a super casual showroom very hip).

 

[lentoviolento]

Its crazy but i prefer the lcd2c over any other audeze hp. I heard the whole lineup at canjam and at a local store with a audeze rep they were throwing a party. (the store is a super casual showroom very hip).

i didn't like lcd3 very much either. i prefer lcd2 over it

 

[seeyou]

Auteur vs LCD-3F (2016 or newer). Complementary or too much overlap? Which is your preference, for what type of music, and why?

Go!

New purchase in your future?

 

[gLer]

New purchase in your future?

Hehe, not quite. I have the LCD-3F (latest revision) and consider it to be the best headphone I’ve ever heard. Also have the Atticus, which does a few things different but is mostly a complement to the LCD. Just wondering if the Auteur would fit in as part of a trio, or is there too much overlap with the LCD-3 in which case it’s either or. I won’t sell the LCD-3 to get an Auteur, but if there’s enough there to make it a complement I may consider adding an Auteur at some point to complete the trio.

 

[hikaru12]

Hehe, not quite. I have the LCD-3F (latest revision) and consider it to be the best headphone I’ve ever heard. Also have the Atticus, which does a few things different but is mostly a complement to the LCD. Just wondering if the Auteur would fit in as part of a trio, or is there too much overlap with the LCD-3 in which case it’s either or. I won’t sell the LCD-3 to get an Auteur, but if there’s enough there to make it a complement I may consider adding an Auteur at some point to complete the trio.

I personally didn't care for the LCD-3 that much. It's mids are more forward and smoother akin to the Atticus's mids but it's treble was not nearly as extended as the Auteurs. The bass was satisfying, however. I personally think the Auteur is the better headphone and should be different enough to warrant owning both. The Auteur is between an HD800S and the LCD 3 (the neutralness of the 800S with the sweetness of the LCD 3's).

 

[gLer]

I personally didn't care for the LCD-3 that much. It's mids are more forward and smoother akin to the Atticus's mids but it's treble was not nearly as extended as the Auteurs. The bass was satisfying, however. I personally think the Auteur is the better headphone and should be different enough to warrant owning both. The Auteur is between an HD800S and the LCD 3 (the neutralness of the 800S with the sweetness of the LCD 3's).

Thanks for the feedback. I’m very much a fan of forward mids (hence LCD-3 and Atticus), and the LCD’s treble is about as extended as I’d be willing to stand. Any more and it gets a touch piercing, for me. The LCD-3 already skirts that line with some tracks, but never crosses it. Going by your description, the Auteur will cross it. This also initially informed my choice of Atticus vs Auteur. I avoid piercing highs and sibilance at all costs. Thanks again.

Book isn’t closed yet, so more feedback welcome. I know sources play a big part in the sound sig as well.

 

[seeyou]

I personally didn't care for the LCD-3 that much. It's mids are more forward and smoother akin to the Atticus's mids but it's treble was not nearly as extended as the Auteurs. The bass was satisfying, however. I personally think the Auteur is the better headphone and should be different enough to warrant owning both. The Auteur is between an HD800S and the LCD 3 (the neutralness of the 800S with the sweetness of the LCD 3's).

On a completely unrelated note, you have misspelled "Inspire" in your sig

 

[ZenErik]

Thanks for the feedback. I’m very much a fan of forward mids (hence LCD-3 and Atticus), and the LCD’s treble is about as extended as I’d be willing to stand. Any more and it gets a touch piercing, for me. The LCD-3 already skirts that line with some tracks, but never crosses it. Going by your description, the Auteur will cross it. This also initially informed my choice of Atticus vs Auteur. I avoid piercing highs and sibilance at all costs. Thanks again.

Book isn’t closed yet, so more feedback welcome. I know sources play a big part in the sound sig as well.

I don’t think the Auteur has ‘piercing highs’ with Eikon was pads, and I am also very sensitive to it. There was only slightly too much treble energy for me with the Auteur pads in my chain. The Auteur includes both pad options so there isn’t an issue here.

In addition to the pad options it will depend on your amp and DAC. Personally I’ve not used anything you have listed so I couldn’t offer an opinion on the synergy.

 

[hikaru12]

Thanks for the feedback. I’m very much a fan of forward mids (hence LCD-3 and Atticus), and the LCD’s treble is about as extended as I’d be willing to stand. Any more and it gets a touch piercing, for me. The LCD-3 already skirts that line with some tracks, but never crosses it. Going by your description, the Auteur will cross it. This also initially informed my choice of Atticus vs Auteur. I avoid piercing highs and sibilance at all costs. Thanks again.

Book isn’t closed yet, so more feedback welcome. I know sources play a big part in the sound sig as well.

I mean if you paired it with something like a WA2 or WA22 then perhaps you could get the dark signature you prefer. While I loved the Atticus, I personally found it's mids could get a bit fatiguing especially in the upper mids as they were more forward because they were truly a warm can. The Auteur has this magic about them where the mids are sweet and full (not as full as the Atticus or LCD-3 though) but still neutral so they don't jump out at you. I was a warm can guy myself until I realized I was robbing myself of the purity of the mix by just favoring a specific coloration. One can make things sound smooth and sweet without limiting any of the detail in the highs or keeping a fun signature in the sub/mid bass. This certifies Zach as a wizard.

I'll be demoing a Chord Dave this weekend which is able to sound natural but basically reach down to the atmospheric level of the tracks so basically present micro-detail at the highest level. This will definitely be a good test of the Auteurs capabilities so I'll be reporting back on that. I use a combination of bright/warm tubes with my pair so that also can be why I'm not suffering from troublesome treble (The Philips 5YS rectifier I have takes about 100 hours of burn in to settle down, it's bright as heck right now so I'm using a Westinghouse at the moment. Will be upgrading to a Sophia Princess or EML soon).

BTW, the darker signature of the Blackwood w/ Eikon pads may be up your alley as it's the darkest combination of the pack.

On a completely unrelated note, you have misspelled "Inspire" in your sig

Haha, thanks for that.

 

[gLer]

I mean if you paired it with something like a WA2 or WA22 then perhaps you could get the dark signature you prefer. While I loved the Atticus, I personally found it's mids could get a bit fatiguing especially in the upper mids as they were more forward because they were truly a warm can. The Auteur has this magic about them where the mids are sweet and full (not as full as the Atticus or LCD-3 though) but still neutral so they don't jump out at you. I was a warm can guy myself until I realized I was robbing myself of the purity of the mix by just favoring a specific coloration. One can make things sound smooth and sweet without limiting any of the detail in the highs or keeping a fun signature in the sub/mid bass. This certifies Zach as a wizard.

I'll be demoing a Chord Dave this weekend which is able to sound natural but basically reach down to the atmospheric level of the tracks so basically present micro-detail at the highest level. This will definitely be a good test of the Auteurs capabilities so I'll be reporting back on that. I use a combination of bright/warm tubes with my pair so that also can be why I'm not suffering from troublesome treble (The Philips 5YS rectifier I have takes about 100 hours of burn in to settle down, it's bright as heck right now so I'm using a Westinghouse at the moment. Will be upgrading to a Sophia Princess or EML soon).

BTW, the darker signature of the Blackwood w/ Eikon pads may be up your alley as it's the darkest combination of the pack.

And there I was thinking the LCD-3 was about as close to ‘neutral’ as I’d consider getting. Very interesting take on the whole neutral/warm preference. Never quite thought of it that way, but now that you mention it, on some tracks I do wish I could swap out the Atticus for something with less bloom to give me a break from the midbass warmth. Not always but sometimes. And I reckon that means getting an ‘open’ daily driver in the first instance.

I wish I could just click my fingers and get an Auteur but that’s quite a stretch of the already broken budget. And I wouldn’t want to sacrifice the Atticus either because what it does it does so well. Don’t think the Auteur will get anywhere near Atticus levels of slam (with tracks like ‘Around The World’ by Daft Punk), but I’m open to be proven wrong.

 

[lentoviolento]

And there I was thinking the LCD-3 was about as close to ‘neutral’ as I’d consider getting. Very interesting take on the whole neutral/warm preference. Never quite thought of it that way, but now that you mention it, on some tracks I do wish I could swap out the Atticus for something with less bloom to give me a break from the midbass warmth. Not always but sometimes. And I reckon that means getting an ‘open’ daily driver in the first instance.

I wish I could just click my fingers and get an Auteur but that’s quite a stretch of the already broken budget. And I wouldn’t want to sacrifice the Atticus either because what it does it does so well. Don’t think the Auteur will get anywhere near Atticus levels of slam (with tracks like ‘Around The World’ by Daft Punk), but I’m open to be proven wrong.

Have you ever tried aeon open? It is the punchier hp ever imo. Maybe punchier than atticus.
When i'll get the auteur i will make a comparison

 

[Old Dirty Puppy]

Have you ever tried aeon open? It is the punchier hp ever imo. Maybe punchier than atticus.
When i'll get the auteur i will make a comparison

I don't have an aeon flow open but I do have a pair of Ether Flow. The bass on the EFO is definitely punchier compared to the Auteur.

Now to another topic. Do you guys know of any good traveling case to use with the Auteur? As much as I love my Blackwood Auteurs and the wooden case they came with, unfortunately that case is a poor travel case. I don't see the option of buying the normal plastic hard case on the ZMF website. I wonder if I contact them, would they sell me a case? If not do you guys know of any good alternatives apart from the Audeze case?

 

[seeyou]

Now to another topic. Don't you guys know of any good traveling case to use with the Auteur? As much as I love my Blackwood Auteurs and the wooden case they came with, unfortunately that case is a poor travel case. I don't see the option of buying the normal plastic hard case on the ZMF website. I wonder if I contact them, would they sell me a case? If not do you guys know of any good alternatives apart from the Audeze case?

I'd try emailing Zach directly and asking if he won't sell you one. He's awesome, and I'd be surprised if he didn't oblige.

 

[Phantaminum]

Have you ever tried aeon open? It is the punchier hp ever imo. Maybe punchier than atticus.
When i'll get the auteur i will make a comparison

I’ve had both (still have the Aeons) and in no way is the AFOs punchier than the Atticus. The slam and punch from the Atticus is borderline ridiculous when properly amped, lol. The AFOs come close.