Audeze LCD-1 just landed!

[Icarium]

Hrm actually yeah I guess I have no problems with bass extension:

If this is accurate I can easily hear a decent quantity at 15Hz/20Hz+

[Icarium]

Hrm looks like I can hear 16khz but not 17khz with the LCD-1 but can hear 17khz and not 18khz with the AD2ks.

[guzziguy]

With PK2s out of my laptop, I could hear sound at 1, 5 and 10 HZ. However, it wasn't until 15 Hz that it sounded like a bass tone. I heard nothing at those frequencies with the laptop speakers, hardly a surprise.

[Icarium]

The latter test was done with these tones:

Test Tones (20-20khz)

I could still hear 20Hz but it was softer then was on the youtube... 30 Hz was no problem though.

[dBel84]

my 2p

I feel the LCD1 is overall fairly well balanced. I do feel it can be improved based on my own experience with orthodynamic headphones. The bass is good but can be a little unfocused with complex music. I find the mids are, relatively, a little underdamped ( a very common ortho habit ) while the top end is slightly rolled off.

All this can be "easily" addressed with a little additional damping. The mids will be pulled back ever so slightly, the highs will be pushed up and the bass will become more focused. The trade off will be in the soundstage, these orthos have one of the best soundstages and this will be compromised to a small degree.

My biggest surprise and perhaps a real bonus for the LCD1 is their efficiency - they can be listened to at low volumes wihtout compromise and as this is my preferred level, this makes these a pleasure to listen to.

The overall sound signature is similar to those musty vintage thingamebobs ortho heads keep paying homage to. It is the speed and impact of that planar element letting you know that you are listening to something special.

..dB

[Yikes]

It's a long back story and not worth retelling IMO. Vicki was in the right, the other person being a semi-douche, nuff said.

Hang on... I wasn't at Can Jam.

[Sherwood]

Gentlemen, please, do not trust a car stereo demo loop on youtube as a reference measure.

[mypasswordis]

To anyone who has event a mild interest and ability in DIY, I recommend just buying a set of drivers and picking a better headphone frame to put them in. No offense to Audeze but the frame they're using looks really cheap and the pads in that picture look like they're rotting and about to fail apart. I doubt the full potential of the drivers is being delivered due to a junk frame and pads and lack of ortho mods.

If the LCD-1 drivers only extend to 16kHz I'll be very disappointed, but I highly doubt this is the case. The drivers probably aren't damped at all and there probably isn't a reflex dot in place, which would explain the high frequency roll-off inherent in all stock orthos I have encountered. Audeze claim a usable extension to 50kHz, which I also doubt is the case...

[dBel84]

I hear people giving these frames a hard time - they have their merits. The headband is comfortable, the cups are metal and allow for good coupling (not as robust as the YH1K but far superior to the stock T50RPmkII imo) . It is unfortunate that the drivers have been made to fit this cup shape , not sure an egg is the way I would have chosen to go BUT the driver is held firmly in place by a rigid poly...... frame. It is damped - single layer of what looks like black craft felt. The velour pads, no comment - we know that pads can make or break most orthos and these will be no exception.

The great thing is that they sound suoerb stock, and offer those interested in tweaking an opportunity to tune them to their own preferences.

..dB

[faust3d]

Can vinyl Sen pads fit these frames? Something like HD500 pad.

[guzziguy]

I talked to Sankar at the meet. The automatic adjustment method that is currently being used doesn't work on my head. He responded that a lot of people were having that problem and that they were going to make there own frame for the next release.

Caveat: My memory isn't very good anymore. This is what I remember but could easily be incorrect.

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Maybe I went for this can one version too early... a custom frame would have been nice. But it was good timing for me to buy the LCD-1 for myself as a birthday present. I just hope it's not tensioned too much to make it impossible to squeeze bass out of it.

[cclragnarok]

I talked to Sankar at the meet. The automatic adjustment method that is currently being used doesn't work on my head. He responded that a lot of people were having that problem and that they were going to make there own frame for the next release.

Caveat: My memory isn't very good anymore. This is what I remember but could easily be incorrect.

I talked to him about the same thing. The earcups don't pivot far enough, so the headphones are like this:

|(0_0)|

on my head when they should be:

\(0_0)/

If they can fix the comfort issues and make them sound even better, I'll have to buy a pair. The sound was very good as it is. I thought it sounded kind of similar to my dBel84-modded Yamaha HP-3, but with a bigger soundstage.

[Dusty Chalk]

Either they're squeezing very hard, or you have a thyroid problem.

No, seriously, sounds similar to the W5000 issue.

[guzziguy]

The adjustment mechanism is such that the proportion of the width of your head to the distance between your ears and the top of your head is a constant. So if you fit the magic proportion, the headphones will fit. For me, I'd have to put a sponge or pad as there was about 1/4" - 1/2" gap between my head and the band when I held the cups where they belong over my ears.

[mypasswordis]

Maybe I went for this can one version too early... a custom frame would have been nice. But it was good timing for me to buy the LCD-1 for myself as a birthday present. I just hope it's not tensioned too much to make it impossible to squeeze bass out of it.

Cool, you bought one. Do post impressions when you get it; I could be wrong about the frame. I assume you may try making your own pads to eek out all the bass you want, since I doubt the velours are keeping everything in.

[dBel84]

The sound was very good as it is. I thought it sounded kind of similar to my dBel84-modded Yamaha HP-3, but with a bigger soundstage.

and the HP3 sounded more balanced and smooth across the frequencies ..dB

edit - yes I am just stirring

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

Cool, you bought one. Do post impressions when you get it; I could be wrong about the frame. I assume you may try making your own pads to eek out all the bass you want, since I doubt the velours are keeping everything in.

I might have to make more than just pads this time... but I'll try the strange-looking headset first. Maybe it's full of surprises )

[cclragnarok]

and the HP3 sounded more balanced and smooth across the frequencies ..dB

edit - yes I am just stirring

Not sure which sounded more balanced, but the HP-3 was a little smoother IIRC.

The HP-3 was also a lot harder to drive. Somebody at the meet had a CD with a lot of dynamics and low bass notes, and he managed to get my SQ-84 to clip driving the HP-3 at reasonable listening levels (but still louder than my normal listening level). The SQ-84 outputs 10W into 8Ohms, so it should be able to provide ~500mW for the HP-3.

[dBel84]

yes the HP3 is seriously inefficient, the reason some folk drive them directly from power amps. I am surprised that your amp clipped. The efficiency of the lcd1 is a huge bonus , it is like the YH1K in this regard.

..dB

[atothex]

Somebody at the meet had a CD with a lot of dynamics and low bass notes, and he managed to get my SQ-84 to clip driving the HP-3 at reasonable listening levels (but still louder than my normal listening level). The SQ-84 outputs 10W into 8Ohms, so it should be able to provide ~500mW for the HP-3.

That was me. A Perfect Circle's The Package: it's my bass impact and sibilance test track. The LCD-1s didn't do great with that track...

[deepak]

Not sure which sounded more balanced, but the HP-3 was a little smoother IIRC.

The HP-3 was also a lot harder to drive. Somebody at the meet had a CD with a lot of dynamics and low bass notes, and he managed to get my SQ-84 to clip driving the HP-3 at reasonable listening levels (but still louder than my normal listening level). The SQ-84 outputs 10W into 8Ohms, so it should be able to provide ~500mW for the HP-3.

The clipping is present in that album (Thirteenth Step), it's very poorly mastered.

[atothex]

The clipping is present in that album (Thirteenth Step), it's very poorly mastered.

I'm fairly certain it's not the album itself. What I heard on that system was not as subtle as poor mastering; it was serious distortion. It's not like I've never heard the song on a variety of equipment before.

[deepak]

I'm fairly certain it's not the album itself. What I heard on that system was not as subtle as poor mastering; it was serious distortion. It's not like I've never heard the song on a variety of equipment before.

I'll post up a waveform when I turn on my desktop, but I can hear the clipping in my Camry which has stock speakers

Edited August 12, 2009 by deepak

[cclragnarok]

yes the HP3 is seriously inefficient, the reason some folk drive them directly from power amps. I am surprised that your amp clipped. The efficiency of the lcd1 is a huge bonus , it is like the YH1K in this regard.

..dB

The SQ-84 is basically a 10W integrated amp. According to the designer, there are some people that use it to drive K1000s.

I thought the K701 was inefficient, but it's nothing compared to the HP-3.

The clipping is present in that album (Thirteenth Step), it's very poorly mastered.

The clipping went away when I turned down the volume to my normal listening level, so it wasn't the album.

The HP-3 should be able to handle at least 1W without clipping, so it was most likely the amp.