Audeze LCD-2

[HeadphoneAddict]

The forum kept telling me I had a database error, clicked 3x to post, now duplicated. Sigh...

Edited December 15, 2011 by HeadphoneAddict

[HeadphoneAddict]

The forum kept telling me I had a database error, clicked 3x to post, now duplicated. Sigh...

Edited December 15, 2011 by HeadphoneAddict

[HeadphoneAddict]

I've tried the HD800 every which way, but they sound artificial, strained, mechanical and very bright. I must have tried several different amps both SS & Tube, aftermarket cables, different interconnects, balanced and single ended. I never listen to them now as they are just too painful and artificial, just aren't enjoyable, I wish I could make them usable given how much the cost but the HE60 is preferable for me every time.

Interestingly, I only enjoy the HD800 on my WA6 or ZDT, and even then I have roll my WA6 tubes to the thickest sounding ones I have, but the HD800 sound too bright with most of my other amps. However, the HD800 with my ZDT amp sounds very similar to my HE-60 on the KGSS, in tone and soundstage, although the HD800 have a little more bass impact and a little less transparency. The SR-009 improve upon both of those two phones though, with a less fatiguing presentation. If someone asked me, should I buy both an HD800 and an HE-60, or just the SR-009 I would pick the later.

Edited December 15, 2011 by HeadphoneAddict

[kevin gilmore]

Team 5-pin XLR represent! Must not omit the ground! Then you can add a 5-pin to mini stereo converter to the mix!

Now he tells me after spending $150 on even more connectors (that i likely already had, but was to lazy to

go and find them)

i'm unaware of any balanced headphone amps with 5 pin xlr's. But i'm sure someone will show me one.

You would make the mini adapter the same way you make the 1/4 inch adapter. Tie the 2 headphone negative

terminals together.

[complin]

I'm itching to try the 800 with the Analxis mod. It needs something, but it's also fucking amazing.

Does it work? I though of trying some of that packaging you get underneath a large Pizza, it seems to come in black or white in the UK and is like compressed polystyrene.

[complin]

Interestingly, I only enjoy the HD800 on my WA6 or ZDT, and even then I have roll my WA6 tubes to the thickest sounding ones I have, but the HD800 sound too bright with most of my other amps. However, the HD800 with my ZDT amp sounds very similar to my HE-60 on the KGSS, in tone and soundstage, although the HD800 have a little more bass impact and a little less transparency. T

I have had them balanced on a Woo WA22 but this did not solve the problem either, perhaps I should have done some more tube rolling. The ZD 2a3 is the current version of the ZDT I believe, but how do they fare on other ZD units like the LE, SE or Balancing Act?

[morphsci]

It doesn't matter as everything eventually ends up sounding like the HE-60

[spritzer]

I think think that everyone should be making their cables with a 4 pin xlr, then make 4 pin xlr to 1/4 adapters,

and 4 pin xlr to dual 3 pin xlr adapters.That covers everything.

This man speaks the truth!

The only reason why i was going to make new cables is that the ones that came with birgirs set were

absolute garbage. The new audeze cables are great, and you can already buy a version with the

4 pin xlr. $80 retail. Less if you know where to go.

Birgir has to write up a 4 page review of the cable first. Then i'll design the cable to sound like the review.

Ehh 4 paragraphs would be a long reiview by my standards but I'm sure I could go into overshare mode. Looks like I'm getting a cable this Christmas...

Now he tells me after spending $150 on even more connectors (that i likely already had, but was to lazy to

go and find them)

i'm unaware of any balanced headphone amps with 5 pin xlr's. But i'm sure someone will show me one.

Never seen one and I really can't see the need for the extra pin. Perhaps that's just me but I have a pile here of 5 pin XLR's from my days of having way too many ESP's and trying to run them off one amp...

[HeadphoneAddict]

I have had them balanced on a Woo WA22 but this did not solve the problem either, perhaps I should have done some more tube rolling. The ZD 2a3 is the current version of the ZDT I believe, but how do they fare on other ZD units like the LE, SE or Balancing Act?

When I had a WA22 on loan for 2 weeks it had a similar tone to my WA6 when both were using the Sophia Princess 274b rectifier, and side by side the ZDT was a bit better with the HD800. The Sophia is just a bright but open and spacious sounding tube that doesn't pair well with the HD800. However, that tube is a bit better with LCD-2, HE-5 LE, and HD600. In the WA6 I like the Amperex Bugle Boy GZ34 with HD800, but the soundstage is a bit more constricted. I have a Hytron 5U4G I want to try in the WA6 with HD800, which I'm told will be more like a cross between the Sophia and Amperex. This might be good with a wider variety of phones like LcD-2 (mine are rev1).

I can't begin to guess how the 2a3 will sound with HD800, without having heard the combo, but the HD800 did sound good with the BA and ZD SE back in 2009. Tubes make a big difference and I have no idea what tubes were in those amps back then.

[dsavitsk]

When I had a WA22 on loan for 2 weeks it had a similar tone to my WA6 when both were using the Sophia Princess 274b rectifier, and side by side the ZDT was a bit better with the HD800. The Sophia is just a bright but open and spacious sounding tube that doesn't pair well with the HD800. However, that tube is a bit better with LCD-2, HE-5 LE, and HD600. In the WA6 I like the Amperex Bugle Boy GZ34 with HD800, but the soundstage is a bit more constricted. I have a Hytron 5U4G I want to try in the WA6 with HD800, which I'm told will be more like a cross between the Sophia and Amperex. This might be good with a wider variety of phones like LcD-2 (mine are rev1).

I can't begin to guess how the 2a3 will sound with HD800, without having heard the combo, but the HD800 did sound good with the BA and ZD SE back in 2009. Tubes make a big difference and I have no idea what tubes were in those amps back then.

Posts like this are why I stopped reading at that other site ...

[spritzer]

Indeed.

[luvdunhill]

You would make the mini adapter the same way you make the 1/4 inch adapter. Tie the 2 headphone negative

terminals together.

What about accommodating bridged amps?

I am the genesis of the 5-pin standard!

[dsavitsk]

Posts like this are why I stopped reading at that other site ...

I'm not trying to pick on you Larry. But, this strikes me as the equivalent of suggesting that painting your car red makes it corner better. We can't all do double blind tests for everything, but a little more skepticism in audio would go a long way. There are real, and reproducible reasons certain types of amplifiers wok well with certain headphone designs, but rectifier tubes are not likely one of them -- unless of course the voltage drop is grossly different I suppose.

[kevin gilmore]

What about accommodating bridged amps?

I am the genesis of the 5-pin standard!

I must be missing something here.

The headphones are 4 wires. Unless they are stax, which clearly does not count.

4 wires goes into a balanced or bridged amplifier, no ground is necessary.

tie the 2 grounds together and the headphones go into an unbalanced 3 wire amp.

So if you put a 4 wire connector on the end of a headphone cable, This has to

be sufficient.

If people start making balanced amplifiers with only one output connector, then

it would have to be 5 pins, and if this is the case, then i would rather have the

connector be 5 pins plus a shield.

It does however get pretty goofy that the connector set at the end of the

cable weighs way more than the rest of the cable.

[swt61]

I'm not trying to pick on you Larry. But, this strikes me as the equivalent of suggesting that painting your car red makes it corner better. We can't all do double blind tests for everything, but a little more skepticism in audio would go a long way. There are real, and reproducible reasons certain types of amplifiers wok well with certain headphone designs, but rectifier tubes are not likely one of them -- unless of course the voltage drop is grossly different I suppose.

Next thing you're going to tell me is that patrick182's Coconut Audio's Alien Seashell makes no sonic improvements. Sceptics!

[arnaud]

I am not familiar with the details of anaxylus mod for the HD800, but I remember it is along the same lines as people did before him.

You're then just sticking additional sound absorbing material in the ear cup (over the frame part, underneath the screen) to reduce the treble response by a couple of dB or so above 5kHz. For me, it was needed to tame a little the peak at 5-6kHz, an acoustic resonance in the earcup that make the headphone artificially bright / edgy in stock form.

I can imagine that, by using an amp with non negligible output impedance, one may also prefer the sound ( more body ). My understanding is that you pay the price with less control / definition of the bass, isn't it (going from 0 to 120 ohm for example)?

But if you like something like the lcds, obviously you need more bass weight than what the hd800 (or sr009) shoot for. I very much agree with n3rdling on that point (ok for rock and/or crap recordings but doesn't cut for classical / some jazz piece for me).

[HeadphoneAddict]

I'm not trying to pick on you Larry. But, this strikes me as the equivalent of suggesting that painting your car red makes it corner better. We can't all do double blind tests for everything, but a little more skepticism in audio would go a long way. There are real, and reproducible reasons certain types of amplifiers wok well with certain headphone designs, but rectifier tubes are not likely one of them -- unless of course the voltage drop is grossly different I suppose.

Well I do feel picked on. In this case it's been fairly well documented by Woo owners that the WA6 and WA22 change sound noticeably with a rectifier change. They REALLY do. No BS.

[Fitz]

You feel picked on because you choose to, Larry. That's the thing about Head-Case, you have to understand how to differentiate between the usual irreverent attitude and something that's actually personal, rather than simply taking all of it personally. I don't even have the natural ability to recognize social cues and inflections in normal conversation, it's all a constant mental exercise for me, but it's not too hard to tell what's what around here.

[kevin gilmore]

In this case, with a completely unregulated power supply, the different rectifier tubes actually cause

a B+ change of almost 10 volts depending on tube. Part of this is because the filament of

the rectifier tube is actually already about 10% low in the first place. So different tubes, and even

different line voltages cause a change in the sound. Pretty sad really, but a desired consequence

to sell $150 rectifier tubes. With a regulated power supply, stuff like this would not happen.

[complin]

I'm not trying to pick on you Larry. But, this strikes me as the equivalent of suggesting that painting your car red makes it corner better. We can't all do double blind tests for everything, but a little more skepticism in audio would go a long way. There are real, and reproducible reasons certain types of amplifiers wok well with certain headphone designs, but rectifier tubes are not likely one of them -- unless of course the voltage drop is grossly different I suppose.

Well there are many out there that would disagree with you. Perhaps this falls into the same category as cables?

For example :

http://www.tnt-audio...shplates_e.html

QUOTE

"Big Bottle Rectifiers

For those of you guys out there that aren't aware (this goes without saying to you SET guys), your rectifier tube has just as big an effect on the sound of your system as your driver and output tubes. I'm fortunate, I've got some pretty good sounding rectifier tubes lying around that I can play with. My best sounding one is the Mullard GZ34. It's one of those short stubby jobs that lives up to all of the hype that surrounds a Mullard tube. The GZ34 is warm, detailed and dynamic without sounding overblown at all."

Personally I prefer Telefunken or Mullard

Edited December 16, 2011 by complin

[jvlgato]

HPA, in this case, dsavitsk was trying to point out technical reasons that your post doesn't make sense. There are plenty of other times you are picked on here, but I don't think that's the case in this post. I think the fact that you feel picked on and get defensive so quickly is a big reason people pick on you, by the way. Just say you heard a difference, others have, too, but you don't know why that should be. There's so many knowledgable people here, someone will either back you or not, but with good reasons. No need to take things personally and invite more teasing.

[swt61]

...it's all a constant mental exercise for me

Well then, you're the mental Jack LaLanne by now, because you always seem razor sharp to me.

[spritzer]

In this case, with a completely unregulated power supply, the different rectifier tubes actually cause

a B+ change of almost 10 volts depending on tube. Part of this is because the filament of

the rectifier tube is actually already about 10% low in the first place. So different tubes, and even

different line voltages cause a change in the sound. Pretty sad really, but a desired consequence

to sell $150 rectifier tubes. With a regulated power supply, stuff like this would not happen.

Indeed and this is exactly the reason why there are small audible differences between rectifiers. Same deal with the Stax amps, simply replacing the caps in the SRM-T2 PSU did a lot for the amp and lowered the offset.

With Woo amps there may also be something else at play since they routinely use large caps right after the rectifier and that may cause issues.

[luvdunhill]

If people start making balanced amplifiers with only one output connector, then

it would have to be 5 pins, and if this is the case, then i would rather have the

connector be 5 pins plus a shield.

Yes! You can get away with a 4-pin connector on a headphone, sure.. it's the amplifier I was referring to.

[kevin gilmore]

With Woo amps there may also be something else at play since they routinely use large caps right after the rectifier and that may cause issues.

Yep, another mikhail fail too. So the datasheet says 40uf max after the rectifier. So mikhail put in a 40uf cap.

Then paralleled it with a 200uf cap.

Yes! You can get away with a 4-pin connector on a headphone, sure.. it's the amplifier I was referring to.

OK marc, just for you on my next balanced dynahi, 2 x 5 pin xlr chassis mount connector.

This actually makes sense.

Edited December 16, 2011 by kevin gilmore