amplifier comparison with audeze lcd-x

[haggispie]

Suffering from a bit of serious listening withdrawal (left my main speakers behind when moved into an apartment) took a gamble and picked up a pair of lcd-x cans from the used section a couple months ago. Following adventures began..

 

NB: I'm definitely in the lurker category when it comes to forums, tend to read everything i can find when thinking of a purchase and not visit again until the next one. Hopefully the following is a bit of payback and helpful/of interest to someone in the future. Overly long and with a good helping of waffle but if this place and headfi are anything to go by there's more like me out there that like reading this stuff (albeit usually better written).. Most useful advice for anyone in a similar situation is in the next paragraph.

 

The following is personal opinion using lcd-x cans and own ears. Big thank you to those on this site encouraging to demo first - best advice i can pass on is to listen for yourself if at all possible. Unsurprisingly different sets of ears and preferences have different outcomes. Was very close to buying blind as not many options to listen nearby but held out till i got the chance to run away for a few hours when on holiday. The end result was something i hadn't considered and ended up much preferring over other well rated amps with better online presence.

 

Categorised according to arbitrary performance groupings i'd sorted them into in my head. Biggest steps were between B-C and C-D. Comparison's were done with <5s between each A to B (for details see notes at bottom), many i found more or less equivalent, didn't try to find differences between these. Tried to take a practical approach of which one would i take home based solely on sound and leave it at that. If little difference would let price/features decide. Have added a few comments where they jumped out.

 

A)

 

lg v20: Phone purchased earlier this year primarily for the good quality internal dac/amp, that and my old xperia stopped turning on. My first experience with the lcd-x's (previously having only heard <$400 headphones)

- wow, had me lying back and enjoying myself very quickly. After initial impression wore away was still surprised by the detail i was hearing but there is a harshness that detracts a bit, particularly with volume. Overall very happy with the combo and my lcd-x purchase. What i used as an easy portable reference for comparison.

 

oppo 103 -> audio-gd 2.1 -> yamaha rx-v3200: part of current surround system (rx-3200 is a surround receiver top of yamaha's range ~15 years ago)

- slight preference to phone

 

arcam cd37 -> arcam a38: part of 2ch system (at present holidaying with family till in bigger place)

- small improvement over phone

- also did a comparison with the same sources using main speakers (early prototype of what i think is now the One Audio Mu.2) which had much greater detail/weight/soundstage/etc... without the harshness of the headphones

- was a bit disappointed by this (triggered start of headphone amp research)

 

B)

 

arcam dvd digital output -> oppo ha1, sennheiser hdvd800 & chord hugo: only interested in the headphone performance as intended on keeping current cd player/dac

- some improvement over phone, main difference was a more open sound. Slight preference for sennheiser over chord though would need another listen if was trying to decide between, still some harshness. Preferred both over the oppo.

 

mac laptop -> schiit gungnir -> woo audio wa6, metrum acoustics aurix, auralic taurus mkii: some improvement over phone, again main difference was openness though also noticed more detail in textures, some harshness

- A/B'd each against the violectric v281, didn't compare any with each other but left hifi shop with them all in a roughly equivalent box in mind

- took place 4 days later and in a different shop than the oppo/sennheiser/chord demo so can't really compare between. Believe the dedicated amps were a small step up (loosely similar in my memory)

 

C)

 

mac laptop -> schiit gungnir -> violectric v281, simaudio 430ha:

- substantial improvement over phone and those in previous section, much greater weight and larger soundstage, less harshness

- struggled a bit to justify spending the money for those in previous section due to the small improvements over phone, no such problems here

- very little difference between the violectric and simaudio, would need to listen more if similarly priced

- was ready to walk away with either the v281 or it's smaller brother v280 (not in stock at time) until i thought 'maybe i'll just try a valve amp..'

 

D)

 

mac laptop -> schiit gungnir -> woo audio wa2

- first reaction was mixture of disbelief/reluctance - from online (somewhat OCD) reading had more or less concluded the violectric v280 was the likely one i'd take home (alternatively the taurus)

- remember telling the salesperson 'a bit leaner and more detailed' than the v281. Was intrigued and after more A/Bing realised it would have been more accurate to say the v281 sounded muddled at times whereas the wa2 had a more balanced feel to the sound

- v281 felt thicker in terms of weight, wa2 leaner but more solid (getting particularly waffly here i know), deciding factor was listening to female vocals. The wa2 possessed a 'gold liquidness' i didn't hear with anything else. In a sense was less detailed than the v281 - less grainy and also less harsh. Another thought that came to mind was listening directly to a voice vs a voice via microphone

 

mac laptop -> schiit gungnir -> woo audio wa22:

- very similar to wa2  about half the time could tell no difference, a third of the time preferred wa2 and the last sixth preferred the wa22 (think that adds up)

- when there was a difference: wa2 sounded more lyrical, wa22 had more punch/clarity (alternatively wa2 more subdued, wa22 harder/more technical)

- was very little in it and would have possibly required more listening if there wasn't also $1k difference in price

 

 

Other notes:

- used balanced headphone cable where available otherwise added 1/4" adapter

- used RCA interconnects (schiit dac has two rca outputs which allowed quick A/B comparisons). Only exception was when i compared the violectric with the simaudio/wa2 - violectric was connected to XLR outputs of the schiit comparing with RCA outputs connected to simaudio and wa2

- compared the schiit to bryston bda-2 using the violectric and wa2. Bryston significantly more open and clearer with both

- no blind testing (?conclusion = i like the look of valves)

- only conscious consideration really was sound, other features (eg portability, combo dac, preamp, balanced inputs, remote control) little advantage with current use

- build quality/aesthetics also included in previous point but realised the wa2 & simaudio were my favourites in this regard (followed by the wa22 & violectric) - worth mentioning as either a coincidence or an illustration of how easily my subconsciousness is swayed

- listening took place 2-3 weeks ago (what can i say, slow typist) and resulted in the purchase of a wa2. Definite potential for some cognitive bias going on

- 16 test tracks divided more or less equally into 4 genres: sparse female vocal, small instrumental combo, classic rock and pop/electronic (flac rips of redbook cds or the original cds), this reflects my usual listening habits and were from albums i know well

- something i got better at as i went was trusting my ears and first impressions, some tracks showed things up quicker but all came to the same result no matter which genre i listened to or how often i switched between tracks and/or amps (female vocal and small combo generally being the most exposing)

 

Closing thoughts

Since purchasing the wa2 i've been a happy man, turn it on most nights and haven't turned it off before an album has finished yet. First reaction on listening with my own arcam cd37 a few days later was that it didn't sound quite as good as i remembered at the shop. Did end up with a brand new unit so am allowing a bit of time for burn in. Believe it is slowly opening up (it's only switched on when i'm listening) though i'd be lying if i said i haven't been looking at the dacs/turntables in the classifieds..

 

I've also been reflecting on my perceived differences (or lack thereof) between different amps. Obvious theme is what i think of as harshness. To me it almost feels as though the sound is scraping my eardrum. This quickly leads to my hearing almost shutting down and i need to take a break and/or reduce the volume substantially to hear any details (for the most part my demoing was done at a low-mid volume level). Don't know the reason for this (hearing damage a possibility), at a guess am overly sensitive to some mid-high frequencies. Don't remember this happening when auditioned speakers though that was ~6 years ago now.

 

My other thought was regarding my own preference towards what i think of as a rich, weighty sound with lots of texture and musicality. Similar to the sound i remember when sitting in the control room at recording studios. The most clear demonstration of this was when i tried the sennheiser hd800s headphones (just in case having read interesting things online). First thought was wow, so open and detailed, i can hear the atmosphere in the room where it was recorded. Found the hd800s similar to the sound of live acoustic music. My next thought on hearing the 800s was that it was missing the richness/weight of the lcd-x and i was listening to the details of the environment and recording equipment rather than the music. Was an easy decision and a minute after picking up the 800s it was placed back down with no lingering temptation to try again. Likely reason here is that i've a relatively strong live music background and suspect that sound profile tips me into critical assessment mode (have played at an average of 2-5 gigs a week for the majority of  the last 10 years - largely acoustic). This I found surprising as it likely goes against a long held belief that i prefer a more neutral/accurate representation.

 

That's it for me, off to start tonight's session

[CryptiK]

Nice one, it's really fun playing with different gear combos. I tried the WA2 and WA22 as well, then made the mistake of trying the WA5...next level stuff. 

 

 

[haggispie]

Luckily none in stock otherwise i could have been penny saving for a while longer  as a precaution not going within 10ft of one anytime soon

[CryptiK]

I'd advise you not to! You'll buy one if you try one.