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Headphone upgrade options


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  • 2 weeks later...
On 23/07/2020 at 11:10 PM, shadroth said:

Are the clear professional the same just with a different color scheme and some more accessories? Pair on gumtree for $1395

And has that concluded the consultancy phase?

Did you snap those up?

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3 hours ago, mugwampjism said:

And has that concluded the consultancy phase?

Did you snap those up?

Haha not yet! didn't  end up getting those. 

 

Just gotta watch the classifieds/gumtree etc for a deal. I have seen the LCD-2C has gone down a bit, those are pretty tempting 

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I have LCD 2 and focal elear/Elegia and would 100% recommend focal over Audeze. Even the Elegia over the LCD.

Build quality, looks, accessories, comfort, and of course sound.

When I was younger I turned the bass up on everything, LCD 2 would have been ideal. But I rarely need as much bass as what the LCDs insist upon with every recording. It doesn't ruin the mids or highs, but it does a bit if you remove the bass with EQ.

 

Real shame you can't audition them.

 

Maybe you can buy them both second hand and sell the one you dislike? A covid19 audition, if you will?

They are like chalk and cheese.

 

What do you listen to? I don't think that's been covered here. Both source and style

 

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2 hours ago, mugwampjism said:

I have LCD 2 and focal elear/Elegia and would 100% recommend focal over Audeze. Even the Elegia over the LCD.

Build quality, looks, accessories, comfort, and of course sound.

When I was younger I turned the bass up on everything, LCD 2 would have been ideal. But I rarely need as much bass as what the LCDs insist upon with every recording. It doesn't ruin the mids or highs, but it does a bit if you remove the bass with EQ.

 

Real shame you can't audition them.

 

Maybe you can buy them both second hand and sell the one you dislike? A covid19 audition, if you will?

They are like chalk and cheese.

 

What do you listen to? I don't think that's been covered here. Both source and style

 

I listen to a pretty wide variety of stuff. Rock, metal, acoustic, classical, edm, so one headphone probably wont be perfect for everything.

 

I also game a bit so something that'd work for that as well as music would be great.

 

I did get myself a drop thx 789 amp so i shouldnt have any issues driving most headphones

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1 minute ago, shadroth said:

I listen to a pretty wide variety of stuff. Rock, metal, acoustic, classical, edm, so one headphone probably wont be perfect for everything.

Plenty of power is good, that will do nicely.

 

But, by source I mean are you using Spotify or a MP3/FLAC library, cd player, vinyl, are you using your laptop or phone, steaming over Sonos, LAN server, where does your music live and how is it delivered to your amp/headphones?

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2 minutes ago, mugwampjism said:

Plenty of power is good, that will do nicely.

 

But, by source I mean are you using Spotify or a MP3/FLAC library, cd player, vinyl, are you using your laptop or phone, steaming over Sonos, LAN server, where does your music live and how is it delivered to your amp/headphones?

Music i listen to lives on a NAS and played through foobar, mostly all flac files

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In my mind it is settled. Clear is the winner. LCD 2 might be more fun with your EDM, but Clear will hands down win with classical rock and metal, and acoustic might be a tie.

Build quality is something to consider. Audeze with the leather strap is nice, but it looks nicer on the stand than it looks or feels on the head, and feels wobbly. It's an old jalopy, Focal brings typical European styling and build, close manufacturing tolerances, precise movement and nice fit

 

I want to stop talking about it and just show you. It's a shame we don't live close, I'd bring it round.

 

Perhaps we can find a mod to escrow, and see how much postage would be, for my selection to take a tour of Melbourne and you can get a taste of what you're considering.

Probably just a massive pain in the ass for not-quite-the-headohones-you're-considering, maybe there's an SNAer nearby who can fix U up..

Edited by mugwampjism
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3 hours ago, mugwampjism said:

In my mind it is settled. Clear is the winner. LCD 2 might be more fun with your EDM, but Clear will hands down win with classical rock and metal, and acoustic might be a tie.

Build quality is something to consider. Audeze with the leather strap is nice, but it looks nicer on the stand than it looks or feels on the head, and feels wobbly. It's an old jalopy, Focal brings typical European styling and build, close manufacturing tolerances, precise movement and nice fit

 

I want to stop talking about it and just show you. It's a shame we don't live close, I'd bring it round.

 

Perhaps we can find a mod to escrow, and see how much postage would be, for my selection to take a tour of Melbourne and you can get a taste of what you're considering.

Probably just a massive pain in the ass for not-quite-the-headohones-you're-considering, maybe there's an SNAer nearby who can fix U up..

I think i might just have to wait til dan andrews says we can go to the shops, or just take the plunge and buy some clears if i can find a good deal. I'm sure clears would be better than my old SRH-1440's and ive heard so many good things so i'm pretty confident in buying them without auditioning. 

 

Borrowing someone's headphones would be great but as you said probably a huge pain

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On 05/08/2020 at 11:01 AM, mugwampjism said:

In my mind it is settled. Clear is the winner. LCD 2 might be more fun with your EDM, but Clear will hands down win with classical rock and metal, and acoustic might be a tie.

Chalk up another vote for Focal Clear!!

In fact...  I prefer it to the LCD 2 for EDM (which is mostly what I listen to).

LCD 2 just sounds too dark (veiled) to me.

I was surprised to discover how much personal preferences for tonal qualities can effect the impressions I have of headphones.

(Yep, I know... duh!)

My audition process involved buying some second hand pairs to try out at home.

I was gobsmacked when I first put on the LCD 2's...  I was expecting so much.... but I instantly knew they weren't the ones I was looking for.

I was naively expecting that I would listen to them, and have a similar opinion to the consensus of so many positive reviews.... 

Nope.  Life isn't that simple.  

When I put on my Clear's for the first time... magic!  The search was over.

The moral of the story: You will know them when you hear them.  None of us can accurately predict which ones you will prefer.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I got a pair of focal clears from a member on here, very happy with them so far but ive only had them on my head for about an hour haha. Thanks again for all the suggestions/advice to everyone in the thread

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