Audeze LCD2

adydula · « **Reply #40 on:** 22 Jul 2011, 09:59 pm »

There are two sets of RCA plugs on the back, one set for input from your dac or analog source and one set for the preamp out.

This is from the 6moons review:

On the preamp outputs: "The Lyr's pre-outs are amplified and controlled by the volume pot, i.e. not pass-thrus. Relative to high-power preamps that would be a bit of a misnomer though. Preamps almost always have some series resistance in the output. In Lyr's case that's 75Ω. Other than a relatively low-impedance output to drive long cable runs, a high-power preamp would have no real benefit I know of."

Heres the review link:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/schiit/10.html

Alex

eclein · « **Reply #41 on:** 22 Jul 2011, 10:16 pm »

I'm lost....so its a pre-amp output so like my Virtue TWO.2 which I turned and is now a straight power amp could be connected to the Lyr and the lyr would be its pre-amp???? So if you had a power amp and needed a pre your lyr could be a pre with one input...is that what this means...???

adydula · « **Reply #42 on:** 23 Jul 2011, 01:49 pm »

Yes, the Lyr is a preamp...as well connect to your amp and you have a tube preamp driving your amp....the volume control on the preamp will adjust the sound level heard.

Havent done this yet but I will try it once I get the newness toned down a little!!

Aint technology great!!

Alex

OzarkTom · « **Reply #43 on:** 4 Sep 2011, 02:52 am »

After about 60 hours on my LCD2's, I can say.........INCREDIBLE. I never knew you could get that kind of bass out of a set of cans. On my home system, I switch from one song to another without playing it all the way through. With the LCD2 cans, i never switch.

A great soul singer to listen to is any of Jill Scott's recordings.

adydula · « **Reply #44 on:** 9 Sep 2011, 12:25 am »

Been gone for a week on vacation, I sent my HRT Music Streamer ii back to Kevin Halverson for an upgrade to the MSii +.

Been listening to it on the LCD2's with the Lyr for 2 hours now.

It has been a real treat...the new asynch dac upgrade is absolutley STUNNING...Eric Claptons Unplugged is like being there...the tonality with this MSii + dac is OMG good....

$350 for a real GEM!!

Alex

OzarkTom · « **Reply #45 on:** 10 Sep 2011, 03:42 am »

Quote from: adydula on 9 Sep 2011, 12:25 am

Been gone for a week on vacation, I sent my HRT Music Streamer ii back to Kevin Halverson for an upgrade to the MSii +.

Been listening to it on the LCD2's with the Lyr for 2 hours now.

It has been a real treat...the new asynch dac upgrade is absolutley STUNNING...Eric Claptons Unplugged is like being there...the tonality with this MSii + dac is OMG good....

$350 for a real GEM!!

Alex

Hi Alex, is $350 the cost of Kevin's mod? What does he do to the Streamer II?

Tom

adydula · « **Reply #46 on:** 11 Sep 2011, 11:18 pm »

Hi Tom,

HRT makes several USB Dacs, the IStreamer, Music Streamer ii , Music Streamer ii +. and the Music Streamer Plus.

I started with the MSii and used it for 6 months, then I got the itch to upgrade from it to the next higher level the MSii +. It was a total swap out, not a mod to the existing MSii.

The neat thing is HRT and Kevin has an upgrade path where he allowed me what the retail cost of the MSii to be applied to a new MSii +.

The cost of the MSii was $150, the MSii+ is $350.

The difference is audible for sure to me....the actual difference inside I have aske Kevin about, its a secret to some extent.

But from the description:
The HRT MS2+ is the bigger brother to the HRT MS2, which also does 24/96 asynchronous USB, albeit at a lower-spec noise floor, S/N ratio, and THD+N figures.

Kevin told me the circuitry and flitering are a bit different at well.

It draws more current from the USB source as well.

For the dac its a PCM1794 D/A chip, capable of a theoretical 132dB signal to noise ratio, and Texas Instrument’s TAS1020b chip performing the asynchronous USB reception.

The ability to trade up and not having to sell the MSii and not loosing a dime, except for shipping ...it was a no-brainer.

Alex

WarriorAnt · « **Reply #47 on:** 12 Sep 2011, 04:11 am »

Quote from: adydula on 23 Jul 2011, 01:49 pm

Yes, the Lyr is a preamp...as well connect to your amp and you have a tube preamp driving your amp....the volume control on the preamp will adjust the sound level heard.

Alex

That Lyr sure is tempting me....I might buy it and then add the Decware Taboo later on and use the Lyr as a preamp into the Taboo for the LCD-2...

adydula · « **Reply #48 on:** 12 Sep 2011, 02:19 pm »

WA....I have not tried using the preamp to drive anything...I was going to but, when I listen to 2 ch audio I use my AVA Insight + preamp which is all cabled up...just to lazy to crawl around in the dark on by back ...lol

Some have actually driven speakers with the Lyr...but thats not what its really designed to do.

With many folks having songs on a pc and using headphones, I guess it made sense to have a preamp out to drive pc type speakers from the head amp as a convience??

Alex

adydula · « **Reply #49 on:** 12 Sep 2011, 03:45 pm »

Let me add this concerning the difference between the MSii and MSii +:

In answer to your question, the difference between a current Music Streamer II and Music Streamer II+ is in the DAC, reconstruction filter and analog amplifiers. All models of Music Streamers have full isolation and power regeneration. There is also a considerable difference in the manufacturing volumes between these two models.

Alex

saisunil · « **Reply #50 on:** 6 Nov 2011, 01:57 pm »

LCD2s are in the house - burning in ... they sound so different from HE-500 ... both top tier yet so different ... it is almost like you can't have one phone that would sound amazing for all music ... LCD-2 is dark and HE-500 is bright ... perhaps more like LCD-2 is Chocolate and HE-500 Vanilla ... I am more of plain Vanilla type person but every now and then crave for Chocolate ...

HE-500 does exhibit a peak in the HF region but LCD-2 has a dip ... nothing perfect but better than anything else I have heard so far - including Stax Omega 2s ...

Curious about LCD-3 ... I wonder if it will sound like LCD-2 / HE-500 combo

Regardless LCD-2 / HE-500 are a league above the conventional phones - the likes of Senn 600/650 or AKG 701/2 or Beyers or any current production Grado ... senn 800 may be the only exception ... but it is very amp-sensitive ...

Kinger · « **Reply #51 on:** 6 Nov 2011, 03:21 pm »

Still hoping that I might be able to pick up a nice used pair of LCD2's at some point. Right now the number of them are increasing on HeadFi, but the prices are still a bit high. If I can buy a new set for $950, it's not worth it to me to buy used at only $100 off.

saisunil · « **Reply #52 on:** 7 Nov 2011, 07:30 pm »

LCD2's remind me of Stax Omega 2's ... only that these area lot easier to drive

This is purely from memory ... no A/B comparison ...
To be fair O2s need serious amplification for them to strut their stuff ...

adydula · « **Reply #53 on:** 11 Nov 2011, 02:54 am »

Just got done listening to the LCD2's R2 for an hour or so....LYR Amp with GE 6BZ7's and the material was Eva Cassidy's Live at Blues Alley. I use Flacs on a laptop with Windows 7, stripped down services and a HRT Asnych MSii + USB dac.

This was a fantastic experience. 3 dimensional, depth, imaging....just lucious.

What a live performance, so nice, so ACCURATE....its hard to imagine anything better in cans.

The LCD'2 are really flat and neutral....garbage in garbage out...compressed pop tunes sound well like compressed pop tunes....

Well recorded and mastered stuff is pure joy.

The Lyr with 4-6 watts here make these cans 'zing'!!!

Smiling alot!

Alex

adydula · « **Reply #54 on:** 11 Nov 2011, 03:15 am »

Your right about the HE500 having a HF peak, 2 of them on this graph.
But look at the bass response....30Hz and down the LCD2 are FLAT and this indeed
shows up in the non boomy authortative bass these cans deliver.

saisunil · « **Reply #55 on:** 11 Nov 2011, 03:46 am »

Which one is better HE-500 or LCD2 ... (both hooked up to zodiac)

HE-500 has clearly more detail but LCD2 are so easy to listen to -- they are yummy ...

The problem is the A/B ... once I put the LCDs on - I adjust to the level of detail LCDs provide and don't miss the HE-500 detail any more ... but the same goes for HE-500 - they are very comfortable too ... they do not have the bass weight that LCDs provide but the bass is nice and tights ... once the HE-500s are on I easily forget the deep bass that LCDs dish out ...

Which one is better? The one you are listening to right now

eclein · « **Reply #56 on:** 11 Nov 2011, 04:06 am »

Very nice!!! I feel the same way about my HE-5LE's, they are fun to listen too and super comfy with my new leather earpads, a bargain these cans are for those that can't swing the LCD2 or 500's.

adydula · « **Reply #57 on:** 11 Nov 2011, 09:50 pm »

I have a nice 2 ch speaker system that still brings the overall illusion of being there to a much higher level than headphones can...that said..............

Having the curiosity of finding out how good headphone technology has come in the past 20 years I went thru several sets of cans, buy one, buy another listen to music I like, then sell the lesser of the two and I have wound up with the LCD2's...its so good to me there isnt that desire to buy any others for now....I just enjoy light sabering in on the music, the content and the experience....

There are lots of neat cans and toys out there and thats part of the fun ....sharing the neat stuff with each other.

The LCD2's with this little 6 watt Lyr are a marraige made in heaven for audiophiles!

All the best
Alex

DaveNote · « **Reply #58 on:** 12 Nov 2011, 02:33 pm »

Quote from: adydula on 11 Nov 2011, 09:50 pm

I have a nice 2 ch speaker system that still brings the overall illusion of being there to a much higher level than headphones can...that said..............

Having the curiosity of finding out how good headphone technology has come in the past 20 years I went thru several sets of cans, buy one, buy another listen to music I like, then sell the lesser of the two and I have wound up with the LCD2's...its so good to me there isnt that desire to buy any others for now....I just enjoy light sabering in on the music, the content and the experience....

There are lots of neat cans and toys out there and thats part of the fun ....sharing the neat stuff with each other.

The LCD2's with this little 6 watt Lyr are a marraige made in heaven for audiophiles!

All the best
Alex

Here's my ultimate take on the LCD2s and the Lyr. I gave away my Sennheiser HD800s and Grace Designs m902 - both significantly more expensive - and kept the LCD2s and Lyr, even though the Lyr, in my system, has a very distinct hum (that can be heard when no track in playing - Schitt tested it and found no hum) and is irritating because it makes me think that the unit could sound even better.

Dave

shandy · « **Reply #59 on:** 25 Nov 2011, 02:46 am »

I have had my Rev1 LCD2's since May. My first pair were one of the few to have driver failure. Audeze were fantastic with their customer service and within week and a half my new set arrived. The replacements sounded different, good different and then about a week later Audeze announced they had made a new driver. I called them but it turned out mine were the older drivers. I though this odd as they seemed to have some of the traits of the new drivers.

Alex told me that the batch sent out just before the new drivers were given much stricter QC and driver matching than the previous ones which is the only explanation I can figure as to why mine sound different to normal rev1's!

I love them, almost three hundred hours on them now, no discernible difference in sound from day one. I have a new set of cables coming in the next couple of weeks, Toxic cables silver strand with one percent of gold in them, am very much looking forward to hearing what that will do to the sound!
Overall the best money I have spent in HiFi in years along with my Cypher Labs algorithm solo!