"overpriced" re: the X's is very relative, considering it outperforms the more expensive 800S' in all but soundstage width and the last ounce of "air". Most listeners, myself included, find the X's to be more accurate in general tone (partially due to the accurate full range bass absent on most dynamic driver designs). I find the midband on the current X's to be more accurate than the 800's. Output impedance on the headphone amp is not critical for most applications and the planar tech in the Audeze line gives a perfectly flat impedance response across the entire frequency band, unlike dynamic driver models which can vary widely. The BHA-1 and other high quality amps are coasting and providing a good damping factor on the X's.
Hello!
Like I said, if it sounds good to you, then that’s all that matters.
That being said, I must say, when I evaluate equipment, I apply ALL my experience and knowledge. That includes more than fifteen years of being a musician in an orchestra, playing everywhere – from the smallest of venues to large concert halls and open town squares throughout Europe, as well as recording three compact discs in the largest production studios here in Croatia. These, mind you, are the “reference recordings”, both to me, but also because some of the most talented people were involved in their creation. So, when I talk about what is “natural”, I really do have a point of reference and a fairly good idea if the equipment translates the recording well or not. Don’t think I am saying this to reach a higher moral ground in this discussion – but it is what it is and if I said it any other way, it would be a lie. In short, I am not interested in “general consensus” on how something sounds, so nothing that you can say, or anyone else for that matter, will make me feel differently about a piece of equipment. That does not mean I don’t take other people seriously or value their opinion but forgive me for saying so, not every opinion is equally valuable (and this is true in every profession).
It's like trying to get a job – having no formal education and/or field experience doesn’t bode especially well for you at a job interview. But these audio reviewers… People trust them blindly and buy whatever they recommend. Sure, it’s not exactly structural engineering and no one will die from buying a substandard headphone, but someone might die if an unqualified engineer is hired to design a cable-suspended bridge. See my point?
I always suggest people to buy tickets for an opera or to go listen to a symphony orchestra. It can be a very rewarding and humbling experience. But many people buy expensive (overpriced) audiophile-grade recordings thinking they’ll get closer to the actual musical event when in fact it is SO far from the actual event. In fact, the musical event everyone has in their heads might not have even happened – the bass and drums might have been recorded in separate (smaller) rooms and the other instruments may have been layered on top of them during some other session or even in a completely different studio. So it really is the funniest joke when people (reviewers included) say something sounds as close to a live event as they’ve heard it or even better, it sounds like the artist intended it to sound. Would it help if I said most artists don’t even know what they want, or maybe they do but they just don’t know how to achieve it. Or maybe they know all of that but the studio time is so expensive that the first draft will also be the final product.
As for “a good damping factor”, I would really like to know what that is. 😉 It’s either sufficiently high or it is insufficient.
But, like I said twice before, I am happy that you are enjoying your Audeze LCD-X.
Cheers – Antun
