HD800S vs LCD-2 vs ? for EQ

[concorde1]

I've had a few different expensive headphones. The only one that has satisfied me long term is the Fostex TH900mk2 with AutoEQ.

I want an open headphone to use with EQ too. I've had an LCD-3 for a year but I think due to this unit's frequency response including its high-Q peaks/dips, it is impossible to EQ to sound nice.

Before that I had an LCD-2 which if I recall correctly sounded a lot better than LCD-3 with AutoEQ.

HD800S and LCD-2 are on sale right now so I'm thinking of picking one of them up.

Some people say the HD800S has low unit variation. I believe I read somewhere LCD-2 has reached the point where the frequency response has been finalised and Audeze is comfortable that all units match closely enough to the same target. That suggests low variation too.

However, clearly the LCD-3 has poor unit consistency as my unit sounds awful with AutoEQ.

The only other candidate I've found is the Dan Clark Expanse, but that's too expensive.

Anything else worth considering 2000 USD or under? Should I go for an HD800S?

 

[Deleted member 4708]

I had both LCD-2 and LCD-4. They are heavy and uncomfortable for long listening sessions IMO. Personally I'd go for HD800S.

 

[Rayman30]

If you're used to LCD headphones, I would stick with them imo. Have you considered LCD-X 2021?

 

[Ilkless]

I've had a few different expensive headphones. The only one that has satisfied me long term is the Fostex TH900mk2 with AutoEQ.

I want an open headphone to use with EQ too. I've had an LCD-3 for a year but I think due to this unit's frequency response including its high-Q peaks/dips, it is impossible to EQ to sound nice.

Before that I had an LCD-2 which if I recall correctly sounded a lot better than LCD-3 with AutoEQ.

HD800S and LCD-2 are on sale right now so I'm thinking of picking one of them up.

Some people say the HD800S has low unit variation. I believe I read somewhere LCD-2 has reached the point where the frequency response has been finalised and Audeze is comfortable that all units match closely enough to the same target. That suggests low variation too.

However, clearly the LCD-3 has poor unit consistency as my unit sounds awful with AutoEQ.

The only other candidate I've found is the Dan Clark Expanse, but that's too expensive.

Anything else worth considering 2000 USD or under? Should I go for an HD800S?

Long time Audeze owner and fan - as in I never stopped lusting after the brand when I heard a pre-Fazor Rev. 1 at an audio fair as a teen more than a decade ago.

Audeze MM-500 is much closer to target response (tuned with pinna gain) and has no significant high-Q anomalies, making it need EQ much much less extensively. It also has much better weight and weight distribution, more manageable earcup size, much better ergonomics and more polished industrial design, with great fit and finish. And feels rock solid too. Only reason I don't have one now is budget and me being a sucker for wood rings.

I used to own an LCD-3 with Dekoni defenestrated sheepskin pads and my own EQ that was almost perfect, and I mean, vocals so good my brain instinctively thought they were real voices in front of me even though I was a consciously skeptical listener. But it was a used set with wonky adjustment yokes I couldn't fix, and there was a peak at 8-9kHz that was of relatively high-Q but sharp and audible, yet resisted every attempt at EQ as it varied with placement.

 

[concorde1]

Audeze MM-500 is much closer to target response (tuned with pinna gain) and has no significant high-Q anomalies

Yeah I think I'll end up getting an MM-500 and I'll sell the TH900 after if the MM-500 sounds as good. If only the TH900 had decent build quality . . .

 

[Intervallkoppler]

Now i bought a hd800s.
So i tried it out.
I also have sundara and lcd-x.

I just wanted to hear the soundstage but the headphone of sennheiser impressed me so much.
It seems like i am not a bass head at all because i don't need more bass of what a lcd2c delivers. That would be quite pefect.
And the amount of bass the hd800 delivers is absolutely good for me. Subbass is a bit underrepresented in comparison but i like it.
I must say in emusic there is more to it then a just bass and yes the hd800s is not the king of bass but everything else it does fantastic.

When you read about it you can have the impression that the s will sound very thin but thats not the case.
I can also don't understand how people can enjoy headphones with more bass than the lcd2c.
I mostly listen to electronic music, hip hop and then a bit rock, metal, classic and some jazz.

I think the hd800s is an absolutely awesome headphone for electronic music, how can you say it doesn't work for these genre?
It has satisfing bass for me.
But the bass has kind of a different quality than the audeze.
the audeze is much cleaner and more precise and more quantity of course.
the hd800s delivers bass more like a cloud in comparrison. Don't know how to say.
For me the bass on the audeze is a lot better but subjectively i can enjoy it as much on the s while listening to music.
it is another kind of bass delivery but i like it very much.
other than that i think the h800s is perfect especially for electronic music. Because of its soundstage. So the stereo effects and tricks used in electronic music are like a 3d movie.
very impressing. Soundstage is huge and the images are smaller and i like that vey much.
i tried the dt990 once and it hurts my ear while listening through it.
i was afraid the hd800s is way to airy and treble heavy but to my surprise that is not the case for me. I put it on and listened 4 hours music straight. After that my ears were a bit tired. With the audeze i could listen maybe forever so the difference is present of course.
But still i was surprised that i liked the frequency response of the hd800 very much.
it is very revealing and clean.
for rock music i think i like the audeze more and sometimes for hip hop.
when i listened to songs like heart shaped box from nirvana on my hd800 i find the bass a bit odd in comparison to the audeze.

i really think you can't say the hd800s is a bad headphone for electronic music. At least for me it is fantastic and makes to me more sense than other genres like rock music.

But lcdx and hd800s complement each other very well with the sundara in the middle for the most part.