[gahung]

 
Alternatively, the reaction from my girlfriend when she listened to music on both the LCD-2's and LCD-X's was "I don't want to take them off... ever!"
 
Check the synergy of your headphones with other amps and DACs, my friend. The ones you're currently using are obviously not giving you the magic that you should be hearing.
 
The quality of LCD-X's should rival absolute TOP END, multi-thousand dollar speaker systems. One the designers of these speaker systems actually reviewed the LCD-X's himself:
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/audeze-lcd-x-headphones/
 
Arnie Nudell apparently designed a speaker system that sells for over $200,000, and here he is praising the LCD-X's for their ability to rival (and beat out) top end speakers.
 

I just bought a Burson Soloist, I didn't update my profiles or whatever. It is said that they are a nice match. Maybe after sometime I will like the combination better than speakers at the same price range? Who knows.
I think you are right about the lcd in terms of the analytically aspect and the nice flat sound, but it never gave me the "wow, am I sitting at the orchestra?" when I close my eyes listening to the speaker. I can feel the bass from every part of my body, the wave coming to my face, and the vocal surrounding me. While I keep typing this, I just realized that these are in two different leagues though. They both have their strength. I would say I enjoy the music better in one way than the other. Or course, the weight is a critical consideration. I can't listen to a full Goldberg Variation using the lcds because of the weight, ha.
My dad used to buy expensive speakers and amps but he sold them when I was young. The diminishing of return also exist for speakers. However, in the sub-10-thousand-dollar range, at least for now, speaker is my choice.

 

[money4me247]

I did the exact same thing with my LCD-2F's and LCD-X's + H10 amp

Same results - even non-audiophiles were all mind blown at how amazing everything sounded.

I also upgraded from mid-fi in a similar way to you. Went from HE400s/Pro 900s/Q701s driven by a Matrix M-Stage DAC and a Matrix M-Stage amp to my current setup.

well obviously ur personal ancedote isnt meant to be a scientific study, but lol how did u account for volume differences and researcher bias?

edit: i have found n my own experience i can easily influence nonaudiophiles on which headphone in my collection is the best. just put the one u want em to pick on the nicest stand and treat those extremely gingerly when handing them over. they will pick that pair every time.

 

[money4me247]

Alternatively, the reaction from my girlfriend when she listened to music on both the LCD-2's and LCD-X's was "I don't want to take them off... ever!"

Check the synergy of your headphones with other amps and DACs, my friend. The ones you're currently using are obviously not giving you the magic that you should be hearing.

The quality of LCD-X's should rival absolute TOP END, multi-thousand dollar speaker systems. One the designers of these speaker systems actually reviewed the LCD-X's himself:
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/audeze-lcd-x-headphones/

Arnie Nudell apparently designed a speaker system that sells for over $200,000, and here he is praising the LCD-X's for their ability to rival (and beat out) top end speakers.

the differences of the he-400 to lcd-x will be very small for nonaudiophiles and non enthusiasts. they might be able to notice a difference in sound stage or bass quantity, but beyond that it sounds the same to them.

An non-enthusiast comparing any two "TOTL" headphones really hears everything to sound basically the same. Still sounds about the same when comparing "mid-fi" with TOTL. they will be looking for outside clues when u press them for an answer. common things they look to if price tag is not available is simply looks, comfort, or build quality. their brain will look for subconscious hints from the "expert."

you can easy show this phenomena just by purchasing any obsure pair of headphones but acting like they are super TOTL when you give it to the nonenthusiast to listen. the non-enthusiast will usually just parrot you when asked to judge quality.

 

[Arnotts]

the differences of the he-400 to lcd-x will be very small for nonaudiophiles and non enthusiasts. they might be able to notice a difference in sound stage or bass quantity, but beyond that it sounds the same to them.

An non-enthusiast comparing any two "TOTL" headphones really hears everything to sound basically the same. Still sounds about the same when comparing "mid-fi" with TOTL. they will be looking for outside clues when u press them for an answer. common things they look to if price tag is not available is simply looks, comfort, or build quality. their brain will look for subconscious hints from the "expert."

you can easy show this phenomena just by purchasing any obsure pair of headphones but acting like they are super TOTL when you give it to the nonenthusiast to listen. the non-enthusiast will usually just parrot you when asked to judge quality.

 
The thing is, all of the people that tried the headphones LOVE music and good quality sound - they just don't own any expensive headphones themselves.
 
I converted one of my best friends into an audiophile. He used to be one of those people that didn't think they could hear much difference between gear. Then he used my HE400's, Pro 900's and Q701's along with the M-Stage stack for 10 days while I was on holiday. He could tell exactly what the differences between those 3 headphones were.
 
Then I let him try out the LCD-2's for a while at my house. He was mind blown. He had always been someone who had preferred a nice set of speakers over headphones - after trying my mid-fi headphones, he was thinking that he would purchase a set of ~$1000 speakers to give him the sound that he wanted. After trying the Audeze headphones, he changed his mind - he wanted a pair of Audeze's.
 
After trying the LCD-X's, he's now got his sights set on a pair of them. He doesn't want to get LCD-2's, because he knows he's just going to end up wanting the sound from the LCD-X's.
 
It sounds like the kind of people who demo'd your gear, money4me247, literally have no idea/passion for music. I had a few friends demo the LCD-X's right after the LCD-2's (even though I told everyone I preferred the smoothness of the LCD-2's), and everyone immediately said they preferred the spacious sound of the X's. These are all guys that LOVE music - we all go to see live music events and listen to music constantly at home. These are not people that have no interest in music, who are being coaxed into trying out a pair of headphones that they have no interest in.

 

[retskrad]

You dont need $1k headphone to have passion for music and enjoy it. Its like you dont need a fancy gym to get a good workout or have a nice body, all you need is a barbelll and some weights. People seem to enjoy music pretty fine with apple earbuds.

 

[a-mal]

I don't know but I'm going to find out! 

 

[Jazic]

The LCD2.2 Fazor has much better mids and highs then the original LCD2 and keeps 90% of the bass. Now I got a B-stock for $700 and LOVE them and would do it again in a heart beat for that price maybe even a bit more....

P.S. I had the HE-400 but not the HD650 (have had a chance to sit with them but only about 30 mins) IMO sell the HE400 and put that to the LCD2.

 
From what I remember of the LCD2 non-Fazor is they were very dark but I loved their sound very much. I jumped back on the LCD2F bandwagon and love their sound much more than I did with the non-Fazor's. Perfect amounts of sparkle, mids that are lush without being sibilant and bass that thumps without being boomy. 
 
 

 
Quote:

You dont need $1k headphone to have passion for music and enjoy it. Its like you dont need a fancy gym to get a good workout or have a nice body, all you need is a barbelll and some weights. People seem to enjoy music pretty fine with apple earbuds.

 
Well if you really want to enjoy the benefits of a great workout and nice body, you should start with machines designed to teach you how to workout properly. 
 
I don't know if the same could be applied to audio or not. You can't exactly start out at an audio 'gym' of a nice amp and headphones then work your way back to apple earbuds and still enjoy them. However if you have your form worked out and know how to workout properly it's easier and better to use free weights.
 
That said, I'm sure with some good fitting tips the Apple Earbuds/plugs aren't absolute crap. There is much worse that can be had I'm sure. 

 

[cakebreaker]

It was a nice thread. I enjoyed it. ))