Audeze LCD-R Review and Measurements

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by purr1n, Oct 2, 2021.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Voltage Sensitivity:

    Grado RS2...........168 mVrms.....101db
    Audeze LCD-R.....145 mVrms.....105db
    HD650..................171 mVrms.......82db

    Yeah, more sensitive to Grados!
    Impedance is a constant 2-ohms (see below)

    Audeze LCD-R Impedance
    YEL = free air, GRN = on head
    upload_2021-10-10_9-14-12.png
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2021
  2. brams

    brams New

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    The bass is the only area where I find these to be slightly lacking. For me it's not so much the speed, but the extension and very slight lack of "slam". Come to think of it slam is related to speed so maybe that's what I'm not hearing.

    It would be interesting to see if and how these measurements change with a different amp. My next step is to try these on the speaker taps of a 2 ohm rated solid state amp via the dynamic headphone output of an ifiAudio iESL. An old school Krell would be interesting ...
     
  3. brams

    brams New

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    So no further interest in the LCD-R? Would love to see some measurements of @rythmdevil's mods.

    FWIW I had success running the LCD-R from the speaker taps of a Magnum Dynalam MD209 via the balanced headphone out of a ifiAudio iESL. An exact comparison to the Jot-A was not possible since I had to use a Black Dragon cable with the -R when plugging into the iESL/MD209. Nevertheless the main difference I noted was a bit more relaxed upper mids when using the MD209 which also led to the impression of a warmer, but slightly slower bass. Surprisingly, the MD209 sounded more natural to me and the Jot-A more dynamic. For sure the Jot-A is no slouch.
     
  4. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I'm probably going to send my second (modded) pair on a loaner tour soon with the Jottenhiem A. Ii'm just waiting on some custom ear pads which should get here soon. :)
     
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  5. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I've done more work on my LCD-R mod and now think it is better than my modded LCD-X. I really like what I'm hearing. I hope to send it to Marv if possible soon. And on a loaner tour.

    I have come up against another cable conundrum with the LCD-R though. I got 2 Forza Claire cables wired for the Jottenheim A and they don't sound wrong like before, they're wired correctly, but they sound waaaay different than the stock cable. I've never heard such a pronounced difference with cables. The bass is drastically reduced, if I were to quantify it I would say its half the amount of bass, I believe it would be very measurable. And the whole sound is very soft and mushy. But it's a much better cable so this makes no sense.

    I tried to adjust my mod for it but wound up putting the stock cable back on.

    I wonder if this is what is happening. For one thing, the Forza cables are 2 meters and the stock cable is 8 feet. But I imagine the Forza cables have different capacitance than the stock cable as well.

    I'd like to do an experiment and have a Lunashops OCC copper cable made to exactly 8 feet (if they can figure out how to measure that in China) to see if the length is the issue. But they are having trouble understanding the RAAL pinout. Would someone mind making a drawing for them?

    He wants something like this but for the LCD-R

    [​IMG]

    Now I've got 2 expensive Forza cables that I need to have re-terminated to use with regular Auideze headphones because they don't work with the LCD-R. Any volunteers? :)
     
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I'm done with the x3 HE6 and will send them back. Send me the modded LCD-R. I still have a stock LCD-R to compare to.

    Possible cable could have more an effect because the LCD-R impedance is only 2-ohms and also very voltage sensitive. With custom cables, we have no idea what's going on. Cable people do all sorts of weird stuff to stand out from the crowd. I'll use my own cable which is just a re-terminated LCD-R cable into a TRS phono plug. I have a headphone amp with high current capability suitable for the LCD-R that takes TRS.
     
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    Last edited: Dec 28, 2021
  7. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Awesome! I will send it to you asap. I'l just send you the stock cable and the Jottenheim A as well. That's what I tuned them with so I'd like you to hear them with that as well. I'm also kind of scared of these getting plugged into any other amp, even with your expertise.

    I'll pay return shipping costs so don't worry about that.

    Thanks Marv! This is going to be great to see. I think you will really like them.
     
  8. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I was trying to get my head around this, but you've made it clear. It's a ribbon after with with less surface area so the extension and slam aspect aren't as strong as the LCD-X. The extension aspect evident from the FR already. Yeah, the bass does slower than a true ribbon, i.e. the SR1a. As we go toward the mids and highs, that's where the transient speed picks up. Still not quite SR1a level, but the LCD-X has much better lows bass (outside of transient response). Does anyone know if RAAL Requisite has released their full sized ribbon can? Would be interesting to compare.
     
  9. Tchoupitoulas

    Tchoupitoulas Friend

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    Not yet. They had one for audition at CanJam in SoCal but no release date has been announced, as far as I know.
     
  10. Clemmaster

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    RAAL's Ribon headphones got mixed feedback from the meet (the ones I read anyway), so they might be trying to improve them still?

    The stock LCD-R cable is actually really very good. Sure it's a bit stiffer than aftermarket cables, but it's non-microphonic and is known to sound good with them (according to those who tried alternate cables).

    With the Wavedream XLR Edition the LCD-R produces very satisfying bass with the EQ engaged.
    The use of EQ was always a toss-up with the Wavelight, because it is warm and thick and EQ off would pierce through more. With the WD and its leaner/brighter delivery, EQ on makes for a very well balanced sound. The whole chain sounds pretty spectacular.
     
  11. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    This isn't a better/worse cable situation. Something is going wrong with the Forza cable with the LCD-R. I know Forza cables well on Audeze's, they don't have bass drop off and this is extreme not to mention softening of transients. They sounded like completely different headphones. It's got to be related to the 2 ohm impedance.
     
  12. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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    I tried the LCD-R with Forza Noire on my Bakoon HPA-21 in current mode (don't tell Audeze :rolleyes:) and indeed was surprised by the reduction in bass quantity.
     
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2021
  13. Dzerh

    Dzerh Friend

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    About the wires, just a speculation, - from what was mentioned, the stock cable is stiffer, so probably has wires of larger diameter, and from my vague memory of physics you need more volume to reduce a cable resistance to DC and lower frequencies (thick wires) and more surface for high frequencies (lots of thing wares).
    I'd measure impedance for the cables at various frequencies if I'd have tools.
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Isn't the HPA-21 in current mode like the Pass F3, which means infinite output impedance, which means pee-pee no squirt (into a highly demanding 2-ohms that wants a lot of squirt?)
     
  15. Clemmaster

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    It’s fantastic with planars.

    I do need to use high gain and no input attenuators with the LCD-R, though.

    It was a pretty short lived experience anyway, the Jot A sounded much better.
     
  16. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    What sorts of sand wizardry do you speak of?

    When EQ'd, I still find the LCD-R to be plenty useful for almost anything I throw at it. It is not as natural of as experience as speakers, but it is quite an enjoyable experience that gets me right into feeling like I am in control of when I want to stop and not the other way around. Meaning - the volume and tonal balance isn't what's stopping me from pulling them off my head. General wearing + fazor comfort is the only reason why I would take them off my head.
     
  17. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Has anyone tried the RAAL HSA-1b with the LCD-R? Seems like it would have amazing synergy and possibly beat the Jottenheim A by quite a bit.

    Could I plug the LCD-R into the RAAL output of the HSA-1b even though it’s 2ohm instead of .2 or what the RAAL is?
     
  18. deafenears

    deafenears Almost "Made"

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  19. nishan99

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    That's amazing!, glad they are still committing to those headphones with innovation after another.
    So in a nutshell it's making the amps able to drive the ribbons than making the ribbons able to receive the amps.

    So it's even better than their speaker interface for speaker amps? That's very neat if it's true.
     
  20. deafenears

    deafenears Almost "Made"

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    More pics uploaded by Danny to their NEWS section:

    https://raalrequisite.com/news/

    From there, you can see the rear of the unit showing both Low Z and High Z inputs as well as the included adapters for open baffle compensation and the included cables.

    From Aleksandar over in the SR1a thread on Head-Fi:

     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2022

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