Audeze LCD-R: Can We Use Ordinary Headamps? Music for the Masses

I took what I thought was an obvious vote. HeadAmp / KG, RSA, SPA, Cooter, etc. etc. - they all tackled the task. The hobby just isn't the same. Kind of like the vehicles they sell now.

You can always be like ZD and go dual-mono Tyr.

 

I've actually pondered purchasing an LCD-R several times. To me, it is definitely a unique product that I believe has a lot of untapped potential beyond the Jot-A it was originally paired with. The only thing that concerns me is the perceived lack of slam / heft in the low end versus something like the LCD-X, Code-X, HE-6, etc. As my personal preferences lean heavily towards headphones with a lot of power in the low end.

Seeing this thread made me start thinking again if the LCD-R would pair well with my iFi Pro iCAN given the headphone's extreme voltage sensitivity and the Pro iCAN's large power reserves? I would be curious to hear if the XBass function on the Pro iCAN could compensate for some of the missing heft in the LCD-R's low end.

Either way, looking forward to hopefully hearing more about other amp pairings with the LCD-R at future meets.

 

The LCD-R might not be well suited to your preferences, I'm afraid. In its stock form, the LCD-R has a slightly sluggish, poorly defined bass. It's not bad. But it's not the tightest/fastest or the most impactful. These aren't slam beasts. See purr1n's review of them (here).

Even with rhythmdevils' mods, the RD-R, which significantly improves the LCD-R (see here), there's still some sub-bass roll-off. He writes here: "The bass on my RD-R is faster than stock with more coherency with the rest of the spectrum and a bit more quantity, but ultimately rolls off at a similar place because the driver simply does not put out extremely low bass frequencies."

For low-end grunt and depth and slam, look elsewhere.

 

From your description the R isn't for you: it's bright-leaning, incredibly smooth in the mids and highs without any loss of detail and has more air than most equipment I've ever heard. What it doesn't do is slam or have hefty and super textured lows.

For about the same price a used LCD-4z might be worth looking into, given your taste IMO.

 

I think they would if they could. There has to be a reason that only 67 (I forget the exact number) were made. That’s not a number you plan. “Let’s make 67 of these in a limited run” BS. If they wanted to do a limited run and everything went A ok with production they would have made 100 or 150 or 200 of them. Also It cost Schiit considerable money to make an amp just for the LCD-R. They’d never do that for a run of 67 units.

I think they probably had a super high failure rate in manufacturing and had to stop and give up.

 

I suspect it had something to do with that plus the LCD-5 being around the corner. According to audeze the R and the 5 use the same "parallel unifiorce" voice coil.

Sounds likely that the new driver technology plus the extremely high surface cover of the quasi ribbon would have a high failure rate.

 

Picked up a Magni Unity (fantastic little amp and optional all-in-one budget option) and I'm listening to my LCD-R with it. Crazy good pairing, and better than the JOT-R like Marv mentioned. Thanks for the recommendation @purr1n.

Did you also try the LCD-R on the Pietus Maximus?

 

I'd still like to hear the LCD-R if anyone here wanted to let one go and make their money back.