Amp for the Audeze LCD-3

[Ultragunner]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm kinda in a pinch right now. The thing is I have already asked this over at head-fi, but no one has bothered to answer yet.

 

Here is the rub, my current set up and daily drivers consist of the Schiit Modi/Magni Stack (both are 2 Uber) paired with the HD600, T50rp mk3, Beyerdynamic T90, Fostex TH-X00 ...and many more (mostly "mid-fi" gears, but ******* I'm such a hoarder LOL).

 

Everything has been going just fine then BAAMMM!!! An acquaintance offered to sell his LCD-3 (pre-Fazor) for a real discount price, and...you guessed it, I could not resist (because the LCD-3 retails for FREAKIN' OVER $3000 AUD here in Australia).

 

Okay, enough with my boring story, my main concern is that will my Schiit Stack be sufficient enough for the LCD-3 pre-Fazor, both in term of power and general performance?

 

I have seen many recommend the Burson Soloist, will it still pair well with the pre-Fazor LCD-3?

 

One last thing, I'm kinda a Schiit fan, and was planning to upgrade to the combo of Bifrost + Lyr 2 in a near future even if I had not got the LCD-3, should I still aim for this combo instead of the Soloist?

The Soloist is currently on sale: http://www.addictedtoaudio.com.au/product/burson-soloist-headphone-amplifier-and-integrated-pre-amplifier

 

Which direction should I go? I really don't want to end up hoarding as many amp as I currently am with so many headphones haha

 

Pardon me for being so cumbersome, but I guess that's what happens when I "jumped the gun" so early (haha)

 

I appreciate any comment or feedback, 

Thank You.

[spwath]

Just stick with the schiit, it Will work fine.

[EndlessOyster]

Well according to the spec sheets none of the amps are powerful enough to get to a third of the power rating of the headphones and the ragnorok is only just at half of the watts the headphone can take, but that max wattage is apparently 130dB so quite loud and probably will only need 5Watts to get to something sutiable, but then again headphones apparently dont matter and people give me shit for saying that it is powerful enough even though the manufacturers say it isnt, so hey ho.

[Dackzy]

I can power LCD 3 with my O2/ODAC combo so the shiit stack should be fine.

[EndlessOyster]

5 minutes ago, Dackzy said:

I can power LCD 3 with my O2/ODAC combo so the shiit stack should be fine.

im guessing they dont go very loud since your only putting 400mW (plus or minus 50mW) through a 15 Watt headphone.

[Dackzy]

Just now, EndlessOyster said:

im guessing they dont go very loud since your only putting 400mW (plus or minus 50mW) through a 15 Watt headphone.

Plenty loud for me, but then again my hearing is not normal so it might be a different story for other people.

[seduce_me]

2 hours ago, Ultragunner said:

Hi everyone,

 

I'm kinda in a pinch right now. The thing is I have already asked this over at head-fi, but no one has bothered to answer yet.

 

Here is the rub, my current set up and daily drivers consist of the Schiit Modi/Magni Stack (both are 2 Uber) paired with the HD600, T50rp mk3, Beyerdynamic T90, Fostex TH-X00 ...and many more (mostly "mid-fi" gears, but ******* I'm such a hoarder LOL).

 

Everything has been going just fine then BAAMMM!!! An acquaintance offered to sell his LCD-3 (pre-Fazor) for a real discount price, and...you guessed it, I could not resist (because the LCD-3 retails for FREAKIN' OVER $3000 AUD here in Australia).

 

Okay, enough with my boring story, my main concern is that will my Schiit Stack be sufficient enough for the LCD-3 pre-Fazor, both in term of power and general performance?

 

I have seen many recommend the Burson Soloist, will it still pair well with the pre-Fazor LCD-3?

 

One last thing, I'm kinda a Schiit fan, and was planning to upgrade to the combo of Bifrost + Lyr 2 in a near future even if I had not got the LCD-3, should I still aim for this combo instead of the Soloist?

The Soloist is currently on sale: http://www.addictedtoaudio.com.au/product/burson-soloist-headphone-amplifier-and-integrated-pre-amplifier

 

Which direction should I go? I really don't want to end up hoarding as many amp as I currently am with so many headphones haha

 

Pardon me for being so cumbersome, but I guess that's what happens when I "jumped the gun" so early (haha)

 

I appreciate any comment or feedback, 

Thank You.

That's a great deal but it really depends on you. Some will say your schiit stack will suffice but some will say a Woo is better for the LCD 3.

[SSL]

38 minutes ago, EndlessOyster said:

im guessing they dont go very loud since your only putting 400mW (plus or minus 50mW) through a 15 Watt headphone.

Stop immediately. The LCD needs nothing like 15W to reach dangerous levels.

 

I've heard bad things about the Burson sound from people whom I trust fairly well. I'd personally stick go with Lyr 2. Or Mjolnir 2 if you really hate money and can go balanced.

[EndlessOyster]

Just now, SSL said:

Stop immediately. The LCD needs nothing like 15W to reach dangerous levels.

 

I've heard bad things about the Burson sound from people whom I trust fairly well. I'd personally stick go with Lyr 2. Or Mjolnir 2 if you really hate money and can go balanced.

Well thats what the company spec sheet says. So are you call out Audeze for bullshit?

screen shot taken from spec sheet from Audeze
https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-collection/lcd-3

[SSL]

Just now, EndlessOyster said:

Well thats what the company spec sheet says. So are you call out Audeze for bullshit?

screen shot taken from spec sheet from Audeze
https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-collection/lcd-3

 

I'm calling out you for not knowing what you're talking about.

[KaminKevCrew]

5 hours ago, EndlessOyster said:

Well thats what the company spec sheet says. So are you call out Audeze for bullshit?

screen shot taken from spec sheet from Audeze
https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-collection/lcd-3

Are you even aware of how SPL works? Or even how much hearing damage you would experience when listening to something at 130Db??? Sure, the headphones can take 15 watts, and sure, it'll be at 130Db. But newsflash, nobody wants to listen to anything that loud, and it's utterly pointless to talk about the max volume a headphone can produce, since invariably, it will cause hearing damage.

 

Here is what you should be looking at: 

Efficiency

102dB / 1mW

(also taken from the Audeze LCD-3 page)

That means that they will get more than loud enough on just about any dedicated amp setup. My Hifiman HE-500 have a sensitivity somewhere around 89Db/mW (might be per volt, but my point is the same) So really, my HE-500 are going to need more power to drive them to a given volume level than the LCD-3. 

 

Don't be daft. Do some research. 

5 hours ago, SSL said:

 

I'm calling out you for not knowing what you're talking about.

I 100% agree. This is what SSL is doing. (@SSL, I'm trying to be more active here again XD)

[BoredErica]

I looked at powering LCD 2 a long time ago in my siggy. IIRC LCD 2 is harder to power compared to 3.

7 hours ago, EndlessOyster said:

Well thats what the company spec sheet says. So are you call out Audeze for bullshit?

screen shot taken from spec sheet from Audeze
https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-collection/lcd-3

lol

[SSL]

1 hour ago, KaminKevCrew said:

 (@SSL, I'm trying to be more active here again XD)

 

Hi

[Ultragunner]

So I can just stick with the Magni/Modi 2 Uber?

[spwath]

10 minutes ago, Ultragunner said:

So I can just stick with the Magni/Modi 2 Uber?

Probably. If it it's not enough then you can buy something.

[Messisan321]

On 2016-04-14 at 2:37 PM, Ultragunner said:

I'm kinda a Schiit fan

hehe

On 2016-04-14 at 3:50 PM, spwath said:

Just stick with the schiit

haha

[Ultragunner]

yeah, I know, it is a pretty schiity situation =))

[Dackzy]

9 minutes ago, Ultragunner said:

yeah, I know, it is a pretty schiity situation =))

Such a dad joke it's amazing I LOVE IT