Hifiheadphones will be at the Indulgence show in London later on this month, so here is some info about the show:
Where?
Hammersmith Novotel London West
When?
29 Sept-1 Oct (10am-6pm on Friday and Saturday, 10am-5pm on Sunday)
Effect Audio
We will be showing off the range of luxury handmade upgrade cables from Effect Audio which are sure to turn some heads.
Starting at £149 and going up to over £1000, there are cables to suit all tastes and headphones. Come by and hear the difference yourself!
Final
Alongside them will be the latest offerings from Final, including a prototype of their D8000 planar magnetic headphone.
Since 1974, Final have been producing hi-fi equipment that reflects a musician’s passion for art, as well as their own passion for engineering. Truly unique, Final’s headphones combine sleek retro styling and ground-breaking technology.
Oriveti
We will also be taking along the superb Oriveti New Primacy triple hybrid in-ear headphones, and their Basic model too.
The New Primacy sets a new standard for sub £300 headphones, offering excellent value for money with a highly resolving and detailed sound.
The Basic is a fun everyday in-ear headphone that is superbly built and costs under £100.
The Audeze LCD-XC is definitely one of the top-tier headphones available now, and is a worthy stablemate to the similarly closed-back but smoother Fostex TH900.
Pros
Exceptionally comfortable
Sumptuous build quality
Amazing detail
Well balanced
Separation and imaging fully immersive
Sturdy travel case
Cons
May be too heavy for some
In the world of headphones we get the odd celebrity now and again; the flagships sail in and are esteemed due to their value if nothing else. But as with everything, a high price needn’t necessarily equate with a good product. Is this particualr celebrity just famous for being famous, or do they actually have some talent?
Key Features
Those shiny wooden earcups are a treat for the eyes, and the build quality is exceptional. Solid is definitely the word, but this may count against the Audeze LCD-XC as some necks may suffer under the 650g/1.4lb weight; those with the fortitude to ‘press a head’ should be well rewarded though. The tough carry case protects them in transit, and the supplied ribbon-type cable is ‘tangle free’. Also in the case is a little bottle of wax for keeping the shine on the earcups.
First Impressions
Having tried Audeze’s offerings before, my appetite was suitably whetted and it was not disappointed. By now the obvious build quality and good looks are meeting with blasé reactions – we all know what to expect from Audeze! The weight issue was in my mind, but since I’ve been enjoying the HifiMAN HE-400 for some time now with no issues I was not worried, and indeed the LDC-XC’s weight did not bother me.
Sound Quality
I first tried the Audeze LCD-XC with a Chord Hugo; both to feed as good a signal in as possible, and to try the Hugo’s resolution with the LCD-XC. The presentation was very accurate and crisp; I found it just a little too far into bright territory for my tastes. Then I tried the LCD-XC with my humble Fiio X3; the X3’s output is a little warmer than that of the Chord Hugo, and this was reflected within the sound of the headphones. Where before it was a little cold and uncompromising with the K120, it came to life and into colour for me with the X3. The LCD-XC is like a mirror for the amp; it brings out the best traits of the available equipment.
The closed-back nature of this model is possibly a down side, if only because so many great headphones in this price range are open and so have an advantage in terms of soundstage. As we all know however, isolation is often necessary if we aren’t to be distracted (and don’t want to disturb others), and the LCD-XC does not sound like a closed headphone. The soundstage is appreciably wider than the physical limits of the headphones, and the closed nature of them does not remain so obvious when in use.
Summary
With the asking price in mind, it’s no surprise to learn that this is an exceptionally competent headphone which can hold its own among some cutting-edge competition. If you are considering a highend closed-back model and you find the Fostex TH900 a little smooth, the Audeze LCD-XC may be just for you.
Orthodynamic, AKA Planar Magnetic or Isodynamic Transducers
If you think Orthodynamic headphones are for people recovering from ear operations, you might not be alone as the various names for this driver technology are not that well known. Perhaps due to the relative cost of this type of driver, it has not had the exposure of the ubiquitous dynamic version, for instance.
Orthodynamic: Technical term advanced / popularized by Yamaha Headphones in 1976 to describe their line of headphones at the time using a driver type known generically as isodynamic, planar-magnetic, or magnetostatic incorporating characteristics of both dynamic and electrostatic driver design.
Of all transducer methods, perhaps the most sumptuous-sounding is the electrostatic method, where a large thin membrane is suspended within a magnetic field which is affected by an electric impulse passing through it. The advantages of this is a very fast attack since the membrane can be thin and light with little to no inertia. On the down side, the technology is horrendously expensive and difficult to drive; a portable rig will likely require a backpack to power it!
A decent halfway house however is the planar-magnetic (AKA orthodynamic or Isodynamic) transducer type. Rather than the membrane being suspended between two electromagnets as in the electroststic method, it is suspended between two sets of permanent magnets; the audio information is fed through a thin wire on the membrane (the voice coil) which makes it react with the magnetic field it is suspended in. While this extra weight makes the membrane less reactive, this is a much cheaper and more efficient way to get near the electrostatic sound.
Some advantages of orthodynamic headphones over their dynamic counterparts include the flat driver with the voice coil controlling its entire surface. Since the membrane reacts across the whole surface at once, it does not need to be rigid which cuts down on weight and inertia. The result is a very fast driver which is particularly good at replicating a wide soundstage with great separation.
Balanced armatures are fantastic for detail, but find it hard work to replicate the very low, and very high frequencies. Also their relative lack of power keeps them mainly in the in-ear realm, where a good seal is required for decent bass perception.
My favourite? Just now I’m loving my full size orthodynamic HiFiMAN HE-400s but recent experiences with both dynamic and balanced armature-driven in-ears (such as the Sennheiser IE800 and Westone UM3X for example) tell me that it’s anybody’s game. There is no ‘best’, only what suits the listener at that particular point in time.
The Chinese-American HiFi powerhouse, HiFiMan’s current top of the range headphone-amplifier pairing seemed way too interesting to not have its own video review. Their speaker-like performance offers a truly unique listening experience. Enjoy!
Mark from HighEnd Workshop, distributor and maintenance man for some very serious audio brands was kind enough to have a chat with me about headphones. Among others, he looks after HiFiMAN‘s distribution in the UK and is in the know about their exciting new range of planar magnetic headphones. This technology is also known as orthodynamic, or magnetostatic driver technology.
Lauri – Hello Mark, it’s nice to see you. Did you have any trouble getting here?
Mark – We are communicating by email.
Lauri – Of course. Perhaps then, I should ask what led you to be in your current position and what do you like best about it?
Mark – The company I previously worked for closed down, so I started a repair company (HighEnd Workshop). After 7 years I noticed that the repairs were slowing down so I decided to go into small scale distribution (something that is very niche) and offer an over the top service which comes from my background repairing £8000 cd transports and £14,000 amplifiers. Hence I started Electromod. The best thing about my position is it was my hobby (not so much now but i still get some time to listen). Also I run my company as I want and do not need to answer to anyone other than the customers.
Lauri – How does orthodynamic (or planar magnetic) technology work and does it have any advantages over dynamic driver technology in your opinion?
Mark – Orthodynamic headphones have drivers with flexible plastic film diaphragms (like cling film) into which a flat voice coil is imprinted in the shape of an S. It is embedded this way for an even distribution of the drive force. This allows the diaphragm to be driven equally over its surface, so you therefore do not need to make a stiff driver or cone; it is very lightweight and with this you have a faster reacting driver. These drivers or diaphragms are tensioned to supply returning force. The magnets are on one or both sides of the diaphragm and supply the magnetic field against which the flat voice coil reacts. This makes the diaphragm vibrate causing sound, the design of an orthodynamic headphone is somewhat similar to an electrostatic design and produces a similar sound characteristic.
Lauri – There are lengthy threads on headfi.org for instance, which describe how to go about modifying headphones such as the HE-400 in order to change the sound signature/fit etc. Do you feel that this is going against the ‘vision’ of the designers, or do you welcome such tinkering? Would HiFiMAN consider incorporating the ideas of modders into future designs?
Mark – My views are that everyone is entitled to their own expression and music is a very emotion thing. I offer one flavour of sound shall we say, and it is down to you to modify or not. I do not mind which but it is important to get the sound you like, if this means playing with a product to get this then so be it. But I don’t agree with playing about with any product and then trying to claim warranties when it goes wrong; that just goes against us and our policies of honesty. I do not think manufacturers will generally take any modding ideas on.
Lauri – What future do you see for orthodynamic headphones? Are they making an impact on the ubiquitous dynamic versions?
Mark – HiFiMan’s orthodynamic headphones are a very good choice and I hope they will make an impact on the overall market; but we still have a long way to go in educating customers that there are options other than dynamic headphones. People who follow Hifi understand the technology, but outside this bubble we still have work to do. It does help when dealers have them in their shop on show to demo, as normally once a customer hears the HiFiMan headphones it is hard to miss how good they are.
Lauri – How robust is this technology when compared to dynamic drivers? Is it easy for the careless to ‘blow’ a driver like with dynamic drivers sometimes?
Mark – Like all speakers, if you feed a driver with a distorted waveform or sound then you are reducing the life of that driver. I have been distributing HiFiMan since 2010 and up to now we have not had a driver fail! As I would say, it is down to the care that HiFiMan put into these ear speakers, and also you will find the customers who are purchasing these products are not normally the ‘head banging’ type and therefore are more careful of their products too!
Lauri – Why did HiFiMAN decide to include a dynamic-driver technology headphone (the HE-300) in the series?
Mark – This was all to do with efficiency; some customers wanted the Hifi-Man sound on their portable devices and since the orthodynamic headphones are a little hard to drive on these devices, it was thought that we would do a dynamic driver version to solve this issue and also be an entry point into the Hifi-Man brand.
Lauri – I see there are aftermarket cables available, consisting of pure copper and pure silver cores for instance. What do you think of this market?
Mark – Again this is down to personal taste. Getting a cable made to do a job, say XLR to BNC, well then that’s a great thing to offer as we all need cables made for different things.
Lauri – Is the low impedance of the HE- range a deliberate part of the design, or does it come with the orthodynamic technology?
Mark – As we understand how to build better and cheaper diaphragms as in the HE400, then the orthodynamic headphones will come more in line with the normal impedance headphones but the inherent design of orthodynamic headphones makes this a very big learning curve.
Lauri – Would you recommend headphone amplifiers with this range of headphones (for home and portable use)?
Mark – This is also down to personal taste but I would say the HiFiMAN amps go well obviously, then Schiit Audio, Trilogy Audio and I have heard good reports from customers who are also using the following: Icon Audio, Bryston and Epiphany Acoustics. But have a play and listen, as this is what it’s all about and I think some people forget this is supposed to be fun as well!
Lauri – Truer words have never been said. Thanks for the interview, Mark!
Now we’re all different of course, and so it follows that different sound signatures appeal also. I have noticed that high-end headphones tend to present more mid-range and high frequencies than I would like at the moment. I say ‘at the moment’ as my tastes have changed before and may well change again; both in a musical sense and a sound signature sense.
As it goes, these headphones suit me very well. I had the opportunity to try the HiFiMAN HE-400 against its bigger brothers, the HE-500 and the HE-6. For me, the higher priced headphones were a little too forward in the mid range and got in the way of that bottomless bass. This is a common a feature of planar magnetic headphones, and which makes me lament at the fact I can’t grab that bass and cuddle it like a warm puppy.
I understand that people might identify ‘bass presence’ with headphones which owe their success to marketing rather than a decent sound, but these headphones do not overly accentuate the bass. Nor is detail sacrificed. ‘Five years’, the opening track of David Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust’ album starts with a kick drum fading in. I can clearly hear that drumskin quivering and for the first time, despite hearing the album many times.
That’s what’s so good about upgrading from sub-£200 headphones, my entire music collection gets upgraded as well!
And that’s just CDs. In the digital realm, my weak link is now a lack of a decent DAC. I have a reasonable Behringer USB sound card which is good but by no means high-end, plus a M-Audio PCI ‘audiophile’ card; but that’s 10 years old now.
Therefore I decided to try some vinyl with them and the sound is incredible. I found it fun to play a lot of 30 year old pop by way of some early ‘Now That’s’ LPs and various imitators such as ‘Out Now’. The fun is in the difference between the quality of that TV speaker, that little radio, or those cheapo headphones which were held together with sticky tape back in the 80s, and the tastier equipment I have now. Today, those familiar old songs can be heard for the first time as a collection of separate instruments and voices all in unison, rather than a single blunderbuss shot of sound within which you might pick up a distinct instrument if you’re looking for it hard enough, using sat-nav. And DNA profiling.
Indeed, the separation of instruments is a strong feature of planar-magnetic (or orthodynamic) headphones generally. I like to wander between instruments, and am really enjoying the feeling of space between them as well as their resolution which makes them all stand out.
The thing to be careful with is that there appears to be a ‘sweet spot’ as with loudspeakers. The earcups are large, and the placement of the ears within them can affect the sound. I like to place the earcups so that the backs of my ears are touching the padding, then ease the earcups backward until I feel I’m there.
