Souping up the Audeze LCD 3's

J

JohnJ

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May 25, 2017
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Hudson Valley, NY
Hi-

I have been using a pair of LCD 3's for a few years now.
Not making the best use as the cord is too short in my listening environment and an inexpensive extension does a number on the SQ.

So, i'd like to grab an after market cable in the 15 to 20 foot range. Under consideration are Moon's Silver Dragon, DH Labs and Cardas Clear. A DIY is also in the mix using the Cardas bulk cable.

Also considering a dedicated headphone amp; Bryston/Woo22/McIntosh 200.

Any input is welcome.

Thank you.
 
Ignoring other aspects of the sound character, in theory you should look for the cable with the lowest capacitance and inductance, with some reasonable amount of shielding. Given the length of cable you're looking at. The manufacturer should be able to share that information with you.

As for balanced vs. single-ended, whichever output connection on the dedicated headphone amp has the better performance should dictate that. The LCD-3 will benefit from a high quality dedicated headphone amp.
 
I have had several of the Moon cables. I use either Blue or Black; the one silver I had did not seem to make a difference to me. I have both a pair of Audeze LCD-3's and a pair of Abyss Diana Phi's. My biggest suggestion is to use a balanced cable if at all possible.

If you do end up going with the Bryston know that only half of it's amp is being used with a single ended cable and you need to use it balanced to get what the amp can do. I have had the Bryston, a SimAudio, Dennis Had, SPL, etc. I currently have a Woo WA22 (2nd Gen) and consider it the best headphone amplifier I have owned. I have recently been playing with some tube rolling. This amp responds well to changing tubes and hearing sound changes!
 
Thank you Neko and Randy.

For now I have some low cap, very inexpensive Carnare mic cable coming that will utilize Switchcraft mini xlr's and a gold Neutrik 1/4" phone plug. I've always used "audiophile" type cable and connectors for my home made cables but have been interested in how lower cost stuff competes. As an old fashion shop teacher, I like DIY. Guess I'll connect the shield on the 1/4" negative end and let it float on the xlr's. The 1/4 can always be replaced with a 4 pin or 2 3 pin xlr's.

As far as a dedicated headphone amp, I'm thinking McIntosh. Plan to take a ride upstate to Audio Classics for a listen. Great day trip especially in the fall foliage.

Randy, I'll give Broom County a big "Hello" from you!

Enjoy the Sounds

John
 
Thank you sir... the last time I visited was two years ago but didn't get a chance to look around much.

I thought the McIntosh looks interesting! I am very happy with the Woo, which is built closer to your neck of the woods (I know they are located somewhere downstate). Mc is Mc so I am sure it will be built well. The Woo will probably have more tube rolling capability, but both should be top notch gear. They also sell for the exact same price :).
 
JohnJ said:
For now I have some low cap, very inexpensive Carnare mic cable coming that will utilize Switchcraft mini xlr's and a gold Neutrik 1/4" phone plug. [snip] Guess I'll connect the shield on the 1/4" negative end and let it float on the xlr's. The 1/4 can always be replaced with a 4 pin or 2 3 pin xlr's.
Click to expand...

The 1/4" phone plug should be a TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) for use with an unbalanced/single-ended 1/4" headphone jack. This means you should have tip = left, ring = right, and sleeve = ground.

At the headphone end, the LCD-3 will accept a 4-pin mini XLR. It won't accept a 3-pin mini XLR. My understanding is that this is wired as pin 1 and 4 positive/signal, and pin 2 and 3 negative/ground. Nothing floating. (I say understanding as I've never terminated a cable for 4-pin mini XLR myself, only for 3-pin mini XLR. So I'm going off other people's information.)

Head-Fi has a good reference for this: DIY Cable Info and Resources.
 
Right you are Randy. As the crow flies Woo is closer to me; time wise most likely less but the drive is not as scenic. The Woo 22 looks very interesting and will certainly make the final decision more difficult. Tube roling is something I am trying to avoid given my choice of pre and power amps. :disbelief: Anyway, I have followed your headphone amp reviews for several years now and certainly they weigh high in the decision making.

Neko correct on the wiring of the mini xlr's. I verified it last evening using a VOM Box with the original Audeze cable. The cable and connectors arrived today; really tight on those mini's. The cable is a two conductor with braided shield so I'll probably run a 6 inch piece of four wires (stripped of outer covering and shield)into each xlr and then slice in the rest into. i may or may not connect the braided shield on the negative side of the TRS. Seems like the jury is out on whether a shield is necessary on headphones. In any event, it will not be connected at the mini xlr end, just "float."

Well, i 'll keep thing posted and again I say thank you for the insight!

John
 
I was definitely intrigued by the McIntosh... but then... on the way to the LA show with a couple friends we stopped by Shelley's Stereo.... they just happened to have Woo in stock... I could not resist :)....

The one thing I do like is that Woo always has seemed to be a headphone amplifier specialist :D. I also like that it is a fully-balanced design, class-A, transformer-coupled, point-to-point wiring, and pseudo-dual power supply. These definitely set the Woo apart from much of the competition.
 
JohnJ said:
i may or may not connect the braided shield on the negative side of the TRS. Seems like the jury is out on whether a shield is necessary on headphones. In any event, it will not be connected at the mini xlr end, just "float."
Click to expand...
Oh, I just realized I misunderstood which signal you meant when you said "float on the xlr's". Sorry.
 
Yes - XLR’s from the C1100 to the MHA 200. I’m going to put a balanced 4 pin XLR on one of my headphone cables on place of the 1/4” stereo plug. Still o ship date - the MHA 200 is on back order.
 
The cables have been completed with a final length of 17 feet. So far happy with the sound and it seems at least as good as the original cable. More on this as they settle in.
The braided shield was not connected at either end. With use, modifications can be made easily.

Going forward, the 1/4 inch can be cut off and a 4 pole xlr installed or two 3 pole xlr's. Any reason to use one 4 pole or two 3 poles?

I used Carnare L2T2S for the cabling. Not having connected the shield, something like L2E5 that has a foil shield and slightly smaller gauge wires may have worked as well and being less bulky, easier to work with.

Now onward to an amp.
 
You should enjoy your LCD-3's with whichever amp you decide on. You are looking at some good ones. Not sure on advantage or disadvantage of 2x 3-pin XLR versus 4-pins. I have always used 4-pin when running balanced. I prefer balanced versus single ended and with some amplifiers it is almost a requirement (Bryston anyone :)).

I have been using the LCD-3's mainly portable at work, and the Abyss at home. This is strange because the Diana Phi's may very well be the finest compact headphones in the world while compact and LCD-3 should never be said in the same sentence :).

This does make sense though because the Audeze has higher sensitivity so they are easier for the Astell&Kern to get them up and running. The Abyss are soooooo good though that I really prefer listening to them with the Woo.

If I am in a real rare mood and want to rock the house down then that definitely calls the Audeze into duty. They are very good at letting some rock rip!
 
JohnJ said:
Going forward, the 1/4 inch can be cut off and a 4 pole xlr installed or two 3 pole xlr's. Any reason to use one 4 pole or two 3 poles?
Click to expand...

It's really just down to the amplifier design. I think most older amps had two 3-pin XLRs while new amps have consolidated to 4-pin XLRs to save space.
 
NekoAudio said:
It's really just down to the amplifier design. I think most older amps had two 3-pin XLRs while new amps have consolidated to 4-pin XLRs to save space.
Click to expand...

Ok, that makes senses. I doubted that it could be any kind of performance differences. I think the Sennheiser HD800S that I owned where the first I had that came with a balanced cable also. It worked well and I liked the solidity of the connection a lot better than the 1/4"... I have seen 1/4" connections wear out, etc.
 
Thanks for the comments Randy and Neko.
Having the two separate cables makes it easy for dual 3 pole termination. The final decision will be determined by a call to the manufacturer on what ever/when ever unit I wind up with.

On another note, this cable is a little on the heavy side; looping it over my shoulder takes the weight off.
 
CPP said:
Never found a cable helped the LCD-3 , which I own, even using bal on my BHA-1.What did help was a new pair of ear pads. Dekoni Elite Velour replacement earpads for the Audeze LCD Series
Click to expand...

I agree that cables have a limited amount of improvements in my view also. Therefore I find that the Moon Blue or Black dragon work just fine versus the expense of the silver (I haver had a silver in the past).

With your Bryston you should notice a big difference using a balanced cable although. The BHA-1 only uses half of its amplifier circuits with the SE connection and engages the entire amplifier with using a balanced cable.
 
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