I’m pretty terrible at writing out my impressions but my early ones are as follows …
(one day of listening, grain of salt appreciated, Bifrost 2 > Jotunheim A, break in handled by previous owner)
Depending on the position of the bass boost toggle switch I feel like you either get a mild W shape sound signature or a more warm one. In the flat position it’s more energetic and lively whereas the bass boost (or more accurately, attenuated mids and treble) position it’s more warm neutral. In the bass boost position there might be a slight loss in detail retrieval.
Where it seems to shine is detail retrieval, micro dynamics, imaging/layering/seperation and extension. I think it’s exceptional in these areas at it’s MSRP honestly and I’ll be curious what they end up going for used. Comparing it to a Susvara or D8KP is a stretch IMO at least on my current electronics. From memory it’s more airy and has longer decay in higher frequencies than other Audeze headphones I’ve heard (2pf, 3pf, 24) so it’s a bit of a departure from what I’m used to.
More average qualities are macro dynamics and soundstage width and depth and potentially comfort. The punch and slam is more Hifiman than Audeze which isn’t a negative really but again a bit of a departure. The average stage is completely fine IMO due to the outstanding imaging and layering and separation. The fazors lightly touch my ears. Maybe a deal breaker for some but not me. Positioning can help quite a bit.
Some other things worth noting is if you’re into low level listening the R is a winner. Timbre seems good but doesn’t always reveal itself to me this early. There’s some crinkle sound when moving them around and when breaking the seal. I want to listen on a higher end amp but I won’t because I’ve had an Audeze driver fail on me and I know of an LCD-R owner who’s had one fail already. I will try replacing the Bifrost 2 with an Amber 3 and see if the system scales in a few days.
To sum it up I think where it’s good it’s very good and the rest is average at it’s worst. These are excellent headphones IMO and I hope some people here get the chance to hear them and discuss in this thread.
Just as a side note, river confirmed the aic-10 can handle a sustained 2 ohm load to me yesterday
But over all I agree with your impressions. Honestly, I do think they are roughly on the same tier as d8kp when on a comparable amp to the jot a. Comparing these is so damn hard because we are tied into a system. When running d8kp on something like a phantasy ii, bx2+, or even directky out of sp1k+amp (with sp1k LO into the jot a being the dac for the last one) i think they present entuerly differently but are within a tier. When you put the d8kp on a nicer amp they start to pull away, but I wonder if the Rs would do the same. That said, the system it took for me to have the d8kp out pace the Rs (and I still subjectively preferred the r) was 2x the cost of the R…
Also, I have bugged audeze about it and they have directly confirmed they can replace drivers indefinitely and make them as needed, the lead time may just be higher than normal. This include out of warrenty repairs as well. Just as a FYI for other owners
Lol. I almost don’t want to contact LTA and inquire about the same.
That’s fair. I guess I should’ve mentioned that my D8KP was tied to a Bryston BDA-3 and BHA-1 so it’s a pretty unfair comparison. I’m holding back a bit overall in the post because it’s new to me and hype rarely serves anyone but it’s an extremely capable headphone no doubt.
Very fair. Its always hard to not swing too far one way or another when first trying new gear. I look forward to your impressions with a few more days of time
I had never heard of that LTA before fwiw, but I’m just guessing it won’t be fantastic given the 2ohm output impedence on the HP out. That said, im fairly certain someone in the headfi thread confirmed that all first watt amps will run sustained 2ohm loads
Keep in mind that just because something won’t shit the bed at 2 ohms doesn’t mean it will always sound good with a load that low, so it’s likely going to need some trial and error with these for parings lol
Yup! But making sure it won’t blow up is a good first step…
But realy, from explanations of amps sound signatures, I think a bit of a warmer/lusher/smoother target is what I would go for for yhe LCD-R. The aic-10 and possibly new bakoon (waiting on a responce if that will work) are my main interests for it currently outside of the HSA-1B (ill try that at can jam). Realy though, I think im just a tube guy in general though so I realy want these one some tubes
I mean honestly if you can get away from the jot and get something higher end that can handle the load reasonably well, I think that’s going to be a win. I haven’t heard these headphones, but going off the jot-r for the raal and how that limited the sr1a (and also the general jot 1 and 2 as well), it’s likely really holding them back.
Speaker amps seem like a very reasonable thing to explore here too (either direct if they can handle that low of a load, or with an adapter box perhaps that shows a 4 or 8 ohm load)
Agreed entierly. It will be interesting if the jot isn’t actualy holding yhem back much but I seriously suspect it is. Just a shame the new raal tube amp won’t work for anything besides the raal cans
Lol, you on the west coast by any chance? If so id be more than happy to lend you my set for a week or two. Only caveat would be you have to tell me that the aic-10 doesn’t work with them regardless of the truth so I can want that amp less.
The only speaker amp I’d risk trying them on that I have atm are the bricasti m28 monoblocks which I know will have no issues with a 2 ohm load. I’d still hesitate to plug it into any of my headphone amps at the moment
East, I really appreciate the offer but I wouldn’t be able to do that anyways for privacy concerns
I can do that but only because I don’t trust them enough and I don’t want to damage my aic lol
I agree with this btw. Yourself and others have mentioned it’s unlike other Audeze headphones and listening that’s something I was trying to figure out the why for. I mentioned a few in the original post but tonal density is another departure IMO.
Closest to a 3pf I guess but still not that thicker presentation Audeze’s I’ve heard tend to have. Lighter and faster and more clean sounding.
Fair. Currioys to see what your impressions are. You should seriously try and get hands on a set if you can. Very very cool can considering the price imo.
Most speaker amps should be fine with a 2 Ohm load, it’s way too common for even 8 Ohm speakers to dip down that low in the bass frequencies, I might be hesitant to use them on a tube amp that’s particularly sensitive to load.
But I wouldn’t expect it to trigger the safeties on most SS speaker amps.
True, but this is 2 ohms sustained throughout the range I’d assume, so that’s why I’d hesitate a bit more. Just being cautious, would rather not risk sacrificing 20k+ amps for a fundamentally 2k headphone
