I haven’t heard these particular amps, and setting aside features/output/impedance matching (which I’ve yet to compare of these 2 amps), it likely will come down to your desired resulting sound signature of the pairing. I find Violectric amps to be not clinical, not overly colored. Based on impressions, I understand Ferrum to be less colored than Violectric. I also came across this review that briefly compares the 2 in the comments that seems to corroborate: Ferrum Audio OOR Review - Headfonia Reviews.
Thank you very much for sharing. The article is also an interesting read indeed. It actually sounds like these amps would compliment each other, rather than compete.
Hearing about the history with Mytek also makes me wonder if there could be some shared characteristics
I have been trying to incorporate Resolve’s EQ via Roon. This is the first time I’ve tried to EQ and I’ve hit a wall I’m sure you can help me with.
When I go into Roon’s EQ setup, I complete the first 5 or 6 entries, and then I need to add additional filters/fields. When I do, Roon is asking me what type of filter I want to add, rather than providing the form to fill in Resolve’s settings. Can anyone give me some advice on how to navigate?
Out of curiosity, I applied the Audeze pre-set filter for the LCD-4 and was impressed with the change in tone. How close is the LCD-4 to the LCD-5 in the appropriate settings to apply, and does anyone know when the preset for LCD-5 will find itself to Roon?
Apologies for these less-than-rookie questions - I’m like an infant driving a Ferrari.
I am no expert so please correct me if wrong, but I started the same as you and found similar confusions. What I found was that in AutoEQ, peaking filter is the same as peak filter. The filters at the bottom of Equalizer APO are pictured there where you can see which one is selected. As above, the ones with a blue peak in the middle are peak filter and the red with a rise is a low shelf filter.
On a side note I am enjoying a new combo! I broke down and found these great deals pre-owned to witness the potential of what my LCD 5 can do and I am enjoying the added weight and body. Music sounds fuller and thicker than the WA7 third gen? Much more headroom with no noise. I also tried first without EQ and it was good too. Still early as I only logged 6 hours of use last night.
then another band should be created for you, incremented 1 above the last number in your range, located at 1000khz frequency, with 0 gain, and a Q of 1
Spending more time with these - a lot more these last few days - and after applying Resolve’s EQ settings, I am absolutely stunned by the sound of the LCD-5s. The detail is uncanny, the bass fully present and impressive, the soundstage broad, far warmer than my first impression.
Works equally impressively with my solid-state Hugo TT2 and the ampsandsound Kenzie Ovation (and was able to get rid of the noise floor - just a temporary tube glitch).
Comfort is terrific, for me. Clamp force not excessive, and the weight is not an issue.
I’m amazed to say this, but overall, I think they may compare favorably to the Utopias.
Given the cost, given the headphones already in my collection, there’s no way this ends up on my head without being able to trust, with confidence, the expertise/opinions of this forum.
For me, the LCD-5 is superior on detail and soundstage, especially on acoustic-based music. There are instances where I hear a little percussive detail way in the distance of the soundstage that’s so realistic that I turn around expecting to see the source of the sound in my room.
I’ve read enough opinions from people who know better than me that prefer the Utopia’s detail retrieval, but I can’t say that’s the case for me, at all. Which is not to put down the Utopia’s performance in any way.
When I want to listen to something more blunt, the Utopias might provide more of a punch in the face. The Utopia sound is a little more of a slam, a little more impact. But that said, the sub-bass on the LCD-5 is a thing of wonderment that (like a subwoofer) I feel as much as hear.
I agree with your points pretty well, but perhaps in slight disagreement with soundstage.
I think LCD5 is immensely detailed and has more plankton/ effortless rendering than Utopia, and more of a “microscope” to the recording - but I find Utopia has better layering and trailing ends to notes, more texture, which some may consider detail, but I think of it more of resolution. It’s actually so competitive between both, but I find Utopia renders a slightly more believable presentation of the music by a hair whereas LCD5 just lets all the recording seep through with minimum compression or loss, more true to the source.
As for staging, I actually find Utopia more spacious in all planes, off the same head amp, but LCD5 widens when driven off speaker taps. I think perhaps you prefer the imaging of the LCD5, as it is very well done, and projects a stage forward and out, as a speaker, whereas Utopia is more of a 3D globe in all axis’, definitely more less speaker like and slightly more holographic, yet decidedly not very expansive still.
For me, I think LCD5 benefits from a nice push pull tube amp, to avoid as much dynamic range roll off, and giving it a bit more dynamic character through the rounding of transients and tube flavor.
I think you have your finger on the reason for my assessment. You may be completely right that utopia has a broader stage, but I think the level of separation gives me a sense of a greater stage for the LCD-5 than might actually exist. Clearly, in any event, you have given this an awful lot of thought, more than I have in my few days, so the last thing I’m going to do is disagree!
