Thank you. How is the isolation? Did you have to adjust the headband?
Do you listen to anything with horns? I like horn jazz such as Miles Davis, Nubya Garcia, Trombone Shorty, etc. Just wondering how that stuff might come across on these?
For the most part my preferences are Mids, Bass and then treble.
My music is new rock, classic rock, blues and horn jazz.
Thanks for any input!
Around any other closed back. I don’t use closed backs for isolation in either direction. They are insufficient for that use case. That is all closed backs for me. I like isolation in over ears because it focuses your attention on the music. I have highly preferred competent closed backs over open backs. IEMs are what I use for isolation.
I bent it in as people discuss. Just cause it’s a light fit otherwise. And I do think this helped with bass and slam.
I listen to some of almost everything. Give me some important tracks to you and I will listen and report back when I can.
To me, this sounds like a ridiculously good fit. But, I am a generalist. So I may not have the specific attention to this kind of thing. I want a wide variety of music to sound good to excellent.
I can’t stand IEM’s so I use closed backs for isolation requirements such as a noisy environment or at work.
I recently picked up some Beyer T5’s. Nice balanced sound and Great isolation, but not a lot of fun. My favourite closed backs are my Cascades, but the headband is horrible and so they are really not a mobile/work solution.
I don’t have any specific songs in mind. I guess I am just wondering if horns on horn speakers are a bit much.
There is nothing about this headphone that is a “bit much”. The only “exception” to that, for me, is vocal bass with music like pentatonix. The vocal bass comes across overly emphasized. It sounds good, but for pentatonix I always feel it sounds better toned down (bass reducer cleans this up if EQ is your thing). Drop ether cx does this better than anything I have heard. But you lose that sense of fun on everything else.
This is relaxed and fun. An easy all day, every day headphone. Love it.
I understand about IEMs. The reason I started looking at closed backs is because I couldn’t deal with IEMs all day everyday. Too much irritation. Sometimes fit lets me, sometimes it doesn’t. This is why I am experimenting with IEMs more than headphones. I found an amazing headphone that made me not care about trying new stuff.
@Dynamic: I wanted to thank you, as Your review/assessment is the one that tipped me into the the LSA HP-2 purchase. I’ve only had them for 4 days (bought used w/90 hours on them) has been a very good experience, and adjusting to the size and weight but the headband is awesome and makes it way easier to get used to. Thanks again for the review and prompt to check these out.
Cheers
Happy to help! I am getting a lot of good feedback on them from other purchasers.
Did you read the written and watch the video review? (The video is like a rapid consolidation of the written)
Yes, I did. Your approach to the phones was excellent. Thank you again. Cheers
Hello Derrek, thank you so much for the input on the audiophile community!
I am between these and Audio Technica ATH-WP900.
As someone who reviewed both, which one would you recommend?
Which are the main differences?
Thanks a lot!
Let’s be clear: I am an hp-2 fanboy. It is the only over ear I currently own (ok, technically, I own an airpods max too. But those don’t even count as headphones). That said, I think there may be a few reasons one might prefer the wp900.
Portability. They are tiny and fold. They fit brilliantly on my 7 year old at the time (I think there is a photo on here)
The wp900 really emphasises some bass drums and notes. So much so that I found it to be too much for my music. The drum right at the beginning of have it all by jason mraz basically takes over the song. This could be good or bad for you. For me, it was bad. But others may find it pleasing.
The wp900 has recessed vocals. Again, if you want to push instruments forward and voices back, it’s effective. And again, I was unimpressed.
I didn’t have them back to back, so this is a “chain of comparisons”.
For me, they just didn’t wow me. While the hp-2 has this balance of fun without pushing into uncomfortable in any way. The bass slam and rumble is outstanding without overly emphasizing the bass (unlike the afore mentioned airpods max which basically survives on its emphasized bass). I love the visceral feeling but don’t like bass invasion. The hp-2 comes close to crossing that line with vocal bass (pentatonix) but ultimately remains extremely enjoyable for me.
I also think the hp-2 had better detail/stage/imaging/everything technical. But, since I did not have them back to back, I would take all of this with a grain of salt.
What have you heard and liked? If I have heard any of those, I can try and compare.
And I am always willing to try tracks on my hp-2 (or any headphone I currently have in my possession) and report back.
And don’t forget that they are very comfortable 
. But I too, have moved away from the WP900’ as the V shape sound signature was fun for awhile but my tastes have changed. Now my go to is the HP-2 also. Bty, I’m selling my <20 hours of use WP900’ (shameless plug).
Cheers
Thank you so much for the fast reply and all that info Derrek!
I haven’t really heard any headphones, just reading online reviews.
However, regarding musical taste, I love female vocals such as:
Freya Ridings- Lost without you
Eva Cassidy - Time after time
London Grammar-Trials
I also love instrumental music from films such as:
Hans Zimmer- Nyah and Ethan
Gustavo Santaolalla- De Ushuaia a la Quiaca
Abel korzeniowski- Dance for me Wallis
I would appreciate if you could let me know how these songs sound on the HP-2, I understood that you don’t own the WP-900 .
I would favor the pair of headphones between the two that has the best vocal performance, as well wide soundstage with clear seperarion and acurate placement of instruments.
Looking forward to your thoughts,
Kind Regards,
George
Hp-2 would win this between these two. I will give a listen later tonight if I can. The hp-2 soundstage is entirely its own thing. Wonderfully coherent and spacious.
Yep on that little tidbit of advice. I don’t hate the WP900’ as I have currently a pair, just prefer the HP-2’ much more.
I don’t hate it either. It just wouldn’t get much use if I still had it.
It’s not a bad headphone, just isn’t an incredible headphone either. Particularly for my preferences.
@gevio_6 I assume you read the wp900 post too? It should be on this forum somewhere.
Instrumental music like this is rich and powerful. The way everything comes together is pretty spectacular. I am also sure, some would prefer a planar here. Where the separation and layering would get to the next level. I am not sure I would. (I may listen on my timeless as well just to know for sure)
Similar to Nyah.
This one I think will win on the hp-2. The power and richness of the bass is spectacular.
You should listen to vanessa fernandez on the hp-2. 
This Trials gives her voice power and brings out the highs without crossing a line for me. Very good.
One of my favorite artists is female vocals with a guitar. I don’t keep headphones that can’t do it.
Gonna try them on the zen pro and timeless later. Just out of curiosity.
Thanks a lot for your time Derrek!
Happy to help. Feel free to ping with more questions. One of the reasons I do this is to hear more people’s music on my headphones. I have found more good music that way…
Hey Derrek,
I have another question this time regarding DACs if you can help me please.
I learnt through forums that a DAC can drastically improve headphones’ audio quality rather than plugging them straight to a phone. Is this the case with HP-2 as well?
I know they are easy to drive so I am not sure whether it’s necessary to get a DAC. I guess my phone can drive them but I want to have a better audio quality from them.
I am considering ordering an iFi hip-dac 2 by the way. Maybe you could recommend me another one at a budget of max 200 dollars.
Thanks a lot!
You will get a lot of different answers on this. The hp-2 will certainly benefit from more power than an apple dongle. But it is not required.
The hip dac should be an excellent option. Personally, I use my Qudelix 5k to drive it. That is more than enough.
A lot of people swear that increasing the quality (read price) of the source chain can make significant differences. While I have liked things like the ifi idsd micro signature, and other options above and below that price, I have personally not found the differences to be worth the money. You may draw different conclusions.
On the hp-2 that is even more true. It seems to turn damn near any source into liquid musical bliss. My zen benefited more from the signature and the playmate 2 than the hp-2 did.
I do recommend an amp. But even a decent dongle can drive it well.
I also trend toward practicality over absolute sound quality. The Qudelix allows me to listen all day, while no desktop unit (or other portable unit) I have tried enables that. I simply don’t “sit and listen” in one spot often enough to justify something that isn’t practical for portability.
The hip-dac still must be wired to the phone or some source. So, for me, that is a deal breaker. But I am confident it will drive the hp-2 quite well if that is what you choose to get.
Don’t get too hung up on that, and just start enjoying the music. That’s my 3.14 cents.
Just to clarify things…a DAC isn’t the same as an amp.Stand-alone DACs don’t (typically) have headphone jacks.
In regards to the HipDac, it is an Amp/Dac combo…the amp is doing the driving / the DAC is doing the signal conversion. Both affect the quality of sound that you can get from your headphone but for different reasons.
There is a helpful page that has links that will help explain things for those of us who are new to the hobby…. Before I got into headphones, I’d never heard of a DAC.
So you may indeed want to get an all in one like the HipDac but you may decide you want separates. All depends on the road you choose but it’s good to know what’s what and your options.