Lush^2 - Share your configuration experiences

[AmusedToD]

Received my Lush^2 today, thank you @PeterSt for the speedy delivery and you were right regarding UPS

 

Out of the box the Lush^2 simply annihilated the Chord C-USB cable I was temporarily using. You know when you experience the "night and day" difference in audio equipment. This was such experience.

 

It is supremely musical with a wonderful, lush soundstage, seductive midrange, plenty of bass and excellent extension. However, the bass is still a bit bloated and there is a tiny bit of grain, but I expect these initial shortcomings to disappear after a proper burn in. 

 

I am using the default configuration as shipped by Peter, I expect the consensus here is that it sounds the best, right?

[AmusedToD]

6 hours ago, PeterSt said:

All right.

A: B-W-Y B: B-W

@kurb1980, I think you really have found something there.

 

 

Did I get it right?

 

Connector A:

 

Connector B:

[AmusedToD]

Tried the @kurb1980 configuration, and at first listening it sounds somewhat flat to me. The depth of stage is gone. Am I supposed to burn in every single configuration?

 

@PeterSt what was the original configuration you shipped the cable with? And what is the John Swanson configuration? I wish to try compare them all once again.

[AmusedToD]

6 hours ago, PeterSt said:

 

I didn't really notice that previously, and maybe it depends on the configuration itself, but with this one it really looks like it.

This is what I put in my notes just now:

 

Jan 14, 2019 (advised by kurb1980 on Jan 9, 2019)
A: B-W-Y, B: B-W
The best sound ever. Very shallow-depth stage, but with that containing all the energy in a small space, that doing something ...
This was at the 2nd day – the first I didn't notice much change compared to the current best one. However, at the third day I was driven completely crazy by it. Way too much energy in everything. Painful, actually.

 

And so ... that was it for this one, and for me. I would now call it the worst sound ever. And so much so that it would be impossible to survive an other day of "burn in" or whatever exactly happens to let this so much fail after a third day of it. I will try it tonight though, before reverting to A: B-W-Y-R, B: B-W-R.  

 

Further description

 

The buzzing is now (third day) in everything. No need to give examples. It is s sheer electrifying of the worst kind. And so much so that I again wonder what actually can cause this. So yes, I gave the description of all playing in this small space, energy not getting lost etc. and although this is a nice description from some layman (me), I wonder how much truth can be in it for real.

Already yesterday I described it as "fighting for space". This was meant positively. Today I would write the very same but now with as much negative impact as I am capable of. It now comes across as: 10 times too much current "applied" and this is what you hear throughout. Sadly I am a bit less than a layman on this, and current does not get "applied". It can be "drawn in" though. Something like a huge groundloop, but with the notice that nothing of this as such is audible when no music plays (and my 118dB speakers, amplification always at full gain will show such fairly quick).

 

Through all the misery the extra information was still all over. So yes, this config unveils a lot and at relatively all frequencies. Also, all stays loose hence there's much air in everything. But it now sounds literally electrical. Hey, maybe it is about humidity (I just looked, 43% at this moment).

 

If I was to describe what happened to me, then I would say something like: Although nothing sounds sharp or anything, it tires within seconds because of some inherent "frequency" in everything, which we could call "buzzing". It is nothing like standing waves because it now is not really related to where you are in the room. It feels like what could be done with sound in warfare. It is literally killing.

10 times too much information for the brain to cope. And still, when I were to detect what was actually wrong, I couldn't do it (I tried for real).

Squeeze all the (SPL) energy in a few cubic feet and let it play there. Still there are no walls around it. It just can't be. You virtually see it glowing being explosive to get out of that cube.

 

I will repeat: I have the explicit experience with mapping the sound in larger or smaller spaces and have an idea what it does to accuracy (the more spread the less accurate). I never had it in a "depth of nothing" though. I'm also thinking about the crazy width and how it comes across as not being able to stay in normal fashion between the speakers. It has to go to somewhere (thus to the sides).

But all this is too crazy to normally think of. Anyway, you could try to think of the "energy does not get lost" thing, and once you really perceive the shallow depth (which then physically is really so - I mean, where the music plays mostly ?) it should be related to that nice law. And from there my reasoning follows. Or your own.

 

Peter

 

I reverted back to A: B-W-Y-R, B: B-W-R. This combo suits me better. The Focal Utopia headphones are known for an intimate and relatively small soundstage, and the  kurb1980 configuration makes it congested. On the other hand, clarity is a major upside of these headphones, so I am not looking for additional clarity. The Utopia's are extremely capable when it comes to depth and layering, and I feel I am losing those with that configuration.

 

Different strokes for different folks.

 

My setup: Sony WM1A DAP (acting as server) -> Sony BCR-NWH10 docking station with built in USB filter -> Lush^2 USB cable -> Sony TA-ZH1ES headphone amp/DAC -> Focal Utopia 

 

 

 

 

[AmusedToD]

On 9/3/2018 at 3:45 PM, PeterSt said:

 

Haha. Lush^2 is technically exactly the same as the Lush-JSSG-360 with :

A: B-W & Y-R, B: B-W & Y-R

 

 

Just tried the JSSG-360 configuration and it sounds very good indeed.

 

However, it seems that the width of the stage is suffering, while the centre image is perfectly focused.

 

 

 

 

[AmusedToD]

4 hours ago, PeterSt said:

 

Hmm ... This brings me unconsciously to the very first description I have written in my notes"

 

-----

A: B-W & Y-R, B: B-W
This showed a super sound.
It completely changes the sound from a somewhat congested (too white) highs to ever so lasting colored cymbals. Btw, this is what I had in mind with it for a change (I found the highs too profound).
What came with it is a super fluid/liquid bass which sings and plays music. I actually never experienced the bass like that.

-----

 

with the notice that the emphasis in the quote is about the same as this first one in my list (the swap of the Y-R does not make any difference).

 

What could be important is that this was my first attempt of changing things, and it doesn't even mention what I had prior to that. But it also doesn't show something wrong, and in my further notes I never refer to it. And the next one up is exactly this "marvelous sound which keeps on being strange" and which I listened to for a week and then I went on with a next. The conclusion of this could be that the one above "this showed a super sound" is well worth revisiting. I mean, there is no negative aspect mentioned, which all of the others do, more or less. Apart from the currently shipped one (since October, the A:B-W-Y-R, B:B-W-R) and which everybody settles for.

 

So if I were myself  I would now compare to the very first one I liked ("This showed super sound"). There's also a chance that by burn-in did a few things.

 

 

 

 

 

After additional testing this morning, all I can say is that A: B-W-Y-R, B: B-W-R definitely rules them all. It is the most fluid, the most effortless, with great depth and ease, without glare, without a trace of harshness. Beautiful. No wonder the majority chose this configuration.

[AmusedToD]

5 hours ago, AmusedToD said:

 

After additional testing this morning, all I can say is that A: B-W-Y-R, B: B-W-R definitely rules them all. It is the most fluid, the most effortless, with great depth and ease, without glare, without a trace of harshness. Beautiful. No wonder the majority chose this configuration.

 

My mistake, I mistyped the configuration, it should be A: B-W & Y-R; B: B-W-R.

 

Not sure whether it has been posted before, but this configuration is absolutely perfect in my system, as noted in my previous post. 

[AmusedToD]

4 minutes ago, FileMakerDev said:

 

Last night I spent several hours bouncing between three Lush^2 configurations, the above and two others, playing the first 60 seconds of the same tracks ("Blue Motel Room" by Joni Mitchell, "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" by Jeff Beck) over and over, much to my wife's chagrin. The above is too unfocused on my system... yes it's easy on the ears but at an unacceptable cost.

 

I don't necessarily think A: BWR B: BW is my "ultimate" configuration, but it's the best compromise between focus and sweetness I've found so far.

 

 

 

 

It should be A: B-W & Y-R, B: B-W-R, I mistyped it initially. Please try this one and tell us what you think.

[AmusedToD]

12 minutes ago, Abtr said:

You could add a fourth shield G (green). With the same 4+2 pin connector that would give 45 different electrical configurations per cable end, and 45^2 = 2025 different configurations overall :

 

B-W-Y-R
B-W-Y-G
B-W-R-G
B-Y-R-G
W-Y-R-G
B-W-Y
B-W-R
B-W-G
B-Y-R
B-Y-G
W-Y-R
W-Y-G
Y-R-G
R-G-B
B-W
B-Y
B-R
B-G
W-Y
W-R
W-G
Y-R
Y-G
0 (no shields connected)
B-W-Y & R-G
B-W-R & Y-G
B-W-G & Y-R
B-Y-R & W-G
B-Y-G & W-R
W-Y-R & B-G
W-Y-G & B-R
Y-R-G & B-W
R-G-B & W-Y
B-W & Y-R
B-W & Y-G
B-W & R-G
B-Y & W-R
B-Y & W-G
B-Y & R-G
B-R & W-Y
B-R & W-G
B-R & Y-G
B-G & W-Y
B-G & W-R
B-G & Y-R

 

Hey mate, you want us to go nuts here? 

[AmusedToD]

1 hour ago, Confused said:

First a word of thanks to @PeterSt.  I ordered my Lush 2 on Monday evening, Peter advised it would be delivered Wednesday, it was delivered Wednesday.  A small thing, and it is how things should be, but as someone who is still waiting for the "End November batch" LPS-4's that I ordered in October, service like this is rather refreshing and much appreciated.  So thanks from me.

 

Now onto the technical stuff, and go easy on me here, I am a Lush 2 Newbie.  My Lush has arrived with the "stock" A:B-W-Y-R, B:B-W-R, is the consensus that this is as good a place to start as any?  Or is there perhaps another configuration that might be good to start with?  I am guessing that the answer to this will be system dependent, well, I am pretty happy with the sound of my system at the moment, but one niggle is that the HF has maybe a slightly metallic feel to it.  Treble clarity is excellent, this is not a major issue, but if that metallic edge could be toned down a bit I would be happy.  So I guess that in marginal terms, I am hoping to head a touch warmer / "full-bodied" rather than more clinically detailed.  Any ideas?

 

Maybe I should just plug it in, see (hear) what happens, and spend my day reading this thread from the start?🙂

 

Probably a matter or burn in. In my case, the Lush^2 needed a good amount of time to fully burn in (probably in excess of 150 hrs, but I can’t say for sure).