Audeze LCD-3 Planar Magnetic Headphone

If you like your music sound life-like, sweet and warm, this pair of HPs is a no brainer

Not really pros or cons:
- Intimate soundstage (think HD650)
- Will not pair well with OTL tube amp. A powerful SS amp would help LCD3 reach its full potential
- Very good for rock, pop and bass-focused music, good for acoustic music and not good for jazz and classical

I would say LC3 is NOT an one-size-fits-all headphone. So try to demo before purchase. Compared to the HD650, LCD3 is less vocal-centric but imo superior in most other aspects

Introduction: I’ve been curious about Audeze since I bought my HiFiMAN HE-500 years ago. In the meantime, I’ve heard a few other planar designs: Mr. Speakers Aeon closed, Audeze LCD-X, Kennerton Rognir, Monoprice M1060, perhaps a few others. I finally succumbed to my curiosity and bought a pair of LCD-3 from a fellow Head-fi member.


That classic Audeze form

What I Listened to: I used my long-term home reference gear. My two main systems are:

• AK70 Mk II (USB out) / Laptop (USB out) -> Schiit Bifrost I multi-bit -> Schiit Mjolnir I
• Laptop (USB out) -> Schiit Gungnir multi-bit/ Unison -> Schiit Sys -> Schiit Aegir

My long-term reference head phones are HiFiMAN HE-500 and Stax SR Lambda, and more recently a pair of HiFiMAN HE-6 (6-screw). My son and a friend of mine also spent an afternoon trying out several different head phones (at least briefly). My son’s Sennheiser HD-660 and LCD-X 2021 as well as my friend’s HiFiMAN HE-1000 V2, Focal Utopia and Clear and Sennheiser HD-600 and HD-650 were all available to try.

Soundstage: the LCD-3 presented a fairly wide soundstage for me. It was at least ear-to-ear wide, and sometimes out to the “ends” of the ear cups. It was pretty flat, though. Listening to John Adams’ “Harmonielehre” I was struck by the tympani being to the left of the brass, but along side of them rather than behind them. And with Mahler’s Symphony 9 the trombones at the beginning of the 3rd Movement sound as if they are sitting among the cellos. I’ll admit, though, I didn’t spend much time analyzing the soundstage, I’m not good at hearing spatial cues when listening to head phones so I tend to ignore soundstage.

First impressions: the first night I listened to the LCD-3 something felt off. I’ve spent the past few weeks trying, off and on, to figure out what it is. The aspect I noticed first is most of the time both bass and treble sound recessed, down in level, compared with the mids. My son immediately declared the LCD-3 “midrange monsters”. Over the time I listened to the LCD-3 I found this to not always be the case, but it often was.

Highs: cymbals in The Doctor by Doc Powell were almost invisible. By that I don’t mean I couldn’t hear them, although they were a bit recessed compared to other head phones I have or have had, but that they were so anonymous they faded into the back ground and I didn’t really listen to them. Similarly, “Zipperlips” by Sweetman from Austin Back Alley Blue were also splashy and indistinct, not demanding of attention. Finally, there’s that sustained high note near the end of “Limelight” Alex Lifeson holds. To me, it’s supposed to be piercing and nearly painful. Quite the opposite with the LCD-3. “Versailles” from The Modern Jazz Quartet’s Fontessa was a treat. The triangle was bright and sparkled, vibes present (though without much decay) and the stand-up bass was in the mix. The piano did sound a bit hollow.

Mids: Miles Davis’ trumpet in “Right Off” from A Tribute to Jack Johnson was piercing and irritating. But then, the violin in Shostakovich’s String Quartet #2 was well portrayed and a pleasure to listen to. Similarly, listening to The Barber of Seville I enjoyed the vocals and the accompaniment. There was some peakiness when the singers hit loud notes which were rough, but overall the sound was pretty good.

Lows: “All Right Now”, also from Doc Powell’s The Doctor proves problematic for many head phones. I don’t know if the electric bass is simply recorded low in level, or is too deep to be reproduced well by most head phones. Either way, I almost couldn’t hear it when listening with the LCD-3. Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, near the end of the first movement, there are repeated tympani strikes. Rather than being threatening, they are flat and dull, non-events. Oddly, “2049” from the soundtrack to Blade Runner: 2049 had good bass impact and the ear cups were filled with low frequency goodness.


The bamboo is pretty

Dynamics, transients and articulation: The Who’s “Join Together” is a good example of what I think makes the LCD-3 unsatisfying for me. Pete Townsend’s guitar, Roger Daltry’s harmonica, John Entwhistle’s bass are all at the same level and all sound flat. The texture is missing and thus the song fails to make my toes tap. This is one of my favorite happy songs, and it’s a let-down not to be tapping along with The Who. And then there’s the odd track which is presented well. “Napalm for Breakfast” from The Apocalypse Now Sessions by The Rhythm Devils had satisfyingly deep bass, good transient response for the plucked strings and was an all-around enjoyable experience.

In A Nutshell: The music I enjoyed most with the LCD-3 was small-scale, mellow music. Small group acoustic jazz, vocals (chant and early church music, too) provided consistent high points. But, if I want to be smooth and mellow while I read the Sunday paper, I have my Meze Rai Pentas which I can drive with my A&K AK70 Mk II (I prefer the Pentas with my Questyle DAP). My reservations about the LCD-3 all came together when I listened to “It’s for You” from Pat Metheny’s As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls album. At the very beginning of the song, Steve Rodby plays a simple line on the electric bass. Through the LCD-3 the notes, though distinct and well-separated, were flat and two dimensional. When listening with my HE-500 those same notes, even at the same volume setting I used with my LCD-3 (giving the loudness advantage squarely to the much more efficient LCD-3), were rounder, had more three dimensionality and more complex overtones. Later, nearer the end of that same song, after the tension-building middle section, Pat switches from that repeated seven note motif to lead guitar again and is accompanied by a triangle. I’m used to the guitar being front-and-center and the triangle front but slightly to the left. However, the LCD-3 presents the guitar to the right and the triangle to the left. Very strange and somehow wrong.

What I think it all comes down to is articulation and transient response, at least mostly. All the head phones and IEMs I keep provide more three dimensionality in reproducing notes. Leading edges are sharper, staccato notes stop faster and sustained notes decay longer. They each have more gradations of loudness as well. With the LCD-3, more times than not, the music I listened to sounded flat.


...and a peek at those planar drivers.

Conclusion: it’s obvious the LCD-3 are not for me. The short version is: their performance was uneven with the music I listen to most. Frequently they were uninvolving to me with occasional flashes of goodness. A while ago I had a week or so with a pair of LCD-X (and my son now has a pair of LCD-X 2021) and they were the exact opposite of the LCD-3. I really enjoyed the LCD-X and the energy they give. I found myself dialing up the volume constantly and then having to turn it back down because my ears hurt. It was fun, but ultimately I decided the LCD-X were too energetic, to the point of being relentless, for my taste. I gave the LCD-X back to my friend and went back to my HE-500. I am excited to hear my son’s LCD-X 2021 to see if Audeze was able to retain the excitement while dialing it back just a touch. My son is very happy with them. Thankfully, the LCD-3 have found an appreciative home and are being enjoyed.

I've been a Head-Fi'er for almost 10 years now, and during that time I've seen orthos explode in popularity and variety. When the LCD-3s were released, Hifiman, Audeze, and Fostex seemed to be the only manufacturers of planar magnetic headphones I heard about. Now we've doubled the offerings, both in what models manufacturers produce - look at how Audeze has expanded their line - and the price range and no. of manufacturers (Rosson audio, Monoprice, Empyrean, etc.). Nonetheless, my heart has always belonged to Audeze - the LCD-2's timbre is just that well-suited to my tastes. I've always wanted an LCD-3.
The LCD-3s had a troublesome start: the price was twice that of its brother; there were an unsettling number of driver failures; Head-Fi'ers were reporting cracking at the XLR connection and a noticeable veiled upper midrange. I'm pleased to see how much Audeze has improved since then: angled metal connectors, the Fazor mod, pre-treated wood, vastly improved balanced cable quality, to name a few.
I purchased an Audio-GD D-27.28 in August of 2019, which had been my first major upgrade since I bought the NFB-10SE in February of 2012. Not long after, I saw a pair of like-new Audeze LCD-3s for $1245. I haven't seen that steep of a discount before or since, so I 'had' (read: I had lots of disposable income at the time) to pull the trigger.
Presentation and Build Quality
The presentation of these headphones is beautiful: soft brown leather pads, luxurious wood, in a very sturdy travel case (I miss the black glossy wood cases, but engineers are a practical breed too). They're heavy in the hands, much like their predecessor, but the suspension headband mitigates that well. The LCD-3s exude craftsmanship, like an antique wooden chair. The leather on the pads is kind of flimsy for a headphone of this caliber - I'm getting wear after 7 months of gentle use. There are no nitpicks for a headphone that retails for $2K.
Caveat: the braided cable is lightweight and stylish, but Audeze could definitely learn something from Sennheiser in designing balanced cables. Every time you take the headphones off, the cable twists slightly and it doesn't take long for it to be a tangled mess. I wouldn't mind a stiffer, heavier cable if it means I'm not constantly unplugging my headphones to fix the tangle. I have to take off a half star for the cable and pads.
Comfort and Isolation
They are ~450 635 grams, which is quite heavy for most cans. The suspension headband mitigates the clamping force somewhat but they're not as comfortable as the HD800S (which I will be reviewing in time). That said, the leather pads are excellent and earn their praise. There's no isolation, but that's to be expected with completely open headphones.
Sound
I've been listening to these through an Audio-GD D-27.28 so I can't speak to how they'd sound on a lesser amp but I've heard they scale extremely well. The overall sonic character, even with a no-nonsense unit like the NFB-27, makes the LCD-2 sound dry and uptight by comparison. Everything feels so effortless and relaxed it makes the most complex and chaotic passages a joy to listen to. I was in shock the first time I listened with them to The End by Demon Hunter - a song I thought I was intimately familiar with. Cannibal Corpse feels like someone turned on a blast furnace in your skull (in the best way possible) while Coltrane is like a relaxing summer day.
Bass
Wow. The power, precision, and depth of the bass on these cans is phenomenal. It can handle slam, but it's also got speed and refinement. It is somewhat behind the HD800S in terms of precision, but it wins by a great margin in musicality. Hate Eternal feels like an elder god shaking the Earth, while Takuya Kuroda is liquid and refined. The bass is just right.
Mids
Vocals, male or female, are mind-blowing. Voices are natural, pristine, and musical. Diana Krall is an angel and the male vocals in Heilung are haunting and gripping. The LCD-2 seems dry and edgy by comparison, and I previously crowned them king of mids. The HD800S is analytical and precise in its vocal presentation, which has its own merits in very well-recorded music, but the LCD-3s are so much more euphonic. One minor caveat, however, is a troublesome loss of clarity at around 6k. Certain string notes and cymbals lack the definition and presentation that's clear in the HD800S.
Treble
The LCD-3 have much improved treble over the LCD-2. It's more relaxed,sparkly, and well-executed than the LCD-2 and certainly not as bright as the HD800S. Higher registers on classical music remain pleasant and listenable. The LCD-3 does everything with impressive ease and competency, even though the treble is the weakest.
Soundstage and Imaging
Like the LCD-2s, the LCD-3s are very intimate headphones. They work best with well-recorded jazz and metal because they lose some of the coherency and separation required for orchestra once the soundstage gets wide. They aren't terribly far behind the HD800S in the size of the soundstage and they're notcieably superior to the LCD-2 but the former might be a reflection of diminishing returns. Most importantly, they work extremely well for the music I typically enjoy. Instruments are well-defined, well-textured and present themselves in a realistic manner by and large and it's not a forceful or grating presentation. The sonic character of the LCD-3s is so pleasant that you can simply relax into any music and enjoy it. I wouldn't call the presentation laid-back or relaxed like the HD650, more that the headphones have achieved mastery and everything feels effortless.
Summary
The LCD-3s are a welcome upgrade to the LCD-2s in every single way. They aren't the last word in imaging and detail like the HD800S, but they have a liquid and euphonic presentation appropriate for every genre and mood. The pads still need work and the cable is frustrating, however, and the dip around 6K can make some string passages lose definition. Can we get Audeze on making detachable pads? I'd pay extra for the pleasure of not using those applicator rings when I inevitably replace the pads.