Smell
Let’s start with the most important characteristic. A new LCD-X, upon opening, has a rich leather scent. Place it on your head, and the combination of plush leather pads and the new-car aroma will transport you inside of a Bentley faster than you can say ‘Focal Radiance’.

Case
It’s got a nice case, like a briefcase. The lock makes a satisfying clunk.


Cable
Comes with a thin but strong braided cable, terminating in a THICC quarter inch.

Seriously, that termination— it’s unnecessary. And a little emasculating. I see the way my wife looks at it.
Hey babe I got your quarter inch right here

Sound Overview:
Here’s the best way I can describe it. Listening to an LCD-X is akin to using polarized sunglasses.

Huh?

You know how good polarized lenses are a little dark, but in being so, they cut out the glare? And because the glare is cut, you can actually, and more easily, appreciate what’s in front of you?

An LCD-X is like that. It cuts the glare from the mids/treble, letting you appreciate all the detail without discomfort. This is likely what the Audeze ‘house sound’ tries to achieve, and I really like it.

Bass
With two manhole covers strapped to your ears, you’d think it’d be bass-heavy. Actually, bass is a little light… out-of-the-box. Note, however, the LCD-X has incredibly low distortion. Thus, EQ in a bass shelf of a few dB, and suddenly it RUMBLES. It’ll send chills down your spine!

Furthermore, the bass has texture.

What the hell is that? you ask.

I have no idea, because I don’t know audiophile lingo. All I know is, bass on the LCD-X is not just a one-note whub-whub coming from a point-source. Rather, here, it sounds like an all-enveloping support behind the music — slamming, pulsing, plucking, reverbing as the song calls for it. I figure that’s what bass texture means.

Bass is really good.


Mids
Mids are a little recessed.

Or are they? I don’t know, sometimes they sound a little recessed, sometimes not. Most of the time though, I think they’re even with the bass and treble — my lizard brain, expecting vocals to be forward, is caught off-guard by this.

But mids sound really good. Honestly, really
really good. A word to describe them would be ‘crystalline’ - clear, precise, solid and not harsh.

That dip in the upper mids, that ‘Audeze house sound’, results in vocals having amazing body and timbre without sounding tinny. (I can say this confidently because I tried flattening things per oratory’s EQ, and suddenly singers sounded like they were singing through tin cans connected with string.)

But the Audeze tuning is UNNATURAL!

Well, so what if it’s unnatural? Is it natural to strap two magnetized frisbees to my head so I can listen to post-Soviet opera-pop?

Let me enjoy what I enjoy.

Treble
My favorite treble is treble that doesn’t beat you over the head with treble. This is that.

It’s really detailed up top. I heard a lot of tiny echoes, strums, bells that I hadn’t heard before.

It’s got a little spice around 6K, and it sounds great. I’m extremely sibilance sensitive, and this is on the right side of sibilance, where it sounds natural and not bothersome.

It does have a peak around 12K which I don’t like, so I just EQ that down -2dB.

Relaxed but detailed, with a little sizzle. That’s the treble in a nutshell.

Soundstage
Yeah I’ve only heard 2 soundstages from headphones: center-of-my-head (HD650) and horseshoe shaped with vocals on my forehead. This is the latter. Doesn’t sound congested.


Detail Retrieval
It’s very resolving. Up there with my A12T’s, which are crazy resolving.

Build
It weighs over 600 grams. The thing is built like a tank. I feel my self-esteem grow whenever I look at this thing.


Amp Pairing
Man, I only have cheap stuff — Schiit IEMagni, a Qudelix 5K, a Dragonfly Cobalt. It sounds pretty much the same from all three.

I prefer the Qudelix because it’s small and has a parametric EQ. I’m listening unbalanced out of this little dongle and it gets plenty loud. The LCD-X is very efficient.

I’d love to try it with a Denafrips Ares II/Rebel Amp/Chord Daniel. However, I am, how do you say it, poor.

Usage
The perfect environment for these headphones, for me, is in the evening, lying on a couch, the weight of the headphones supported by a plump pillow, the cups loosely sealed around my ears, a warm cup of tea by my side. It’s the absolute perfect end-of-the-workday, sink-into-comfort headphones… so long as there’s something else to catch the weight.
Speaking of which

Weight
The Achilles’ heel of this headphone, if Achilles were made of wrought iron. This pair is heavy, my friends. Majority of the weight is in the plush cups, and due to the suspension strap, the full weight of the cups can sometimes press into your face.

At first it seems fine. By song three, you start making small adjustments. By song six, you’re messing with the (rather excellent) yokes. By song nine, you might have to take a break for a minute.

Here’s two tips about the weight: You can try reclining on a pillow, letting the pillow take much of the weight.

You can also loosen the headphone (via adjustable yoke) a little more than usual, reducing the clamp.

Finally, you can use the include foam plug to keep the cups separated when not in use, which over time also reduces the clamp.

Do I wish it was lighter? Yes, of course. But honestly, when you’re relaxed, reclined, vegging out, with that sweet thumping bass and pristine midrange… ahhh.

The metal chassis conveys security. The weight becomes a comfy hug. And all is right with the world.


Comparisons
I auditioned an unnecessary number of headphones trying to find my favorite one.
Don’t tell the wife.

Sennheiser HD650
This is my boy. I love this headphone. Carried me through 8 years of higher ed.
Compared to the LCD-X, it’s congested, lacking detail and bass extension. But it weighs like nothing. I still love it. Never getting rid of it.

64 Audio A12T’s (M15)
My daily driver. A beautiful sounding set of IEM’s — clean, smooth, great extension and detail retrieval. The LCD-X sounds like a headphone version of these IEMs (after slight EQ). Very high praise!

ZMF Aeolus
Really beautiful. Amazing craftsmanship. Kinda sounded like Vaseline to me. A little too thick and warm, too intimate, when really what I preferred was neutral, open, and a tad dark. Leaked more sound than the LCD’s.

Audeze Penrose
Not really a fair comparison, since I own these primarily for gaming. Penrose is good for gaming, LCD-X is far too heavy. On the other hand, for music, Penrose sounds uneven — dark and edgy simultaneously. Truly the Cloud Strife of headphones.
(FFVII remake is amazing by the way.)

Hifiman Sundara 2020
Ooh, these were really nice. Airy, detailed, and non-fatiguing. Easy to wear. EQ’d well. However, not really an upgrade in details from the HD650. And upper treble a tad too forward for me, even with light EQ.

Hifiman Arya
I tried these for 20 minutes before boxing them back up. They were so goddamn bright, even with heavy EQ. Like looking (listening?) to the Sun. The opposite of my preferred tonality. Unbelievably comfortable, however.

Meze Empyrean
So beautiful. So comfortable. Warm engaging tonality. Amazing vocals and bass. Weirdly sharp! This was really surprising — almost a little sibilant. I agree with the oluv’s gadgets review of these.


Focal Clear Mg Pro
These sounded really good, and didn’t need any EQ. Good bass, very forward mids/vocals. Weight and build were sublime. Great detail retrieval.

However, vocals and treble just had a graininess to it. Not bothersome, just a little off-putting.

Compared A/B to the LCD-X, immediately the weight difference was noticeable. But sound-wise, the Clear just sounded like great headphones, whereas the Audeze sounded closer to expensive speakers.

Of course, the Mg Pro has red pads, making them suitable for gaming.


Final Thoughts
The Audeze LCD-X (2021) looks, sounds, and smells amazing. Yes, it’s really heavy, a bit dark, and sometimes mids are a bit recessed. But it’s ‘dark’ in the way polarized sunglasses are dark — reducing glare but diminishing none of the details. It’s the ultimate relaxation headphones— if you can handle the weight.

Truly a remarkable experience. Highly, highly recommended.