Audeze LCD-X

just got my LCD-X!!!! pretty exciting. build quality is really excellent. carrying case is really cool & i like how it comes with a balanced cable.
 
impressions & comparison against the he560 later.

Congrats! Hope you enjoy them!

money4me247 said:

just got my LCD-X!!!! pretty exciting. build quality is really excellent. carrying case is really cool & i like how it comes with a balanced cable.

impressions & comparison against the he560 later.

Click to expand...

not sure how anyone would build a better headphone but i guess i will find out when they launch the Z

money4me247 said:

just got my LCD-X!!!! pretty exciting. build quality is really excellent. carrying case is really cool & i like how it comes with a balanced cable.

impressions & comparison against the he560 later.

Click to expand...

I'm looking to go from an he-560 to the X so will be glad to hear your comparison!

hey just wondering what sort of fixes are out there for the headband bumps?
 
does actually cause quite a lot discomfort during extended listening sessions.
 
thanks!!!

yep, the fix is called the Z and should be available shortly

focker said:

   
 
You sure you were listening to the X? 

Click to expand...

 
Garbage in = Garbage out.
 
Now the LCD-X certainly do not image like the HD800s (but what does?)...but they are very good at imaging to my ears!

Fingers crossed on this product solving my comfort issues: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005PK1CYI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
would recommend to other Audeze owners experiencing similar problems to check it out. pretty cheap at ~$7 for two if you have multiple Audeze headphones.
 
I didn't think the bumps would be that big of a deal during my auditioning sessions with these, but I was constantly switching between headphones while demoing. From real-world personal usage, the LCD-X does indeed become quite uncomfortable after 30min to an hour of continuous listening primarily due to the headband design with bumps. 
 
Weight is verryyy heavy at 600g, but it's bearable. Been kinda trained by my old HE-400s (440g).
 
I would strongly recommend looking into alternative lighter options if your usage will entail prolonged listening periods.
 
***(my personal experience... ymmv... please let's not get into another comfort debate. just relating my personal experience for other people's reference)***

Quick Initial Comparison Impressions between the HE-560 & the LCD-X
 
Sonically, the most obvious thing is the LCD-X has a lot more bass impact & bass quantity compared to the HE-560s. The LCD-X also runs at a much higher volume at the same settings due to its lower impedance. Makes volume-matched testing a bit more difficult.
 
The LCD-X's sound signature is more colored compared to the HE-560, but very enjoyable. I have gotten a chance to audition the HD800, LCD-X, and LCD-3 directly against each other multiple times, and my personal favorite out of those three was the LCD-X.
 
Build-quality wise, the LCD-X feels much nicer than the HE-560 due to its mostly aluminum and metal construction. The HE-560's build quality is perfectly acceptable, but the LCD-X does have a more premium feel to them. On par (or maybe a bit better depending on your POV) than the Oppo PM-1s. Very solid construction.
 
Comfort-wise, the HE-560 kills the LCD-X for me. At 380g, the HE-560 feels like you are wearing nothing compared to the LCD-X's 600g hefty weight. You will never forget that you are wearing the LCD-X, that's for sure. The suspension design of the HE-560 is much more comfortable than the bumpy headband of the LCD-X. How well you tolerate the weight and headband design of the LCD-X will be a personal thing, but it is definitely something you will need to tolerate. On the personal comfort scale, the LCD-X is closer to the side of one of the most uncomfortable headphones while the HE-560 sits as one of the most comfortable headphones. I have the vegan LCD-X as I found the lambskin leather version gets quite hot & sweaty even after short usage during my demos. The black lambskin leather version does seem more premium in terms of looks & matches the overall color scheme of the LCD-X much better, but the vegans provides much better comfort in my experience. The vegans are more grey than black to my eye though the description says black.
 
Earpads for both headphones were both extremely comfortable for me without any complaints. Both have angled earpads. Despite the LCD-X being much wider in overall width of the whole headphone, the earcups depth are actually a lot more similar than I expected. Remeasured quite a few times as the LCD-X just look a lot bigger.
 
HE-560 Earcup Measurements: inner depth = 1in/2.5cm to 0.50in/1.25cm. inner diameter = 2.25in/5.5cm, 
LCD-X Earcup Measurements: inner depth = 1.20in/3cm to 0.75in/1.9cm, inner height = 2.55in/6.5cm, inner width = 2in/5cm
*edit: remeasured quite a few times. should be pretty accurate.
finally figured out why the looks & measurements seem so different. The LCD-X earpads has about 1/2 inch of extra outer depth compared to the inner depth.
 
 
My initial recommendation is that if you are looking for a neutral orthodynamic pair of headphones or have comfort as a high priority, go with the HE-560. If you really enjoyed the bass of the HE-400 (like me!) and are looking to upgrade towards an audiophile grade version, the LCD-X is a great choice, sharing many of the strengths of the HE-400s without any of the HE-400's sonic weakness (so far as I can tell during my first day of listening).
 
More detailed sonic comparisons will follow later after more head time.
 
edit: paired with the Schiit Lyr 2 & Bifrost Uber

money4me247 said:

Quick Initial Comparison Impressions between the HE-560 & the LCD-X


 


Sonically, the most obvious thing is the LCD-X has a lot more bass impact & bass quantity compared to the he-560s. The LCD-X also runs at a much higher volume at the same settings due to its lower impedance. Makes volume-matched testing a bit more difficult.


 


The LCD-X's sound signature is more colored compared to the HE-560, but very enjoyable. I have gotten a chance to audition the HD800, LCD-X, and LCD-3 directly against each other multiple times, and my personal favorite out of those three was the LCD-X.


 


Build-quality wise, the LCD-X feels much nicer than the HE-560 due to its mostly aluminum and metal construction. The HE-560's build quality is perfectly acceptable, but the LCD-X does have a more premium feel to them. On par (or maybe a bit better depending on your POV) than the Oppo PM-1s. Very solid construction.


 


Comfort-wise, the HE-560 kills the LCD-X comfort-wise. At 380g, the HE-560 feels like you are wearing nothing compared to the LCD-X's 600g hefty weight. You will never forget that you are wearing headphones with the LCD-X, that's for sure. The suspension design of the HE-560 is much more comfortable than the bumpy headband of the LCD-X. How well you tolerate the weight and headband design of the LCD-X will bother you will be a personal thing, but the LCD-X is definitely one of the more uncomfortable headphones I have tried while the HE-560 is one of the most comfortable headphones I've tried. I have the vegan LCD-X as I found the lambskin leather version gets quite hot & sweaty even after short usage. The lambskin leather version does seem more premium in terms of looks, but the vegans are much more comfortable in my experience. Earpads for both headphones were extremely comfortable for me without any complaints. Despite the LCD-X being much wider in overall width of the whole headphone, the earcups depth are actually quite similar. This is probably due to the LCD-X using double-sided magnets so driver Both have angled earpads.


 


HE-560 Earcup Measurements: depth = ~1in/2.5cm to ~0.50in/1.25cm. diameter = ~2.25in/5.5cm, 


LCD-X Earcup Measurements: deepest depth = ~1.1in/2.75 cm to ~0.65in/1.6cm, height ~2.55in/6.5cm, width = ~2in/5cm


 


 


My initial recommendation is that if you are looking for a neutral orthodynamic pair of headphones or have comfort as a high priority, go with the HE-560. If you really enjoyed the bass of the HE-400 (like me!) and are looking to upgrade towards a more audiophile grade version, the LCD-X is a great choice, sharing many of the strengths of the HE-400s without any of the HE-400's sonic weakness (so far as I can tell during my first day of listening).


 


More detailed sonic comparisons will follow later after more head time.


 


edit: paired with the Schiit Lyr 2 & Bifrost Uber

Click to expand...

 


Awesome, thanks for the impressions! It's kind of what I figured the trade-off would be for me going from the HE-560 to the LCD-X in that I would be giving up comfort for the improved bass. I really like the HE-560 but they are just too bass light for me, I need more thump! They blow the LCD series out of the water in terms of comfort, I can listen to them all night whereas with my LCD-3's I can only listen to about 2 albums or so before getting fatigued and needing to take a break. Maybe it might be best to wait for the EL-8 and check out the reviews on that first, I've read some bits saying it has a similar sound of the LCD-X in a much lighter, and more affordable, package. May not be quite as good but if the bass hits like an LCD I'm sure they will be sucessful.

macedonianhero said:

   
Garbage in = Garbage out.
 
Now the LCD-X certainly do not image like the HD800s (but what does?)...but they are very good at imaging to my ears!

Click to expand...

 
Yep, the imaging on the X is pretty damn solid on my end. They throw images in layered fashion all around me. I've never heard a contrast in depth like this before. I posted about this quite a while ago, but when I was watching the movie "Rush" (the racing one), there was a scene where it was a room full of drivers arguing about whatever. The Xs put everyone into space, just as if I were sitting in the room and everyone was sitting around me at different distances. It was damn impressive. Whoever thinks the Xs dont image well is probably someone who doesn't understand what imaging is. 

money4me247 said:

  hey just wondering what sort of fixes are out there for the headband bumps?
 
does actually cause quite a lot discomfort during extended listening sessions.
 
thanks!!!

Click to expand...

 
I havne't seen confirmation yet, but supposedly Audeze was coming out with a replacement headband that was the suspension type...hopefully that's true. 

focker said:

  I havne't seen confirmation yet, but supposedly Audeze was coming out with a replacement headband that was the suspension type...hopefully that's true. 

Click to expand...

those rumors are making me feel a bit over-eager for jumping to the Audeze LCD-X right now =( also, the prospect of the new LCD-Z.
 
however, according to what I am hearing, they won't start working on those things until after the EL-8 gets officially launched in late March/early April. I will be a bit sad when they offer the LCD-X with new headbands bundled at the same price, but hopefully, you will be able to purchase the new headband separately at an affordable price.

money4me247 said:

  those rumors are making me feel a bit over-eager for jumping to the Audeze LCD-X right now =( also, the prospect of the new LCD-Z.
 
however, according to what I am hearing, they won't start working on those things until after the EL-8 gets officially launched in late March/early April. I will be a bit sad when they offer the LCD-X with new headbands bundled at the same price, but hopefully, you will be able to purchase the new headband separately at an affordable price.

Click to expand...

 
Just looking at the assembly on my Xs, looks like it would just be a matter of four screws on each side to replace it. If I were a betting man I'd bet on the fact that they'll sell it aftermarket to us. 

money4me247 said:

Quick Initial Comparison Impressions between the HE-560 & the LCD-X

Sonically, the most obvious thing is the LCD-X has a lot more bass impact & bass quantity compared to the HE-560s. The LCD-X also runs at a much higher volume at the same settings due to its lower impedance. Makes volume-matched testing a bit more difficult.

The LCD-X's sound signature is more colored compared to the HE-560, but very enjoyable. I have gotten a chance to audition the HD800, LCD-X, and LCD-3 directly against each other multiple times, and my personal favorite out of those three was the LCD-X.

Build-quality wise, the LCD-X feels much nicer than the HE-560 due to its mostly aluminum and metal construction. The HE-560's build quality is perfectly acceptable, but the LCD-X does have a more premium feel to them. On par (or maybe a bit better depending on your POV) than the Oppo PM-1s. Very solid construction.

Comfort-wise, the HE-560 kills the LCD-X for me. At 380g, the HE-560 feels like you are wearing nothing compared to the LCD-X's 600g hefty weight. You will never forget that you are wearing the LCD-X, that's for sure. The suspension design of the HE-560 is much more comfortable than the bumpy headband of the LCD-X. How well you tolerate the weight and headband design of the LCD-X will be a personal thing, but it is definitely something you will need to tolerate. On the personal comfort scale, the LCD-X is closer to the side of one of the most uncomfortable headphones while the HE-560 sits as one of the most comfortable headphones. I have the vegan LCD-X as I found the lambskin leather version gets quite hot & sweaty even after short usage during my demos. The black lambskin leather version does seem more premium in terms of looks & matches the overall color scheme of the LCD-X much better, but the vegans provides much better comfort in my experience. The vegans are more grey than black to my eye though the description says black.

Earpads for both headphones were both extremely comfortable for me without any complaints. Both have angled earpads. Despite the LCD-X being much wider in overall width of the whole headphone, the earcups depth are actually a lot more similar than I expected. Remeasured quite a few times as the LCD-X just look a lot bigger.

HE-560 Earcup Measurements: inner depth = 1in/2.5cm to 0.50in/1.25cm. inner diameter = 2.25in/5.5cm, 
LCD-X Earcup Measurements: inner depth = 1.20in/3cm to 0.75in/1.9cm, inner height = 2.55in/6.5cm, inner width = 2in/5cm
*edit: remeasured quite a few times. should be pretty accurate.
finally figured out why the looks & measurements seem so different. The LCD-X earpads has about 1/2 inch of extra outer depth compared to the inner depth.


My initial recommendation is that if you are looking for a neutral orthodynamic pair of headphones or have comfort as a high priority, go with the HE-560. If you really enjoyed the bass of the HE-400 (like me!) and are looking to upgrade towards an audiophile grade version, the LCD-X is a great choice, sharing many of the strengths of the HE-400s without any of the HE-400's sonic weakness (so far as I can tell during my first day of listening).

More detailed sonic comparisons will follow later after more head time.

edit: paired with the Schiit Lyr 2 & Bifrost Uber

Click to expand...

Impressions like this, put foolish notions in the mind of a audiophile fool. Thanks for the comparison and contrast of the HE-560 and the LCD-X.