I'd like to post a few follow-up notes based on my initial listening session last evening.
First, some things to help provide context:
1. Music library was in Apple Lossless format, played back on a dedicated mac mini via bitperfect.
2. USB DAC was Resolution Audio Cantata Music Center
3. Amplifier was GS-X mk2, with only a few hours of burn-in while in my possession. I believe Justin burns them in somewhat prior to shipping, but actual time is unknown to me.
4. Cable was the stock blue balanced number provided by Audeze along the cans
5. The amp is new to me; I've never auditioned this particular model before. My only prior experience with Headamp's offerings was with a borrowed BHSE which seemed pretty neutral to me (though could get a bit bright at some seldom times). From sources I know and whose ears I trust, the GS-X mk2 is about as transparent as it can reasonably get, so I am making an assumption here that most of the things I'm reporting are not weighted by the amp's contribution.
The TL;DR can be summed up to paraphrase a line from a certain comic, with great resolution comes great pickyness. Great material will shine, mediocre material will sound flat and boring. Poor material will sound offensive.
The go on and tell me more version follows.
I've been using LCD headphones ever since the LCD-2, to which my reaction upon hearing it for the very first time was "wait, can headphones output that kind of bass?" The original LCD-2 was almost a guilty pleasure to experience, simply on account of its bass rendering and, shall i dare repeat a term from the past? creamy mids. Sure, it glossed over details like an F&I manager trying to wrap up the last deal before going home for the evening, but hey, you ended up with a nice ride at the end of the day and you left happy. There was nothing that didn't sound good on the LCD-2.
The LCD-2.2 came along, tightening up the bass and bringing up the mids to a degree. While a competent product, and certainly more accurate than the model it replaced, to me it wasn't overly memorable, and it was thus with great excitement that I welcomed their newer addition, the LCD-3. This one brought some of the original LCD-2 magic back, while improving mids and highs in every regard. Soundstage was extended and everything was tightened up. A winner. It effortlessly handled every kind of material thrown at it; nothing sounded bad, and most things sounded stellar. A pure joy.
The LCD-3F I skipped, having taken a break from listening to music and for a couple of years listening to annoying child screeches instead. Fingerprints abounded in the house. Luckily, it had never dawned upon him that crayons could be used on walls. I didn't volunteer this info either. I digress. Fast-forward these couple of years, and I am now once again in a position where serenity still exists at certain times and places inside our home. This period ended to coincide - kismet! - with the LCD-4 announcement.
Having not spent a single penny on audio stuff in a couple of years, it was with zero hesitation, and outright impulsive, that I ordered the LCD-4 and the GS-X mk2 right away. As I mentioned in a few posts beforehand, the LCD-4 presents itself as a much more mature product, the result of a proper enterprise as opposed to cottage industry level, as the previous LCD had come across to me.
So on to the rendering style - it reminds me of the HD800 as well as the SR-009 in a way - it shines with great material, but can be atrocious with poor recordings. This is no doubt because of the much tighter presentation, airier soundstage, where blemishes have nowhere to hide. It's so airy, in fact, that at times it seemed as though the sound came from speakers placed some distance away from my ears. When holding the LCD-4 in my hands, their heft is not lost on me; however, once on the head, they just vanish. There's no fatigue in wearing or listening to them, which is something hugely counterintuitive, given that they are anything but light and unobtrusive. The bass is very deep and full of texture, however seems to lack some of the slam of the original LCD-2, which on the other hand lacked detail. Mids are certainly free of any of the veils plaguing previous LCD versions, and highs extend beyond what I recall ever hearing on an LCD. The energy in the upper mids-highs is tremendous. This, I believe, is the reason why sibilant and poorly-recorded material flat out sucks on the LCD-4 - there's no forgiveness. You've got crap on that track, by all means it'll shoot it right at ya. It is also the reason why great recordings sound absolutely spectacular.
The LCD-3 is like a date one takes to a great restaurant, and have a blast enjoying the atmosphere and the food; the LCD-4 is the uptown girl one takes to a 7-course dinner at a Michelin 3-star restaurant, where she enjoys and appreciates 5 of the courses, but on 2 of them the garnish isn't perfectly placed on the plate and therefore finds reason to complain. If all goes well, and the source material is up for it, the LCD-4 is an end-game product, but if there are shortcomings either in the recordings or the source chain, it's prowess would be squandered; and LCD-3 would be sure to please more. There are songs that delighted me as listened through the previous LCD cans, but are close to being bothersome via the LCD-4.
To end, for now, at least, I am absolutely in love with the LCD-4 sound, look, feel, everything.
More to come as I keep listening.
