Ive decided to write a review of my headphones. Please note, I have never written a review before so do not expect anything professional or overly technical. I will just use my language to describe what I think about the headphones.
I will list prices as per retail, please note that I did not pay retail for a lot of the products as I shopped around.
Equipment as tested:
• Oppo HA-1 DAC/Amplifier used in High Gain- $1,200
• Audeze LCD-3 - $1,995 (stock Balanced XLR)
• Sennheiser HD800 $1,495 (Balanced XLR)
• Sennheiser CH800S - $389
• Audioquest Coffee USB - $350
• Sony XA7ES CD Transport - $3,000 (new)
• Silver Serpent II Interconnects - $90
• Jriver Media Centre 19
Tracks used for Auditioning.
The tracks I used are from various types of artists, genres and qualities. I used these all to really put each headphone through its paces.
• The Beatles – Come together
• Eric Serra – The Big Blue Overture 44.1/24
• CHVRCHES – The Mother We Share - FLAC
• ACDC – Thunderstruck FLAC
• Depeche Mode – Barrel of a Gun FLAC
• Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why 192/24
• The Eagles – Hotel California 192/24
• Donald Fagen – Morph the Cat 96/24
• Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer 48/24
• The Blue Nile – Tomorrow Morning/Sentimental Man/Love Came Down FLAC
• Fleetwood Mac – Dreams, Go Your Own Way – 96/24
• Michael Jackson – Billie Jean176.4/24 DSD
• James Taylor – Fire and Rain, You’ve got a friend 192/24
• Soundgarden – Black Hole Sun 96/24
Audeze LCD-3
The Audeze LCD-3 are the flagship of the Audeze range. These are the top of the line Planar Magnetic headphones from the American company and are built accordingly. The quality of materials used is really amazing, from the time I opened the heavy duty “portable” carrying case to the actual materials used in the unit itself.
The earcups are made from Zebrano wood and the earpads are lambskin – these are incredibly soft and comfortable, however I found that after around 30 mins or so my ears do heat up and it does lead to discomfort.
The LCD3’s weigh in at over half a kilo, I must admit that these are comfortable at first, but after extended listening, the actual unit does tend to be a bit obtrusive. The sound however, is not fatiguing at all. I could listen to these headphones all day – if the unit was actually comfortable.
The LCD3s use an open backed design which means these are not suitable at all for public use or anything outdoors. The unit itself comes with the 6.5mm connection standard, so unless you have an AK or other high end DAP, you wouldn’t be using this on your travels anyway. I chose to use the stock XLR Balanced cable that came with the unit to plug into the Oppo HA-1 Amplifier. According to OPPO, this provides 4x the power and 2x the voltage when used. I was running this in high gain the entire time and the volume knob was at around 12 oclock to 3 oclock (absolute maximum).
Now on to the sound signature. Simply put, when paired with the right equipment and source material (this is very important), the LCD3’s sound signature blew me away. The sound is warm and thick. The highs are crystal clear, the bass is hard hitting and powerful and the mids are strong and delicious. I heard sounds in recordings I never heard before and as soon as I put these on and the music started to play, I began smiling. So it passes test number 1, the smile test.
Listening to a high definition stereo recording of “Come Together” from the Beatles Abbey Road album, the response of the drums and the ability to separate the various instruments was incredible. It must have sounded like this in the actual Abbey Road studio when they were recording this.
I decided to really put the LCD3’s through its paces with some really HD WAV and DSD recordings. The acoustic guitar strings of “The Eagles: Hotel California” were particularly memorable, as was the sheer impact of the bass and drums in “Donald Fagen’s Morph The Cat”. It seemed that everything I through at the LCD-3’s was just hit out of the park. The sound staging and imaging is really worth noticing, particularly when you hear the directionality of where the instruments are coming from. If you closed your eyes and turned off all outside distractions, you really could be at a concert listening to the music. Not only were the sounds clear and able to be distinguished easily, the entire sound stage was just so enjoyable.
Even with standard FLAC recordings, the LCD3’s didn’t falter. The Blue Nile’s Album “Peace at Last” is my favourite to audition any form of audio equipment. From the beautiful vocals, to the acoustic guitars to the clear, dulcet tones of the piano – it is an absolute aural delight. The LCD’3 resolved this absolutely perfectly and even when the strings came in, I could clearly identify directionality, staging and the separation of instruments.
I thought it was time for something a bit more energetic and powerful. Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way” and ACDC “Thunderstruck” were both amazing on the LCD-3s. The unit was so versatile in resolving completely different sounds and instrumentation.
The unit is not without its flaws however. As mentioned, it can be uncomfortable and heat up pretty quickly. Also, if you have low quality or badly recorded source material, then you will definitely notice them with these Audeze: these headphones do not suffer fools lightly.
And then there is the price. At $2,000 it is going to be a stumbling block for a lot of people. The question is, is it worth the price, considering you are also going to have to have the appropriate gear to even run these headphones as these are not the most efficient. I guess that is something you will have to ask yourself. For me, it is a resounding yes. For $2K I get to use arguably the best headphones available on the planet – (I haven’t had a chance to hear the Stax SR009 and Abyss 1266 as yet).
These are recommended for all, but with the caveats above. If you are after something portable or for use in public, better to opt for the soon-to-be-released close backed EL-8s. However, for those of us who want to relax at home and shut off from the rest of the world, the Audeze LCD-3s are the perfect companion.
