The 4Z’s are warm, slow and flubby headphones. My HE-6SE’s driven well leave everything from Audeze well behind. They are tight, with great speed and slam, and go deep. Only downside is they’re hard to drive and the 4Z’s are extremely easy to drive.

If you want to enjoy some powerful and well recorded drums through your HE6SE's check out this guys channel

It’s a very nice cable. I’ve had an aftermarket cable for awhile already and I’m a self confessed ‘not a cable person’ so I’m not yet sure what differences may exist yet. I’ll give it a good listen over the coming days.

Plenty to catch up on since I visited last. Got a new cable finally. 4 x 19awg DHC Molecule silver/copper hybrid. Customised with furutech CF & rhodium 3.5mm jacks.

All I could suggest is to keep an eye on ebay, I think that is where we have all got them from. But some sellers don't ship to some countries etc. Good luck!

So much 80’s goodness

I agree it is hard to say. 6 months on a 36 month warranty, is what, 16%. It isn't much, but for a premium product costing over $6000 I suppose I would expect a little grace. I think what irks me the most is after searching for driver imbalance issues, and seeing just how many posts are about...

I think I discovered with this app that my PC SPDIF out was attenuated by -6dB. I set it to 0 dB and the amp now has what I would consider what sounds like 9w into 50 ohms. I am now running on low gain mode, usually around 10-12 on the dial for good to moderately loud volume. Massive sound...

To be fair, it does seem that audeze has an issue with drivers. Other companies can have issues with fit and finish, or headband durability for example. Audeze it almost always seems to be the drivers. These retailed over 6K and were built in April 2018. They were purchased around June 2018. 3...

Unfortunately I am no longer a 4z owner. The pair I bought used had an approx 1dB driver imbalance (left side being louder) and while the sound quality seemed unaffected, the spacial rendering of the soundstage was very offputting. I can easily detect a 0.5dB variance in volume as well as...

Do you use EQ?

My LCD4-Z’s arrived today. They do sound very good. More relaxed and warmer than my HE-6SE’s, less lazer focused and more easier listening. They complement each other well. I haven’t got a lot of time on them but I do like what I’m hearing. Metrum Onyx DAC > Cavalli LAu > DHC Molecule 19...

Not well, no. The weird thing about planars is they don't have awkward phase angles and impedance interactions like dynamics that require massive voltage swing to play equally loudly. I'd say there is some interaction between the amp output stages and the headphones drivers though, and some...

Correct, there’s usually an audible difference with balanced vs single ended if the dac and amp are designed with truly balanced topology. However the difference from Low power single ended to Full power single ended is striking. The sonic character changes so much they’re almost like...

I’m going to agree with @thefitz here. Until you’ve heard these driven properly, you’d think they were being driven properly due to ‘volume achievable’ alone with lesser capable amps. It’s like going from lite milk to full cream milk. From instant coffee to espresso made by a barista from fresh...

I have noticed over a lot of tracks that these headphones do drum transients incredibly well. The realism they can render drum strikes and timbre with is amazing. Check this drum solo out and listen at a good volume:

I’m still loving the Audeze protein pads with heat shrink bass ports. No crinkling and better sound everywhere, no downsides at all to my ears. Dekoni fenestrated enroute just for comparison purposes. Have some LCD4z on the way too so it’s almost time for another bake-off.

Interesting. I guess if you bought used you’d hope/think the owner would disclose newer drivers, for example. On that note. How much do Audeze charge for a pair of 4z drivers?

Alright, all these superlatives and heaping praise has got me over the line. I purchased the local set of 2018 Yellow grilles and they'll be here next week with any luck! Keen to hear these, first time I've owned Audeze's and first ones I've heard since way back in the day with the OG LCD2's...

Tearing ok. Thanks. Just wondering. Are there people still running 2018 drivers without issues?

That's really interesting actually. I am currently running HE-6SE's and have grille modded them which reduces the resistance behind the drivers. I am also running Audeze protein pads on them. They have a propensity to get 'stuck' to the outer magnets and you have to 'reverse CPR' them off via...

Just reverse CPR them off and enjoy. Stuck drivers are easy to fix. Myself and another guy have done it a few pages back.

Have you been pushing them from portable devices? I am wondering if the driver failures are from hammering them with DC from clipping portable players vs comfortably driven from home amplifiers.

Yessir the grille is gold/yellow. Are later revisions silver?

The stock cable is a disaster