The LCD-2 pre-fazor was my first Hifi headphone, and so in that way Audeze holds a special place in my heart. Back then, I had them with a Norne Draug2 cable hooked into a Schiit Valhalla, which was directly plugged into my computer with no DAC. Not really a hifi setup by any measure, but it stole my virginity as far as deep bass was concerned. After listening to a few popular Gorillaz tracks on the headset, all other bass became petty and cheap to me. I figured that upgrading to the LCD-3 would be an upgrade in high-frequency response, and...

All it takes is one experience that isn't so great and suddenly you realize how fragile small startups selling niche products like this one are. Norse, now Norne Audio, seems like a wildly understaffed and over-stressed company that needs expansion to keep up with demand but can't afford it. When you've been fed the 'suit and tie' presentation by enough of these small companies it becomes exceedingly easily to forget exactly how small they are.   When a Draug 2 was ordered for me as a gift, I was very excited. I'd heard so much about these cables...