wyup
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2014
- Posts
- 4
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- 22
I have the Audeze LCD-1 for a week, I come from a ATH-M50x since 2015, which I have listened to extensively and attest to them being legendary. I tried in a local retailer Akg 712pro, Sennheiser HD66X, Focal Elear and Hifiman Sundara, mostly out of a Chord Mojo. Last month I bought a Hifiman HE400S and returned because their sound didn't convince me. The Audeze won me over, I did the stretch and bought them over a special occasion.
I had read many reviews on various headphones and studied their agreed sound characteristics, but there is nothing as trying them in real. Much to my surprise, I don't find them as people usually do. I consider myself audiophile on a budget, but I train my ear, go to classial concerts and have friends in recording studios.
I decided on the lcd-1 because it sounded best to me, it's comfortable and portable, and doesn't need a powerful amplifier, in fact my smartphone drives it great 'almost' as well as my Audinst desktop dac/amp. The mids is what grabbed me most, I hear detail and layers I didn't hear on the other ones. Only Focal Elear challenged this, maybe a bit more spatial (lcd-1 tend to be frontal, like closed), but it certainly needs an amp and wasn't clearly better to me. I wanted to like the Hifimans, thought their sound profile was of my liking but they sounded kind of dry to me, the HE400S worked good with phone and amp, they have silky mids but they didn't engage me, highs were almost filtered. It's true I come from the V-shaped M50X, but I couldn't adapt to them. The Sundara I can't judge them properly because I only tried them on my phone, they sounded better than the HE400S, but shared the same profile, a bit dry, and hanged a bit off my head. My phone couldn't drive them properly. In comparison, I liked the lcd-1 better. The 712pro and 660X I didn't like them (on Mojo), and I am surprised because these are legendary headphones many people love. I couldn't notice for one the soundstage ability of the akg I was expecting.
I begin to believe that headphone appreciation depends on head measurements. I have a thin oval head, and i believe people with wider heads or more perpendicular hear headphones differently. There is a mesument on rtings.com about the lcd-1 being "among the most consistent over-ears we've tested, meaning everyone should experience their sound profile the same way". Maybe that applies to me.
I know so far I haven't commented particularly on Lcd-1 sound, I'd say I am keeping them, and while they are expensive and not perfect they are a clear step up. Mid frequency is detailed and realistic, it's flat there, not forward in any sense. Bass is good and ample, while not as deep as M50X -nor need be, it extends better. I hear a bit of hump on the upper bass, it doesn't get into mids but compared to the other headphones it is more 'dense' there. Mids are delightful, I hear layers and details that continue to awe me. It is soft and delicate there. As for the high region, they are not strident at all, they have some hole up there somewhere, the upper highs are not that extended but it has enough detail and presence. I wouldn't call this a clinical phone on highs, they are just present and not metallic sounding. This is a phone to enjoy middle frequencies above all. It's curious, the Focal Elear had some hole aswell on high frequencies, but in a different region than lcd-1.
They make great phones for movies, old soundtracks with old microphones and dialogs extract the 'meat' from them. Classical music sound great with them, I can hear brass, winds, strings...
Being just 16 ohms they are easily driven. I wonder if they lack heft and damping factor as other higher impedance phones with more voltage and power capacity, but this is something I don't know for now.
Well, I think I'll leave it here. Hope it helps you guys.
EDIT: Two months later, I'd like to add to the review that I tend to sense a little push on this headphones on higher bass frequencies (100-200Hz). It doesn't bleed into midrange, but I think it's there with different sources. Since this headphone doesn't have much presence on mid-highs in my opinion, and it's more mid centered it leads to notice more the high-bass region. I think it can fatigue a bit. In that sense, when I switch to my ATH-M50x, sometimes it's more 'agreeable'. The same as ATH-M50x can be fatiguing on highs.
I had read many reviews on various headphones and studied their agreed sound characteristics, but there is nothing as trying them in real. Much to my surprise, I don't find them as people usually do. I consider myself audiophile on a budget, but I train my ear, go to classial concerts and have friends in recording studios.
I decided on the lcd-1 because it sounded best to me, it's comfortable and portable, and doesn't need a powerful amplifier, in fact my smartphone drives it great 'almost' as well as my Audinst desktop dac/amp. The mids is what grabbed me most, I hear detail and layers I didn't hear on the other ones. Only Focal Elear challenged this, maybe a bit more spatial (lcd-1 tend to be frontal, like closed), but it certainly needs an amp and wasn't clearly better to me. I wanted to like the Hifimans, thought their sound profile was of my liking but they sounded kind of dry to me, the HE400S worked good with phone and amp, they have silky mids but they didn't engage me, highs were almost filtered. It's true I come from the V-shaped M50X, but I couldn't adapt to them. The Sundara I can't judge them properly because I only tried them on my phone, they sounded better than the HE400S, but shared the same profile, a bit dry, and hanged a bit off my head. My phone couldn't drive them properly. In comparison, I liked the lcd-1 better. The 712pro and 660X I didn't like them (on Mojo), and I am surprised because these are legendary headphones many people love. I couldn't notice for one the soundstage ability of the akg I was expecting.
I begin to believe that headphone appreciation depends on head measurements. I have a thin oval head, and i believe people with wider heads or more perpendicular hear headphones differently. There is a mesument on rtings.com about the lcd-1 being "among the most consistent over-ears we've tested, meaning everyone should experience their sound profile the same way". Maybe that applies to me.
I know so far I haven't commented particularly on Lcd-1 sound, I'd say I am keeping them, and while they are expensive and not perfect they are a clear step up. Mid frequency is detailed and realistic, it's flat there, not forward in any sense. Bass is good and ample, while not as deep as M50X -nor need be, it extends better. I hear a bit of hump on the upper bass, it doesn't get into mids but compared to the other headphones it is more 'dense' there. Mids are delightful, I hear layers and details that continue to awe me. It is soft and delicate there. As for the high region, they are not strident at all, they have some hole up there somewhere, the upper highs are not that extended but it has enough detail and presence. I wouldn't call this a clinical phone on highs, they are just present and not metallic sounding. This is a phone to enjoy middle frequencies above all. It's curious, the Focal Elear had some hole aswell on high frequencies, but in a different region than lcd-1.
They make great phones for movies, old soundtracks with old microphones and dialogs extract the 'meat' from them. Classical music sound great with them, I can hear brass, winds, strings...
Being just 16 ohms they are easily driven. I wonder if they lack heft and damping factor as other higher impedance phones with more voltage and power capacity, but this is something I don't know for now.
Well, I think I'll leave it here. Hope it helps you guys.
EDIT: Two months later, I'd like to add to the review that I tend to sense a little push on this headphones on higher bass frequencies (100-200Hz). It doesn't bleed into midrange, but I think it's there with different sources. Since this headphone doesn't have much presence on mid-highs in my opinion, and it's more mid centered it leads to notice more the high-bass region. I think it can fatigue a bit. In that sense, when I switch to my ATH-M50x, sometimes it's more 'agreeable'. The same as ATH-M50x can be fatiguing on highs.
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Let it play for at least 100 hours, and they will reward you with a very balanced sound, neutral, but still fun, with the right material and source the sound is awesome, deep bass and wonderful highs, without any fatique.
