[Jazic]

Thank you Jazik ... personally I'm not particularly sensitive to high frequencies ... so I do not fear them.
Currently I have a Beyerdynamic T5P 2nd gen but I do not know how to qualify it because I have no point of comparison with another headphones.
It is therefore difficult for me to imagine the sound of another headphones based on feedback.
I think I'll buy it and if I do not like it I should be able to sell it easily enough.
Would it be an abuse to ask you what is meant by "a dark sounding headphones" as it would seem that it is often referred to as this LCD 2 Closed Back?

In the past I've had for some time a pair of AKT5p's 1st gen and from what I remember of them vs the LCD 2C Closed is the AKT5p's sounded similar but maybe a touch thinner sounding. Soundstage was always great on the AKT5p's but I'd go as far as to say the LCD's are better. Maybe also the AKT5p's had a bit of a mid focused sound from what I recall that wasn't sibilant to my ears around the mid mid range. The LCD Closed has a bit more meat to the sound but personally I don't call them dark. The LCD2 open is probably darker than the Closed back from what I remember.

If you do some reading up on the LCD XC they are pretty much the same but with a bigger slam on the sub bass so take that into consideration with reviews that say the XC's lack bass which I never found they did and I likes my sub bass.

 

[vermaleneric]

Ok ... it reassures me a bit because I really like my Beyerdynamic. I want to try an Audeze because I keep reading great feedback about them.
I'm going to read some feedback about the LCD XC to get an idea.
Thank you very much for your help.
Eric.

 

[Maliken]

Does anyone have experience to how these would stack up against the Sony MDR-Z1R?

 

[Jazic]

Ok ... it reassures me a bit because I really like my Beyerdynamic. I want to try an Audeze because I keep reading great feedback about them.
I'm going to read some feedback about the LCD XC to get an idea.
Thank you very much for your help.
Eric.

No problem at all. Glad to help. If there's any more questions you have just let me know and I'll try to do the best I can to answer them. You can also send me a PM if you want.

 

[vermaleneric]

Ok ... it's great.

 

[elChefe]

How do these compare to the lcd2c’s in terms of sub bass amount and slam? Being closed back with the same driver I would think they have a more pronounced low end? Although I know dampening and tuning differences can change that. Iv narrowed my decision down to the lcd2c’s and lcd2c closed. Just trying to decide which would suit me better. I listen to a lot of electronica, hip hop, ambient, bluegrass and jazztronica as well as male vocals. Really looking for which one has a more pronounced visceral impact in the sub bass region.

 

[Davesrose]

How do these compare to the lcd2c’s in terms of sub bass amount and slam? Being closed back with the same driver I would think they have a more pronounced low end? Although I know dampening and tuning differences can change that. Iv narrowed my decision down to the lcd2c’s and lcd2c closed. Just trying to decide which would suit me better. I listen to a lot of electronica, hip hop, ambient, bluegrass and jazztronica as well as male vocals. Really looking for which one has a more pronounced visceral impact in the sub bass region.

The consensus is that the closed version has more deep bass. I can attest that it has plenty of bass extension, and slam (but is well controlled depending on source). I listen to all sorts of music, including classical, acoustic, electronica, jazz, etc. The mids seem more present then what I hear with Beyerdynamics, and the presence seems "live" sounding (soundstage is wide and vocals are more liquid sounding). It's interesting that now I've had more time listening to albums individually with the LCD2 closed and Aeons, I'm finding they compliment each other well. The Aeons have more compressed tonality, but have really good detail: music seems focused in front of me (and nice for certain acoustic and female vocals). The LCD2s are definitely better for anything you want bass slam for, but they present the music as though it's surrounding you.

 

[ayang02]

Does anyone have experience to how these would stack up against the Sony MDR-Z1R?

New LCD 2 closed back owner here. I briefly auditioned the Z1R a few weeks ago so I'm going by my memory here. I remember the Z1R provided more details across the range and probably better, slightly brighter treble compared to the LCD2 CB. The LCD provided better bass overall over the Z1R imo although I'm not so certain about this, not being able to compare them side by side.

In short, I think yes, these can stack up with the Z1R. The planar magnetic sound feels cleaner imo.

 

[EndGameSearch]

The consensus is that the closed version has more deep bass. I can attest that it has plenty of bass extension, and slam (but is well controlled depending on source). I listen to all sorts of music, including classical, acoustic, electronica, jazz, etc. The mids seem more present then what I hear with Beyerdynamics, and the presence seems "live" sounding (soundstage is wide and vocals are more liquid sounding). It's interesting that now I've had more time listening to albums individually with the LCD2 closed and Aeons, I'm finding they compliment each other well. The Aeons have more compressed tonality, but have really good detail: music seems focused in front of me (and nice for certain acoustic and female vocals). The LCD2s are definitely better for anything you want bass slam for, but they present the music as though it's surrounding you.

This matches what I'm hearing with the LCD 2 closed but, but I'll add a few more points.

I am really surprised this HP is not receiving more attention. It really is fantastic and a tremendous value relative to other HPs. In my view, for my preferences, it is better than the Aeon closed. I love spending time with new gear. However, I have to bite my tongue and defer a final determination until I'm past the honeymoon period. It's very easy to quickly fall in love and only focus on a HP's positive traits. After your ears and mind adapt to a new sound and you've established a new norm, your attention naturally shifts to identifying areas of potential improvement. As is normally the case in this hobby, there is always a trade off. A HP that does X very well tends to have a deficiency in another contrasting area. That is not the case with these. They really are a Goldilocks HP for me. That's not to say they're perfect, but they're so nicely balanced across the board that I simply enjoy the music and stop looking for faults. The soundstage is great for closed back. They are detailed, transparent, smooth, and have good bass impact. That said, nothing is excessive. No one trait is shoved in your face. They simply do it all well.

I'm having a hard time describing these HP's. I don't really like the idea of a "good all arounder" or a "jack of all trades" HP. "Jack of all trades" is normally followed by "master of none" which gives the impression that you are settling for something that is good enough. This product in particular is odd since Audeze is pretty consistent in their pricing and product classification. Following that path this should be at the bottom of the LCD family. I sold my XC's a couple months back, but from memory these are every bit as good, and even best the XC's in certain areas. I only used the XC's with Audeze's preset filter enabled in Roon. Without any DSP I had issues with the treble. Out of the box the LCD-2 Closed is great. They are very close to neutral, and I cannot identify a frequency range that needs attention. These are lighter, more comfortable and more efficient. At nearly half the price, I'd have a hard time understanding why someone would choose the XC.

Compared to the Aeons these look, feel and sound more like a top of the line HP. I really enjoyed the Aeon's focused and detailed mids but I could not get past the lack of bass. I am not a bass head and I am not looking for a HP defined by bass. The Aeons could hit all of the notes it needed to hit, but I felt it lacked a strong foundation to support it's mids. On some tracks I felt they were outstanding. While with other tracks I felt I was only hearing 80% of the music. It just felt incomplete. This happened more frequently on tracks where the bass was intended to be subtle. Bass would show up when it was intended to be front and center but it was a no show when it came to it's supporting role. Again, I'm not trying disparaging of the Aeon closed. They are good HP's at a fair price. The LCD-2 closed just feels like it's at a different level. The suspension head band is great. The leather pads feel great and the overall look and finish is fantastic. Knowing that this performance is possible in a closed back form factor, I would love to one day see a LCD-4Z Closed.

 

[ZGLISZCZ]

Hi. Anyone would be willing to post pictures of internal damping and electronic filtering? Im planning to mod my LCD2C to closed version. Thanks

 

[eargasam]

I’m looking to get these but cannot decide between these or the cascades looking for a good headphone with good bass extetion . I have the sig djs but looking for a more refined and newer piece. Which do you guys prefer? Will be trading for the aeon opens do you think that is a good trade off?

 

[eargasam]

Also in terms of bass texture and slam which one do you prefer the audeze lcd xc or the lcd 2 closed?

 

[Ken G]

I had the opportunity to compare the two headphones head to head for about 30 minutes at a meet on Saturday and I couldn’t tell you one was definitively better than the other. The XC has a bigger soundstage where the LCD2 closed is more in your face. The wood finish of the XC is beautiful but the lcd-2 closed is a bit lighter. The XC needs a little less power and can be driven by a wider variety of amps and DAPs. During the comparison I had to turn up the volume (on a Schiit MJ2) a little for the LCD2 closed but it wasn’t significant.

If you gave me a blind hearing test with a wide range of tracks I probably couldn’t point out one better than the other.

 

[Beechedwhale8]

Does anybody have updated measurements and impressions after they got the damping issue sorted out? Very interested in these, I have Oppo PM-3's right now and am trying to decide if these are an upgrade worth $900.

 

[Maelob]

It is all relative man, do you have the money, do you really really want to "upgrade". I would just buy them and if you dont like them just return them. The more and more I experience expensive equipment the more I appreciate the affordable ones. There are a lot of snobs in this hobby and people that just boast about their expensive equipment. I would keep those PM-3s they are a classic.