[Dnguyen926]

tks. i thought the 3 had the most sweet sound from audeze. Why did you sell the lcd2c and keep the 2f if you prefer the bass and musical sound may i ask? tks

The lcd 3 does have a sweet sound but for my preference and taste I like the more aggressive treble presence of the LCD 2. The sparkle adds to the sweetness for me. I feel like transparancy and detail was what Audeze wanted the LCD 3 to excel at, therefore it leans towards a more Neutral-ish sound. The sweetness was still there just missing a bit at the top end. While the LCD 2C were musical and not bass lacking at all I was unimpressed with the top end also. To be honest with you I could not pin point it at first but I knew something was not there. I PM'ed a head-fi member, who also preferred the LCD 2f over the 2c and 3, and I think the term veiled described the 2C. In short all 3 headphones presented the top region differently, the LCD 2f strikes that middle ground for me with enough treble presence and clarity while also having enough of a punchy bass to satisfy.

 

[gLer]

The lcd 3 does have a sweet sound but for my preference and taste I like the more aggressive treble presence of the LCD 2. The sparkle adds to the sweetness for me. I feel like transparancy and detail was what Audeze wanted the LCD 3 to excel at, therefore it leans towards a more Neutral-ish sound. The sweetness was still there just missing a bit at the top end. While the LCD 2C were musical and not bass lacking at all I was unimpressed with the top end also. To be honest with you I could not pin point it at first but I knew something was not there. I PM'ed a head-fi member, who also preferred the LCD 2f over the 2c and 3, and I think the term veiled described the 2C. In short all 3 headphones presented the top region differently, the LCD 2f strikes that middle ground for me with enough treble presence and clarity while also having enough of a punchy bass to satisfy.

Interestingly while I agree that the LCD-3F is more neutral in its tuning than the LCD-2F, I find my LCD-3F far more extended and sparkling in the treble region than the 2F. In fact the LCD-3F just about pushes the line between perfect and bright, though never crosses it of course. The 2F on the other hand, while airy, was nowhere near as airy as the 3F. Bass on both is great but the 3 definitely has more texture and nuance. Overall I find the 3F more refined, articulate and extended than the 2F. As for musicality, I guess that’s a personal and subjective preference, but I don’t find the 3F at all lacking in this regard, especially off a top shelf R2R dac. YMMV of course. (Both my 2F, which I sold, and 3F have the latest 2016 revision drivers).

 

[tamleo]

Tk guys. so now i understand that dnguyen926 had the 2f and the 3. and gler had the 2f and 3f. in short audeze really makes its products much better year by year. and the lcd line becomes brighter as well (except the 2c)
i cannot go wrong buying any 2018 models to upgrade my unicorn lcd2 hehe

 

[neonjung]

Helloooooo, pretty close to investing in the LCD-2 but I have a couple options and I'm not sure which to go with. I can get brand new Bamboo with latest headband for £820 (usually £899) OR I can get Aluminium Refurb with old headband for £750. Anyone think of any reason I should choose one over the other? Like, maybe the Alu are more sought after, or sound better? Or stay away from Audeze refurbs maybe? Can't quite decide, but I think I'm leaning more towards the brand new Bamboo with latest headband, just so that I have that satisfaction of knowing I'm their first owner.

 

[thecrow]

Helloooooo, pretty close to investing in the LCD-2 but I have a couple options and I'm not sure which to go with. I can get brand new Bamboo with latest headband for £820 (usually £899) OR I can get Aluminium Refurb with old headband for £750. Anyone think of any reason I should choose one over the other? Like, maybe the Alu are more sought after, or sound better? Or stay away from Audeze refurbs maybe? Can't quite decide, but I think I'm leaning more towards the brand new Bamboo with latest headband, just so that I have that satisfaction of knowing I'm their first owner.

I would definitely go with the one with the longest warranty.

Then the new headband option

I also prefer wood/bamboo

So for me that’s an easy option

I beleive audeze says they sound the same but i actually don’t know

 

[Dnguyen926]

Interestingly while I agree that the LCD-3F is more neutral in its tuning than the LCD-2F, I find my LCD-3F far more extended and sparkling in the treble region than the 2F. In fact the LCD-3F just about pushes the line between perfect and bright, though never crosses it of course. The 2F on the other hand, while airy, was nowhere near as airy as the 3F. Bass on both is great but the 3 definitely has more texture and nuance. Overall I find the 3F more refined, articulate and extended than the 2F. As for musicality, I guess that’s a personal and subjective preference, but I don’t find the 3F at all lacking in this regard, especially off a top shelf R2R dac. YMMV of course. (Both my 2F, which I sold, and 3F have the latest 2016 revision drivers).

I agree on the extension of the lcd 3, on the top and bottom end, were better than the 2 but to me the 2 just did it right. Here is the thing though gLer is using the R28 with the nfb-1 amp which is known to be very transparent and neutral. While I'm using the Mjolnir 2 with the stock tubes and some other tubes that I have. I do not have the LISST tube to turn the Mj2 into a transparent amp so my source is colored. If you are planning to upgrade to any of the 2018 model I would suggest looking more towards gLer's opinion as his source is transparent.

 

[Damien Chung]

Does anyone with lcds have rusting on the screws on the outer plates of each sides. Cuz my 2.2s are rusting, and i have no idea how to get rid of it.

 

[Avenida]

Helloooooo, pretty close to investing in the LCD-2 but I have a couple options and I'm not sure which to go with. I can get brand new Bamboo with latest headband for £820 (usually £899) OR I can get Aluminium Refurb with old headband for £750. Anyone think of any reason I should choose one over the other? Like, maybe the Alu are more sought after, or sound better? Or stay away from Audeze refurbs maybe? Can't quite decide, but I think I'm leaning more towards the brand new Bamboo with latest headband, just so that I have that satisfaction of knowing I'm their first owner.

The new headbands are great. Try get to get a leather (found on LCD-X) or carbon fibre one (LCD4+). Also your price in pounds is insane, I just bought a pair of LCD-X in Aus for the same price as in the US.

Does anyone with lcds have rusting on the screws on the outer plates of each sides. Cuz my 2.2s are rusting, and i have no idea how to get rid of it.

How long have you had it? I'd give Audeze a call and they can advise on how to get rid of it, and if you mess up the headphones you'll be in the clear.

 

[Markdude]

Has Audeze improved their quality control in recent years? I read a lot about driver failures and wood cracking from a few years ago. I just got a rosewood LCD-2 which was made in June 2016 and I love it, but now I'm a little paranoid about its longevity. I'm going to get back in touch with the seller to see about getting the warranty transferred over but I know it's only good for 2 years from the original date of purchase, so it could be running out soon.

 

[Damien Chung]

Has Audeze improved their quality control in recent years? I read a lot about driver failures and wood cracking from a few years ago. I just got a rosewood LCD-2 which was made in June 2016 and I love it, but now I'm a little paranoid about its longevity. I'm going to get back in touch with the seller to see about getting the warranty transferred over but I know it's only good for 2 years from the original date of purchase, so it could be running out soon.

Who said audezes are only good for 2 years. My lcd 2.2s are made in 2012, and it is still working as if it was brand new

 

[Sotiris]

Hi all

Has anybody experience with wireworld cables for Audeze?Their quality ? The price - quality ratio?

Thanks

 

[Markdude]

Who said audezes are only good for 2 years. My lcd 2.2s are made in 2012, and it is still working as if it was brand new

I'm talking about the driver warranty, but I was wrong, it's actually 3 years. Still, I am hoping the failures are a thing of the past.

 

[neonjung]

So I just bought a pair of 2018 Fazor, new headband LCD-2's and they sound great, especially in comparison to the LCD-2Classics that I bought and promptly returned; the Classics were extremely dull, unnatural sounding and grainy by comparison. That's not to say that these new fazor LCD-2's are perfect, oh no, in fact I find them to have too much energy around 1 kHz and 5-6 kHz, which means I can't really turn music up very loud else I start to blink and find the sound uncomfortable. Luckily EQ fixes this and the overall timbre of the cans remains intact, so that's one fix, but I'm wondering what DAC/Amp combo could help to remedy this? Currently I'm running the LCD-2's out of my audio interface's built in HP amp - the Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 - and so I'm guessing this fact alone doesn't help things, and who knows, maybe what I'm hearing isn't so much that the Audeze's have too much energy around 1 and 5 kHz, but maybe it's the cheap HP amp built into my interface? So I'm hoping that a decent DAC/Amp will help, and currently the only two that I have my eye on are the Audio-GD NFB and R2R 11. Anyone have any thoughts, recommendations, experiences, opinions? Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[gLer]

So I just bought a pair of 2018 Fazor, new headband LCD-2's and they sound great, especially in comparison to the LCD-2Classics that I bought and promptly returned; the Classics were extremely dull, unnatural sounding and grainy by comparison. That's not to say that these new fazor LCD-2's are perfect, oh no, in fact I find them to have too much energy around 1 kHz and 5-6 kHz, which means I can't really turn music up very loud else I start to blink and find the sound uncomfortable. Luckily EQ fixes this and the overall timbre of the cans remains intact, so that's one fix, but I'm wondering what DAC/Amp combo could help to remedy this? Currently I'm running the LCD-2's out of my audio interface's built in HP amp - the Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 - and so I'm guessing this fact alone doesn't help things, and who knows, maybe what I'm hearing isn't so much that the Audeze's have too much energy around 1 and 5 kHz, but maybe it's the cheap HP amp built into my interface? So I'm hoping that a decent DAC/Amp will help, and currently the only two that I have my eye on are the Audio-GD NFB and R2R 11. Anyone have any thoughts, recommendations, experiences, opinions? Any help greatly appreciated!

For the money those are probably the two best amp/dac combo units you can buy for the LCD-2. Beautiful synergy and a slightly warm of neutral but punchy presentation that brings the most out of these cans. You can spend twice as much and not get the same sound quality and features you would from these two. My personal preference is the R2R-11, because I like my music more 'natural' and organic rather than always super sharp - not to say the NFB-11 is super sharp, just a touch more clinical than the R2R. Either way you can't go wrong.

Just keep two things in mind. These are standalone units, so you can't plug another dac into them and just use the amp/preamp. You have to use the built-in dac. That's ok by me, because unlike most combo units, the dacs in the AGD units are the stars, not necessarily the amps. Second, if you ever want to go balanced, you'd have to get a different amp (although you can still plug the AGDs into it as a dac). If those two 'issues' aren't a factor for you right now, go for it. Your experience of the LCD-2s will go up several levels.

 

[neonjung]

For the money those are probably the two best amp/dac combo units you can buy for the LCD-2. Beautiful synergy and a slightly warm of neutral but punchy presentation that brings the most out of these cans. You can spend twice as much and not get the same sound quality and features you would from these two. My personal preference is the R2R-11, because I like my music more 'natural' and organic rather than always super sharp - not to say the NFB-11 is super sharp, just a touch more clinical than the R2R. Either way you can't go wrong.

Just keep two things in mind. These are standalone units, so you can't plug another dac into them and just use the amp/preamp. You have to use the built-in dac. That's ok by me, because unlike most combo units, the dacs in the AGD units are the stars, not necessarily the amps. Second, if you ever want to go balanced, you'd have to get a different amp (although you can still plug the AGDs into it as a dac). If those two 'issues' aren't a factor for you right now, go for it. Your experience of the LCD-2s will go up several levels.

Thanks for the swift reply! So would you say that the harshness I'm hearing around 1 and 6 kHz will most likely be due to the cheap DAC/amp in my audio interface?

I've read that, if you were to create an analogy for the R2R, that it would be more like listening to vinyl, or something analog as opposed to something super precise and digital. That's all good with me as I like warmer, more organic signatures, but aren't the LCD-2 already supposed to be warmer cans? I don't want to overdo it. Also I've read about the clicks that the R2R produces because they couldn't include some sort of mute circuit in that design, whereas in the NFB they could. Have you heard this yourself? I'm wondering if the safer bet is the NFB, as it has jumpers for different signatures (maybe the R2R does, too), so I could always adjust things to get my preferred tone I guess. Thanks.