SONIC CHARACTER, LCD-2 WITH
REVISION 2 DRIVERS
If you haven’t already read our full-length
review of the original LCD-2, now would
probably be a good time to do so (see the
link above), since my intent is to discuss the
effects of Audeze’s new Revision 2 drivers in
the context of the core sound that I’ve already
described for the original LCD-2.
What differences can listeners expect from
Audeze’s Revision 2 drivers?
Our finding was that the new drivers do change
the overall sonic signature of the LCD-2 to
some extent though in comparatively subtle
ways (think more in terms of evolutionary
rather than revolutionary changes). Some of
those changes influence the response curves
of the headphones in small but audible (and
measurable) ways, while others change the
LCD-2’s ability to resolve low-level details and
its ability to respond to fast-rising transient
sounds in the music.
First, let’s discuss changes that affect the
LCD-2’s overall tonal balance or response
curves. In my review of the original LCD-
2 I wrote that, “the headphone sounds
extraordinarily smooth and evenly balanced
from the lowest bass notes right on up through
the middle of the midrange.” That statement is
still true, but with several small yet significant
differences. The original LCD-2 measured
virtually dead-flat from the bottom of the low
end right on up to about 1kHz, above which
point the response curve rolled downward
until—at about 2kHz—output reached a
plateau, of sorts, where upper midrange and
treble frequencies were fairly evenly balanced,
but shelved downward in level relative to the
bass and mids. These balanced but downwardshelved
upper mids and highs led me to say of
the original headphone that some listener might
find it had a “slightly ‘dark sounding’ cast.”
With the new Revision 2 drivers in play, the
LCD-2’s broad region of flat response now
reaches higher than it originally did (up to
roughly 2kHz), with a more gradual decline
in output above that point that reaches an
approximate plateau at around 3kHz - 4kHz,
and with noticeably more upper midrange
and treble output above that point than
before. These sonic changes do not alter the
fundamental character of the new-generation
LCD-2, which is still very much anchored by
that incredibly broad, smooth, neutrally-voiced
response curve from the bass region on up
through the midrange. However, these changes
do directly address the original LCD-2’s
potential problem of a slightly dark-sounding
character. With current-generation LCD-2, mids
seem to open up more, as do upper midrange
and treble transient sounds, reverberations,
and high harmonics. In short, the Revision 2
drivers make current generation LCD-2’s more
accurately balanced headphones overall.
But the changes don’t stop with these
frequency-response changes, because the
new Revision 2 drivers also improve other
more qualitative aspects of the LCD-2’s sound.
Specifically, they improve the LCD-2’s already
exceptional ability to resolve extremely fine,
low level textural details, so that the ‘phones
now exhibit an even more finely focused and
fine-grained sound than the original version
did. Moreover, the Revision 2 drivers give the
LCD-2’s even faster and—where recordings so
warrant—more energetic transient response
than the original version could provide, which
is no small improvement given how good the
LCD-2 was to begin with.
Together, the qualitative and frequency
response changes detailed here complement
one another in a synergistic way, so that the net
result is an updated LCD-2 that has become, in
subtle and yet pervasive ways, more accurately
balanced, more transparent and more revealing
than the original version—which is saying a
mouthful!
Are these changes beneficial, or just
“change for the sake of change?”
I found these changes to be musically valid
and (almost) always beneficial, so that they
unquestionably make the LCD-2 even more
engaging than before, and more capable of
revealing the intricacies and inner details of
great recordings. The only downside I can think
of, and it is the reason I used the word “almost”
as a qualifier above, is that the changes also
make the LCD-2 somewhat more prone to
exposing the sonic flaws in not-so-good
recordings. Given the benefits the changes
bring, however, this is a tradeoff I could and
would readily accept. Listeners who might have
felt the original LCD-2 sounded a bit too “dark”
will, I think, find the new Revision 2 drivers give
the LCD-2 a noticeably more balanced sound,
yet without undercutting any of its inherent
richness, smoothness, or midrange “magic.”
