Audeze LCD-2 Orthos

[aristos_achaion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhythmdevils /img/forum/go_quote.gif but those are just dynamic

I suppose the real comparison will be to the HE-5LE, now that it's clearly in a different price category. If the LE ends up being comparable, it'll now be that much more attractive. Now I really wish I hadn't missed out on the LE's introductory pricing waiting for the LCD-2...

 

[momomo6789]

well it really went up in price O_o

 

[Ypoknons]

Taken out of the 'instant buy' area for me. Entry costs already high, plus delays and costs of shipping and service to where I live in Asia. Hope you guys make it popular so they can ramp up the quantities.

 

[Equus]

Owie. Yeah, I'll have to hold off a little. Not saying I wouldn't and won't buy them, just that it's proabbly not in the cards for a little while.

 

[cyd2025]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DefectiveAudioComponent /img/forum/go_quote.gif There is a form lower down on their information page about the LCD-2 LCD-2 :: Audeze Mogami cable isn't that expensive really. Why go cheaper than that?

thank you.

 

[Kabeer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frenshprince /img/forum/go_quote.gif Quote: Originally Posted by Figo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Price too high for an unproven manufacturer, I can get a used HD800 for that or a little more. I'll be going with the HE5-LE. This is why its never a good idea to release pricing hints until absolutely sure... the $300 extra is killer and really upsetting. I agree. With no policy return as well. I'd rather spend my money for the hd800 or the T1.

What do you mean by unproven? They released the LCD-1 and people were happy with them :s.
Everytime a big manufacturer releases a new headphone, that is 'unproven' too, HD800, T1 et all included.

Im not too happy about the price, but it's still lower than nearly most high end headphones. And those are mass produced, no doubt at a much lower cost than this (hand made, hand picked wood, custom made J$ pads etc) from a small boutique manfucaturer.

In the guitar world for instance, if you buy from a small luthier you will pay 2-3x the price of 'high' end mass made guitars like Taylor.
But here your getting a superior technology to all the other manufacturers (Bar Stax) at a lower price :S.

I can barely afford it myself, but I just gotto get it, ill have to sell some stuff soon to afford it.

 

[Kabeer]

I may as well post all the details here since no one has (ill update the first post too):

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audeze Website Audez’e is proud to introduce the LCD-2s designed for Recording / Mixing Engineers as reference headphones and the audiophiles and music enthusiasts. The LCD-2s are in production and will start shipping to customers on May 10th. We are in the process of contacting people who have emailed / pre-ordered the headphones. Hand selected Caribbean Rosewood ear cups. Lamb Skin Leather Ear pads. Audeze’s unique planar magnetic transducer with matched sensitivity. Mini XLR interchangeable cable. Very easy to drive with amplifiers. Left and right transducers have matched sensitivity and frequency response. The LCD-2 housing is designed and custom built from hand selected Caribbean Rosewood. It is built to enhance the quality of the sound and offers a unique coloration and graining. The LCD-2 ear pads are designed to optimally recreate the entire pro audio frequency range. The sloped ear pad design allows us to faithfully reproduce the detail and clarity to the bass, midrange and the treble. The ear pads are made of premium lambskin leather with specially selected foam to offer the right amount of firmness. Technical Specs: * Impedance: 50 Ohms, nominal * Sensitivity: 91 dB/1mW * Maximum power handling: 15W * Frequency Response: 5 Hz – 20 KHz, usable high frequency extension 50 KHz. * Distortion: Less than 1% even at full output. * Impedance: 50 Ohms, nominal * Efficiency: 91 dB/1mW * Maximum power handling: 15W * Maximum output: 133dB, 15W * Active diaphragm area: 6.17 square inches. * Contact pressure: 1.5 N, adjustable, comfortable headband. * Weight: 550 g, without cable. * Maximum diaphragm excursion: 2.5mm p-p * Maximum output: 133dB, 15W 1 year warranty. Custom wooden box for storage. Wood care kit. MSRP: $945.00 LCD-1 Owners, please contact us for upgrade information.

 

[SemiAudiophile]

placed my order. i'm not too fond of the foam headband either, but i'm sure jmoney will come up with something like a leather wrap down the road.

this would be my most expensive headphone purchase to date.

 

[JadeEast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SemiAudiophile /img/forum/go_quote.gif placed my order. i'm not too fond of the foam headband either, but i'm sure jmoney will come up with something like a leather wrap down the road. this would be my most expensive headphone purchase to date.

It does seem like it would be pretty trivial to come up with a simple leather or fabric wrap for the headpad. Not sure why it wasn't part of the stock design. One can see from the reaction so far that more than a few people consider the foam looks too cheap for a statement product.

As far as the price point it puts the headphone into the territory of the elite few and into the wait and see category for myself.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

The Precide Ergo series headphones also have a foam headband, and they actually present that as a feature. "This light weight and soft foam headband cushion result in complete freedom of pressure and allow the scalp to "breathe" naturally." (from http://www.precide.ch/eng/eergo/ergo.htm). (But I dont know if the LCD-2 foam is the same). I think they used foam also on some of their older float models (I could misremember though).

 

[sachu]

949$..that seems about right for a headphone that is hand made, hand picked wood (wood caring set a nice touch), state of the art planar drivers, J$ pads, wholly redesigned headphone which clearly reflects that they actually heard us and took our inputs when designing the headphone after RMAF. This is a complete redesign IMO and development costs would have been quite high. The LCD-2 oozes quality construction all over. Everything (yes yes other than the headband foam) is high quality materials and the result of sound engineering (pun intended).

I have heard this headphone and all I can say is that the price is more than warranted, hands down in the league of the T1 and HD800, but honestly eclipse them quite comfortably. Given all its great sonic abilities and its features, I am actually happy to see they managed to price it at under 1k$, considering it is made in the USA. None of that flaky stuff that usually lands on our coasts from the East. You just can't expect a MADE IN CHINA price for a hand built unit that is MADE IN THE USA.

 

[tim3320070]

It may be worth the asking price but they eliminated a sizable portion of buyers because of it if going by the last dozen posts (myself included).
I would also like to see them reviewed by those that have no prior relationship to Audeze- no offense intended.

 

[sachu]

Well Ferrari eliminated a whole city full of people am sure by pricing their cars so high

.
I think if Audez'e could have priced it that low they would have. Fact of life, if you can afford it you'll buy it. Else not.

 

[Pyriel0]

I always figured these were going to be a bargain headphone with high quality sound, not just another $1k+ headphone.

After messing around with damping/magnet set up/other mods on my old t20 ortho, I understand that an open backed ortho with a good sized diaphragm would sound really good ... but for $1k I would rather try stax. The price puts it into the elite class whereas at lesser price they would have been the headphone to buy. For $1k there are many other things to consider now.

And now what is going to make it even harder to get good info is that only the ortho fanatics seem to be in favor of this = they will be the only ones giving reviews which will fotm it even more.

 

[tim3320070]

We'll see how it pans out after a few dozen people have them in hand and report their feedback. I remember similar fervor over the HE-5. I think a lot of us were disappointed to see it so high.