[10000days]

Two high shelf filters, at 1300 and 9500 hz ?

Yes. I put the 9500hz high shelf filter there in order to add extra air easily if I ever feel like it. At -3db it should neutralize the other high shelf filter, at +0db it adds some spiciness in the upper treble.

 

[Derivative]

I've had these cans for 3 months now and I don't know what it is, but they are just so pleasant to listen to.
I'm not certain which version mine are or which pads are on them (any pointers would be appreciated), but I don't EQ them as I find the base signature very satisfying.
The key words are smooth and rich, which I appreciate. Other cans in my stable are Focal Clear, DCA Aeon 2 closed and HD600 - the 2C are my favourites alongside the Clears.
They seem to work particularly well with my office setup: Mojo2 into LP G109.

I do wonder if the LCD-X would be a worthwhile upgrade - what's the community's thoughts on this?

 

[Tchoupitoulas]

I do wonder if the LCD-X would be a worthwhile upgrade - what's the community's thoughts on this?

Since the 2021 revision, the LCD-X supposedly has a different tuning to its predecessors, one that's brighter and a significant step away from the lovely, darker Audeze house sound of old. I've not heard it myself yet, though.

If you don't mind buying second-hand, an LCD-4 might be a nice upgrade option. The tuning is similar in many ways, although the LCD-4 has a bit more top end emphasis so as to give a nice bit of sparkle.

You've got a nice collection of cans there, btw - and I write that as someone with the LCD-2C, HD 600, and, until a few weeks ago, the Clear. My LCD-2C are keepers: I love them for their tone and for their non-fatiguing qualities, which make them perfect for poorly recorded or mastered 90s alternative rock.

 

[Derivative]

Since the 2021 revision, the LCD-X supposedly has a different tuning to its predecessors, one that's brighter and a significant step away from the lovely, darker Audeze house sound of old. I've not heard it myself yet, though.

If you don't mind buying second-hand, an LCD-4 might be a nice upgrade option. The tuning is similar in many ways, although the LCD-4 has a bit more top end emphasis so as to give a nice bit of sparkle.

You've got a nice collection of cans there, btw - and I write that as someone with the LCD-2C, HD 600, and, until a few weeks ago, the Clear. My LCD-2C are keepers: I love them for their tone and for their non-fatiguing qualities, which make them perfect for poorly recorded or mastered 90s alternative rock.

Thanks for the insight, appreciate it. If the 2C is a good representative of the classic Audeze house sound then that's what I want to stick to, as you say it has a great tonality that doesn't tire you out regardless what you throw at it.
I'm going to try and audition the X at some point to get a feel for their sound, they seem very well regarded in general.
The LCD-4 could be interesting as well, although it's a significant step up budget wise...

 

[Tchoupitoulas]

it's a significant step up budget wise...

Yes, it really is - I managed to snag mine for a fairly decent price when people started selling them to upgrade to the LCD-5. You might find some of the pre-2021 LCD-X going for a good price second hand, and they might have the sound you'd prefer, although, again, this isn't from my own first-hand experience, just from reading the forums too much!

 

[fordski]

Just picked up a pair of these on the Audeze "B" stock sale, for $495 I couldn't resist! Looking forward to hearing them. I had some of the original LCD-2s I bought in 2011 but living in a high humidity climate wasn't kind to them.

 

[HTSkywalker]

Just picked up a pair of these on the Audeze "B" stock sale, for $495 I couldn't resist! Looking forward to hearing them. I had some of the original LCD-2s I bought in 2011 but living in a high humidity climate wasn't kind to them.

Good price depending on the phone's condition.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

...I write that as someone with the LCD-2C, HD 600...

This is a great combo! I feel both of these are very complimentary and I said, the LCD-2C is kinda the planar version of HD 600s

 

[zeeyaa]

Good price depending on the phone's condition.

I got some B stock LCD2C’s last year and can’t find any defects at all except if you hold it at a certain angle in the light you can see the paint is barely uneven at the top of the earcup.. was definitely well worth the price which was the same as the above poster’s

 

[fordski]

Thanks! Good to know. I'm assuming B stock items have slight manufacturer defects that can't be sold as new. I loved my old broken LCD 2 and am looking forward to adding these to my headphone collection.

 

[Slaphead]

Thanks! Good to know. I'm assuming B stock items have slight manufacturer defects that can't be sold as new. I loved my old broken LCD 2 and am looking forward to adding these to my headphone collection.

That's correct. B-Stock should mean products with some cosmetic blemishes, but otherwise should function as perfectly as "A-Stock"

 

[Opalius]

I'm a very lucky man. Here en Danmark i have the chance to take the LCD2c home for the weekend from Hifiklubben so I can demo it on my own. This is really really cool. Spent like 9 hours yesterday going A-B. And now on doing a shootout between the LCD2c and my HD650.

Listening to Simi acoustic music. To LP with Muddy water and Lost on you....

So far the LCD is winning bigtime.

 

[The Hawk]

I do wonder if the LCD-X would be a worthwhile upgrade - what's the community's thoughts on this?

I’ll offer my thoughts on that as I went from the 2C to a 2021 LCD-X

I had the 2C for a month and I really enjoyed it. Great bass impact, mids (notably vocals) are excellent and I enjoyed the warmer, toned down highs......especially for listening to metal music at louder volumes as so MANY of those recordings tend to be “hot” in the upper treble and get fatiguing quickly. The 2C is perfect for that kind of scenario. I also found the vocals.....particularly male vocals to sound really good and visceral. It also does a decent job of conveying soundstage width although the placement and panning has some dead spots.

So why did I get rid of it?

The highs are too recessed IMO......even for a treble sensitive person like myself. On recordings I’m very familiar with a lot of nuances and details are buried in the mix or in many cases......almost inaudible. I also felt on some female voices it made them sound on the congested/nasally side. I had always heard so many good things about the LCD-X that I thought I would give them a try and compare them to my 2C. So thanks to Amazon I sent the 2C back before my 30days were up and ordered the LCD-X from Adorama (who also provide 30 day, no questions asked returns in case I didn’t think the upgrade was worth it) I was also unaware at the time of purchase but mine were built in late 2020 and are the latest revised versions (aka the 2021)

After I had one day with them I knew they were keepers for me. I like them a lot more than the 2C. The 2C sounds wider and gives the impression of stronger bass but the X is better everywhere. The X may seem to not have has much bass slam as the 2C but how it does the bass is superior. It reaches lower, it’s faster, tighter and you can hear the details and textures in the bass better. The 2C for lack of better description sounds a little “one note-ish” to me in how it delivers bass......a bit rumbly and loose sounding. Still fun and enjoyable but definitely less refined.

Mids are even sounding to me and vocals sound excellent. The 2C is more present vocal wise but can seem a tad shouty on some recordings. The X never sounds that way. I also find female vocals sound more natural as well thanks to the extra treble and air the X has over the 2C.

Treble wise......definitely brighter than the 2C but it’s done in such a nice way. As mentioned, I’m treble sensitive and even at elevated volume levels the highs are just bright enough but still warm enough to not cause fatigue for me. The best part though.....all those subtle details, nuances or whatever you want to call them are there that were often missing on the 2C and placement throughout the soundstage is much easier to decipher.

With all that said I still think the 2C is a REALLY great headphone and an excellent entry point to the LCD line. I still may add it to my arsenal in the future as I think it’s different enough from the X to warrant owning it.....notably for those “treble gone wild” rock and metal albums in my collection and especially when I do those brief “listen at stupid volume level” sessions of those albums.

 

[dsrk]

I’ll offer my thoughts on that as I went from the 2C to a 2021 LCD-X

I had the 2C for a month and I really enjoyed it. Great bass impact, mids (notably vocals) are excellent and I enjoyed the warmer, toned down highs......especially for listening to metal music at louder volumes as so MANY of those recordings tend to be “hot” in the upper treble and get fatiguing quickly. The 2C is perfect for that kind of scenario. I also found the vocals.....particularly male vocals to sound really good and visceral. It also does a decent job of conveying soundstage width although the placement and panning has some dead spots.

So why did I get rid of it?

The highs are too recessed IMO......even for a treble sensitive person like myself. On recordings I’m very familiar with a lot of nuances and details are buried in the mix or in many cases......almost inaudible. I also felt on some female voices it made them sound on the congested/nasally side. I had always heard so many good things about the LCD-X that I thought I would give them a try and compare them to my 2C. So thanks to Amazon I sent the 2C back before my 30days were up and ordered the LCD-X from Adorama (who also provide 30 day, no questions asked returns in case I didn’t think the upgrade was worth it) I was also unaware at the time of purchase but mine were built in late 2020 and are the latest revised versions (aka the 2021)

After I had one day with them I knew they were keepers for me. I like them a lot more than the 2C. The 2C sounds wider and gives the impression of stronger bass but the X is better everywhere. The X may seem to not have has much bass slam as the 2C but how it does the bass is superior. It reaches lower, it’s faster, tighter and you can hear the details and textures in the bass better. The 2C for lack of better description sounds a little “one note-ish” to me in how it delivers bass......a bit rumbly and loose sounding. Still fun and enjoyable but definitely less refined.

Mids are even sounding to me and vocals sound excellent. The 2C is more present vocal wise but can seem a tad shouty on some recordings. The X never sounds that way. I also find female vocals sound more natural as well thanks to the extra treble and air the X has over the 2C.

Treble wise......definitely brighter than the 2C but it’s done in such a nice way. As mentioned, I’m treble sensitive and even at elevated volume levels the highs are just bright enough but still warm enough to not cause fatigue for me. The best part though.....all those subtle details, nuances or whatever you want to call them are there that were often missing on the 2C and placement throughout the soundstage is much easier to decipher.

With all that said I still think the 2C is a REALLY great headphone and an excellent entry point to the LCD line. I still may add it to my arsenal in the future as I think it’s different enough from the X to warrant owning it.....notably for those “treble gone wild” rock and metal albums in my collection and especially when I do those brief “listen at stupid volume level” sessions of those albums.

Your impressions are spot on with mine when I had both X and 2C ABing side by side. But I went the opposite and kept the 2C.
Resolution is not 2C's forte IMO there are headphones (Ananda) that cost less can out resolve 2C. But as per my experience with a lot of headphone in $1800 range no headphone gave me the satisfaction 2C gave, you can argue that's preference and I agree. Nothing beats the fun factor of LCD2C.

2C can sound a whole lot different/better with EQ, in fact all LCDs do. 2C responds great to EQ. If you get the 2C again, I suggest you to try EQing and I am sure you are not going feel the same about the mids and bass of 2C.

 

[Thoeri]

What I've found with the Classics is that the mids are a bit elevated, which I don't like. Equalizing them down while boosting the bass solved that issue for me, and made them sound great. I wanted to boost the treble aswell, but for some reason it becomes very shouty from even just a small boost here.. Maybe because of the lack of resolution?