[slair76116]

I have an older non fazor and compared to newer fazor I preferred the non fazor.

To me the newer sounded harsh. Used it both on burson conductor virtuoso with s9018.

I beilieve that thing like harshness can be cleaned up with the right marriage of dac/amp.

I'm very happy that I have a non fazor. To me it is more of that lcd house sound. Which I love.

 

[Badas]

I have an older non fazor and compared to newer fazor I preferred the non fazor.

To me the newer sounded harsh. Used it both on burson conductor virtuoso with s9018.

I beilieve that thing like harshness can be cleaned up with the right marriage of dac/amp.

I'm very happy that I have a non fazor. To me it is more of that lcd house sound. Which I love.

I've also got non-fazor.
I've listened to the fazor version at a meet (not the best environment) and I owned the fazor version LCD-X for over a year. To my ears the older LCD-3 has a more lush mid-range with less impact on treble.

 

[kyle1010]

I wrote some sonic differences between the non-Fazor, Fazor, and 2016 Fazor in post #11036



 



http://www.head-fi.org/t/575751/new-audeze-lcd3/11025#post_12533250



 



The short answer is older, pre fazor LCD3, are creamier, darker and have less treble.



 



The fazor LCD3 have more treble, clarity but can be a bit hard sounded in some system. Not so pleasing and forgiving of bad/hot recordings as the older ones IMO.

Wow thanks that helps a lot. Looks like the older 3s are what I'm looking for. My only concern is imaging. I'm used to the sharp imaging of my LCD-Xs so I'm wondering if the non-fazor LCD-3s present more of a wall of rich sound or if they image and layer instruments really well within the soundstage.

 

[Badas]

Wow thanks that helps a lot. Looks like the older 3s are what I'm looking for. My only concern is imaging. I'm used to the sharp imaging of my LCD-Xs so I'm wondering if the non-fazor LCD-3s present more of a wall of rich sound or if they image and layer instruments really well within the soundstage.

I owned both the LCD-X and LCD-3C at the same time for well over a year. They imaged very similar. LCD-3C was a richer mid-range version of the LCD-X. More magic happened on the LCD-3C so eventually I let the LCD-X go.

 

[kyle1010]

 
I owned both the LCD-X and LCD-3C at the same time for well over a year. They imaged very similar. LCD-3C was a richer mid-range version of the LCD-X. More magic happened on the LCD-3C so eventually I let the LCD-X go.

Ok cool, decision made! I use a WA-22 just like you so I'd imagine they also respond as well to tube rolls as the LCD-Xs right? Does the hi/lo impedance switch make any difference in SQ? Balanced or SE change anything? Now I just have to find a pair and hope the drivers never fail.

 

[headfirocks]

I'll sell you mine. No I won't, they rule! But seriously good luck in your search.

 

[kyle1010]

I'll sell you mine. No I won't, they rule!

But seriously good luck in your search.

Ha! No luck needed. I just found a pair and purchased. They should arrive next week!

 

[S Crowther]

Is anyone willing to characterize the sonic differences between the non-Fazor, Fazor, and 2016 Fazor? Are there any other variations?

I had the original lcd3f and then upgraded the fazors to 2016 version.
The originals were like listening through a sock, with the new fazors the sock is thinner. The mid range sound is simply muffled.
I use them balanced from a V281 fed from Hugo TT.

 

[jonstatt]

I think preference of LCD-3f (newer or older) vs LCD-3c will largely be based on your hearing response. If you are younger, or have sensitive treble response you may prefer the 3c. It was one of the reasons I was sold on it as I find, what I perceive as accentuated treble to be very fatiguing. I am not so young anymore but I had extreme hearing as a kid, able to hear the fluorescent light tubes screaming in department stores....I can't hear that anymore but I am still on the sensitive side when it comes to treble. But if the treble response of your ears has started to roll-off with age, as an example, then you may find the 3c sounding dull or lacking detail. 
 
I play the piano and I also use a Yamaha Clavinova digital piano with headphones. The LCD-3c got the closest to reproducing the natural timbre of the piano to my ears.

 

[Articnoise]

IMO all LCD3s have the same type of sound. In other words it’s a bigger different between an LCD3 and an LCDX than between any of the LCD3 revisions IME. With that said the biggest different I have observed, between different rev of LCD3 is in the amount of upper mids and treble. More upper mids will often make the sound a bit clearer and dynamic and more treble will sound more open and airy. The “down side” of more upper mids and treble is less of Audeze’s house sound, IE a bit less relaxed, midcentric, lush and forgiving. 

 

[Badas]

I took a listen to my LCD-3C last night. First time in a long while. I've been a little star stuck by the AQ NightHawks and they have taken all my listening time.
My observations on the older LCD-3C. Lovely mid-range. About as high as I can handle in the treble. The poster above is correct. If you are sensitive to treble this is the better HP. Probably why I moved away from the LCD-X.
LCD-3C seems to be made for my ears. I will put the Hawks down for a while and give the LCD-3 more listening time.

 

[fastfox1306]

Hi all, i just picked up LCD-3's (fazor ed) last Saturday and have been listening to them essentially every day and I absolutely adore them! I have a few issues however and it is mainly with comfort. The headband is really digging into the top of my head. This happens roughly about 45 minutes (about an albums length) into my listening sessions and it gradually intensifies and I ultimately have to take them off. Is there any way to modify the headband to provide better comfort to achieve longer listening sessions? Another issue I am having (actually this happened with all of my past over the ear cans) is a piercing sensation in my middle ear (I am assuming this is what is described as "ear fatigue"). Is this due to the treble in music and is my amplifier/dac the culprit? I have only had this sensation when listening to over the ear style headphones (my shure se846's are fine and I can listen to them for hours straight) and surprisingly most recently with my new Martin Logan ESL electrostatic speakers. Is there anyway to better resolve that issue as well? Both of these are affecting my comfort and prevents me from longer listening sessions. I really do love the headphones but if there is no fix, I may have to return them. They are my favorite headphones I have ever listened to and hopefully I can keep them!
 
I guess a little information on my setup: Surface Pro 3 w/Fostex HPA-4 DAC/amp & FLAC/AIFF files only. I listen to music at a moderate level, nothing terribly loud. My fostex amp is set on high gain and min starts at around 7 o'clock and I only turn it to 9 o'clock. Max is at 4 o'clock. 

 

[SashimiWu]

  Hi all, i just picked up LCD-3's (fazor ed) last Saturday and have been listening to them essentially every day and I absolutely adore them! I have a few issues however and it is mainly with comfort. The headband is really digging into the top of my head. This happens roughly about 45 minutes (about an albums length) into my listening sessions and it gradually intensifies and I ultimately have to take them off. Is there any way to modify the headband to provide better comfort to achieve longer listening sessions? Another issue I am having (actually this happened with all of my past over the ear cans) is a piercing sensation in my middle ear (I am assuming this is what is described as "ear fatigue"). Is this due to the treble in music and is my amplifier/dac the culprit? I have only had this sensation when listening to over the ear style headphones (my shure se846's are fine and I can listen to them for hours straight) and surprisingly most recently with my new Martin Logan ESL electrostatic speakers. Is there anyway to better resolve that issue as well? Both of these are affecting my comfort and prevents me from longer listening sessions. I really do love the headphones but if there is no fix, I may have to return them. They are my favorite headphones I have ever listened to and hopefully I can keep them!
 
I guess a little information on my setup: Surface Pro 3 w/Fostex HPA-4 DAC/amp & FLAC/AIFF files only. I listen to music at a moderate level, nothing terribly loud. My fostex amp is set on high gain and min starts at around 7 o'clock and I only turn it to 9 o'clock. Max is at 4 o'clock. 

 
Regarding the comfort, that is a very common experience for a lot of Audeze customers.  One of the ways to help is to buy a Lohb strap (search for Lohb on head-fi and send him a message) which you can attached to your headband to increase the comfort level.  The more expensive option is to opt for the Audeze carbon fiber headband which they sell for $200 which achieves the same goal (and might be even better comfort wise).  Having used both, they both take away from the hotspots that occur during longer listening sessions.
 
As for the fatigue I can't really say.  If you are getting ear fatigue maybe try listening at lower volumes first and see if the problem persists.  If you're not happy with the sound coming from your Fostex and want to tame the treble you can maybe try getting a tube amplifier (preferably a hybrid of OTC) to try to dull the treble.  However in my experience, the LCD-3's already have pretty tame treble compared to something like the HD800 or  HD600.

 

[siwolfman]

Hi all, i just picked up LCD-3's (fazor ed) last Saturday and have been listening to them essentially every day and I absolutely adore them! I have a few issues however and it is mainly with comfort. The headband is really digging into the top of my head. This happens roughly about 45 minutes (about an albums length) into my listening sessions and it gradually intensifies and I ultimately have to take them off. Is there any way to modify the headband to provide better comfort to achieve longer listening sessions? Another issue I am having (actually this happened with all of my past over the ear cans) is a piercing sensation in my middle ear (I am assuming this is what is described as "ear fatigue"). Is this due to the treble in music and is my amplifier/dac the culprit? I have only had this sensation when listening to over the ear style headphones (my shure se846's are fine and I can listen to them for hours straight) and surprisingly most recently with my new Martin Logan ESL electrostatic speakers. Is there anyway to better resolve that issue as well? Both of these are affecting my comfort and prevents me from longer listening sessions. I really do love the headphones but if there is no fix, I may have to return them. They are my favorite headphones I have ever listened to and hopefully I can keep them!

I guess a little information on my setup: Surface Pro 3 w/Fostex HPA-4 DAC/amp & FLAC/AIFF files only. I listen to music at a moderate level, nothing terribly loud. My fostex amp is set on high gain and min starts at around 7 o'clock and I only turn it to 9 o'clock. Max is at 4 o'clock. 

I had the same problem with the original headband so I bought the Audeze Carbon Fiber one. It's a little expensive but it makes all the difference. Now I can listen to them all day! Definitely worth it!

 

[fastfox1306]

I think I may bite the bullet and get the headband...being a $2000 headphone it should come standard with them IMO.