[droopy1592]

Give it a week or so and they'll soon much prefer the 4's (hopefully). The 3's have good midrange yes, but with a good amplifier and some time to kill, you'll understand why the 4's do it better. Perhaps it's subjective and broils down to personal preference, though I feel the 3's are slightly more musical due to it's darker sound and smooth midrange, though the 4's are more accurate and you'll realize you liked it all along upon returning to the 3's.

When I switch to a Jotunheim amp the fours Jumped Up another level. The 4s will excel more with a better amp I think and will distance themselves even more from the 3. The Jot isn't a TOTL amp but it's damn good in both SE and balanced mode and the 4s needed some balanced power and I've spent enough so I went midfi. I'm sure it would distance itself even more with a better amp.

 

[Hifi59]

I think it is less musical because it is a tad bright, less forward and less intimate, right??? 



The LCD4 is the ONLY headphones that reminds me of studio monitors!
It is not extremely forward and claustrophobic like the Utopia
AND
not extremely ethereal like the HE1000 or HD800S. 

I think the LCD-4 is slightly less musical with some genres some of the time, because the LCD- 3 creamy midrange. I agree with all else you said. I might add that my 2016 LCD-3 drivers dont quite have that magical midrange of my 2015 drivers.(driver died a few months ago). So now, the LCD-3 rarely sounds more musical except on a few tracks here and there. The 2015 drivers sounded a bit more musical to my ear.

 

[Sonic Guild]

I think the LCD-4 is slightly less musical with some genres some of the time, because the LCD- 3 creamy midrange. I agree with all else you said. I might add that my 2016 LCD-3 drivers dont quite have that magical midrange of my 2015 drivers.(driver died a few months ago). So now, the LCD-3 rarely sounds more musical except on a few tracks here and there. The 2015 drivers sounded a bit more musical to my ear.

What is wrong with the drivers? Everybody is complaining! 
I thought that was an old issue that was solved.
 
My plan is to keep the LCD4 running for the next 15 years! Is this realistic and doable? 

 

[Smazz]

What is wrong with the drivers? Everybody is complaining! 
I thought that was an old issue that was solved.

My plan is to keep the LCD4 running for the next 15 years! Is this realistic and doable? 

Yes, if a driver fails and falls within the three year warranty, it is repaired by Audeze and the warranty renews from the repair date, so you get an additional three year warranty from the date it was repaired.

 

[Gamergtx260]

 
What is wrong with the drivers? Everybody is complaining! 
I thought that was an old issue that was solved.
 
My plan is to keep the LCD4 running for the next 15 years! Is this realistic and doable? 

Atleast Audeze have addressed this in tthe newer drivers and the failure rates should be low. But no one knows it yet.

 

[droopy1592]

I'm going to ride them til they die then repair if I have to. They lowered repair costs to $250 iirc

 

[Hifi59]

What is wrong with the drivers? Everybody is complaining! 
I thought that was an old issue that was solved.

My plan is to keep the LCD4 running for the next 15 years! Is this realistic and doable? 

I personally believe that they have the problem solved with 2016 drivers and this includes all 200ohm LCD-4s.
Any driver prior to the 2016's, I believe, are ticking time bombs waiting to die at any given time.

 

[mulder01]

 
What is wrong with the drivers? Everybody is complaining! 
I thought that was an old issue that was solved.
 
My plan is to keep the LCD4 running for the next 15 years! Is this realistic and doable? 

 
When did any audiophile ever have the same setup for 15 years?  There will be an LCD-9 out by then.

 

[Energy]

   
When did any audiophile ever have the same setup for 15 years?  There will be an LCD-9 out by then.

 
I thought the same thing.
 
Let's be honest. You won't be having the LCD-4 in 15 years. I doubt even longer than 5.

 

[goldendarko]

   
I thought the same thing.
 
Let's be honest. You won't be having the LCD-4 in 15 years. I doubt even longer than 5.

Well, the people that buy gear and don't hover around Head-Fi might be quite content. The problem with us is we hear about new gear and then have to have it, lol

 

[Sonic Guild]

When did any audiophile ever have the same setup for 15 years?  There will be an LCD-9 out by then.

I am not quite sure which audiophiles you are talking about!

I know audiophiles who still own and use Orpheus 1, which was released in 1991.
I also know many audiophiles who still use 30 years old speakers.

 

[Energy]

I take back what I said. Touché. 

 

[Sonic Guild]

I take back what I said. Touché. 

Hahahaha dude seriously we have to save money

 

[Gamergtx260]

Hello Guys,
 
I spent the whole day yesterday and the whole morning today (thank you redbull) and listened the crap out of the LCD 4's. It finally boiled down to these questions.
1. While they sound really good, are they worth the price?
2. Am I having the same fun as I had with the 3F's?
3. Maybe they are 15% improvement over the LCD 3's but do I really need/notice them?
 
My mind says NO. They are surely a marvel but it is way overpriced. (I understand it is a flagship)
Maybe my Mjolnir doesn't power them well (I doubt that) but I don't plan on changing my amp/dac for now.
Also they are much heavier than the 3's. The CF headband do help distribute but still it is heavy

 

[Mystel]

  Hello Guys,
 
I spent the whole day yesterday and the whole morning today (thank you redbull) and listened the crap out of the LCD 4's. It finally boiled down to these questions.
1. While they sound really good, are they worth the price?
2. Am I having the same fun as I had with the 3F's?
3. Maybe they are 15% improvement over the LCD 3's but do I really need/notice them?
 
My mind says NO. They are surely a marvel but it is way overpriced. (I understand it is a flagship)
Maybe my Mjolnir doesn't power them well (I doubt that) but I don't plan on changing my amp/dac for now.
Also they are much heavier than the 3's. The CF headband do help distribute but still it is heavy

Whether its worth the price or not is subjective. I mean at this price range, usually only those who are really serious about this hobby will be willing to invest such a sum. 
Law of diminishing returns obviously applies, and ofc paying for the huge price gap comes with somewhat smaller improvements in sound. A headphone priced at 4k doesnt mean its 2x better than one priced at 2k
Personally i think its only fair to call something 'overpriced' if another headphone performs better at a lower price bracket, or if something else in the same price range outperforms it. It is definitely not a fair comparison between the 3s and the 4s, as they are not in the same price bracket.