[isquirrel]

I have had my LCD-4's for 2 months now and absolutely love them, they are by far my preferred headphone, in fact I prefer listening to them than speakers most of the time. They scale very well without being overly critical of sources. Easy to drive and I find them comfortable for hours on end. The Abyss has been sitting on the stand for weeks now with zero use. 
 
Using mine with DHC balanced cables and could't be happier. The only drawback is my wife loves them too so I have to keep an eye on them otherwise they get borrowed. 
 
Definitely more comfortable than my LCD-3F's or X's.

 

[groovyd]

  I have had my LCD-4's for 2 months now and absolutely love them, they are by far my preferred headphone, in fact I prefer listening to them than speakers most of the time. They scale very well without being overly critical of sources. Easy to drive and I find them comfortable for hours on end. The Abyss has been sitting on the stand for weeks now with zero use. 
 
Using mine with DHC balanced cables and could't be happier. The only drawback is my wife loves them too so I have to keep an eye on them otherwise they get borrowed. 
 
Definitely more comfortable than my LCD-3F's or X's.

you must have a pretty cool wife

 

[bmichels]

  I have had my LCD-4's for 2 months now and absolutely love them, they are by far my preferred headphone....Definitely more comfortable than my LCD-3F's or X's.

 
So, I have to try again to give them a last chance, but.... last year I bought LCD-X because I liked the sound a lot and...2 months later I sold them because i could not use them for long time due to their Weight and clamping force !
 
Too Un-confortable !   So I do not want to do the same mistake again...
 
 
 

  ....in fact I prefer listening to them than speakers most of the time....

 
even more than GRYPHON speakers

 

[goldendarko]

Got my LCD-3's back finally and boy did I miss them! Everything's running good this time around, hopefully it stays that way for a while and I may be considering the LCD-4 if these don't die on me again.

First time trying them with the Double Helix Comp4 too that I got for Christmas.

 

[ufospls2]

Got my LCD-3's back finally and boy did I miss them! Everything's running good this time around, hopefully it stays that way for a while and I may be considering the LCD-4 if these don't die on me again.

First time trying them with the Double Helix Comp4 too that I got for Christmas.

Cool set up mate. Do you find the cables make any difference?

 

[goldendarko]

  Cool set up mate. Do you find the cables make any difference?

With this setup they clearly do, with my HA-1 the difference is a lot less noticable. Not really sure if I would buy it again, I still think the difference is relatively small for the price I paid for these. 

 

[wessew10]

I own an LCD 3F.  I like them a lot, but I found the clamping pressure and the weight a bit high. I was also a little concerned about the relative "warmth" coming from an HD800 which I also own.  I ordered an LCD 4 but it arrived and shortly afterwards experienced a right side driver failure. Given my experience with the LCD 3F and the forum reports on driver reliability in general for Audeze, I decided to exercise an RMA within my 30 day return window which was handled very professionally by Audeze-no complaints on responsiveness and customer support here! I decided to go in a different direction and try something new: HiFiMan HE-1000.  I received them about a week ago, and count me very impressed.  They are considerably lighter than Audeze with less clamping pressure.  In terms of sound quality, they slot right in between the HD800 and the LCD 3F with all the best traits of both.  I did not have the LCD 4 long enough to render a quality relative comment on them. They sounded very good in the brief time I had them which was before full break in.  However, I now believe the HE-1000's are the best I have heard from a high quality headphone!  They are being driven by an Oppo HA-1.  

 

[prismstorm]

Just a general comment that when I visited my local shop yesterday half of their LCD lineup demos were gone. Turned out they experienced driver failures and were sent back. Shopkeeper remarked something about the humidity killing them, and that they should always be sealed in 'anti-humidity' boxes when not in use, but then they didn't do that and simply laid them on headphone racks. Unable to comment on the degree of veracity in those comments. 
 
The consistent instances of failures (confirmed by shop and distributor, the latter received no less than 10 LCD-3s in the span of a few months) and the unavailability (only one demo at the distributor, none at any dealers, distributor not yet accepting orders) means that my possible acquisition of these will have to be severely delayed.
 
So currently I am looking to the recently announced Sine to quench my thirst for a planar with the Audeze house sound (whenever those are available), this lets me test the waters of the reliability of Audeze first-hand but albeit at a much more affordable cost, and make a more informed decision on the flagship later on down the line. 

 

[emann56]

 
Yep, I've had this same exact experience.  I've been told one thing by the lady who answers the phone (who I assume is still Tara .B.), but was fortunate enough to get Tony once while she was out of the office.
 
There was one instance where she flat out told me they wouldn't upgrade my LCD-3 to the 3F, because demand was not great enough for the tooling, however, when my right driver failed (again), I called when she was out of the office, got Tony, and he allowed me to upgrade to the 3F during the repair process (for a cost, of course).
 
In short, I'd be very reluctant to order from them again, knowing that this person is still employed there and doing about everything she can to sandbag customers.

 
I also got Tony, told me he would replace my defective El-8C with a brand new pair.

 

[goldendarko]

  Just a general comment that when I visited my local shop yesterday half of their LCD lineup demos were gone. Turned out they experienced driver failures and were sent back. Shopkeeper remarked something about the humidity killing them, and that they should always be sealed in 'anti-humidity' boxes when not in use, but then they didn't do that and simply laid them on headphone racks. Unable to comment on the degree of veracity in those comments. 
 
The consistent instances of failures (confirmed by shop and distributor, the latter received no less than 10 LCD-3s in the span of a few months) and the unavailability (only one demo at the distributor, none at any dealers, distributor not yet accepting orders) means that my possible acquisition of these will have to be severely delayed.
 
So currently I am looking to the recently announced Sine to quench my thirst for a planar with the Audeze house sound (whenever those are available), this lets me test the waters of the reliability of Audeze first-hand but albeit at a much more affordable cost, and make a more informed decision on the flagship later on down the line. 

Interesting, I wonder if that is the case with all the driver failures. I live in a high humidity area myself, not sure if that could've been a factor in my LCD-3 driver failure. Would be interesting to hear from Audeze if that is the case or just if anything in general is being done to rectify all these failures. I'm holding off on pulling the trigger on the LCD-4 until I hear they've got it under control.

 

[Kohe321]

Humidity in the air? They are headphones, a thing that is meant to be seated over your ears for hours at a time...
 
If it's humidity causing the failures, then that basically means that using them as intended is also slowly killing them. 

 

 

[smitty1110]

  Humidity in the air? They are headphones, a thing that is meant to be seated over your ears for hours at a time...
 
If it's humidity causing the failures, then that basically means that using them as intended is also slowly killing them. 

 

IF this is the case they probably need to find a different diaphram material.

 

[Pale Rider]

  I wish the room had been more quiet... but the first thing I noticed was the classic Audeze warmth, openness, and cohesive sound. The bass is my favorite I've heard; the Abyss' bump made it sound unnatural in comparison, and the SR-009 is very nice down below, but the very bottom end doesn't connect with me in the same way as planars do. The mids have a great center image which was nice, and toms sounds great down a whole drum kit, and vocals sound intimate whilst not ever sounding closed in - a weird thing to say. I think everyone knows Audeze mids. The treble possibly is technically better on the other two cans, but aren't as natural and smooth. You really need some quiet space and trusted tracks to hear that. I know that Surely - Black Dub sounded great on Brian Blade's Zildjian K's and Spizzichino ride cymbals , just like I remember when I heard them in person. Smokey, crisp, dark, warm, with the perfect balance of stiffness and looseness. That's a pretty rough impression... if you have specific questions I can try to address those things from memory. I'm also quite partial to the Audeze house sound.
 
I also heard the HD800 for the first time, wasn't really impressed. The treble did some cool things around the area where snares buzz, but it seemed like overhyped detail. Great as a monitoring tool up top, the upper mids were nice and open. Amazing that dynamic drivers can sound that controlled and detailed, yes, but overall they just rubbed me the wrong way - I tried them with the Anax mod as well. So I can't really compare them to the LCD-4. I think at this level of can, it's all just subjective taste. I'd love to try them again on other gear besides Schiit TOTL stacks.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAEXGeeJ1ws - a must listen on Audezes - this is the sound I think that no other headphone can do as well

Before I talk about cans, thanks for that YT link. I ordered the disc as soon as i heard it. Looking forward to putting it on the server. Very nice.
 
I listen to the LCD-4, HD800, and SR-009 every day. The listening is not a perfect comparison, because the first two are powered by a HeadAmp GS-X mk2, and fed by a NADAC. The Stax is powered by a Mjölnir KGSSHV Carbon amp and fed by a Totaldac d-1 dual/server combo. There are going to be inevitable differences between the headphones that are not caused by the headphones themselves. I happen to like the "Audez'e house sound.' I still have my original LCD-2 set, and they have provided me nothing but pleasure. I drive those with a Decware Taboo MKIII, using the stock tubes [not for lack of other tubes; I have plenty, but Steve Deckert voiced the stock Taboo for the LCD-2s; the combo works well]. I agree the HD800 cans are extremely detailed; I like that. I am a detail freak.This is my second set of HD800s. The GSX drives them better than any amp I have previously heard. It brings the weight to the HD800 soundstage, which I think it needs to "warm up" that detail and complete the bass. And it sounds great on the LCD-4; the 4 sounds "controlled" by the GSX. I also am waiting for an Audez'e King amp, but I will be more than a little surprised if The King so outperforms the GSX that "it blows me away." A difference of that magnitude is simply unlikely. At this level of reproduction, the current SOTA is probably more similar in its accuracy, with differences being more about the balance that a design team chooses. Ergo, for example, the Audez'e house sound, the Sennheiser detail, the Stax neutrality.
 
None of these cans is lightweight. if you really want light weight, invest in a custom set of IEMs [I did, three times, before i decided "no more"]. But none of these is oppressive to me either. I do think if your first time trying an LCD is at a can show, it would probably seem heavy and tight. but my LCD-4 seems quite comfortable. For now, The Stax is still my #1 go-to each time, both for a slight edge in comfort, and a slight preference for its musical balance and neutrality. Maybe that is because the Totaldac might be a tad more "musical"' than the NADAC. Not sure, because there are enough differences in the chain, that no one factor can be exclusively identified as the source of the "right sound." But all three are great to hear. I could be happy with any one of these. Interestingly, that's not how I felt when I first bought the LCD-2. At that time, I was so enamored of its sound, that I sold my first pair of HD800s. I would not do that again.

 

[bmichels]

 
Before I talk about cans, thanks for that YT link. I ordered the disc as soon as i heard it. Looking forward to putting it on the server. Very nice.
 
I listen to the LCD-4, HD800, and SR-009 every day. The listening is not a perfect comparison, because the first two are powered by a HeadAmp GS-X mk2, and fed by a NADAC. The Stax is powered by a Mjölnir KGSSHV Carbon amp and fed by a Totaldac d-1 dual/server combo. ....

 
Pale Rider,  
 
can you tell me more about your Carbon ?  Indeed, I will jump into the SR009 wagon, and still wondering which is best AMP for it.  BHSE or Carbon or...?

 

[rgs9200m]

Any comments of the SR007 (any version) with the Carbon? Thanks in advance.