[groovyd]

  Does this change make any happy owners reluctant to fix what doesn't seem to be broken? Would you rather wait until reports come in about the sonic differences? I would not want a bright phone, as I kind of like the current sweet and natural signature.

save yours just the way it is, will be one of those unicorn units everyone wants 10 years from now.

 

[johnzz4]

Does this change make any happy owners reluctant to fix what doesn't seem to be broken? Would you rather wait until reports come in about the sonic differences? I would not want a bright phone, as I kind of like the current sweet and natural signature.

I also received an email from Mark that said the sound signature would be even more accurate and wouldn't have as much midrange. He said some may not prefer that change.

A little less midrange sounds like its going to be more in-line with the X sound sig. That's my preference anyway, so i'm lookimg forward to the update.

He also said it wasn't just the driver being updated, so I'm guessing he's referring to the headband, but I can't be certain.

 

[iBrian]

I also received an email from Mark that said the sound signature would be even more accurate and wouldn't have as much midrange. He said some may not prefer that change.

A little less midrange sounds like its going to be more in-line with the X sound sig. That's my preference anyway, so i'm lookimg forward to the update.

He also said it wasn't just the driver being updated, so I'm guessing he's referring to the headband, but I can't be certain.

I really hope they stick with the CF and wide Leather strap!

 

[schugh]

I wonder if I have the new updates since I only got mine last week Friday (or was it Thursday?)
I streamed some Indian Classical music from Tidal last night. Sounded excellent. I'm just going to listen to the LCD4 for a couple of month before attempting to make a second comparison with my updated LCD3Fs.
 
However I did try again to compare the volume setting. Also I wanted to mention, the volume setting on the Bryston BHA1 is interesting. I remember reading about it somewhere but forget now.
Anyway, the volume increases normally from 6 to 9 or 10. From there till about 2  or 3 it doesn't increase very much. Then from 3 onwards it increases again normally like one would expect.
 
Anyway, with this music I was comfortable at about 9 or just under with the LCD3Fs.
With the LCD4s at that volume setting it was no go at all.
I had to turn the volume to 2/3 before the LCD4s came alive and were approximately the same volume as the LCD3Fs at about 9.

 

[iBrian]

Would you guys say the BHA-1 is a good Amp for the LCD-4, LCD-XC, HD800 S Headphones?

 

[nam3less]

 

On to more important stuff.. I just got off the phone with Mark at Audeze about the new driver. It's a different material and is even thinner and he says it sounds better, but the impedance goes up to 200 ohms and we lose 3db of efficiency. He also mentioned that it is more reliable. They are going to contact all the current LCD-4 owners and offer them a no-charge update to the new driver in a few weeks if they want it. They are just doing some more testing to make sure everything is fine with the new driver.

I'll be getting the updated driver as soon as it becomes available...

Curious as to how this affects new orders,like mine, coming in. Are they going to halt production until new driver testing is completed? Or, are they going to ship with old driver and do update as it becomes available, whenever that is.

FWIW, I ordered mine on 13JAN and haven't received any shipping info so I'm guessing they are halting shipments until they are done.

 

[Torq]

I also received an email from Mark that said the sound signature would be even more accurate and wouldn't have as much midrange. He said some may not prefer that change.

A little less midrange sounds like its going to be more in-line with the X sound sig. That's my preference anyway, so i'm lookimg forward to the update.

He also said it wasn't just the driver being updated, so I'm guessing he's referring to the headband, but I can't be certain.

 
I'm seriously concerned that Audeze are "shipping" a $4,000 headphone but haven't quite figured out what it is and how it is specified yet.
 
Continuous improvement is great ... to a point.
 
I don't want to drop $4,000 on a headphone that I love today and has great synergy with my amplifier and then, three months later, be faced with getting a different sound signature and different sensitivity and impedance characteristics in the event that I ever experience a failure.  That level of change is potentially the difference between an amplifier with great synergy suddenly becoming borderline non-viable.
 
Not that it makes a huge difference at this point - I still don't have my LCD-4 and don't seem any closer to actually getting them.
 
Maybe I should just go LCD-X or even Abyss until the LCD-4 situation plays out.  Shame really - I've been anxious for a big upgrade and wanted another set of Audeze's, but the LCD-4 was announced right as I was going to pull the trigger on the X, and I don't trust the 3F (nor do I think it's a usefully big step from my 2.2c).
 
Decisions ... decisions ...

 

[Hifi59]

FWIW, I ordered mine on 13JAN and haven't received any shipping info so I'm guessing they are halting shipments until they are done.

Wow! Ordered Jan 13th and still waiting. That's ugly. My vendor actually called me today to inform me that Audeze told him it will take two weeks from today. I placed my order on February 6th. Should I hold my breath?

 

[potkettleblack]

2 more LCD 4 failures reported today.

My dealers demo set went (both drivers) and one of his customers failed as well.

I'm not trying to be the TMZ of headfi or stir the pot, but I'll quite happily scream this from the roof tops until they get their act together. Unbelievable stuff.

Recall all of them, provide a refund and start from scratch. Before the name of a company that is (capable) of making incredible sounding headphones, continues to make the rope that will eventually hang them.

 

[RCBinTN]

Would you guys say the BHA-1 is a good Amp for the LCD-4, LCD-XC, HD800 S Headphones?

 
I can confirm the BHA-1 is a good amp for LCD-X, XC, and HD800.  Haven't heard the HD800S but assume it would be similar performance to the HD800 (from an amp perspective).
 
By the way, @Fido2 has a BHA-1 listed for sale on the amplification page.  US$850.  A decent price, IMHO.

 

[potkettleblack]

2 more LCD 4 failures reported today.

My dealers demo set went (both drivers) and one of his customers failed as well.

I'm not trying to be the TMZ of headfi or stir the pot, but I'll quite happily scream this from the roof tops until they get their act together. Unbelievable stuff.

Recall all of them, provide a refund and start from scratch. Before the name of a company that is (capable) of making incredible sounding headphones, continues to make the rope that will eventually hang them.

 

[RCBinTN]

   
I'm seriously concerned that Audeze are "shipping" a $4,000 headphone but haven't quite figured out what it is and how it is specified yet.
 
Continuous improvement is great ... to a point.
 
I don't want to drop $4,000 on a headphone that I love today and has great synergy with my amplifier and then, three months later, be faced with getting a different sound signature and different sensitivity and impedance characteristics in the event that I ever experience a failure.  That level of change is potentially the difference between an amplifier with great synergy suddenly becoming borderline non-viable.
 
Not that it makes a huge difference at this point - I still don't have my LCD-4 and don't seem any closer to actually getting them.
 
Maybe I should just go LCD-X or even Abyss until the LCD-4 situation plays out.  Shame really - I've been anxious for a big upgrade and wanted another set of Audeze's, but the LCD-4 was announced right as I was going to pull the trigger on the X, and I don't trust the 3F (nor do I think it's a usefully big step from my 2.2c).
 
Decisions ... decisions ...

 
FWIW.  I have a 2-year old X and a 2-month old X.  They sound identical and great.

 

[potkettleblack]

The LCD X is an exceptional headphone and I've only ever heard of one failure across headfi and reddit since its release.

 

[MisterMoJo]

The LCD X is an exceptional headphone and I've only ever heard of one failure across headfi and reddit since its release.

There was a failure in the LCD-X thread just the other day:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/684394/audeze-lcd-x/7395#post_12303220
 
edit:  oops I read that as no failures.  Sorry!

 

[groovyd]

for the price and performance you can't go wrong with the X... but first find out if they are willing to sell it to you with the new carbon fiber headband in place of the original. 2 birds one stone.