[draytonklammer]

  Interesting...What you're saying is LCD-4 is the same category?

For my ears it was always and is now:
 
LCD-4 > LCD-X > LCD-3.
 
I found the LCD-X to be a bit more forward and neutral compared to the LCD-3.
 
The LCD-4 has the musicality I loved in the LCD-3 (along with in my opinion when driven correctly more accurate, more extended and powerful bass) and the tonality/accuracy of the LCD-X along with the forwardness of the LCD-X.
 
For me, I planned on keeping my LCD-X over the LCD-3 before I even heard of the LCD-4.

 

[Harry Deng]

cool stuff! What do you think of Abyss? besides the look

 

[draytonklammer]

  cool stuff! What do you think of Abyss? besides the look

I never factor in looks or comfort, I only care about sound quality.
 
The Abyss has more bass than the LCD-4, but it's not as accurate IMO.
 
For me the Abyss was a let down compared to what I have heard (and yes it was properly adjusted and I tried both a sealed and non-sealed fit)
 
I found the LCD-4 to have more soundstage width and depth. The Abyss and LCD-4 both feel like they have a pitch black background.
 
Treble was a bit better on the Abyss, although that doesn't always mean it sounds better. Treble is often perceived as detail or quality when quite honestly it can be a bit ridiculous.
 
For my ears and preference the LCD-4 was what I needed to upgrade from the HE-1000.

 

[Harry Deng]

Now you make me wanna get a Audeze!

 

[draytonklammer]

Like everyone told me, try them all first if you get to that tier.
 
Some people seem to prefer the Abyss, some prefer the LCD-4, some even prefer the HE-1000.

 

[Focker]

Holy **** balanced with this headphone stepped up the game with my Moon Neo.

Double the wattage per channel. I got the bass back that I was missing and these are just god damn amazing.

LOL

 

[jsgraha]

Yup, and some even prefer hd800 series to all those phones in the synergized setup

 

[up late]

different strokes for different folks and so many options to choose from these days

 

[Torq]

  With the single ended the bass was a joke, now it's just as powerful as my HE-1000 (if not more, close to the Abyss IMO) but way more accurate.
 
It's much more pitch black as well in the background, I would personally call it pitch black.
 
I guess that's the difference balanced and another 4 watts per channel adds.
 
(Single ended on the Moon is 4wpc and balanced is 8wpc as per the circuit specs)

I didn't notice any lack of bass quantity or quality with the included single ended cable compared to a stock Audeze XLR cable.  There may be a slight increase in the degree of control, but nothing transformational.  Even driven single-ended out of the little Woo WA6 I have in at my bed-side the bass was quite potent, and that has about half a watt at 200 ohms.  This was surprising to me because the Abyss causes the WA6 to clip before getting to solid listening levels with bass-rich music.
 
Your Moon 430 gives 2 watts into the LCD-4 in balanced configuration, not 8.  

 

[potkettleblack]

I found the LCD-4 to have more soundstage width and depth.

Dude..

 

[draytonklammer]

Anyhow that's probably it for my posts.

My ears are different than all of yours and the opposite of course.

Everyone has different observations, bias and preference.

 

[potkettleblack]

No pics?

 

[Hifi59]

Anyhow that's probably it for my posts.

My ears are different than all of yours and the opposite of course.

Everyone has different observations, bias and preference.

No reason to stop posting! If we all felt the same way about them, this would make for quite a boring thread.
I for one, like to track how one feels about a particular headphone on day one vs day 101. Did the headphones get better with break in,did the listener taste change or with time, discovered weaknesses with the headphone sound signature? Funny retorts don't hurt either. It's all good. Don't take any questions or opposite opinions personally. It's just a headphone.
Now, having said that, IMO the LCD-4 are not in another league vs the LCD-3. Like some have stated here, it is technically superior, but that doe not always translate into a more musical experience with all genres of music.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

  In my opinion it's in another league compared to the LCD-3.
 
I do still own my LCD-3 which has a buyer lined up now. The LCD-3 didn't compare IMO. They gave the 4 and flagship title to the right headphone.

Agree! LCD- 3 are  still very nice headphones, but LCD-4s is another animal in terms of performance.

 

[yc1204]

Ok, so in the end my decision for amp options of LCD4 are targeted on the Violectric V281 and the GSX MK2.

People who tried GSX mk2 here, have you tried it with the new 200ohm version? Does the GSX mk2 has sufficient power to drive it? What gain setting is your GSX mk2 for the LCD4?

Regarding the V281 is fine, beautiful sound and planty of juice to drive LCD4.

Cheers