[kid vic]

Yes, we all have our own preferences. I do mix and master engineering for a living. My hearing preference is more in the direction of monitoring.

I'd suspect you would find the Woo WA5, LCD-4 combo to flattering then?

 

[mokobigbro]

I'd suspect you would find the Woo WA5, LCD-4 combo to flattering then?

it has been 2 years since I listened to them.
Flattering is okay, but if the dynamic response or the freq balance alters the music (that i am familiar with) too much, I tend to gravitate the other way.

 

[manishex]

May I ask about your setup: music player/eq, dac, amp etc?

Hi Guys,

In the interest of headphone science I sent my LCD4 (2019 Version) to Oratory1990 in Vienna to be measured.

Here are the results:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nm18lctf4xwh7cg/Audeze LCD-4.pdf?dl=0



Here are some of his thoughts:

I have to say, in their stock form I am not a big fan of them. They are very smooth in the treble - too smooth for me, I am definitely missing energy mostly in the 4 kHz range. And the ever-present problem of Audeze headphones: too much energy in the 10 kHz+ range.

I played around with EQ a lot and ended up with this setting:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nm18lctf4xwh7cg/Audeze LCD-4.pdf?dl=0
This turns them on their head however - marvellous experience.



I do like them a lot with the EQ - they have virtually no distortion so you can do almost anything with the EQ without having to fear an increase of THD. The HD800 is a bit limited in that regard, although the settings that I personally use (1 dB less bass boost than the Harman Target prescribes) make no trouble as the THD is still below the audibility threshold.

If I had to decide between the 800S and the -4 (both being EQd) I'd go for the 800S for the following reasons:
- less than half the price
- lighter weight
- more space for my ears (the audeze earpads just ever so slightly touch my pinna)
- little difference in sound quality. Both have outstanding balance, immersion and "soundstage". The -4 is maybe slightly less harsh in the upper treble/air band - with EQ. Without EQ I find it to be severely unbalanced in that regard, way too much energy in the 10+ kHz band.

 

[MisterMoJo]

I want to start up the GSX Mk2 pairing with the LCD 4 debate again and ask for people with yggy analog 2 if they find that setup bright? I know some people would say yes. I ordered the LCD 4's today and also ordered a GSX Mini, but am thinking about upgrading to the GSX Mk2. But if people find it bright I am not so sure. Especially with the yggy. So I think the Mini is supposed to be warmer? Do people think it is a good enough amp for the LCD 4? Without going into too much detail, I am looking for something with excellent detail and strong bass. I listen to a lot of classic rock and movie scores. I have the LCD 2 now, but nothing to drive it properly. Or at least, to my tastes.

 

[JLoud]

I want to start up the GSX Mk2 pairing with the LCD 4 debate again and ask for people with yggy analog 2 if they find that setup bright? I know some people would say yes. I ordered the LCD 4's today and also ordered a GSX Mini, but am thinking about upgrading to the GSX Mk2. But if people find it bright I am not so sure. Especially with the yggy. So I think the Mini is supposed to be warmer? Do people think it is a good enough amp for the LCD 4? Without going into too much detail, I am looking for something with excellent detail and strong bass. I listen to a lot of classic rock and movie scores. I have the LCD 2 now, but nothing to drive it properly. Or at least, to my tastes.

PM'd

 

[rsbrsvp]

I just received a brand new LCD-4. It sounds very euphonic and I would even say- bloated even with EQ- which in my opinion is necessary.

My question is: Does burn-in streamline things at all or will it remain this euphonic?
I have NEVER found headphones to be effected by burn-in above 4-5 hours. Electronics- that's a different story.

 

[F208Frank]

Which EQ settings did you like most?

 

[F208Frank]

Thoughts of the Abyss 1266 when compared to LCD4 from my fellow LCD4 fans?

What are the differences when comparing the two from you perspective?

 

[JLoud]

Warmer mid-range and slower decay on the LCD4. This gives a fuller sense to the bass. The treble is cleaner and less peaky on the TC. Mids are smoother on the LCD4. Abyss has faster more detailed bass. I feel the bass on the two are equal just different. Soundstage is larger on Abyss.

 

[jlbrach]

that is an excellent comparison of the 2 HP's, I couldnt have put it better myself lol

 

[kyle1010]

Warmer mid-range and slower decay on the LCD4. This gives a fuller sense to the bass. The treble is cleaner and less peaky on the TC. Mids are smoother on the LCD4. Abyss has faster more detailed bass. I feel the bass on the two are equal just different. Soundstage is larger on Abyss.

I hate that the TC does multiple things I want the LCD-4 to do, but I can’t live without the things you mentioned the LCD-4 does, so I can’t switch to the TC. Back to waiting on an LCD-5 if/whenever that happens, and I hope they don’t take the warmth and soul out of the Audeze house sound to please deep pocketed neutral snobs.

 

[isquirrel]

I have the LCD-3F, 4 100ohm, 4Z, MX4 and the newly realised LCD-24 so you could say I am a fan of the Audeze house sound.

I also have the Abyss Phi TC.

Without a doubt the best sound of the Audeze range is the LCD-24, I use a MSB Reference Headphone Amp with twin 3 Pin XLR outputs and a custom cable made by DHC which allows any Headphone to realise its best performance.

In absolute Perfomance terms the Abyss Phi TC wipes the floor with the Audeze's. It is long overdue for Audeze to engineer and produce a new flagship Headphone. The Audeze's are more comfortable to wear than the Abyss and the LCD-24 runs the Abyss very close in the mid range. There is no doubt that all of these headphones scale well. The biggest disappointment in the current flagship Headphone range is the Hi-Fiman Susvara, it sounds good however its build quality makes its price laughable. Why Hi-Fiman cannot use a decent connector like the Audeze's I cannot fathom.

Back to the LCD-24 - properly driven the bass performance of this HP is superior to the LCD4Z. The sound is better delineated in the lower frequencies and the mid range is right up there if not superior to any other Headphone.

Anyone who is a fan of the Audeze Headphones should give the LCD-24 a serious audition, I can recommend purchasing it if you cannot listen to it first. One other thing to mention:

Burn in time. I am not going to get into a debate about burn in, it is a demonstrable fact. The sound of my LCD-24's changed dramatically from new to where they are now with +900 hours on them. I recommend using the Purist Audio Design USB.

https://www.thecableco.com/luminist-usb-system-enhancer.html

I sincerely hope that Audeze are working on a truly great Headphone.

Happy Listening!

 

[rsbrsvp]

I have a TC, Susvara, and now a LCD-4 which I have burnt in for several days and acquired a silver litz cable for.

All of them are fantastic. All of them- to really bring out the best in then- IMHO need some equalizing although I do nt attempt to get a flat response- but rather to equalize minimally to just take the edge off the one or two major frequency faults of each headphone. Any more equalising than that and all the headphones loose their unique coloration- which I do not want to do because I enjoy the coloration as it is the unique personality of the headphone. My intention in equalising is only to reduce (not eliminate) severe dips or peaks while leaving everything else alone.

For the LCD-4 I basically have one 6dcb parametric equalizer boost covering the upper midrange and lower treble area centring at around 4000htz (even though the dip is around 15 dcb) and a slight bass boost. This way the headphone retains its essential coloration while minimizing the damage from the large 4000htz range dip...

All I can say is it sounds fantastic. Not clean and accurate like the TC and Susvara- but warm, smoothe and meaty sounding- like dark chocolate; with excellent detail retrieval and punch. The soundstage is the smallest of the three but the deepest. There is a three dimensional quality to the sound which is not present in the other two. It sounds best on loud volume (which does not hurt my ears AT ALL) while the other two headphones sound excellent on lower or higher volume. It is by far the most intimate headphone of the three. Several years ago I sold my LCD-3 non fazor and thought I was upgrading to a LCD-3 fazor. However, to my ears it was unfortunately a downgrade. I lost a lot of bass and that natural presentation which emotionally pulled me into the music. I thought the 3 classic was irreplaceable because all the new stuff is stressing accuracy and neutrality but I was wrong now that I found the LCD-4. It is just as chocolatey as the 3 classic was with much improved detail and soundstage...

I could see why this headphone would not be popular. I agree with the earlier post that the TC wipes it away technically but some might call it cold. However, in terms of emotional attachment to the music, all three do the job very well in a very different way IMHO.

 

[MacedonianHero]

I have a TC, Susvara, and now a LCD-4 which I have burnt in for several days and acquired a silver litz cable for.

All of them are fantastic. All of them- to really bring out the best in then- IMHO need some equalizing although I do nt attempt to get a flat response- but rather to equalize minimally to just take the edge off the one or two major frequency faults of each headphone. Any more equalising than that and all the headphones loose their unique coloration- which I do not want to do because I enjoy the coloration as it is the unique personality of the headphone. My intention in equalising is only to reduce severe dips or peaks.

For the LCD-4 I basically have one 6dcb parametric equalizer boost covering the upper midrange and lower treble area centring at around 4000htz (even though the dip is around 15 dcb) and a slight bass boost. This way the headphone retains its essential coloration while minimizing the damage from the large 4000htz range dip...

All I can say is it sounds fantastic. Not clean and accurate like the TC and Susvara- but warm, smoothe and meaty sounding- like dark chocolate; but with excellent detail retreival and punch. The soundstage is the smallest of the three but the deepest. There is a three dimensional quality to the sound which is not present in the other two. It sounds best on loud volume (which does not hurt my ears AT ALL) while the other two headphones sound excellent on lower or higher volume. It is by far the most intimate headphone of the three. Several years ago I sold my LCD-3 non fazor and thought I was upgrading to a LCD-3 fazor. However, to my ears it was unfortunately a downgrade. I lost a lot of bass and that natural presentation which emotionally pulled me into the music. I thought the 3 classic was irreplaceable because all the new stuff is stressing accuracy and neutrality but I was wrong now that I found the LCD-4. It is just as chocolatey as the 3 classic was with much improved detail and soundstage...

I could see why this headphone would not be popular. I agree with the earlier post that the TC wipes it away technically but some might call it cold. However, in terms of emotional attachment to the music, all three do the job very well in a very different way IMHO.

Congrats! These three (and LCD-4z too...so maybe 4) round out my favourite headphones to date!

 

[Àedhàn Cassiel]

What other open cans have a similar warm or Harman-tilting midrange and great bass? I'm looking for something that would mostly be for extreme tech metal, black- and death-influenced stuff… stoner rock with thick fuzzy guitars, Tool. It's a fairly special use-case so some coloration is preferred, though fidelity is as always important - even the LCD3 would be too hazy for me to go back to now.

The Susvara is expensive and rarely seen used, and Abyss definitely intrigues me but "U-shaped" makes me think it may not be ideal. Or am I wrong?