Audeze LCD-4
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Trance_Gott
Headphoneus Supremus
I'm hearing 90% metal and I agree that 1266 TC is the most fun listening experience I had with this genre. It's not all about technicalities for sure.I completely disagree...lol
And in risk of furthering your argument, the TCs are $6000 in USD at the moment....
But the price...
Trance_Gott
Headphoneus Supremus
Further with LCD-4. I think that's not the right place to discuss about RAD-0.
mitchb
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After giving my Lcd4 headphones a bit of a rest I have been enjoying them for a couple of days now. They are a nice listen. They compliment my TC’s nicely.
sibilancesuresucks
100+ Head-Fier
Anyone else feel separation anxiety from your LCD-4s when you're away from home 
, haha.
That's what I'm feeling now, how do you cope lads.
, haha. That's what I'm feeling now, how do you cope lads.
mitchb
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Smoke a fat one and listen to an iPod.
UntilThen
Headphoneus Supremus
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Still a remarkable headphone in 2022.
Korean audiophile
100+ Head-Fier
How are you liking your Soloist 3xp ?Still a remarkable headphone in 2022.
UntilThen
Headphoneus Supremus
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Very much actually. Better than I expected, especially in the power amp mode. Which means I control the volume from the dac / preamp. Someone use the term transparency and musicality in the Soloist thread. I couldn't agree more. There's power in the amp to drive LCD4 well that's for sure.
Korean audiophile
100+ Head-Fier
Last night me and my cousin got really stoned and listening to critical acclaim cover by A-yeon while really high through my LCD 4 and Soloist GT dear lord 
I felt those drums and double kick drums vibrate through my body it was a magical experience
I felt those drums and double kick drums vibrate through my body it was a magical experience 
Kozwoz
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Could you give some more impressions. How are the bass mids and treble using the LCD4? As I understand it’s a smooth amp. Is it a warm sounds? Punchy and dynamic? Can you hear Class-A goodness? Is there anything you don’t like or would change?
UntilThen
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I'm going to refer you to the few impressions I have here.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/bur...muse72320-volume-control.941047/post-16751553
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/bur...muse72320-volume-control.941047/post-16751604
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/bur...muse72320-volume-control.941047/post-16753854
It's punchy and dynamic. Transparent yes. Warm? Very slight.
LogicSound
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LCD-5 is 400+ grams... hehe
rulerofrecords
100+ Head-Fier
This is not a review, not even close …
Some thoughts about my “new” LCD-4 in my setup and the other “main” headphones I have. This is a used 2017 model in very good shape with non-memory leather pads. Signal comes from Audiodata MSII server/streamer with Roon > Roon endpoint on Macbook Air > USB to a Denafrips Iris DDC > I2S to a Denafrips Pontus II > either a Kinki Studio THR-1 ss-amp or a Cayin HA-6a tube-amp. LCD-4 is indeed quite a thirsty fellow so I prefer to use the balanced inputs of both amps – listening volume loud/very loud is normally between 11:00 or 01:00 o’clock giving me comfortably enough headroom most of the time.
So, because I did get asked to share some impressions I finally did sit down to write a “first impressions, honeymoon-phase, this is not a review” review and it turned out quite lengthy and way to euphoric and it I will not post it here!
Why not? I noticed there are at least two problems!
Number one: before and after buying the LCD-4 I was and I am still reading through this thread (Thank you all so much for your input guys!). I have managed to do something like 450 pages now with roughly 100 more to go. But I’m 100% sure right now to conclude that I can add nothing new or original when it comes to how the LCD-4 sounds. So, me ranting on and on about how great this sounds, how mind blowing and how it does this and that … it has all been stated here before repeatedly!
But for the record – I’m pretty excited about the LCD-4, it is a ton of fun, seems to feel at home with every genre and yes that bass is really, really special (See, I told you …). This chunky boi really seems to deliver that special something that I was assuming and hoping to get from a TOTL-headphone.
And that point brings me swiftly to the second and certainly related problem. I just have not heard any of the other TOTL-club members. No LCD-5, no Susvara, no Abyss, no Utopia, no Stellia, no Rad-O, no Final Audio, no Meze, no whatever you think belongs up there, too.
That means that I cannot properly classify and assess the singular aspects/technical stuff of the LCD-4s performance. Example – to me, as a result of its detail retrieval, great imaging and black background the LCD-4 has sensational clarity. Owners of Susvara or Utopia will find that rather amusing.
One thing I can try to do is to describe how LCD-4 behaves vs. the ZMF VC in my setup.
Quick sidestep – my plan was always to get a great planar headphone to “complete” (I know, I know …) the collection. But first I felt I needed to lift the rest of the setup up a notch. And with the new source gear I think I have now reached a level that can better reveal what the amps and the headphones are capable of – and with that I leave it at that, no Dac debate here!
After like a week with the LCD-4 I did sit down with the VC because we needed to have a serious conversation. There are no two ways about it and we both needed to face it - the former middleweight champion of my world was getting his ass kicked and needed to step up his game.
Initially the one saving grace for the VC is represented by the second letter in its name. Fact is that because of the location of my setup in the living-room the majority of my listening can only be done with a closed back headphone. But without the “C” – I’m not so sure … so something needed to happen. So, I finally gave the DSP EQ-feature in Roon a more serious workout – and this did the job. Thanx to some community/reviewer profiles and some tweaking here and there I did get the VC to a level where I do not regret at all putting it on when I “have” to listen with a closed back. EQ and the HD-800? Well, just mentioning the term EQ to the HD-800 seems to be insult that is usually met with a great reluctance and stubbornness and I can hear the ghosts of generations of German engineers scream “blasphemy”.
In the end - with both headphones EQued - the VC cannot touch the bass of the LCD-4, the 4 is generally faster from the starting blocks, mids do sometimes sound a little busy and uneven on VC. The VC treble never gave me any trouble. Maybe after EQ the LCD-4 has a little more air here but I like how both perform here. Directly compared to the LCD-4 the ZMF VC is indeed a tad more hazy, grainy, veiled. On the other hand, it is still remarkable how well the VC does stage-width – depth, 3D not so much - even compared to the LCD-4.
Neither do I feel qualified nor do I have any desire to talk stuff like timbre and tonality. I like more than one flavor and what the LCD-4 and the VC offer sounds fine by me.
Now what is the situation after roughly a month of ownership? It’s quite amazing how fast the brain does get used to the LCD-4 sonic signature (unfortunately way too soon I feel). And with the sensation of “new” fading slightly things are starting to settle down and one is able to assess things with a cooler head and more common sense. Nethertheless the LCD-4 clearly sits on top of my food chain – for me it is the more exciting, revealing and rewarding headphone - but the other two did assert their position very confidently and found their respective niche. I like to listen to all of them and currently can’t see myself letting go of any of them. Why Do I not mention the HD-800 here more prominently in this company? The HD-800 does its own thing - it is not the one trick pony many reduce it to but at the same time it is not as versatile and universal like the other two either. This is how I perceive things right now, knowing me this not set in stone and might very well shift over time.
What are things that do bother me? Okay, the “in front of head” projection is not as pronounced as I would like to. It is pretty wide and well graded left and right – but the center stuff does happen more like inside my head. And yes, there are isolated moments where I could handle a tad bit more instrument separation.
There are some issues in Roon with applying EQ. When I do set the pre-amping values accordingly (like -6 or -7 db) I actually sometimes have to push my both amps a little harder than I would love to do. And when I do reduce the preamp settings I’m sometimes hit with clipping and distortion. Finding the right balance here is sometimes a bit tricky to accomplish.
Lately I’m experiencing problems when using the Audeze presets in Roon for the LCD-4 and turn the “Audeze linear filter” on – that seems to stress Roon or my MacBook Air to an extent where Roon just shows “too many errors” waves the white flag and shuts down.
And the weight? Really no issue the way I’m using the LCD-4 with my head mostly resting on a pretty thick leather cushion and listening time usually not exceeding 2 hours sessions.
Along the road it might be worth finding out what a “better” cable could do with the LCD-4 (I hate spending money on cables) but I think this headphone might just deserve something a bit more fancy.
Final thoughts. I’m always looking forward to listen with the LCD-4. I did commit to a headphone rotation routine that gives each headphone it’s slot. But as I mentioned given the circumstances of my setup the time with the LCD-4 is limited but very special. No doubt I do like what this big planar is doing. I have owned the Hifiman Arya V1 before – a refined sounding class act. But with this thing sounding so great in almost all areas I felt the lack of equally great bass and dynamics to be soooo frustrating.
So more planar-playtime on my head is indeed something I can see myself go for – if there is a closed planar out there with an overall signature more similar to the LCD-4?
As I said this was not intended to be anything even closely related to a review but I still managed to waste a lot of valuable lifetime – mostly my own I hope – with half-baked and more or less random opinions. Well done, congratulations to me!
Some tracks from my “headphone” playlist:
“Die großen Schlachten werden untenrum gewonnen“ (The big battles are won down below) artist: Jan Delay, album: “Earth, Wind and Feiern”, first track: “Intro”
The Specials – A message to you Rudy
Mac Miller – Blue world
Steely Dan – Do it again
Sonny Rollins – I’m old cowhand
Aphex Twin – Minipops 67 (Source Field Mix)
Röyksopp/Robyn – Monument (T.I.E Version)
Parliament – Give up the funk
Oscar Peterson Trio – You look good to me
Pixies – Monkey gone to heaven
Native Soul – The beginning
Ennio Morricone/Danish National Symphony Orchestra - For a few dollars more
Dillon Francis - Still not butter
Roisin Murphy – Primitive
Dexter Gordon – Tanya
Lou Reed – Walk on the wild side
Symbolico – Perceiving all
XTC – Senses working overtime
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy – Famous and Dandy
Muriel Zoe – Bye bye blackbird
The Glove – Perfect Murder
Wolfgang Haffner, Nils Landgren – Shapes
Jimmy Cliff – Many rivers to cross
Rockwell – Aria
The Brothers Johnson – Strawberry letter 23
They Might Be Giants – Nightgown of the sullen moon
Dub Colossus – Dub in a time of Cholera
Solveig Slettahjell – Take it with me
Trentemöller – Rykketid
The Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop
The Specials - **** all the perfect people
Some thoughts about my “new” LCD-4 in my setup and the other “main” headphones I have. This is a used 2017 model in very good shape with non-memory leather pads. Signal comes from Audiodata MSII server/streamer with Roon > Roon endpoint on Macbook Air > USB to a Denafrips Iris DDC > I2S to a Denafrips Pontus II > either a Kinki Studio THR-1 ss-amp or a Cayin HA-6a tube-amp. LCD-4 is indeed quite a thirsty fellow so I prefer to use the balanced inputs of both amps – listening volume loud/very loud is normally between 11:00 or 01:00 o’clock giving me comfortably enough headroom most of the time.
So, because I did get asked to share some impressions I finally did sit down to write a “first impressions, honeymoon-phase, this is not a review” review and it turned out quite lengthy and way to euphoric and it I will not post it here!
Why not? I noticed there are at least two problems!
Number one: before and after buying the LCD-4 I was and I am still reading through this thread (Thank you all so much for your input guys!). I have managed to do something like 450 pages now with roughly 100 more to go. But I’m 100% sure right now to conclude that I can add nothing new or original when it comes to how the LCD-4 sounds. So, me ranting on and on about how great this sounds, how mind blowing and how it does this and that … it has all been stated here before repeatedly!
But for the record – I’m pretty excited about the LCD-4, it is a ton of fun, seems to feel at home with every genre and yes that bass is really, really special (See, I told you …). This chunky boi really seems to deliver that special something that I was assuming and hoping to get from a TOTL-headphone.
And that point brings me swiftly to the second and certainly related problem. I just have not heard any of the other TOTL-club members. No LCD-5, no Susvara, no Abyss, no Utopia, no Stellia, no Rad-O, no Final Audio, no Meze, no whatever you think belongs up there, too.
That means that I cannot properly classify and assess the singular aspects/technical stuff of the LCD-4s performance. Example – to me, as a result of its detail retrieval, great imaging and black background the LCD-4 has sensational clarity. Owners of Susvara or Utopia will find that rather amusing.
One thing I can try to do is to describe how LCD-4 behaves vs. the ZMF VC in my setup.
Quick sidestep – my plan was always to get a great planar headphone to “complete” (I know, I know …) the collection. But first I felt I needed to lift the rest of the setup up a notch. And with the new source gear I think I have now reached a level that can better reveal what the amps and the headphones are capable of – and with that I leave it at that, no Dac debate here!
After like a week with the LCD-4 I did sit down with the VC because we needed to have a serious conversation. There are no two ways about it and we both needed to face it - the former middleweight champion of my world was getting his ass kicked and needed to step up his game.
Initially the one saving grace for the VC is represented by the second letter in its name. Fact is that because of the location of my setup in the living-room the majority of my listening can only be done with a closed back headphone. But without the “C” – I’m not so sure … so something needed to happen. So, I finally gave the DSP EQ-feature in Roon a more serious workout – and this did the job. Thanx to some community/reviewer profiles and some tweaking here and there I did get the VC to a level where I do not regret at all putting it on when I “have” to listen with a closed back. EQ and the HD-800? Well, just mentioning the term EQ to the HD-800 seems to be insult that is usually met with a great reluctance and stubbornness and I can hear the ghosts of generations of German engineers scream “blasphemy”.
In the end - with both headphones EQued - the VC cannot touch the bass of the LCD-4, the 4 is generally faster from the starting blocks, mids do sometimes sound a little busy and uneven on VC. The VC treble never gave me any trouble. Maybe after EQ the LCD-4 has a little more air here but I like how both perform here. Directly compared to the LCD-4 the ZMF VC is indeed a tad more hazy, grainy, veiled. On the other hand, it is still remarkable how well the VC does stage-width – depth, 3D not so much - even compared to the LCD-4.
Neither do I feel qualified nor do I have any desire to talk stuff like timbre and tonality. I like more than one flavor and what the LCD-4 and the VC offer sounds fine by me.
Now what is the situation after roughly a month of ownership? It’s quite amazing how fast the brain does get used to the LCD-4 sonic signature (unfortunately way too soon I feel). And with the sensation of “new” fading slightly things are starting to settle down and one is able to assess things with a cooler head and more common sense. Nethertheless the LCD-4 clearly sits on top of my food chain – for me it is the more exciting, revealing and rewarding headphone - but the other two did assert their position very confidently and found their respective niche. I like to listen to all of them and currently can’t see myself letting go of any of them. Why Do I not mention the HD-800 here more prominently in this company? The HD-800 does its own thing - it is not the one trick pony many reduce it to but at the same time it is not as versatile and universal like the other two either. This is how I perceive things right now, knowing me this not set in stone and might very well shift over time.
What are things that do bother me? Okay, the “in front of head” projection is not as pronounced as I would like to. It is pretty wide and well graded left and right – but the center stuff does happen more like inside my head. And yes, there are isolated moments where I could handle a tad bit more instrument separation.
There are some issues in Roon with applying EQ. When I do set the pre-amping values accordingly (like -6 or -7 db) I actually sometimes have to push my both amps a little harder than I would love to do. And when I do reduce the preamp settings I’m sometimes hit with clipping and distortion. Finding the right balance here is sometimes a bit tricky to accomplish.
Lately I’m experiencing problems when using the Audeze presets in Roon for the LCD-4 and turn the “Audeze linear filter” on – that seems to stress Roon or my MacBook Air to an extent where Roon just shows “too many errors” waves the white flag and shuts down.
And the weight? Really no issue the way I’m using the LCD-4 with my head mostly resting on a pretty thick leather cushion and listening time usually not exceeding 2 hours sessions.
Along the road it might be worth finding out what a “better” cable could do with the LCD-4 (I hate spending money on cables) but I think this headphone might just deserve something a bit more fancy.
Final thoughts. I’m always looking forward to listen with the LCD-4. I did commit to a headphone rotation routine that gives each headphone it’s slot. But as I mentioned given the circumstances of my setup the time with the LCD-4 is limited but very special. No doubt I do like what this big planar is doing. I have owned the Hifiman Arya V1 before – a refined sounding class act. But with this thing sounding so great in almost all areas I felt the lack of equally great bass and dynamics to be soooo frustrating.
So more planar-playtime on my head is indeed something I can see myself go for – if there is a closed planar out there with an overall signature more similar to the LCD-4?
As I said this was not intended to be anything even closely related to a review but I still managed to waste a lot of valuable lifetime – mostly my own I hope – with half-baked and more or less random opinions. Well done, congratulations to me!
Some tracks from my “headphone” playlist:
“Die großen Schlachten werden untenrum gewonnen“ (The big battles are won down below) artist: Jan Delay, album: “Earth, Wind and Feiern”, first track: “Intro”
The Specials – A message to you Rudy
Mac Miller – Blue world
Steely Dan – Do it again
Sonny Rollins – I’m old cowhand
Aphex Twin – Minipops 67 (Source Field Mix)
Röyksopp/Robyn – Monument (T.I.E Version)
Parliament – Give up the funk
Oscar Peterson Trio – You look good to me
Pixies – Monkey gone to heaven
Native Soul – The beginning
Ennio Morricone/Danish National Symphony Orchestra - For a few dollars more
Dillon Francis - Still not butter
Roisin Murphy – Primitive
Dexter Gordon – Tanya
Lou Reed – Walk on the wild side
Symbolico – Perceiving all
XTC – Senses working overtime
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy – Famous and Dandy
Muriel Zoe – Bye bye blackbird
The Glove – Perfect Murder
Wolfgang Haffner, Nils Landgren – Shapes
Jimmy Cliff – Many rivers to cross
Rockwell – Aria
The Brothers Johnson – Strawberry letter 23
They Might Be Giants – Nightgown of the sullen moon
Dub Colossus – Dub in a time of Cholera
Solveig Slettahjell – Take it with me
Trentemöller – Rykketid
The Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop
The Specials - **** all the perfect people
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Hi all, just a reminder I’m hoping to buy a very clean condition LCD4.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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