Audeze LCD-4

[xsankar]

I hope you're correct but I HIGHLY doubt it. The LCD-4 was Alex Rosson's tuning not Sankar's.

All of Sankar's tuning (so the last three years) strays very far away from what used to be the Audeze House sound to something almost the opposite.

The LCD5, CRBN, LCD-R, Maxwell, MM-500, MM-100 all share a similar tuning philosophy that's very far removed from the magic of the LCD-4, LCD2 PF, and even LCD-3. Gone are the days where we're seeing phenomenal bass response with overly warm tuning and sparkly highs.

All of Sankar's tuning is very mid forward with subdued treble and mild bass.

This is wrong and incorrect. All the LCDs from LCD1(original) to LCD4, LCD5 and Mobius to Maxwell were tuned by our R&D team. We have had the same team from the beginning and they continue working on all our products. Alex's tuning or Sankar's tuning etc is BS. There is no such thing.
Many of these things (LCD4 or LCD2F) were because of material availability, choices, ear pad design etc.

 

[Kevintj604]

This is wrong and incorrect. All the LCDs from LCD1(original) to LCD4, LCD5 and Mobius to Maxwell were tuned by our R&D team. We have had the same team from the beginning and they continue working on all our products. Alex's tuning or Sankar's tuning etc is BS. There is no such thing.
Many of these things (LCD4 or LCD2F) were because of material availability, choices, ear pad design etc.

My apologies and I stand corrected. I was unaware that the R&D team ran all of the tuning from model to model as none of this information is public and nobody from the R&D team takes credit for the tuning.

I have seen multiple interviews with Manny Marroquin discussing his input on tuning so obviously he was responsible for the MM line and not someone from R&D.

Having said that the Audeze house sound is still vastly different than it used to be. The LCD5, CRBN, LCD-R, Maxwell, MM-500, MM-100 stray considerably from what Audeze used to be known for. This is easy to hear with the above examples and also very easy to see on the graphs.

 

[thefitz]

I thought the same as well. I had thought they were because of the pads. Dont get me wrong, the 2021 pads are really good but they do bring the drivers really close to the ear with how soft they are. I guess my ears are sensitive to drivers being too close? I actually decided to change pads to the Caldera pads and used the Audeze pads on another headphone. They did sound a bit more open, less intimate, the mids still intact which is I think due to the more bigger cavity of the pads and perforated surfaces. The audeze pads are more focused sounding though. Not sure anyone should pad roll Audeze headphones but since Caldera pads were made for planars, I decided to try it out. Even after all that, I still prefer to use EQ.

When I had my first pair, I was able to remove the pads but keep the felt ring on, so I went crazy with pad rolling, particularly the Dekoni set. They all made significant differences. My memory serves me as follows:

• Elite Sheepskin pads may have evened out the treble, but made everything unbearably honky. The LCD-4/Audeze line in general has a bump at around 1.5kHz which is a little too intense for me (LCD-XC being the worst offender) and these pads exacerbated this.
• Fenestrated Sheepskin pads cooled the mid hump, evaporated the bass, and increased sibilance to a level I didn't think was possible.
• Choice Suede pads brought the treble down to the 4kHz dip level and left everything else intact. Gooey goodness but all detail was lost, all of it.
• I don't actually recall if I tried Hybrid pads but I bet they did what they do on every single other headphone - bass cannons, mid scoop, splash and grit in the treble. This in theory should have "fixed the tuning", but it must have been so bad that I don't remember it.

The only pad swap I ever did that I thought was a bonus on Audeze headphones was putting Choice Leather pads on an OG LCD-X. Those pads tastefully boost the bass but roll it off hard at 50Hz, and evened out the treble quite a bit. It took the "fog" out of the headphone and gave a speaker-like presentation. I would do that mod again.

 

[Fibre101]

When I had my first pair, I was able to remove the pads but keep the felt ring on, so I went crazy with pad rolling, particularly the Dekoni set. They all made significant differences. My memory serves me as follows:

• Elite Sheepskin pads may have evened out the treble, but made everything unbearably honky. The LCD-4/Audeze line in general has a bump at around 1.5kHz which is a little too intense for me (LCD-XC being the worst offender) and these pads exacerbated this.
• Fenestrated Sheepskin pads cooled the mid hump, evaporated the bass, and increased sibilance to a level I didn't think was possible.
• Choice Suede pads brought the treble down to the 4kHz dip level and left everything else intact. Gooey goodness but all detail was lost, all of it.
• I don't actually recall if I tried Hybrid pads but I bet they did what they do on every single other headphone - bass cannons, mid scoop, splash and grit in the treble. This in theory should have "fixed the tuning", but it must have been so bad that I don't remember it.

The only pad swap I ever did that I thought was a bonus on Audeze headphones was putting Choice Leather pads on an OG LCD-X. Those pads tastefully boost the bass but roll it off hard at 50Hz, and evened out the treble quite a bit. It took the "fog" out of the headphone and gave a speaker-like presentation. I would do that mod again.

Yeah, pad rolling is fun, not so much with the LCD 4 but its great to hear your observations with each pad. I felt there was no detail lost with the thick caldera pads. Honk can exist if I plug them in the wrong source that isn't sufficient enough to make them sound their best. I like the less intimate sound. It feels like I could breath since it is a bit less forward sounding where the driver is close to the ear.

 

[kid vic]

Guess I'm a skeptic, but I always thought the oddball LCD-4s were fakes and not custom-made orders.

That add reads like a scam to me too; something about manually checking a buyers address seems fake to me.

 

[Audeze]

To clarify on 'custom' LCD-4s: : Audeze had a program for custom LCD4s using rare woods (and a few with aluminum) for the rings back in the 2015-2016 years. These added $500 to the original retail price. We may offer another customizing program in the future, but we have no immediate plans for this, as sourcing the rare woods has become more problematic over the past few years.

 

[ThanatosVI]

That add reads like a scam to me too; something about manually checking a buyers address seems fake to me.

Seems like the seller had some bad experience with scammers.

There are scammers that give you nonexistant addresses. After a non successful delivery attempt they call the delivery Service and reroute the package. The package therefore never arrived at the address given in paypal and they try to get their money back from paypal.
The Sender doesn't know the new address and has trouble to proof that the package actually arrived.
That's why the seller gives the strict order to the delivery service that rerouting isn't possible.

To clarify on 'custom' LCD-4s: : Audeze had a program for custom LCD4s using rare woods (and a few with aluminum) for the rings back in the 2015-2016 years. These added $500 to the original retail price. We may offer another customizing program in the future, but we have no immediate plans for this, as sourcing the rare woods has become more problematic over the past few years.

Some rare Lichtenberg treated wood would be amazing as custom option
Otherwise I'm always down for some nice Walnut wood or classy black aluminum.

 

[Kevintj604]

To clarify on 'custom' LCD-4s: : Audeze had a program for custom LCD4s using rare woods (and a few with aluminum) for the rings back in the 2015-2016 years. These added $500 to the original retail price. We may offer another customizing program in the future, but we have no immediate plans for this, as sourcing the rare woods has become more problematic over the past few years.

The price that I was quoted from Audeze was to replace the wood chassis. I was informed that this has to include replacement of pads as well as connectors so they wouldn't necessarily match what's currently on my unit. I was also told that the $530 was not a customizable option as wood can vary from year to year and model to model.

So wood would not be the same, and both the pads and connectors would not look the same as my current year had as well. For most people looking to refurb their unit that wouldn't be an issue but for me I'd like it kept stock so I'm not interested in that kind of replacement cost unless I really damage my unit.

 

[Kevintj604]

That add reads like a scam to me too; something about manually checking a buyers address seems fake to me.

The same seller has it listed on eBay but from first glance it looks like a hacked account to me as well.

Zero activity on that account since 2019 and all of a sudden two listings worth $3000 is the only thing he's posted.

Personally I'd need a lot more than just timestamps to feel comfortable with a transaction.

 

[xsankar]

I have seen multiple interviews with Manny Marroquin discussing his input on tuning so obviously he was responsible for the MM line and not someone from R&D.

Yes. He works with the R&D team and it is a collaboration. Because of customer base (Sound engineers, musicians etc), we also spend significant amount of time in studios and get feedback. Manny is part of the Audeze team and has been an Audeze user since 2014.

 

[Kevintj604]

Yes. He works with the R&D team and it is a collaboration. Because of customer base (Sound engineers, musicians etc), we also spend significant amount of time in studios and get feedback. Manny is part of the Audeze team and has been an Audeze user since 2014.

Yeah. That's very exciting from a collaboration standpoint. No sound engineer regardless of education and talent would have a better idea of what a mixing engineer requires in a studio environment more than a mixing engineer.

I've been very impressed with the MM line and believe it to be as reference as possible to yield the best results. I come from a video editorial background and I'm now starting to see more MM-500's in studio environments. Can't wait until the MM-100 is released as it's a market disruptor at its price point and if the tuning is similar will be super popular option.

 

[VandyMan]

Having said that the Audeze house sound is still vastly different than it used to be. The LCD5, CRBN, LCD-R, Maxwell, MM-500, MM-100 stray considerably from what Audeze used to be known for. This is easy to hear with the above examples and also very easy to see on the graphs.

The LCD line mostly have a similar sound. The others, not so much. I think that is primarily because they are built on a common platform (cups, pads, and similar drivers).

I think the tuning of the LCD-R (own) has a lot in common with the LCD-4 (used to own). The LCD-4 has better bass and the LCD-R has superior mid-range and is my preference, but I really like both of them and to me they sound like siblings.

If you heard my LCD 2.1 (fairly rare short lived first revision of the LCD-2) and then listened to the LCD-X, you would be hard pressed to say they have the same "house sound." To me, the MM-500 sounds like a natural progression from the LCD-X.

I do agree that the LCD-5 sounds quite different from the rest of the LCD line. I happen to like it and consider it a statement of Audeze's driver design and production mastery. However, I would be sad in the rest of the line was changed to sound like it.

 

[xsankar]

My apologies and I stand corrected. I was unaware that the R&D team ran all of the tuning from model to model as none of this information is public and nobody from the R&D team takes credit for the tuning.

When inner fidelity was around, we had a very lengthy article on Audeze LCD4 and Audeze's philosophy on tuning. Our R&D team also writes the technology articles on our site. https://www.audeze.com/blogs/technology-and-innovation

Recently when RTings.com posted incorrect measurements on our Maxwell Headphones, we posted details on it.
https://www.audeze.com/blogs/publication-reviews/in-response-to-rtings-coms-maxwell-review

Manytimes both me and others from the team engage with reviewers etc. Last week several members from our team were at the AES conference on Spatial audio in UK>

 

[KaiSc]

When inner fidelity was around, we had a very lengthy article on Audeze LCD4 and Audeze's philosophy on tuning. Our R&D team also writes the technology articles on our site. https://www.audeze.com/blogs/technology-and-innovation

Tyll Hertensen’s InnerFidelity moved to Stereophile.com.
The mentioned review and article are again accessible there:

Page1:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/technologically-impressive-lcd-4-planar-magnetic-headphone
Page 2
https://www.stereophile.com/content...essive-lcd-4-planar-magnetic-headphone-page-2
Manufacturers comments:
https://www.stereophile.com/content...nar-magnetic-headphone-manufacturers-comments

A simple search for LCD-4 reveals a lot more there:
https://www.stereophile.com/search/node/LCD-4

 

[Kevintj604]

Seeing quite a few units pop up on the second hand market now that their price point has jumped up to $2500 USD. For a few months back in Jan-March of this year I was seeing LCD4's around the $1900 mark. $2500 is still a great price for them and well worth it at that price especially considering the competition at that price.