[senseitedj]

I had the Pro iESL and Pro iCan with a set of Stax SR-007 MKII's. Sold them within a week, lol. They are just not my ideal sound.

Glad you're hanging onto the 4z's. They are great headphones!

Ok, Thanks for the heads up, I'll just go with the Z10E when i think I am ready for the plunge to E-stats

 

[Slim1970]

Ok, Thanks for the heads up, I'll just go with the Z10E when i think I am ready for the plunge to E-stats

It wasn’t necessarily the amps, but more so the headphones themselves. The Stax just sounded thin, lack body and bass for my tastes. The amps were powerhouses.

 

[iFi audio]

That's true. If I was to go to E-stat route, I would go for an amp that can do both E-stat and normal headphone. A good example is the iFI iESL or the Microzotl Z10E (correct me if I got the model names wrong). That way I can get started with an E-stat and my other headphones can benefit from the amp upgrade. But I can totally understand your argument for the LCD-5.

iESL was designed to work with e-stats and regular cans indeed and transparently at that, but it heavily relies on an amp that connects to it. AS such, iESL will reveal how that amp sounds like.

 

[IZONE]

Hello fellow LCD-4Z owners. I'm thinking about picking up the new updated pads and installing them myself. Has everyone basically been happy with the new pads? Any downsides? My grill is already the updated one as I got mine in late 2019, but the pads are the old kind

 

[HBen]

Hello fellow LCD-4Z owners. I'm thinking about picking up the new updated pads and installing them myself. Has everyone basically been happy with the new pads? Any downsides? My grill is already the updated one as I got mine in late 2019, but the pads are the old kind

Downside is - from what I know - that you basically void the warranty by installing new pads yourself. Just in case you still have any warranty left it might be better to have the pads replaced through your local Audeze-dealer.
Personally I liked the old pads better ... but that's pretty personal I guess.

 

[Lohb]

Downside is - from what I know - that you basically void the warranty by installing new pads yourself. Just in case you still have any warranty left it might be better to have the pads replaced through your local Audeze-dealer.
Personally I liked the old pads better ... but that's pretty personal I guess.

No way, that can't be right.
That is just a basic pad roll, not even going near the internals.

 

[jlbrach]

some time ago when I owned the lcd-4 I spoke to audeze about replacing the pads and they themselves recommended I replace them myself and even sent me a video showing me how

 

[IZONE]

some time ago when I owned the lcd-4 I spoke to audeze about replacing the pads and they themselves recommended I replace them myself and even sent me a video showing me how

Yup Audeze shared a video with me too. I pad rolled before when LCD-2 was the "flagship" so basically long ago before the LCD-3 was released, but it was pretty painless. Just have to line up everything correctly. I'll give it a shot and report back with any changes I experience. The release of the LCD-5s has me listening to the LCD-4Z again in anticipation of the potential new arrival

 

[deafenears]

some time ago when I owned the lcd-4 I spoke to audeze about replacing the pads and they themselves recommended I replace them myself and even sent me a video showing me how

Was this an LCD-4 without the addition of the slightly raised felt ring/spacer per https://www.head-fi.org/threads/audeze-lcd-4z-impressions-thread.876943/page-143#post-16585917?

 

[jlbrach]

the pad I changed had felt spacer if I remember correctly it was a few yrs ago

 

[IZONE]

My fellow LCD-4Z owners, thanks for your thoughts on the new pads. I got them last week and installed them without much trouble. The pads actually came with extra dampening material in the shape of half-circle/moon to put next the drivers on both sides. Anyway, long story short these pads are totally game changing. It seems to lift the muffle-ness in the upper-mids and brings the tonality into much better balance. There is more air and room to breathe while retaining the Audeze creaminess in the mids. The one bit of trade off seems to be a slight decrease in bass energy, but I feel like the quality has improved with a bit more detail and extension. Overall, I'm very happy while at the same time very sad that these pads were not invented in 2018 when the LCD-4Z was first released. Now I understand why my LCD-3, LCD-X, LCD-XC all re-purchased in 2021 with the updated pads sound like magic. This is what the Audeze house sound was missing. Good job team Audeze!

 

[Korean audiophile]

My fellow LCD-4Z owners, thanks for your thoughts on the new pads. I got them last week and installed them without much trouble. The pads actually came with extra dampening material in the shape of half-circle/moon to put next the drivers on both sides. Anyway, long story short these pads are totally game changing. It seems to lift the muffle-ness in the upper-mids and brings the tonality into much better balance. There is more air and room to breathe while retaining the Audeze creaminess in the mids. The one bit of trade off seems to be a slight decrease in bass energy, but I feel like the quality has improved with a bit more detail and extension. Overall, I'm very happy while at the same time very sad that these pads were not invented in 2018 when the LCD-4Z was first released. Now I understand why my LCD-3, LCD-X, LCD-XC all re-purchased in 2021 with the updated pads sound like magic. This is what the Audeze house sound was missing. Good job team Audeze!

Did you order the pads on Audeze website? Because I just did how long did it take for the delivery?

 

[IZONE]

Did you order the pads on Audeze website? Because I just did how long did it take for the delivery?

So, I tried to order on Audeze's website but was blocked from doing so as South Korea has an "exclusive distributor" so I had to buy it through the Authorized Dealer which took a long time. But Audeze customer support confirmed that the $80 pads they sell on their website is the official new pads so you can just order from there since you are in the States. Let me know if you need tips on how to install it properly and let me know how you like the new sound!

 

[Korean audiophile]

Thanks will do btw what kind of Amp DAC are u using?

 

[IZONE]

Thanks will do btw what kind of Amp DAC are u using?

I listed all the equipment I currently have in my signature (other than cables and power supply related stuff). So, last night I was using the Qutest/SA-1 stack but also have a Bifrost 2/A90 as my other 'stack'