I’m finally ready to share what I’ve been hearing with the 4z’s. It’s been awhile since I’ve own any Audeze products and the 4z’s are heck of a headphone to re-familiarize myself with their sound.
I started my listening session with the Headamp Gilmore Lite Mk2 and the Burson Swing as the DAC. The experience was good and the combo drove the 4z’s easily. The bass was nice and tight, the midrange was nicely balanced and smooth. The treble had the right amount of clarity and detail to it. While listening to various genres of music with this combo, I couldn’t help but feel like the 4z’s had more to offer.
I moved on to the Hugo 2. Now, we’re talking. The Hugo 2 seemed to be tailor made for the 4z’s. The energy level of the LCD-4z’s took a huge jump. The sound on the 4z’s really opened up and the clarity level increased. The bass became more tactical, the midrange was artifact free and the treble clarity was much better. The 4z’s in a word became more ‘transparent’. This is a combo I could easily live with.
Listening to the 4z’s on the Hugo 2 made the GL Mk2/Swing combo sound a little dull. If anyone wants to know if the 4z’s scale, the answer is yes. Listening to them on the TT2 is similar to how they sound the Hugo 2. Take everything I said about the Hugo 2 experience and move the dial up a couple of notches and add more weight to the sound. It's an incredible listening experience.
I decided to compare the 4z’s to the HEKse’s. They have similar efficiencies, so it’ll be easy to volume match them to see how they perform. Surprisingly, the bass was similar in quality. The 4z’s had slightly more quantity. The 4z’s were also more palpable, while the HEKse’s had better bass definition. The HEkse’s also had a faster bass delivery. The bass drums had more thump with faster decay playing the same notes.
The midrange is where the two headphones start to differ. The 4z’s midrange is thicker, warmer, lusher and very rich sounding. The HEkse’s midrange was cleaner, more detailed and slightly more forward sounding. The 4z’s seem to emphasize the lower midrange more giving it that creamy sound and enjoyable sound. While the HEKse’s had more upper midrange emphasis, giving them a more open and clearer sound. The midrange on both is very detail, but the 4z’s has a more natural sound. Depending on recording, the HEKse’s can sound a little over emphasized there.
The treble is where the biggest differences occur. The HEKse’s is airier and has more vivacity. The 4z’s treble is more laid back, smoother, and natural sounding while still being detailed. It just can’t match the detail retrieval of the HEKse’s in this region. Symbols have more shimmer to them on the HEKse’s. The 4z’s offer similar detail but it’s not as accentuated.
Both headphones have great imaging and instrument placement. The HEKse’s are the more open sounding headphone and offer more of a 3D sound space in comparison to the 4z’s. The 4z’s aren’t closed sounding by any means but going back and forth between the two headphones the difference in soundstage is very noticeable.
What I really liked about the 4z’s, which is an improvement over the LCD-4, is the increase in the presence region of the headphone. I’m finding it gives the 4z’s an increase in dynamics, both micro and macro, and a more transparent sound.
The sound improves even more with a cable swap. When I had the Empyrean’s, I put the Furukawa Silver Plated PCUHD Copper on the 4z’s. The sound improved even more to my ears. Both cables are silver plated copper, but the configuration is different. I also think the Empyrean cable uses 8-wires compared to the 4-wire Audeze cable. With the Furukawa Silver Plated PCUHD Copper 4z’s, The bass tightens up and the treble is a lot cleaner, clearer, more resolving. The mids are more detailed as well. So I ordered a pure silver cable for my 4z’s from Lavricables, which hopes for similar benefits.
Overall, the 4z’s are my favorite Audeze headphone. The upper midrange/lower treble issue I had with the original LCD-4’s seems to have gotten fixed with 4z’s. I'm finding little to fault on them. The little quibble I did have, can be fixed with a silver cable. The 4z’s strike the right balance of warmth and technical ability to make listening to them a joy. I can’t recommend these enough.
