[Spawn300Z]

That’s why LCD-4Z is hear to stay.

 

[senseitedj]

LCD 5 is fast and detailed... But just sounds bland to my ears

 

[Mrinfinity]

Will never understand the bass response on the 5. Their signature Bass response is what got me into audeze in the first place

 

[phonyx]

I prefer the LCD-4z to the LCD-4, but I'd gladly take the LCD-5 over both.

Do you use EQ?

 

[Kozwoz]

Do you use EQ?

It’s a shame if people don’t EQ these headphones. They take EQ really well without audible distortion. Also the frequency response is far from perfect. Objectively speaking there’s nearly give or take a 10db drop between 4 and 8k and peaks at around 16k and beyond. To my ears it sounds unnatural. People are within their right to like the stock tuning and that’s fair. Lastly there’s subjective taste. I love electronic music and these headphones have arguably the best bass and they can really kick and rumble with EQ. I highly recommend it.

 

[Dynamo5561]

Hey guys, I wanted to share some experience. I believe I read it somewhere at the beginning of the thread by another user but I think it makes sense to share again. The stock pads were a bit uncomfortable for me, especially the pressure on the cheeks next to the ear. So I changed the to the Dekoni Sheepskin pads. I was sure they will be a bit softer and solve my problem.

I got them today and put them on (btw. the way how the stock pads are glued on the LCD-4z is absolute trash). Comfort issues was solved as expected. BUT: what is that sound???!!! I don't care much about people writing that pads make a big difference because I mostly find the differences subtle. But this experience changed my oppinion on that. The soundstage expanded, the mids are much more neutral and detail comes better through + bass reaches deeper (but that's subtle). How can the performance of a headphone be held back by the pads in such a manner...

 

[senseitedj]

Hey guys, I wanted to share some experience. I believe I read it somewhere at the beginning of the thread by another user but I think it makes sense to share again. The stock pads were a bit uncomfortable for me, especially the pressure on the cheeks next to the ear. So I changed the to the Dekoni Sheepskin pads. I was sure they will be a bit softer and solve my problem.

I got them today and put them on (btw. the way how the stock pads are glued on the LCD-4z is absolute trash). Comfort issues was solved as expected. BUT: what is that sound???!!! I don't care much about people writing that pads make a big difference because I mostly find the differences subtle. But this experience changed my oppinion on that. The soundstage expanded, the mids are much more neutral and detail comes better through + bass reaches deeper (but that's subtle). How can the performance of a headphone be held back by the pads in such a manner...

The sound changes from the 2021 revision was mostly from the earpad swap from Audeze

 

[Dynamo5561]

The sound changes from the 2021 revision was mostly from the earpad swap from Audeze

I was using the new Audeze pads. They have some dampening on the interior and a different shape on the outside than the Audeze pads I'm familiar with. If I had to describe the change in sound, I'd say the new stock pads seem tighter in general, and the Audeze house sound is more noticeable. The bass is a tad more loose (leans towards DD) with the Dekoni pads, but it goes deeper down, the soundstage is wider, and it's more neutral. The Dekoni pads are more comfortable as well. And I appreciate how they've narrowed the gap on the sides; it looks much cleaner.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Do you use EQ?

Nope...in my setup, the LCD-5 are just fabulous. Listening right now to them (Qobuz - Chord DAVE- Enleum AMP-23R). Just spectacular!

 

[PreeminentPeace]

It’s actually easy to blow an Audeze driver at high SPL. It’s caused by the pressure change from taking them off and putting them back on - which pushes onto the diaphragm, which is already very very thin. This is why they integrated the felt spacer so the pressure dissipates.

You can usually hear the 4z at high volumes thump when you take them off your head. Ideally you want to lower the volume before you put them back on your head so there isn’t such a drastic change in pressure. This puts a lot less strain on the diaphragm.

This is a really great tip. I did always hear the thump and am a notorious high volume listener. If I ever come back to audeze in the future I will 100 percent keep this in mind.

 

[phonyx]

Unfortunately I am no longer a 4z owner. The pair I bought used had an approx 1dB driver imbalance (left side being louder) and while the sound quality seemed unaffected, the spacial rendering of the soundstage was very offputting. I can easily detect a 0.5dB variance in volume as well as imbalance (musician) so I was unable to use them. Fortunately the seller worked with me and accepted me returning them.

Really staggered at how many people have been impacted by QC issues, failures and driver imbalances. These extend from the LCD2's all the way to the 4Z's at least, which are $6299 AUD in my country. How can Audeze not have gotten on top of this by now?

 

[Kozwoz]

Unfortunately I am no longer a 4z owner. The pair I bought used had an approx 1dB driver imbalance (left side being louder) and while the sound quality seemed unaffected, the spacial rendering of the soundstage was very offputting. I can easily detect a 0.5dB variance in volume as well as imbalance (musician) so I was unable to use them. Fortunately the seller worked with me and accepted me returning them.

Really staggered at how many people have been impacted by QC issues, failures and driver imbalances. These extend from the LCD2's all the way to the 4Z's at least, which are $6299 AUD in my country. How can Audeze not have gotten on top of this by now?

I understand your frustration. This is not an issue which is specific to Audeze although they do have a history of QC issues but it's much much better now. Just think about how much variance there is when it comes to other electronics. I've found various issues with many Apple products over the years and I've sent back studio monitors which cost tens of thousands because of port noise for example. I'm not saying it's acceptable and I'm not trying to defend these companies but it is prevalent and in reality QC issues account for a very small percentage of units which is most likely an acceptable loss on the part of the company. Your pair could of gone through several rounds of testing at Audeze and still got damaged whilst being transported to the dealer. There’s a reason they come in a heavily padded Peli case.

Audeze's customer service is really good and some of the best i've encountered. If you have a genuine grievance they will more than likely address it.

 

[phonyx]

I understand your frustration. This is not an issue which is specific to Audeze although they do have a history of QC issues but it's much much better now. Just think about how much variance there is when it comes to other electronics. I've found various issues with many Apple products over the years and I've sent back studio monitors which cost tens of thousands because of port noise for example. I'm not saying it's acceptable and I'm not trying to defend these companies but it is prevalent and in reality QC issues account for a very small percentage of units which is most likely an acceptable loss on the part of the company. Your pair could of gone through several rounds of testing at Audeze and still got damaged whilst being transported to the dealer. There’s a reason they come in a heavily padded Peli case.

Audeze's customer service is really good and some of the best i've encountered. If you have a genuine grievance they will more than likely address it.

To be fair, it does seem that audeze has an issue with drivers. Other companies can have issues with fit and finish, or headband durability for example. Audeze it almost always seems to be the drivers. These retailed over 6K and were built in April 2018. They were purchased around June 2018. 3 years and 6 months later Audeze says new drivers will be $1200 USD + shipping both ways to the USA and there is no grace period for a driver failure despite being a 6 thousand dollar product a mere 6 months outside warranty period. I don't agree that their customer service is excellent at all, unfortunately. To me that is making a poor quality product but not really caring.

I did enjoy the sound of the headphones, but I can say after this experience I would not buy an Audeze product again.

 

[Kozwoz]

To be fair, it does seem that audeze has an issue with drivers. Other companies can have issues with fit and finish, or headband durability for example. Audeze it almost always seems to be the drivers. These retailed over 6K and were built in April 2018. They were purchased around June 2018. 3 years and 6 months later Audeze says new drivers will be $1200 USD + shipping both ways to the USA and there is no grace period for a driver failure despite being a 6 thousand dollar product a mere 6 months outside warranty period. I don't agree that their customer service is excellent at all, unfortunately. To me that is making a poor quality product but not really caring.

I did enjoy the sound of the headphones, but I can say after this experience I would not buy an Audeze product again.

What is a fair warranty period for a moving part in an electronic device?

I suspect those affected would still be unhappy even if it was extended by a year and they were outside their warranty period...

 

[phonyx]

What is a fair warranty period for a moving part in an electronic device?

I suspect those affected would still be unhappy even if it was extended by a year and they were outside their warranty period...

I agree it is hard to say. 6 months on a 36 month warranty, is what, 16%. It isn't much, but for a premium product costing over $6000 I suppose I would expect a little grace. I think what irks me the most is after searching for driver imbalance issues, and seeing just how many posts are about this issue, or driver failure, I had some realisation just how many people are impacted by this. And its from their LCD2's right up to brand new LCD5's with drivers failing out of the box, or within days, weeks or months. There's 2 pairs of LCD's for sale on my local forum and both ads have images of emails from audeze stating what the warranty period is on the replaced drivers.

They do sound good, definitely, but they seem flaky as hell quality/robustness wise. It's a shame because I liked them a lot, and it's a shame because in my searching I saw loads of people dealing with the same issue. I'm not sure how else to articulate it.