Audeze LCD-5 Review, Measurements, Interview

[WoollyGeezer]

If you have some aftermarket cables for another pair of headphones, you might want to get an adapter and try them with the LCD-5s. I use the JPS Superconductor with my LCD-4s and it made a nice improvement.

Also, silver cables tend to bring out more detail and copper brings warmth.

My reterminated Magnius cable from Arctic cables arrives this week after two months of waiting

 

[ThanatosVI]

My reterminated Magnius cable from Arctic cables arrives this week after two months of waiting

Two months?
That's unexpectedly long for Arctic cables.

Or did their turnaround times increase dramatically?

 

[jscmd2000]

How are the Harbeth PSESR? Do you use them on desktop/PC?

I use them as near field monitors since I don't know much about room acoustics and don't care to learn.
I stopped running anything out of pc's because of noise. Thinking back, I went through some fine gear running them out of pc's because I didn't like the sound which I would have liked if I didn't use such noisy system. Live and learn, I guess.

 

[utdeep]

I received the LCD-5. Initial impressions are that it is nice ergonomic improvement, but don’t love the sounds yet. However, I hate the cable. The right end got stuck in the LCD-5 and it was a real struggle to get it out. I’m probably going to reach out to Audeze to see if I got a cable with a faulty connector.

Enjoying this with a balanced cable out of the Cayin N6ii with R1.

 

[deafenears]

Two months?
That's unexpectedly long for Arctic cables.

Or did their turnaround times increase dramatically?

Must be all the new LCD-5 owners putting in their order for new cables

 

[Dloines]

So I went back to the Capitol Audiofest on Sunday the last day and not a large crowd, I brought my LCD4s and did some A/B comparison between the two. Nobody waiting so I spent about 1 hour listening to both and I was able to plug in my iPhone and listen to my favorite tracks. The more I listened to the LCD5 the more I liked it, but the LCD4s were still great to listen too in comparison on the Chord II rig. Despite not having a large crowd around it was still noisy so it was hard for me to be 100% sure if I like them over the LCD4. I would say the biggest difference I heard was on a live track Sade Live "the sweetest taboo" the LCD5 was clearly better and provided the best live concert sound I ever heard on a pair of headphones the best way I can describe it is it portrayed the live sound of the audience and the music together as if you were there (I played that part of the track about 5 times to make sure I was hearing what I thought I was hearing) on the LCD4 the audience sound was noticeable at peak parts but was not audible and engaging at other times. So having said all that I ordered a pair of LCD5s and they will be arriving tomorrow (1-day shipping from an Audeze dealer). Cant wait to hear them in a quiet environment at home....

Thanks to everyone before me that posted reviews, I hope mine is helpful to someone too...

So my LCD5s arrived in the mail today and I listened for about 1 hour. Going to wait until after a week of listening, but Initial impressions after doing some A to B with the 4s and then listening to the 5s for 30 minutes straight, all the details really jump out at you on the 5s, bass is tighter and much faster, sometimes I think the 4s bass has more weight, but when I switch to the 5s its the same just faster and delivered differently so seems like less impact. I really have to crank up the volume on the 4s to hear close to the same detail which you can and the 4s still sound nice. Turning up the volume on the 5s for me is too loud for my ears, but they never become bright which my ears are really sensitive to as in hd800 sound. Weight was never an issue for me so they disappear on my head like the 4s, but I do feel the clamping force but it did not become uncomfortable, the 5s are fixed on your head and don't feel like they will fall off like the 4s if I am standing up and look down. That's it for now, more listening tonight with a glass of wine...

 

[cantara256]

https://forum.headphones.com/t/audeze-lcd-5-official-thread/14588/178. Scroll to entry 177/249. I am not sure what program he uses. I use Roon's PEQ.

Pardon the silly question, this is my first time with EQ, using Roon PEQ. I assume the "Pre-Amplifying: -8.5" means I should set Roon's Headroom management to -8.5 db?

 

[OneEyedHito]

Pardon the silly question, this is my first time with EQ, using Roon PEQ. I assume the "Pre-Amplifying: -8.5" means I should set Roon's Headroom management to -8.5 db?

Yes correct. It will avoid clipping. I use -6db instead on mine.

 

[MatW]

Pardon the silly question, this is my first time with EQ, using Roon PEQ. I assume the "Pre-Amplifying: -8.5" means I should set Roon's Headroom management to -8.5 db?

The easier way I believe is to pull the slider down, on the right hand side next to the graph in the Parametric EQ view.

 

[cantara256]

The easier way I believe is to pull the slider down, on the right hand side next to the graph in the Parametric EQ view.

Ah, I was wondering what that did. So if I do that, I should disable Headroom management, or I'll be reducing gain twice?

 

[geta123]

I received the LCD-5. Initial impressions are that it is nice ergonomic improvement, but don’t love the sounds yet. However, I hate the cable. The right end got stuck in the LCD-5 and it was a real struggle to get it out. I’m probably going to reach out to Audeze to see if I got a cable with a faulty connector.

Enjoying this with a balanced cable out of the Cayin N6ii with R1.

lol had this same problem too, nearly tore the skin on my thumb trying to get it out. I found that wiggling up and down while pulling makes it come right out

 

[KMann]

Ah, I was wondering what that did. So if I do that, I should disable Headroom management, or I'll be reducing gain twice?

Better to do it in one place. Either disable headroom or adjust the gain (using the slider on the right). I like leaving the headroom on as I get the clipping indicator. But do remember that you loose quite a bit of headroom when applying large changes, I prefer to keep things below 6dB when it comes to the maximum change I am willing to apply, your amp will have to work a bit harder so you lose some dynamic range.

Since many seem to be using @Resolve's EQ, I wanted to leave this here so you know what the EQ is doing and you can adjust the right ranges if you feel it is a bit too much. Personally I feel the treble is too forward (clearly heard when playing pink noise) and the bass sometimes gets a little overwhelming with this EQ for me, but I understand it is personal taste so use responsibly

 

[OneEyedHito]

Ah, I was wondering what that did. So if I do that, I should disable Headroom management, or I'll be reducing gain twice?

MatW is correct. Adjust the overall gain down so that the highest peak on your PEQ settings is at 0db is a good base setting and then you can tweak a bit from there. I use 6db with Resolves recommended PEQ parameters for my listening as I said but you might be able to use less negative gain or need more based on your amps and preamps built in gain. So experiment.

 

[alishafai]

I have an AXIOS Cu for my Z1R’s. Love this cable. I bet the AXIOS silver & copper sounds amazing!

Nice! It does indeed. I have tried the Moon Audio silver in the past, and it was good, but I found it too bright. The AXIOS Hybrid seems to strike a nice combination between detail and warmth, and LCD-5 seems to love it.

 

[ozz007]

I received my headphones today, I tried them with my Fiio M15 and they sounded good to me, in a bit perfect and with EQ.
took them to my work laptop and set up peace with red settings, and some changes I made to make them better for my listening. I plug them into my HIP-Dac V2 and they sounded great. lol

Now, I will go to my Focal, Arche, and see how they sound there. Tomorrow I will try them with my WA7 3rd Gen.