Audeze LCD-5 Review, Measurements, Interview

[Articnoise]

Measurements do not lie. It will be a bright headphone with forwarded mids and a bit bass shy. In addition, the distortions are significantly higher than the Stealth. Think this is not the gamechanger I've been waiting 2 years for. Too bad Audeze.

Probably more forwarded mids than LCD-4, but hardly bright as the treble is not elevated that I can see from the measurements.

My hope is it will sound like a bit more forward Susvara with better punch and it also seems to be much easier to drive.

 

[Trance_Gott]

And the distortions 0,1% wow the Stealth stays beyond 0,02%.
Why the Stealth not cost 4500? It is far better here.

 

[Trance_Gott]

Probably more forwarded mids than LCD-4, but hardly bright as the treble is not elevated that I can see from the measurements.

My hope is it will sound like a bit more forward Susvara with better punch and it also seems to be much easier to drive.

As is well known, hope dies last.
That's exactly what I hope but the measurements in bass and that Judge EQd the bass tells another story.

 

[betula]

Why I personally find the LCD5 the most appealing of the latest flagship announcements (and other flagships) for my personal taste?

Meze Elite ($4000):

I really like my Empyrean ($3000) even though I am very well aware of its shortcomings. The technical improvements on the Elite do not seem that convincing for $1000 more so far. Especially in times when the flagship market has just become the most crowded ever. Bass on the Empyrean was already a compromise for me versus something like the LCD4, but I simply can't live with a 700g+ headphone and also the Empyrean offers some really nice, natural airiness versus the LCD4, although resolution and other technicalities are clearly inferior to the LCD4.
The Elite's more neutral tuning might or might not be to my liking, but if I can have more air on the LCD5 versus the LCD4 with a neutral but present Audeze bass, I wouldn't think twice. I actually prefer LCD-X bass in most cases versus the Empyrean bass, although the Empyrean does everything else much better than the LCD-X.

So, if the LCD5 follows the bass quality line of LCD-X/LCD4, that is extremely appealing to me combined with the new light weight and more open upper frequencies. Much more appealing than a more neutral Empyrean called Elite for almost the same price as the LCD5.
The big question here is if the LCD5 bass with less magnet weight still deliver the same bass qualities I like in the LCD4 (linearity, extension, expansion, clarity, impact, tightness, depth, texture).

DCA Stealth ($4000):

I love Dan and his dedicated work, but I never really got on with the sound of his headphones. The Aeons were too thick, closed in and lacked resolution for the price for me. Reviews about the Ether 2 seem to reflect this experience versus similarly priced competition. Reviews of the Stealth seem to state the same versus other $4K headphones. And gosh, we have plenty $4K+ flagships these days. I would audition the Stealth, I wouldn't blind buy based on my pretty disappointing experience with the Aeons.

Stax SR-X9000 ($6200):

New Stax flagship. Interesting, they didn't get the same publicity on Head-Fi. Perhaps Stax is not supporting Head-Fi enough? Anyway. Even crazier price and going electrostat direction would request a lot more money investing into energizers and so on. Simply out of budget. Niche of the niche. At the same time I still can't imagine an electrostatic headphone producing similar bass impact to planars. Perhaps Stax redefined physics here? I wonder if I will ever find out.

T+A Solitaire P ($6400):

Not a recent announcement, but another appealing flagship contender. Many owners praise them for their technicalities over the Elite, although some complain about a weaker bass. For me, for this money currently it is too much of a risk buying without auditioning at the moment

Susvara ($6000):

The good old HiFi-Man planar flagship, known by everyone. I did audition them extensively, but never owned them. Price on the second-hand market is becoming more and more acceptable, coming around half of the RRP actually. To me there is hard to find any fault in the Susvara's sound. It is so well balanced, so lifelike, it is not an accident they are still a benchmark in the industry after all these years. They definitely need a beefy amp though, but I think my Burson Soloist 3XP would be just enough to do the job. The Susvara is pretty much perfect in pretty much everything, but at the same time doesn't stand out in any specific qualities, like Audeze does with its technically perfect and impactful, tangible yet neutral and linear bass.
A second-hand Susvara is definitely on my short list though.

Final D8000 ($3800) D8000pro ($4300):

Older headphones again and still under the radar for many audiophiles. I currently own the D8000 as a recent (second-hand) purchase and it is slowly but surely taking the crown and head-time from my Empyrean. IMO these Finals are underrated and overlooked headphones which is a shame as they are definitely in the game with all the others mentioned above. Definitely a tuning for bass lovers, but man, this bass is quality. And the rest of the frequencies are more than nice too.

Abyss TC ($6000):

Never heard them. Bass and spaciousness seem to be the best available, but many complained about comfort, mids, texture... Also need a beefy amp. To me not as appealing as they were 1-2 years ago. Still I would definitely try them, but again absolutely not a blind buy, at least not for this price.

- - - - - - - -

I could go on, I was going to briefly mention the ZMF Verité, Utopia, but I don't want my post to become too long and I also feel these otherwise brilliant headphones at least to my personal preference somehow stay in the shadow of the others mentioned above.

LCD5 ($4500):

So, why I am most interested in the LCD5? Because I owned several LCDs during the years and the ones I didn't own, auditioned. I still think, LCD bass is the best in the industry. At least to me. LCD bass has the best extension, linearity, impact, body, clarity. You can always add some bass shelf if needed, much easier to do than EQ-ing higher frequencies. My upper frequency complaints about the LCD4 seem to be resolved in the LCD5 looking at the graphs. My only question is if the LCD bass impact is still there. $4500 is still not $6000, like many other flagships and I am sure there will be a few people who will immediately sell their new LCD5 at a lower price, like I have already seen some Meze Elite's going for much lower than RRP after a few days of release.

Who knows, the LCD5 might be for me, although at the moment I am having a lot of fun with my D8000.

This hobby should be all about fun. Buying, selling, enjoying sound and music, sharing experience. One thing I have learnt after spending many years with great headphones: never judge anything unless you have actually auditioned them yourself for at least several hours if not days or weeks.

Enjoy your music guys. Don't forget, at the end of the day it should be about music. And some sound technicalities of course, but still we are listening to music, aren't we?

 

[chargedcapacitor]

It even looks to 3khz not good so much forwarding and little bass shy that's not Audeze how I like it.
Susvara is way better here going for a brighter signature.
I have the feeling nothing will touch Susvara the next years. I was a dreamer.

And the distortions 0,1% wow the Stealth stays beyond 0,02%.
Why the Stealth not cost 4500? It is far better here.

As is well known, hope dies last.
That's exactly what I hope but the measurements in bass and that Judge EQd the bass tells another story.

In one ear, out the other.

My friend, the LCD-R and several other headphones comes close to touching the susvara. There is nothing unobtainable about it, unless you completely refuse to use even the slightest amount of EQ.

This guy has got to be trolling hard

 

[ebjred]

For me it is ridiculous that there are people that believe otherwise, that think they know something above it all. Nothing different from believing in conspiracy theories. It is a borderline religious attitude we have here on HeadFi. Because billions of people believe that the mighty God created bla bla and then took a rest, or some guy took off from the deset to the space on his camel to meet the God, because it is billions of people, you expect me to stop and say "but maybe they have a point, let's investigate that camel". Nothing different here, you want to believe in the "unknown" talent the HeadFi citizens have that can get passed the facts. In fact, in many cases the otherwise is true: Measuerment devices are much more sensitive and precise than human auditory system.

Because that is how you engineer a product. You don't go "by the ear". You don't build an amplifier without checking distortion or without calculating your circuit. Anyone that says that they are playing it by the ear, is just saying that he was not able to deal with the technical background so decided to take his chance and use marketing tools to trick the customers hiding his technical incompetence.

Because I can.

If we go by the food, reading the measurements is like checking if your packaged food has expired, or checking the ingredients if there are chemical preservatives inside, or making sure that there is nothing that causes allergic reactions to you (like many people have this with nuts, walnuts etc.). Measurements give you the fundemental ingredients. If a cook uses double, triple the amount of salt, or completely misses it, it will taste bad. Don't bring me the "but I don't check it every time to understand the taste", because they are not comparable. You don't buy amplifiers and headphones 3 times a day. Food production has been nearly there since emergance of civilazition. The engineering / cooking behind is much cheaper and much less complicated. And you are used to what to expect. You don't expect a horribly salty hamburger, because you do it often and you are used to what to expect. You don't make a hobby of buying a hamburger or a milk. You don't make it into a hobby. You don't get a collection of pizza boxes at home. You can even produce it at home.

If it has a peak or a dip in the measurements it will turn into bad sound, period.

Where is the downvote button? You belong to the cult of "science". One the stupidest / ignorant posts I have ever read.

 

[sp33ls]

And the distortions 0,1% wow the Stealth stays beyond 0,02%.
Why the Stealth not cost 4500? It is far better here.

Sounds like you're listening for distortion more than listening to music.

I hope I don't end up this way.

 

[KMann]

And the distortions 0,1% wow the Stealth stays beyond 0,02%.
Why the Stealth not cost 4500? It is far better here.

Comparing apples to oranges, a closed back headphone with a lot more passive isolation, and how and when does one hear a difference between 0.1% vs 0.05% vs 0.01% distortion in different parts of the spectrum? Just based on the measurement, the distortion of LCD-5 is below 0.05% for most part of the spectrum. We pride in making well controlled drivers with vanishingly low distortion, it is a primary design goal for us if you have followed us. It is easy to look at any picture and make it fit a narrative, it is meaningless without the right context.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Why I personally find the LCD5 the most appealing of the latest flagship announcements (and other flagships) for my personal taste?

Meze Elite ($4000):

I really like my Empyrean ($3000) even though I am very well aware of its shortcomings. The technical improvements on the Elite do not seem that convincing for $1000 more so far. Especially in times when the flagship market has just become the most crowded ever. Bass on the Empyrean was already a compromise for me versus something like the LCD4, but I simply can't live with a 700g+ headphone and also the Empyrean offers some really nice, natural airiness versus the LCD4, although resolution and other technicalities are clearly inferior to the LCD4.
The Elite's more neutral tuning might or might not be to my liking, but if I can have more air on the LCD5 versus the LCD4 with a neutral but present Audeze bass, I wouldn't think twice. I actually prefer LCD-X bass in most cases versus the Empyrean bass, although the Empyrean does everything else much better than the LCD-X.

So, if the LCD5 follows the bass quality line of LCD-X/LCD4, that is extremely appealing to me combined with the new light weight and more open upper frequencies. Much more appealing than a more neutral Empyrean called Elite for almost the same price as the LCD5.
The big question here is if the LCD5 bass with less magnet weight still deliver the same bass qualities I like in the LCD4 (linearity, extension, expansion, clarity, impact, tightness, depth, texture).

DCA Stealth ($4000):

I love Dan and his dedicated work, but I never really got on with the sound of his headphones. The Aeons were too thick, closed in and lacked resolution for the price for me. Reviews about the Ether 2 seem to reflect this experience versus similarly priced competition. Reviews of the Stealth seem to state the same versus other $4K headphones. And gosh, we have plenty $4K+ flagships these days. I would audition the Stealth, I wouldn't blind buy based on my pretty disappointing experience with the Aeons.

Stax SR-X9000 ($6200):

New Stax flagship. Interesting, they didn't get the same publicity on Head-Fi. Perhaps Stax is not supporting Head-Fi enough? Anyway. Even crazier price and going electrostat direction would request a lot more money investing into energizers and so on. Simply out of budget. Niche of the niche. At the same time I still can't imagine an electrostatic headphone producing similar bass impact to planars. Perhaps Stax redefined physics here? I wonder if I will ever find out.

T+A Solitaire P ($6400):

Not a recent announcement, but another appealing flagship contender. Many owners praise them for their technicalities over the Elite, although some complain about a weaker bass. For me, for this money currently it is too much of a risk buying without auditioning at the moment

Susvara ($6000):

The good old HiFi-Man planar flagship, known by everyone. I did audition them extensively, but never owned them. Price on the second-hand market is becoming more and more acceptable, coming around half of the RRP actually. To me there is hard to find any fault in the Susvara's sound. It is so well balanced, so lifelike, it is not an accident they are still a benchmark in the industry after all these years. They definitely need a beefy amp though, but I think my Burson Soloist 3XP would be just enough to do the job. The Susvara is pretty much perfect in pretty much everything, but at the same time doesn't stand out in any specific qualities, like Audeze does with its technically perfect and impactful, tangible yet neutral and linear bass.
A second-hand Susvara is definitely on my short list though.

Final D8000 ($3800) D8000pro ($4300):

Older headphones again and still under the radar for many audiophiles. I currently own the D8000 as a recent (second-hand) purchase and it is slowly but surely taking the crown and head-time from my Empyrean. IMO these Finals are underrated and overlooked headphones which is a shame as they are definitely in the game with all the others mentioned above. Definitely a tuning for bass lovers, but man, this bass is quality. And the rest of the frequencies are more than nice too.

Abyss TC ($6000):

Never heard them. Bass and spaciousness seem to be the best available, but many complained about comfort, mids, texture... Also need a beefy amp. To me not as appealing as they were 1-2 years ago. Still I would definitely try them, but again absolutely not a blind buy, at least not for this price.

- - - - - - - -

I could go on, I was going to briefly mention the ZMF Verité, Utopia, but I don't want my post to become too long and I also feel these otherwise brilliant headphones at least to my personal preference somehow stay in the shadow of the others mentioned above.

LCD5 ($4500):

So, why I am most interested in the LCD5? Because I owned several LCDs during the years and the ones I didn't own, auditioned. I still think, LCD bass is the best in the industry. At least to me. LCD bass has the best extension, linearity, impact, body, clarity. You can always add some bass shelf if needed, much easier to do than EQ-ing higher frequencies. My upper frequency complaints about the LCD4 seem to be resolved in the LCD5 looking at the graphs. My only question is if the LCD bass impact is still there. $4500 is still not $6000, like many other flagships and I am sure there will be a few people who will immediately sell their new LCD5 at a lower price, like I have already seen some Meze Elite's going for much lower than RRP after a few days of release.

Who knows, the LCD5 might be for me, although at the moment I am having a lot of fun with my D8000.

This hobby should be all about fun. Buying, selling, enjoying sound and music, sharing experience. One thing I have learnt after spending many years with great headphones: never judge anything unless you have actually auditioned them yourself for at least several hours if not days or weeks.

Enjoy your music guys. Don't forget, at the end of the day it should be about music. And some sound technicalities of course, but still we are listening to music, aren't we?

The few impressions we have indicate that it does not retain the Bass of the LCD-4 though

 

[MayaTlab]

I trust FR graphs up to 3khz, beyond that, I do not unless I have a compensation curve I know works for the specific ear pad geometry and know where the subjectively flat response is (not the same as a preference curve). Also target response does not directly translate from one measurement rig to another. Trying to blindly fit frequency response to match a target response on a rig would be pleasing to the eyes for sure, but definitely not my ears.

I read years ago that Audeze had measured with probe mics (ER7C) some HPs on a few of the engineers (I think that it was on Innerfidelity), do you continue to practice this and in the meantime have you evolved your in situ measurements (new type of probe mic, blocked / open ear canal entrance measurements, etc.) ? Would you have any recommendations to follow ?

 

[chargedcapacitor]

The few impressions we have indicate that it does not retain the Bass of the LCD-4 though

Flat bass is Flat bass is Flat bass. It all depends where one "normalizes" the two graphs. Most people would want to EQ up the bass in the LCD-4; the LCD-5 will be no different.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The few impressions we have indicate that it does not retain the Bass of the LCD-4 though

That's not how I see it. I see it as the focus shifted upward, but it's not like the foundation isn't the same. But we spoke of this in the LCD-4 thread.

 

[eee1111]

Why I personally find the LCD5 the most appealing of the latest flagship announcements (and other flagships) for my personal taste?

Meze Elite ($4000):

I really like my Empyrean ($3000) even though I am very well aware of its shortcomings. The technical improvements on the Elite do not seem that convincing for $1000 more so far. Especially in times when the flagship market has just become the most crowded ever. Bass on the Empyrean was already a compromise for me versus something like the LCD4, but I simply can't live with a 700g+ headphone and also the Empyrean offers some really nice, natural airiness versus the LCD4, although resolution and other technicalities are clearly inferior to the LCD4.
The Elite's more neutral tuning might or might not be to my liking, but if I can have more air on the LCD5 versus the LCD4 with a neutral but present Audeze bass, I wouldn't think twice. I actually prefer LCD-X bass in most cases versus the Empyrean bass, although the Empyrean does everything else much better than the LCD-X.

So, if the LCD5 follows the bass quality line of LCD-X/LCD4, that is extremely appealing to me combined with the new light weight and more open upper frequencies. Much more appealing than a more neutral Empyrean called Elite for almost the same price as the LCD5.
The big question here is if the LCD5 bass with less magnet weight still deliver the same bass qualities I like in the LCD4 (linearity, extension, expansion, clarity, impact, tightness, depth, texture).

DCA Stealth ($4000):

I love Dan and his dedicated work, but I never really got on with the sound of his headphones. The Aeons were too thick, closed in and lacked resolution for the price for me. Reviews about the Ether 2 seem to reflect this experience versus similarly priced competition. Reviews of the Stealth seem to state the same versus other $4K headphones. And gosh, we have plenty $4K+ flagships these days. I would audition the Stealth, I wouldn't blind buy based on my pretty disappointing experience with the Aeons.

Stax SR-X9000 ($6200):

New Stax flagship. Interesting, they didn't get the same publicity on Head-Fi. Perhaps Stax is not supporting Head-Fi enough? Anyway. Even crazier price and going electrostat direction would request a lot more money investing into energizers and so on. Simply out of budget. Niche of the niche. At the same time I still can't imagine an electrostatic headphone producing similar bass impact to planars. Perhaps Stax redefined physics here? I wonder if I will ever find out.

T+A Solitaire P ($6400):

Not a recent announcement, but another appealing flagship contender. Many owners praise them for their technicalities over the Elite, although some complain about a weaker bass. For me, for this money currently it is too much of a risk buying without auditioning at the moment

Susvara ($6000):

The good old HiFi-Man planar flagship, known by everyone. I did audition them extensively, but never owned them. Price on the second-hand market is becoming more and more acceptable, coming around half of the RRP actually. To me there is hard to find any fault in the Susvara's sound. It is so well balanced, so lifelike, it is not an accident they are still a benchmark in the industry after all these years. They definitely need a beefy amp though, but I think my Burson Soloist 3XP would be just enough to do the job. The Susvara is pretty much perfect in pretty much everything, but at the same time doesn't stand out in any specific qualities, like Audeze does with its technically perfect and impactful, tangible yet neutral and linear bass.
A second-hand Susvara is definitely on my short list though.

Final D8000 ($3800) D8000pro ($4300):

Older headphones again and still under the radar for many audiophiles. I currently own the D8000 as a recent (second-hand) purchase and it is slowly but surely taking the crown and head-time from my Empyrean. IMO these Finals are underrated and overlooked headphones which is a shame as they are definitely in the game with all the others mentioned above. Definitely a tuning for bass lovers, but man, this bass is quality. And the rest of the frequencies are more than nice too.

Abyss TC ($6000):

Never heard them. Bass and spaciousness seem to be the best available, but many complained about comfort, mids, texture... Also need a beefy amp. To me not as appealing as they were 1-2 years ago. Still I would definitely try them, but again absolutely not a blind buy, at least not for this price.

- - - - - - - -

I could go on, I was going to briefly mention the ZMF Verité, Utopia, but I don't want my post to become too long and I also feel these otherwise brilliant headphones at least to my personal preference somehow stay in the shadow of the others mentioned above.

LCD5 ($4500):

So, why I am most interested in the LCD5? Because I owned several LCDs during the years and the ones I didn't own, auditioned. I still think, LCD bass is the best in the industry. At least to me. LCD bass has the best extension, linearity, impact, body, clarity. You can always add some bass shelf if needed, much easier to do than EQ-ing higher frequencies. My upper frequency complaints about the LCD4 seem to be resolved in the LCD5 looking at the graphs. My only question is if the LCD bass impact is still there. $4500 is still not $6000, like many other flagships and I am sure there will be a few people who will immediately sell their new LCD5 at a lower price, like I have already seen some Meze Elite's going for much lower than RRP after a few days of release.

Who knows, the LCD5 might be for me, although at the moment I am having a lot of fun with my D8000.

This hobby should be all about fun. Buying, selling, enjoying sound and music, sharing experience. One thing I have learnt after spending many years with great headphones: never judge anything unless you have actually auditioned them yourself for at least several hours if not days or weeks.

Enjoy your music guys. Don't forget, at the end of the day it should be about music. And some sound technicalities of course, but still we are listening to music, aren't we?

Of all the flagships that have been announced the stax sr x9000 is by far my most anticipated. Even the CRBN is far more appealing than the LCD5 based on what we have been told so far.

the LCD5 doesn’t seem to be a refined LCD4 which is disappointing to me but doesn’t mean they’re bad at all. I’d need to hear them. I’m just skeptical.

 

[betula]

The few impressions we have indicate that it does not retain the Bass of the LCD-4 though

I would take it with a grain of salt. Bass quality is not the same for everyone.

IMO that flat and neutral LCD5 bass fr is a rare gem and can be easily EQ-d by 4-6db bass shelf.
I am not too fussed about quantity, my concern is quality. And Audeze delivered plenty of bass quality on past LCD models versus the competition.

IMO it is pretty much pointless to share guessing without auditioning.

 

[Articnoise]

As is well known, hope dies last.
That's exactly what I hope but the measurements in bass and that Judge EQd the bass tells another story.

Measurements of the bass indicate no lack of bass. With much smaller and faster bass element + less bass boost from the pads the bass will probable sound more like Susvara than LCD-4, I would guess. Hopefully we will all be able to hear LCD-5 soon so we stop guessing on how the sounds like .