[Mkoll]

Both my ear cups swivel 180 degrees.

Mine as well.

 

[All Day Breakfast]

Anyone know how these compare to ZMF in terms of comfort for long sessions?

I’m not sure if collecting different peoples’ reactions to comfort is going to tell you anything about YOUR reaction. I wear a size 56 cap, and I would give the LCD 5 comfort rating as a 6.5. I’d rate my Sennheiser 800 as a 9 and my Audeze LCDi4 with the in ear thingy rather than the ear hooks as a 9.5. I’d rate my VC as a 7 and with the optional ZMF headband pad (can’t remember what they’re called) a 7.5. But more importantly from my point of view, I have no discomfort with wearing the LCD 5 (or VC) for a 2 hour listening stretch at which point my body wants to move more than my head gets uncomfortable. So the numbers I just gave are a bit meaningless.

 

[jaboki]

I’m not sure if collecting different peoples’ reactions to comfort is going to tell you anything about YOUR reaction. I wear a size 56 cap, and I would give the LCD 5 comfort rating as a 6.5. I’d rate my Sennheiser 800 as a 9 and my Audeze LCDi4 with the in ear thingy rather than the ear hooks as a 9.5. I’d rate my VC as a 7 and with the optional ZMF pad (can’t remember what they’re called) a 7.5. But more importantly from my point of view, I have no discomfort with wearing the LCD 5 (or VC) for a 2 hour listening stretch at which point my body wants to move more than my head gets uncomfortable. So the numbers I just gave are a bit meaningless.

I agree. I also agree with you that LCD5 (your rating: 6.5) is less comfortable than VC (your rating: 7). The actual number mean nothing, it's subjective and relative to scale/person. What's common here with your experience and mine is that we both prefer the VC to be more comfortable than the LCD5.

 

[sahmen]

Hmm Funny you should mention it! I was also on the point of announcing how I have found at least one small, though not insignificant area in which my LCD-5 scores an unequivocal victory over my Susvara :

My newly acquired and humble Cayin Ru6 dongle ($250) can drive my LCD-5 to my satisfaction, actually beyond my satisfaction..., whereas I do not see anything this small or cheap driving the Susvara to anywhere near my satisfaction...

Oh, and, maybe this might have something to do with the R-2R or NOS creds of the Cayin RU6, but it adds some ballsy bass heft to the LCD-5 which is not there when I'm using it on my more "mega-bucks" rigs (Sonnet Morpheus + Niimbus US4 etc.)...

Note: I *am* quite pleased with how the LCD-5 handles on the "megabucks" rig as well, so no dissing is intended here,.. Except where I find that, on the megabucks rig, I have to EQ in a low shelf to enhance bass for the LCD-5 on Roon, whereas no such tweak is required on the dongle. I am also tempted to say that the Cayin brings bass on the LCD-5 to the territory of bass on the LCD-4, but I want to stay clear of giving wrong impressions,

Let's just say I am impressed by the bass on this little dongle, even though I do not consider myself to be a bass-head. I also suspect some might even find the bass to be a little on the overwhelming side on the dongle, which would not surprise me, given the role of subject preferences in the hobby and all.

However, color me impressed by this little dongle. I feel I can listen to flagship calibre audio on my I-phone or I-pad pro OTG with the LCD-5, thanks to this little dongle, and that makes me feel quite giddy (of course, YMMV) :





BTW, the cable is the Norne Audio Drausk, and I am listening out the Cayin's 4.4mm balanced output, to hi-res music from Amazon music on my laptop, so nothing fancy here, and no further tweaks needed.

Wow! I replaced the Norne Drausk with a Vykari on this same rig, and the senses of spaciousness, depth, separation, and air have all gotten even more expansive... I loved the all copper Drausk (and still do), but I have got to say that this is something else... I have to admit that Vykari sounds superior to the Drausk to my ears with this LCD-5, as great as the Drausk sounded on its own before... Well it could also be a consequence of the kind of music I listen to... but hell this is just fantastico!

But the star of the show is really the Cayin RU6, which has become my new giant-shaming device as the small puny-little dongle that it is. I say "giant-shaming" and not "giant-killing" because I can still hear differences between the Cayin and the kilobucks rigs I have here... What the Cayin is teaching me is a new lesson about diminishing returns and how they apply to the Kilobucks rigs, and that lesson is really humbling and sobering... And I get the sense that the Cayin is not even the bestest dongle on the market... but enough of that.

I'll just end this there, and go back to enjoying the set up,... Of course YMMV, so don't bite my head off if you aren't getting the same vibe from either the RU6 or the Vykari .

 

[Nitrium]

I got mine today running out of the RME ADI-2 and the Singxer SA-1.

Just... wow.

I mean, it's not an "entirely different" experience than the LCD-X, but the improvement is noticeable, specially in detail retrieval. This is... astounding.

Lana Del Rey's "NFR!" came alive. Now into Nils Frahm to test further.

 

[PcChip]

Holo May KTE -> Holo Serene KTE -> Kicker KX200.4 (circa 2005) -> LCD-5

 

[MN8372]

Hi - I’ve been comparing my LCD 5s and Susvaras back and forth and I’m not sure I can pick a winner. The Susvaras are more airy and in some respects more refined especially when it comes to frequency response. But the LCD 5 is punchier and more intense (yes I knew that) but what is emerging is that the LCD 5 ”seems” purer and more transparent. It comes with a smaller soundstage and (to my ears) a slightly quacky presentation but it’s purer to my ears. More distilled. When I say quacky I mean the ambience you get in a small room versus a large concert hall. I don’t notice it unless I am swapping between the two headphones. They are both incredible but the Susvara has a very very very slight grittiness that my HEKSE had (to a greater degree). I’m stlll not sure which headphone I prefer. Maybe the Susvara is more analogue and the LCD 5 is more digital? Is that grittiness due to greater accuracy? Is the purety that I’m talking about due to the sure-footedness of the LCD5?. It just feels like its more in control of the music. I just don’t know. They are both fantastic and better than I thought headphones could sound (and both are in another league to my HEKSE and Utopia). And it’s just my opinion after all. But I don‘t think its as simple as saying the Susvara is more refined and the LCD5 is punchier. There’s a lot going on here between two heavyweight contenders. I need more time. What’s clear is that for USD4.5K Audeze has knocked it out the park.

And I‘m one of those lucky ones who doesn’t mind the clamp of the LCD5. If anything I prefer the leather feel of the LCD5 to the “gritty” hybrid pads on the Susvara…. Maybe my views above are all psychosomatic… But I just can’t pick one over the other…

 

[nwavesailor]

I am trying the Schiit Liki Max tonight and it is a fun piece of kit! It is my first venture into EQ and the 5 sounds very good ever so slightly or more seriously tweaked. I hear 0 distortion. You can totally bypass the EQ and go back to the sound without any EQ for a quick comparison although I think the EQ may be a few db louder.
Hard to say if over the 15 day trial I will feel this way or perhaps consider it a bit of a gimmick, time will tell.

I could be a closet BASS head!!!!!

 

[Pappi Daa Hobo]

I think the comfort on the LCD-5 is very good... There is some clamp pressure, but it keeps the cups in the same place the whole time i wear them. When i wear the Aryas or the LCD-X they tend to slide around my head on slightest movement.

The first day i wore the LCD-5 admittedly i thought wow that's a tight fit. (I have a slightly larger than average head) But now i have come to appreciate the clamp it has.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Anyone know how these compare to ZMF in terms of comfort for long sessions?

For regular wood ZMF Open Back (Aeolus Auteur, Verite), definitely comfort wins by ZMF easily. LCD-5 is still in my "OK" zone though, but I do feel more fatigue physically when using LCD-5 longer than 3 hours, where ZMF has zero problem.

 

[Tachyon88]

Did I miss the answer ? Is it supposed to rotate at the yoke or not ?

 

[VandyMan]

Did I miss the answer ? Is it supposed to rotate at the yoke or not ?

Cups yes, rods no unless you hold the cup in place and swivel the headband.

 

[Dloines]

I have listened to and held 3 different pairs of LCD5s and each one the cups rotated where you could lay them flat on a surface.

 

[Pappi Daa Hobo]

I have listened to and held 3 different pairs of LCD5s and each one the cups rotated where you could lay them flat on a surface.

Mine do the same, If I set them down on the table with the thick part of the pads down, they stay upright. If I put them on the table with the thin part of the pads down, the cups move immediately and they fall over.

 

[Dloines]

like in this picture.