Audeze LCD-5 Review, Measurements, Interview

[the1andonly]

If vocals are your priority, then you should look into finding an LCD-R. It has the best vocal presentation for both male and female vocals I've ever heard, topping the susvara by quite a margin. It has drawbacks, which is why I sold it, but that was always it's best strength.

LCD-3 bretty gud too

 

[MN8372]

I see a number of people here recently describe the LCD5 as a “bright” headphone.

I imagine most people who describe it as bright do so because of its forward upper mids.

But the treble/higher frequencies are not bright at all. To my ears the upper registers are slightly dark if anything and very refined (no sibilance or splashy cymbals). Compared to my Sus which is neutral in my opinion (with a hint of brightness).

So like all things I think it depends on what you are sensitive to whether you think it is “bright”.

And then there is EQ…

 

[dcguy73]

I like how half this thread is people sharing their impressions of the LCD-5 and the other half is people saying the impressions are wrong and they’re not hearing it correctly. I’m steadily blocking the latter.

If I ever write an audiophile memoir, it will be titled, “The Tyranny Of Signal Purity And Its Devotees.”

Some of us just want to enjoy our headphones and our music.

 

[Volote]

I had a friend come over last month to test out my son's Sony noise cancellation, 38X, Elegia, and the LCD-5. He loved the Elegia over the LCD-5 since i had him try it right before the LCD-5. The Elegias did great acoustic reproduction and it blew him away to the point where LCD-5 sounded the same

to each their own!

 

[BowWazoo]

You have nothing listed under 'about' in your profile, so I'm just curious to know what gear you're running your headphones through?
Thanks

Currently with a Matrix Audio Pro 3.

There are devices that only cost a fraction,
but achieve just as good measurements.
Eg. Topping DX3PRO+.
However, I was interested in Roon.
I also think the design of the Matrix is awesome.
Hence such an expensive device.

By the way, i can absolutely understand it if someone buys a Solaris (for example).
There are understandable reasons for this.
But it doesn't sound better...

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Vocals sound closer and more intimate on the Verite. But this is a product of the LCD-5 showing all the layers to a track. Like the vocals and beat merge somewhat on the Verite whereas the LCD-5 you can easily separate the beat from the vocals. Also, the Verite is a much more in your head headphone while the LCD-5 is more open. Hope this helps.

In my opinion, vocals sound better on the LCD-5 because they are more detailed..

Tested this with the songs Light On by Maggie Rogers, Limit to Your Love by James Blake, and The Climb Back by J. Cole .

Well, my experience is a bit different. LCD-5 definitely more upfront and intimate with Vocal compared to my Verite Open. Verite has such nice blend of technicality and musicality, but will never touch the technicality of LCD-5 indeed.

The fast transient, precision between notes, and decay accuracy, LCD-5 is quite a monster.

I see a number of people here recently describe the LCD5 as a “bright” headphone.

I imagine most people who describe it as bright do so because of its forward upper mids.

But the treble/higher frequencies are not bright at all. To my ears the upper registers are slightly dark if anything and very refined (no sibilance or splashy cymbals). Compared to my Sus which is neutral in my opinion (with a hint of brightness).

So like all things I think it depends on what you are sensitive to whether you think it is “bright”.

And then there is EQ…

Extremely agree on this.

I think perhaps some people mistaken "bright" word to describe thinner bass presentation.

 

[TheFrator]

I like how half this thread is people sharing their impressions of the LCD-5 and the other half is people saying the impressions are wrong and they’re not hearing it correctly. I’m steadily blocking the latter.

If I ever write an audiophile memoir, it will be titled, “The Tyranny Of Signal Purity And Its Devotees.”

Some of us just want to enjoy our headphones and our music.

For me at least, it's really hard to put into words the audio bliss the LCD-5 gives me every time I put them on haha. I EQ'd all my headphones to the Harman Target last night (to control for frequency response) And the LCD-5 sounded the least veiled of my 3.

Well, my experience is a bit different. LCD-5 definitely more upfront and intimate with Vocal compared to my Verite Open. Verite has such nice blend of technicality and musicality, but will never touch the technicality of LCD-5 indeed.

The fast transient, precision between notes, and decay accuracy, LCD-5 is quite a monster.

I feel I might be confusing the definition of "intimate" when comparing these two. The VO is much more in my head when listening and therefore feels more intimate to me. If by intimate you mean the vocals stand apart and can be easily focused on against the rest of the mix, then yes the LCD-5 is more intimate.

If you don’t mind another question how did you find the tuning of the LCD-5 to be coming from the Verite? I would imagine the LCD-5 would be a (relatively) bright/analytical sound after coming from the Verite right? Or was it a relatively easy transition?

I'm pretty sensitive to treble (which I found out once I switched away from my DT1990s haha). I run the VO stock tuned and I can easily listen to the stock tuning of the LCD-5. So it was a relatively easy transition. However; I do listen to the LCD-5's with Resolve's EQ because it brings up the bass to a sublime level and ever so slightly tames the upper mids to where no type of music becomes fatiguing and I can listen all day.

 

[joseph69]

Currently with a Matrix Audio Pro 3.

There are devices that only cost a fraction,
but achieve just as good measurements.
Eg. Topping DX3PRO+.
However, I was interested in Roon.
I also think the design of the Matrix is awesome.
Hence such an expensive device.

By the way, i can absolutely understand it if someone buys a Solaris (for example).
There are understandable reasons for this.
But it doesn't sound better...

Thanks for the reply and mentioning your gear. As I stated, I was just curious because after all, that's why there is an 'about' under everyones username so you could see what gear they own/owned. I'm mentioning this because my post that you replied to was deleted due to being "off topic" yet your reply to my post was not deleted...can't figure this one out, and I can't seem to find out who the moderator was that deleted my post is to ask why. Anyway, enjoy.

 

[BowWazoo]

I will complete my profile

 

[alishafai]

Grats on the purchase! From what I read, the LCD-5 is very friendly. I’m personally thinking of going 23R as my next amp or wait a few extra months and go balls deep into WA33 (jps edition).

The world of amps is a strange one. I need to head to a camjam and start testing all these new toys!

I use mine with WA22, and I am really enjoying it.

 

[Trance_Gott]

LCD-5 is about on par in speed and details with the 009 which is amazing because it is an orthodynamic.
In Bass detail it beats all my other headphones and slams very very hard. But you must use EQ to wake up this monster!

 

[Tachyon88]

I had a friend come over last month to test out my son's Sony noise cancellation, 38X, Elegia, and the LCD-5. He loved the Elegia over the LCD-5 since i had him try it right before the LCD-5. The Elegias did great acoustic reproduction and it blew him away to the point where LCD-5 sounded the same

to each their own!

Was your sons friend aware of what the lcd5 is and their price before hand ?

 

[Volote]

Was your sons friend aware of what the lcd5 is and their price before hand ?

He was and we did it all blindly I bet if he heard the LCD-5 first before the Elegia, he'd think otherwise. He did have a wow moment with the Elegia which then translated to the LCD-5 is my thinking. Once you hear something awesome, then it's hard to top that pinnacle so quickly.

 

[Tachyon88]

He was and we did it all blindly I bet if he heard the LCD-5 first before the Elegia, he'd think otherwise. He did have a wow moment with the Elegia which then translated to the LCD-5 is my thinking. Once you hear something awesome, then it's hard to top that pinnacle so quickly.

You would think you could most definitely feel the difference on your head though. Perhaps since it was all new to him it wasn't something he noticed he could notice if he thought about it. Interesting non the less..Knowing the price going in before hand, was he surprised he chose the elegia over the lcd5 after the fact ?

 

[TheFrator]

LCD-5 is about on par in speed and details with the 009 which is amazing because it is an orthodynamic.
In Bass detail it beats all my other headphones and slams very very hard. But you must use EQ to wake up this monster!

What EQ do you use? I've tried Resolve's and Oratory's but prefer Resolve's with 0.5 dB more gain on the 3 and 5.3 kHz peaks.