Audeze mentioned they'd worked closely with professional sound engineers on the tuning of the LCD-5.
Do engineers use monitors that are generally high forward in the mids to help with mastering, and then EQ their monitors during the final playback of their work to verify how it'll sound on consumer gear?
... I'm surprised that most engineers aren't already adopting that particular curve (and transitively, the LCD-5 then being tuned in such a way). Or, maybe most sound engineers have a set of EQ that they apply themselves and instead prefer a headphone that is the most responsive to EQ.
From what I’ve read, most engineers are not audiophiles. They don’t care as much about that stuff, for whatever reason. Some people have even said that the micro-dynamics many TOTL headphones and gear bring about, weren’t even known by the engineers and were not intended to be heard at all.
What we do is way beyond an audiophile approach.
Great recordings aren‘t created by just picking certain equipment, that’s part, but the smallest part of the story.
When producing music we have access to a multitude of parameters that the average listener not even has an idea exist.
We work with the artist to maximize his/her performance, that alone makes a night and day difference.
Out of a number of takes the best one or ones are picked and edited for the final result you get.
During recording we take care for every aspect, like microphones selection, placements and setups, room accoustics, optimized gain structure and signal path in the recording equipment,...
Artistical decisions are made about the composition and interpretation, ... the list is endless.
What you call micro- and macro-dynamics is a result of intentionally controlled parts of a mix and/or edit.
If you hear the artist breathe, it’s because we want you to hear it - wittingly or unwittingly, but we know it’s there because we decided it should.
To do all this we listen in acoustically controlled environments, through studio monitors that are built and setup to represent the recording as neutral and natural as possible.
Headphones are part of this, but the minor.
There are workdays where the first time I wear headphones are for privat use at home.
Other mixes I did where intentionally done almost completely on headphones, only later evaluated on speakers - if you choose the right headphones it can work.
Recording is art+craftsmanship, and the goal is to produce something you enjoy.
Enjoy!
