[sp33ls]

We have come a long way from chemical etching days, our drivers are now vacuum deposited and laser etched and withstand 170F and 5W through them (please do not try that at home). Drivers are measured and matched, assembled, burned in for two days and measured again before being shipped.

Out of curiosity (not to drone on this topic), from a process perspective, what did you find would happen with those drivers that did eventually fail..? Would some of the material breakdown over time and cause instability in the driver? I just find the topic of how these are made and improved really fascinating.

Are there actual data out there on this for all manufacturers of TOTL headphones? I'd like to see driver failure numbers fully spelled out for every manufacturer, including percentages generally of all such failures, and percentage of failure after warranty period.... but I am skeptical that this is really something that's out there...?

Even ZMF has had a few driver failures (tho, not a common issue, and picked on them only because they're a popular dynamic driver producer). It happens to every producer... especially if you're not someone like Sony who has a huge manufacturing budget and down to a science from decades of experience (and I'd bet money that even their Z1R has had at least one or two warranty claims).

 

[paradoxper]

Are there actual data out there on this for all manufacturers of TOTL headphones? I'd like to see driver failure numbers fully spelled out for every manufacturer, including percentages generally of all such failures, and percentage of failure after warranty period.... but I am skeptical that this is really something that's out there...?

Good luck. That'd require transparency which this industry avoids.

The Rev 2 days saw Head-Fi as a much more compact community. The SBAF (then CS) boys notoriously went through consecutive failures as anecdotal data set.

HiFiMan shared a much more minimal community shared failure account.

The SR-009 exhibited an almost equally high case of imbalance issue.

 

[jlbrach]

Sankar is an engineer FWIW and really knows his stuff! (BTW, so am I...B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc. P.Eng.).

I met sankar at canjam a few years back and he was not only a real gentleman but very willing to speak of tech....and was of real help to me on several issues

 

[Dixter]

was hoping to read here sometime today of someone...anyone that has first listening impressions of the LCD-5.... maybe tomorrow??

 

[UntilThen]

My driver fails all the time.....Oh your talking head phones

My driver failed on a crucial Par 5 Dogleg right. I blame @bcowen !

 

[Audeze]

Out of curiosity (not to drone on this topic), from a process perspective, what did you find would happen with those drivers that did eventually fail..? Would some of the material breakdown over time and cause instability in the driver? I just find the topic of how these are made and improved really fascinating

Before we moved etching in-house, we used to outsource the diaphragm etching to a PCB etching facility. There was some residue that would cause issues after a period of time. So we moved all our etching process in-house and completely moved to laser etching. We do not use chemical etching anymore

 

[Audeze]

was hoping to read here sometime today of someone...anyone that has first listening impressions of the LCD-5.... maybe tomorrow??

Glen Schick posted some of his thoughts on his IG channel today.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CUGfBGHga5O/

 

[pippen99]

a Headfier on the CRBN thread talked to Audeze yesterday and was told new CRBN orders were 6-8 weeks. His first day CRBN order should ship next week. That would mean approx 8 week lead time. I hope Audeze has a better handle on this or we are not going to see an LCD-5 until almost the end of November.

 

[sp33ls]

Glen Schick posted some of his thoughts on his IG channel today.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CUGfBGHga5O/

Saw this on his YT channel yesterday. Looking forwarding to hearing his impressions on sound quality -- and how it compares to his LCD-4.

I think many here are eagerly awaiting impressions.

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

Saw this on his YT channel yesterday. Looking forwarding to hearing his impressions on sound quality -- and how it compares to his LCD-4.

I think many here are eagerly awaiting impressions.

Me me me me meeeee. They need to hurry up already lol.

 

[amsync]

Sigh. This doesn't really help reflect a meaningful reality considering of all TOTL spirits, Audeze has suffered from the most driver failures.

Is this objective truth? Has somebody gathered data that was stratified to make that conclusion across the major audiophile headphone producers?

I have owned a lot of Audeze products and never once had anything fail on me. Meanwhile I had a Stax and Utopia total failure in the past 2 years (both replaced) and I am still always worried that I push them too far and they give out again. Audeze products for me at least never felt like that. I always feel like I am driving a tank

 

[jlbrach]

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.

dont buy them!

 

[jlbrach]

Well, tell that to Abyss

Audeze was always considered one of the best at bass, ever since the LCD-2 (which I had). The LCD-4 had great bass and an amazing midrange that can’t be beat with electric guitars. It does that better than any other pair of headphones I’ve listened to.

What is the LCD-5 bringing to the table? If I want extreme detail, I’ll go with my SR1as or probably even the Audeze CRBN. I’m struggling to see what the LCD-5 brings to the table in terms of innovation. Sure it’s lighter, but I can wear my LCD-4s for hours with no problems, so I don’t really care about a lighter weight LCD-5.

What is the bottom line here? What is the selling point except being lighter? I still am interested in reading head-fi member impressions and more “professional” reviews. I know measurements aren’t the be all to end all, but it was Jude that called it “borderline bright” with less of a low end

you seem to be a basshead which is fine but perhaps the 5 is an all around stud....perhaps not the bass of the 4 but still good bass with better detail and soundstage...that to me would be worth upgrade

 

[EMINENT]

Someone in the LCD4 thread has given 3rd day impressions. Or, 1st impressions after having for 3 days.

 

[jlbrach]

Then buy the Stealth as you’ve clearly already decided which you prefer. Not sure why several Stealth fans feel the need to mention that here, but that’s Head-Fi these days…

The LCD5 was released this week - can’t understand why people expect there to be a high volume of reviews this soon.

this is one of the things that drives me crazy here and I obviously love the community...people feeling once they buy and own a HP that they then have to constantly go into other discussions and tell those interested in another HP that it isnt any good or not as good as the one they own...almost always having not heard it