Audeze LCD-5 Review, Measurements, Interview

[Dixter]

The "worth" is a little subjective.


To me, I'm trying to get that same emotional connection through headphones as I find with high end speakers. It's different tho, since speakers energize the room you're sitting in and you "feel" that energy.
I'm looking at the LCD-5 to be a potential candidate for that experience, tho I'm curious if many will find them to be too incisive.

have you tried the Smyth A16 - you get those high end speakers thru your headphones of choice and you can energize via sub woofer or shakers... your choice of speakers x 24 speakers...

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I'm sorry but I don't agree with this whatsoever.

There's been a recent (or not so recent) notion that a headphone needs to hit a specific target curve to be good (whether Harman or what have you). I don't agree with this at all.

We all hear things differently.

I myself don't EQ anything, and enjoy the LCD headphones (or all other manufacturer headphones) for what they are, whether it's close to targets or not.

What's the point of a billion headphones if all you're doing is trying to make them all sound the same? Well, I like headphones for their own specific tonalities and quirks. I don't think the LCD2C or LCD-X need any EQ, and they're very different. Do I want them to sound similar? No.

Do they sound good or not though EQ? That's purely subjective. It's just there's some target bandwagoning happening these days that think it has to be a specific way or it's not good. Well, I'm not sorry to say they're wrong.

That's the beauty of headphones. There's so many flavors. Or they wrong? No. You want a bright headphone, get a Grado. You want an intimate headphone, get an LCD2 or 6XX. etc. You want pure neutral, get X headphone. Just enjoy them, whether you EQ or not.

X2

Totally agree, the beauty of high end headphone for me is "the special" tuning from the brand itself.

Anyway, I also not a person who think it's mandatory to EQ any Audeze headphones. Had LCD-X and 2F before, tried to EQ, but in the end prefer just listen to them without eq. Sold both of them simply because weight problem, and still use Audeze (without EQ) as one of my reference when about to purchase a new headphone.

 

[FastAndClean]

On LCD-5 Audeze they responded to the weight issue... hard to believe it took them so many years to realize that

they removed half of the magnets and made the driver smaller, i assume it is very hard to do that and improve the sound quality

 

[Dixter]

the new headphones being released at high prices is perhaps a good reason to have a tier list of headphones with all of the parameters both subjective and objective with measurements..... for example.... can you take a $1500 headphone and make it sound like a $4500 headphone with pad tuning and EQing.... or just how close can you get to those TOTL prices sound wise ??? again... many reviewers feel strongly that some Audeze headphones sound very very good with the correct EQ settings... nothing wrong with taking a good set of headphones and making them sound like a great set of headphones..... some other brands can't handle that kind of manipulation and the sound sig falls apart...
just my personal taste... if I buy a set of headphones and it sounds perfect to me out of the box then thats great... but if I get a set of phones that requires a little push in the right direction then I'll push them with EQ.... EQ should not be seen as an evil... do you adjust your TV to your eyes.... why wouldn't you adjust a set of headphones for your ears... unless of course you for some reason think you have perfect ears...

 

[Trance_Gott]

Only 6,35 mm cable no balanced 4 Pin XLR?

 

[chargedcapacitor]

the new headphones being released at high prices is perhaps a good reason to have a tier list of headphones with all of the parameters both subjective and objective with measurements..... for example.... can you take a $1500 headphone and make it sound like a $4500 headphone with pad tuning and EQing.... or just how close can you get to those TOTL prices sound wise ??? again... many reviewers feel strongly that some Audeze headphones sound very very good with the correct EQ settings...

Adherence to an FR curve is not the only metric for a headphone sounding good.

No matter how hard you try, you cannot use EQ to make an LCD-X sound as good as an LCD-R. It is just not possible.

EQ Is great, and makes good headphones sound excellent, but there is a limit.

 

[vsg28]

I just wish Jude interviewed one of the engineers rather than the CEO, the discussion was at a very high level, there was not much technical details discussed and it feels like there is not much groundbreaking development, compared with the DCA Stealth.

To be fair to Sankar, I've spoken to him a few times and he's quite technically competent to be dismissed as just a CEO. This might be a case of wanting to keep things general for the wider audience, especially when you consider Audeze themselves have videos of music professionals with the LCD-5 and not about the tech of it as with the CRBN.

 

[hedfreq]

The not suited for tube amps comment was likely aimed at OTLs due to the extremely low impedance of the LCD-5

I'm not sure where this myth about LCDs and tube amps (OT or OTL) came from, but I have yet to hear a tube amp that didn't work well with most or all of them. Admittedly, I haven't tried all of them with every tube amp out there, but I've done a lot of listening to various setups in the last 5.5 years, and have always been pleasantly surprised by how compatible they are.

In my own listening tests recently, I found the real-world power requirements of LCD-5 to be similar to LCD-2. The low impedance is balanced by the low-ish sensitivity in all the setups we had available, and based on my tests, I'd comfortably say that any amp that can drive LCD-2s should have no problem with LCD-5s.

LCD-5s should "play well" with most of the amps on our recommended amp list-- in fact pretty much all of them that I tried sounded fine-- including the LTAs (which have no output transformers), WOO, Pathos, Manley, Burson, Deckard, Chord, SPL, Weiss, and iFI. Even the Dragonfly Red performed well with some power/volume limitations; the DF Black was a bit underwhelming in overall loudness and dynamic peaks, but it still worked fine and got to the heart of the music.

To anyone who's concerned about power requirements, you probably don't need to be with most gear.

 

[hedfreq]

Only 6,35 mm cable no balanced 4 Pin XLR?

That's a personal choice, so while a balanced cable is not supplied stock, you can certainly buy one or use any LCD-compatible cable you already have on hand (the connectors are exactly the same).

 

[Trance_Gott]

That's a personal choice, so while a balanced cable is not supplied stock, you can certainly buy one or use any LCD-compatible cable you already have on hand (the connectors are exactly the same).

It's a 4500 USD headphone so I must buy a additionally 4 Pin XLR cable and cannot choice 4 Pin XLR instead of 6,35mm? Sorry I don't understand this.
When I buy a Stealth I can choice of dozens connectors why not when I buy from Audeze?

 

[SoundHelmet]

wondering if a bigger version of the new sculpted pads will be made for other LCD's?

although i guess they all got the recent pad updates

 

[Trance_Gott]

I waited 2 years for a new LCD-4 successor but today when I look at the measurements I'm not very confident that It has the Audeze bass I love and It looks very bright.
And the distortions are way higher then the Stealth. I am a bit disappointed today

 

[heliosphann]

What legendary bass? LCD-3 had bad bass....

This largely depend on which revision you had and if you had a "blessed" pair. I had several pre-fazor models and fazor models over the years. One of my pre-fazor's had outstanding bass. The other, not so much...

 

[chargedcapacitor]

wondering if a bigger version of the new sculpted pads will be made for other LCD's?

although i guess they all got the recent pad updates

Might not be a good idea since the fazors will be larger in comparison.

 

[eee1111]

It's a 4500 USD headphone so I must buy a additionally 4 Pin XLR cable and cannot choice 4 Pin XLR instead of 6,35mm? Sorry I don't understand this.
When I buy a Stealth I can choice of dozens connectors why not when I buy from Audeze?

I thought all you had to do was ask for xlr instead and they swap

if not you know the reason they don't do it