[BassicScience]

Flat bass is Flat bass is Flat bass. It all depends where one "normalizes" the two graphs. Most people would want to EQ up the bass in the LCD-4; the LCD-5 will be no different.

Interesting. When I auditioned the LCD-4, the last thing that would have crossed my mind was "I need more bass". YMMV.

 

[KMann]

I am frankly stumped with this talk of bass, it is easy to design a driver that is under damped or with a relatively high resonant frequency providing a perception of increased bass presence, so you would see a 'hump' in bass, loose uncontrolled bass is 'more' bass but not 'good' bass. It is very hard to find a flatter measuring headphone (ruler flat, no wrinkles, just like how I like my shirts ironed!) in the bass than Audezes. They will deliver the bass the recording calls for, if one needs more bass than that, then EQ is an option, alternately turn on the sub for more tactile feedback,

 

[KMann]

the LCD5 doesn’t seem to be a refined LCD4

Refined as in?

 

[eee1111]

Refined as in?

Well

refined might not be the best way to put it

it just might be too much of a departure of what I was expecting is what I’m saying. I need to hear them.

 

[NOMOS]

Measurements do not lie. It will be a bright headphone with forwarded mids and a bit bass shy. In addition, the distortions are significantly higher than the Stealth. Think this is not the gamechanger I've been waiting 2 years for. Too bad Audeze.

Can it be that you have brewed too much in your head in recent years what the new Audeze can do ( gammechanger , best bass , best slam ,… )
and therefore now are a little disappointed ?

 

[Bimbleton]

I am frankly stumped with this talk of bass, it is easy to design a driver that is under damped or with a relatively high resonant frequency providing a perception of increased bass presence, so you would see a 'hump' in bass, loose uncontrolled bass is 'more' bass but not 'good' bass. It is very hard to find a flatter measuring headphone (ruler flat, no wrinkles, just like how I like my shirts ironed!) in the bass than Audezes. They will deliver the bass the recording calls for, if one needs more bass than that, then EQ is an option, alternately turn on the sub for more tactile feedback,

I have a feeling the folks complaining about ‘lack of bass’ are either trolling, or believe that a lack of ‘bass hump’ = bass light.

The LCD-X measures flat, and may even look bass-shy on frequency graphs, but damn it has a clean, deep bass capability. I say this because I own one, and love it!

Y’all gotta listen to these headphones before passing judgement (especially negative judgement, what the heck). Don’t knock it before you try it.

 

[Tachyon88]

The 650 is one of the smoothest, least fatiguing headphones I've ever heard, and would never consider it bright by any stretch of the word. Chalk it up to another "Don't base everything off just a graph, and listen with your own ears" mindset here.

Rarely would I ever find myself bothering with anyone who bases everything off a graph. They help, but ultimately it falls on our ears to determine what we like.

I never would've thought I'd like the LCD-X over a 2 Classic (I prefer smoother, warmer). Yet the LCD-X blew me away personally. The graphs alone would've actually turned me off from them if it's all I cared to think about.

Meaning that people are looking at the graph of a non bright headphone and concluding, incorrectly, that it will be bright ? FR tells me this will not be a bright headphone nor should the LCD4 be. I think the people thinking this must be super treble sensitive.

 

[JLoud]

The LCD-4 is not bass shy, I can't even imagine why someone would say it. They must not own one or just looking for reactions. With solid power to drive them they rival the Abyss TC for bass. Different in presentation, but both are outstanding. The TC is faster and possibly goes a little deeper, the LCD-4 is fuller with more decay. I own both since they came out and will not be selling either. I would describe myself as an audiophile bass-head.

 

[Bimbleton]

Audeze, what’s with the tortoiseshell, was it your intention to make us all look like sexy librarians

 

[betula]

I am frankly stumped with this talk of bass, it is easy to design a driver that is under damped or with a relatively high resonant frequency providing a perception of increased bass presence, so you would see a 'hump' in bass, loose uncontrolled bass is 'more' bass but not 'good' bass. It is very hard to find a flatter measuring headphone (ruler flat, no wrinkles, just like how I like my shirts ironed!) in the bass than Audezes. They will deliver the bass the recording calls for, if one needs more bass than that, then EQ is an option, alternately turn on the sub for more tactile feedback,

I think you have just summarised what good bass actually is. This is what Audeze is known for.
Understanding the quality of Audeze bass requires some experience and refinement of taste.

 

[Tachyon88]

You failed to make a valid point within this whole block of text...?

I dunno, I think I learned that frequency responses proves God doesn't exist...or something.. Very profound....

 

[DarginMahkum]

You failed to make a valid point within this whole block of text...?

As someone who is indeed technical, I understand the limitations of these measurements, and that they should only be used to reinforce what our ears hear.
As an engineer, you don't design a loudspeaker or headphones based on a FR target. Sure, you have a general idea what you want, but you use the measurements to confirm what you're hearing and that something isn't broken.
Also, how do you measure things like soundstage and detail retrieval?

As an electrical engineer (though I am not doing any analog circuit for years), I don't think you fully understand it. You don't measure things like soundstage and detail retrieval, though measurable parameters will effect those perceptions. These are the names we give to define our perception. You are also omitting the "experience". If you make tens successful designs you will be gathering experience, for the eleventh you know where you will start with better precision, have a template design, what kind of circuit you can begin with, what components etc. But the measurements are not off the table, they are just done when there is something to measure. Also nothing is a straight line, it is an iterative process:

https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/listening-vs-measurements

"At Benchmark, listening is the final exam that determines if a design passes from engineering to production. When all of the measurements show that a product is working flawlessly, we spend time listening for issues that may not have shown up on the test station. If we hear something, we go back and figure out how to measure what we heard. We then add this test to our arsenal of measurements."

"LISTENING TESTS REVEAL PROBLEMS BUT NOT THE ROOT CAUSE​

Any design process that relies solely on listening tests is doomed to fail. If we just listen, redesign, and then repeat, we fail to identify the root cause of the defect and we never approach perfection. We may arrive at a solution that just masks the artifact with another less-objectionable artifact. On the other hand if we focus on eliminating every artifact that we can measure, we can quickly converge on a solution that approaches sonic transparency. At Benchmark, if we can measure an artifact, we don't try to determine if it is low enough to be inaudible, we simply try to eliminate it. This process eliminates all but the most elusive artifacts."

 

[ufospls2]

Im kinda confused by the lack of bass talk. It seems pretty flat in the measurements, and you can always add more bass with a low shelve via EQ (like I do with all my headphones, to varying degrees.)

I'm assuming, like the LCD's in the past, the LCD5 will take an EQ boost very well, should you want more bass.

Not to mention the Audeze Reveal AU LCD5 preset, should there be one available (I havent looked at it for ages, its probably had some updates) which will probably have a bit more bass presence as well.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Whazzzup]

I don't understand the bass thing. Why would i want more bass if its a quality flagship. maybe its exactly the amount of bass it produces is what one should hear. For example i own HD800S and if a song produces deep bass i get every drop of it, NO EQ necessary. regardless of its reputation. So id expect lcd5 to do the same at the very least. A flagship shouldn't be bass cannon HP anyway? right?

 

[Abodh]

Yay!
LCD-5 delivered!
just wanted to write this before i start unboxing and start comparing with my trusty LCD-4 !

I have big hopes, Audeze please don’t disappoint me!

I will keep you guys with my A/B comparison