Audeze LCD-5 Review, Measurements, Interview

[Ciggavelli]

I am at a loss as to why somebody who loves and already owns a TC would want to spend a lot of money for a different HP and then try to adjust its tuning to be that of the TC....I however dont get this whole obsession with trying to make HP's into different tunings with EQ...I am not criticizing anyone who does it...I just dont get it

I 100% agree. I have a lot of headphones because I like the different flavors they give. I even have the R10P, which “experts” say measures “strangely.” I like that it measures that way. I don’t want all my headphones to sound the same. That said, I do use a convolution filter for my SR1as that ups the bass, without affecting the rest of the FR. So, I can see EQing being helpful in this case. The SR1as don’t need the convolution filter though.

I don’t have the LCD-5s, but it seems that you have to EQ them for them to sound good. Again, I’ve never tried them, but if you have to EQ a pair of headphones to make them sound good, what does that say about the headphones?

 

[438555]

I 100% agree. I have a lot of headphones because I like the different flavors they give. I even have the R10P, which “experts” say measures “strangely.” I like that it measures that way. I don’t want all my headphones to sound the same. That said, I do use a convolution filter for my SR1as that ups the bass, without affecting the rest of the FR. So, I can see EQing being helpful in this case. The SR1as don’t need the convolution filter though.

I don’t have the LCD-5s, but it seems that you have to EQ them for them to sound good. Again, I’ve never tried them, but if you have to EQ a pair of headphones to make them sound good, what does that say about the headphones?

Are there headphones that are matched to the Harman curve, especially in the bass, not requiring EQ? The only one I’ve seen tuned that close is the DCA Stealth. I don’t really see a reason to worry if a planar has flat response in the bass and you have to EQ to get what you want, since they are so low in distortion. There’s not really a penalty to doing it if you have the right DAC/software

 

[Ciggavelli]

Are there headphones that are matched to the Harman curve, especially in the bass, not requiring EQ? The only one I’ve seen tuned that close is the DCA Stealth. I don’t really see a reason to worry if a planar has flat response in the bass and you have to EQ to get what you want, since they are so low in distortion. There’s not really a penalty to doing it if you have the right DAC/software

I get that point. Some people want the Harman Curve for everything. I do not

Edit: I’ll also say that I notice sound quality decreases when heavily eqing my headphones. Perhaps I’m bad at it, but I often wonder what you are sacrificing when EQing a pair of headphones to sound different than their original sound

 

[Roasty]

Again, I’ve never tried them, but if you have to EQ a pair of headphones to make them sound good, what does that say about the headphones?

that may be a good market... make headphones specifically to be EQ'd..

I should develop my own.

RoastyCans v2 superflat edition - "we know they sound crap, but wait till u EQ them!"

 

[nwavesailor]

I think the 5 sound good with or w/o EQ. I do, however, like a hair more bass with all my hp so I do add a little. I'd be fine (as I was for years) to have the Sus and P and now 5 be what they are, great hp, but if I can easily add a smidge of bass, I'm good with that as well.

 

[Ciggavelli]

that may be a good market... make headphones specifically to be EQ'd..

I should develop my own.

RoastyCans v2 superflat edition - "we know they sound crap, but wait till u EQ them!"

Sennheiser HD800 RC v2


Though I like the HD800 S with no EQ, if I’m being fair

 

[Barone Birra]

I don’t have the LCD-5s, but it seems that you have to EQ them for them to sound good. Again, I’ve never tried them, but if you have to EQ a pair of headphones to make them sound good, what does that say about the headphones?

LCD5, without any form of EQ, is just wonderful out of my Luxman.... even with EDM...

 

[chargedcapacitor]

Are there headphones that are matched to the Harman curve, especially in the bass, not requiring EQ? The only one I’ve seen tuned that close is the DCA Stealth. I don’t really see a reason to worry if a planar has flat response in the bass and you have to EQ to get what you want, since they are so low in distortion. There’s not really a penalty to doing it if you have the right DAC/software

According to Audeze, the best technically performing headphone is flat right up to 1khz. Adding any resonance to the bass in order to boost it lowers the quality, and using EQ to compensate instead creates better quality

 

[438555]

RoastyCans v2 superflat edition - "we know they sound crap, but wait till u EQ them!"

*every Audeze headphone

 

[438555]

According to Audeze, the best technically performing headphone is flat right up to 1khz. Adding any resonance to the bass in order to boost it lowers the quality, and using EQ to compensate instead creates better quality

Yeah, that’s why I’m interested to hear the Stealth, and it’s meta material tuning. Of course it may be a while before that happens, since I just got the LCD5

 

[chargedcapacitor]

Yeah, that’s why I’m interested to hear the Stealth, and it’s meta material tuning. Of course it may be a while before that happens, since I just got the LCD5

Well, when you put something in front of the driver you severely lessen a lot of the dynamic sounds. Like Audeze says, using resonance to increase sub bass results in lower quality sound

 

[Volote]

I 100% agree. I have a lot of headphones because I like the different flavors they give. I even have the R10P, which “experts” say measures “strangely.” I like that it measures that way. I don’t want all my headphones to sound the same. That said, I do use a convolution filter for my SR1as that ups the bass, without affecting the rest of the FR. So, I can see EQing being helpful in this case. The SR1as don’t need the convolution filter though.

I don’t have the LCD-5s, but it seems that you have to EQ them for them to sound good. Again, I’ve never tried them, but if you have to EQ a pair of headphones to make them sound good, what does that say about the headphones?

Agreed so much. I pretty much listen my LCD-5s without any EQ. Sometimes i might up the bass a touch, but I've learned I'm just merely altering the actual recording. Many songs that have deliberate bass goes boom through the LCD-5s ('Nine Inch Nails - Down In It' goes hard) where other recordings it's subdued. I like the LCD-5s flavor.

Now I also have the Celestee, it's the same. I don't mess with EQ since its natural signature works with my ears. The Elegias... did not so much

 

[Olmanwood123]

I 100% agree. I have a lot of headphones because I like the different flavors they give. I even have the R10P, which “experts” say measures “strangely.” I like that it measures that way. I don’t want all my headphones to sound the same. That said, I do use a convolution filter for my SR1as that ups the bass, without affecting the rest of the FR. So, I can see EQing being helpful in this case. The SR1as don’t need the convolution filter though.

I don’t have the LCD-5s, but it seems that you have to EQ them for them to sound good. Again, I’ve never tried them, but if you have to EQ a pair of headphones to make them sound good, what does that say about the headphones?

EQ seems to be a common theme with Audeze headphones in general.

 

[Ciggavelli]

EQ seems to be a common theme with Audeze headphones in general.

Yeah true. I have the LCD-4 and the CRBNs. I’ve tried the EQ setting in Roon for the 4, and it sounds alright. I think they sound good without EQ too. I tried EQing the CRBNs, but it was a fail. Either it doesn’t increase the bass noticeably or it creates bad distortion

 

[jlbrach]

for the record I like the 5 as is...it is a different sounding HP than the TC and susvara and sol p but thats good not bad....the idea of trying to adapt all HP's to a certain curve or sound might work for everyone else but not me...I too had the 4 and used the roon audeze setting and it was fine but nothing that made me stand up and notice....it was at best a marginal difference I am not sure if it was better or worse...when I want a bass heavy presentation...when I want something more laid back I listen to the susvara...when I want a spacious open and incredibly detailed listen I turn to the sr1a...I am lucky enough to own several TOTL HP's that all have different characteristics and strengths and weaknesses and I like it that way...more power to everyone else