[Piotr Michalak]

Hi guys, I've recently bought new LCD-i4 and found out that there are two problems, maybe already solved here, if so then I'm sorry for the repetition, but please help me.

1. The 2pin connector is very loose. Audeze told me to try to alter the cables I'm using with a screwdriver and make the two pins go wider to the outside (not completely parallel). It works, but I have a feeling of low quality here...

2. To make matters worse, I hear driver flex on the left side, when I move the earphone, but there's no such effect on the right side. But both sides seem to work fine and even. Is this really an issue? Audeze was so nice as to offer me a new pair if this bothers me, but I'm not sure if I should do it.

BTW, are there any new versions of LCD-i4? Did they update this model in the meantime, as Audeze often does, without any announcements?

PS
I also like silver cables with these, both 8-core Lavricables and my silver Toxic Cables sound great with them. My recommendation!
Still I'm fascinated how my Final Lab2 sounds even better, at least for acoustics, with its superb 3D holography.
Audeze is better for pop music and electronics, though, with it's reference-class bass.

 

[acia]

Hi guys, I've recently bought new LCD-i4 and found out that there are two problems, maybe already solved here, if so then I'm sorry for the repetition, but please help me.

1. The 2pin connector is very loose. Audeze told me to try to alter the cables I'm using with a screwdriver and make the two pins go wider to the outside (not completely parallel). It works, but I have a feeling of low quality here...

2. To make matters worse, I hear driver flex on the left side, when I move the earphone, but there's no such effect on the right side. But both sides seem to work fine and even. Is this really an issue? Audeze was so nice as to offer me a new pair if this bothers me, but I'm not sure if I should do it.

BTW, are there any new versions of LCD-i4? Did they update this model in the meantime, as Audeze often does, without any announcements?

PS
I also like silver cables with these, both 8-core Lavricables and my silver Toxic Cables sound great with them. My recommendation!
Still I'm fascinated how my Final Lab2 sounds even better, at least for acoustics, with its superb 3D holography.
Audeze is better for pop music and electronics, though, with it's reference-class bass.

take the offer

 

[cj3209]

take the offer

Audeze also told me to take a screwdriver and bend the cable pins outward. Slightly disappointed for a $2,500 IEM. After replacing the cable with a nice silver Lavricable that fits tight, makes me think Audeze has QC issues with the cable. Still, the i4's sound is world-class so I can't complain.

Happy camper here.

 

[acia]

https://www.amazon.com/TEMCo-Titani...&qid=1528791800&sr=8-5&keywords=titanium+wire

good idea to use 16 gauge titanium wire to make ear hooks??

pls suggest a thickness.

 

[commtrd]

The rubber tubing on the ear hooks mod works nicely. Doesn't really interfere with my glasses like I thought it would.

On another note, has anyone directly compared LCDi4 and LCD4Z? If so, thoughts and critique?

 

[pikachuchu]

Has anyone tried Audeze LCDi4 with SpinFit CP155?

 

[Phronesis]

Has anyone tried Audeze LCDi4 with SpinFit CP155? Any good?

Yes, size Small is the best fitting tip for me among all the tips I’ve tried.

 

[commtrd]

I currently use the Spinfit Large and sounds great to me. Swapping back to stock ridged large tops I hear no discernible difference in SQ. But of course this audio stuff is so subjective what is good for me someone else may not like at all. YMMV as usual...

 

[Phronesis]

With my iphone, I'm getting sold on the idea of running the i4 primarily using the cipher cable. I haven't done back to back comparison, but I haven't noticed any obvious difference in sound quality compared to using a separate larger DAC/amp. Since the cipher has built-in default EQ, I approximated the EQ that would need to be set in the app to roughly negate the EQ in the cipher cable. I then backed down that EQ to get something in between no EQ and the EQ in the cipher cable. Here's what I'm currently using:

 

[commtrd]

I got the rubber tubing installed on the ear hooks and between that and the Spinfits, these headphones are just sick! Couple hundred hours on them now and they just sound incredible. Amazing really. And they sound like they are getting better!

With Hugo 2, and a good silver cable, one could do much worse in assembling a TOTL system on a budget. I am loving these things.

 

[Lohengrin123]

Hi guys ,
I would like to use my PW audio No.5 balanced cable (I used it with an Oriolus Mkiik..) with the LCDi-4.
Does it work besides the bending at the end?
Thank you very much..
Michael

 

[sorrick]

As long as it has a 2 pin .78mm connector with a grove on one side, it should work. If there is no grove, it will not fit.

 

[Lohengrin123]

As long as it has a 2 pin .78mm connector with a grove on one side, it should work. If there is no grove, it will not fit.

Thank you! There is a grove...could there be a problem with the polarity of the pins?

 

[EagleWings]

Thank you! There is a grove...could there be a problem with the polarity of the pins?

Nope. My understanding is, since you would revert it on both sides, you don't really invert the polarity.

 

[EagleWings]

Also, want to share some impressions on the pairing of PWAudio 1960 2W cable with the i4.

The stock cable of the i4 is a Silver Plated Copper (SPC) cable. Based on my experience with quite a few SPC cables, I feel their downsides outweigh the benefits. But i4's SPC cable is probably one of the best of the lot I've tried. What I don't like about SPC cables is that their bass is usually focussed on the sub-bass, because of which they lack warmth and fullness. And to make things worse, they make the treble bright which ends up affecting the tone. They create neutral or sometimes lean notes that result in good separation, but at the cost of naturalness in the mid-range. And this pattern holds true with i4's stock cable too. But its not too extreme and well within the acceptable range. In fact, it hasn't bothered me that I didn't care about swapping the cable for all these months of owning the i4.

Swapping over to the 1960 2W cable, the bass focus shift towards the mid-bass. As a result what you get is a warm bass that slams harder due to the mid-bass focus, and a slight reduction in rumble and power in the sub-bass. While this warmth is carried over to the midrange in the form of thickness, what the mid-range lacks is fullness in their notes (for example, the PW.Audio No5 cable creates fuller notes in the mid-range). Due to the warm nature of the cable and the mid-range notes lacking fullness, the mid-range transparency is not quite high for a $1000 cable. Cables like the EA Leonidas or Labkable Samurai have a more transparent midrange. Regardless, its a more fluid mid-range compared to the stock cable.

Where the 1960 starts to show clear dominance is in the treble. Its treble is just beautifully linear without any brightness and the treble extension is very good despite being shelved down just a touch. So what you get is a natural tone without any sacrifice to the resolution due to the well extended, but controlled upper-treble. The stock cable can come across as more articulated and detailed, but its more like a artificially boosted articulation and detail. Its like the difference between a Solid-State amplifier and a Single Ended Triode tube amplifier. People who prefer some bite in the treble might find the 1960's treble a bit too smooth for their liking.

1960's stage is just a bit more wider and deeper. But the stock cable's stage is taller. Its really a close call. But where 1960 has an advantage over the stock cable is the imaging precision and the background blackness. Imaging on the 1960 is just more precise and the background is blacker helping the instruments pop out better, especially the instruments that flank the stage. Instrument separation is on the same level, but the 1960 has better layering by a tiny bit. And overall, the instruments sound more realistic by a tiny bit on the 1960 over the stock cable.

Despite the slight lack of transparency in the mid-range, in terms of overall sound, I prefer the 1960 2W over the stock cable. But then when taking price into consideration, I can only recommend it if you are quite flexible with your budget. Because what I have noticed with regards to swapping cables on the i4 is, the sound difference between cables seem less pronounced on the i4, than compared to swapping cables with IEMs like the Zeus, U18 or Phantom. I believe that is due to the better isolation offered by the IEMs, that helps with picking the difference out more easily. And also that the impedance differences between cables don't really have as pronounced impact as they have on the IEMs.