Richter Di
1000+ Head-Fier
Cool. Just listened to three (!) versions of the CD on Qobuz, Mono, re-mastered, standard.
Where would I get a DSD version?
Audeze LCD i4 TOTL In-Ear Monitor Discussion
- Thread starter Emerald Core
- Start date
Where would I get a DSD version?
I bought mine on HDtracks.com.
Eric Smith
100+ Head-Fier
I really wanted to buy these. My choice was between the i4 and Tia Forte. I have had bad luck in the past with two dead on arrival Audeze products bought at the Apple Store on the same day. It weighed heavy on my decision. I was hoping this was limited to the lower priced items but it seems their QC problems are all over the place. I wish you the best, but I think I'd get a refund and move on. I've done a lot of research in the last week and Audeze seems to have "driver" doa issues quite frequently.
Trogdor
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@Eric Smith - That really sucks. I've owned the LCD-3 and 4 as well as used the iSine 20 for months. No issues here. And when you are spending that kind of cash, I would listen to both the i4 and Tia before making a decision.
I'm sure Audeze will do right by customers who've had issues.
I'm sure Audeze will do right by customers who've had issues.
Rotten Apple
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Today I had a wonderful opportunity to sit down, forget some of the minor issues with the release of the i4, and just discuss the wonderous sound of the i4s with industry experts. With the assistance of KMann, the master of disaster, no the master of EQ'ing - I also had some beautiful time spent with the program called Roon. I was not familiar with this program until a few weeks ago but it is very powerful and although it is not like a simple equalizer. With some pre-programmed settings to begin with, that have been specifically designed for the i4, the headphones truly sing.
In other news CNN recognized that as the Rotten Pope of Canada whom adores music, it would be a sin to announce the release of the i4s without my blessing. The interview may be seen in Canada on the Rotten channel, number 777 (not 666) on Direct TV. As always, I'm sorry...
In other news CNN recognized that as the Rotten Pope of Canada whom adores music, it would be a sin to announce the release of the i4s without my blessing. The interview may be seen in Canada on the Rotten channel, number 777 (not 666) on Direct TV. As always, I'm sorry...
OrpheusIV
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Rotten Apple
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After many hours of deliberations Audeze took one great leap for mankind. On a trial basis, on Rotten Apple advice, Audeze has decided to take one of my brilliant ideas and put it into action. And what exactly have they embarked upon? Well, my concern has been to reinforce the packaging of the i4s. We all know that glass is very fragile. So we have to out think the postal and delivery systems. While it may seem to be contradictory at first, what we do is pop the headphones into an actual glass water globe and seal the sucker up! It's so beautiful you may never want to take it out.Yeah, that's the ticket.
This makes the smallish box a bigger and really heavy box. Next we mark the box not just fragile but VERY FRAGILE. Do you see where I'm going here? So now when the package arrives, if it's soaked you know that dimwits broke your Globe and weren't careful like they advertise on TV. But Audeze is very shrewd and wisely insures every i4 for 5 times its value and prays (I suggested that part too) so that just in case the package breaks they make more money sending out broken headphones than good ones. When this breakage happens, which is probably half of the time, Audeze then sends the customer, and that means YOU a free set of headphones in a really secure triple packed bubble packed box. So this way you too are praying (again my idea) that the package arrives broken!
Many of you might think that the fun stops here. Well you obviously don't know the Pope of Canada when it comes to conceptualized planning. Ok, here's step one: You get the wife/girlfriend/other and designate them as the cleaner picker upper and have them stand next to you guarding your face while wearing protective eye gear. Step two: Grab the globe with both hands and violently smash that sucker against the counter and watch the glass and water explode in all its glory. Step 3: Remove the hermetically sealed headphones from wherever they landed making sure not to step on the glass. Step 4: Wipe off any debris from the package and your clothing and shoes. Step 5: Hand wife/girlfriend/other a powerful vacuum and thank said person. As a kind gesture give the person a kiss whilst removing any shrapnel that may have hit said person in the face, arms or legs. Step 6: Sit down, pour yourself a cold beer and listen to pure bliss.
As you can obviously see this idea is fool proof and should provide the ultimate in bringing the handful of DOAs down. Where DOAs occur, which may be only be 50 percent of the time - you get a free headphone perfectly bubble wrapped, but you don't get to experience the opportunity to smash a glass globe. And for a limited time, say for the first 10,000 Canadian customers I will personally bless the water than is poured into those globes. What could possibly go wrong? We are already past the conceptional stage and have already begun production of the HeadGlobes. What do you think? Come on, be honest.
Popus Globus
This makes the smallish box a bigger and really heavy box. Next we mark the box not just fragile but VERY FRAGILE. Do you see where I'm going here? So now when the package arrives, if it's soaked you know that dimwits broke your Globe and weren't careful like they advertise on TV. But Audeze is very shrewd and wisely insures every i4 for 5 times its value and prays (I suggested that part too) so that just in case the package breaks they make more money sending out broken headphones than good ones. When this breakage happens, which is probably half of the time, Audeze then sends the customer, and that means YOU a free set of headphones in a really secure triple packed bubble packed box. So this way you too are praying (again my idea) that the package arrives broken!
Many of you might think that the fun stops here. Well you obviously don't know the Pope of Canada when it comes to conceptualized planning. Ok, here's step one: You get the wife/girlfriend/other and designate them as the cleaner picker upper and have them stand next to you guarding your face while wearing protective eye gear. Step two: Grab the globe with both hands and violently smash that sucker against the counter and watch the glass and water explode in all its glory. Step 3: Remove the hermetically sealed headphones from wherever they landed making sure not to step on the glass. Step 4: Wipe off any debris from the package and your clothing and shoes. Step 5: Hand wife/girlfriend/other a powerful vacuum and thank said person. As a kind gesture give the person a kiss whilst removing any shrapnel that may have hit said person in the face, arms or legs. Step 6: Sit down, pour yourself a cold beer and listen to pure bliss.
As you can obviously see this idea is fool proof and should provide the ultimate in bringing the handful of DOAs down. Where DOAs occur, which may be only be 50 percent of the time - you get a free headphone perfectly bubble wrapped, but you don't get to experience the opportunity to smash a glass globe. And for a limited time, say for the first 10,000 Canadian customers I will personally bless the water than is poured into those globes. What could possibly go wrong? We are already past the conceptional stage and have already begun production of the HeadGlobes. What do you think? Come on, be honest.
Popus Globus
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rskbug
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Lol. Scammer alert! 
Sarnia
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Yup it sure is. They weigh 1g more each, but they feel identical.
They are definitely harder to drive though, there seemed to be about a 6db difference between the i20 and the LCD-i4.
OrpheusIV
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Y
I do not have i20's but my AK240 drives them ok but not great. Chord Mojo has plenty of extra. Still waiting on my Hugo2 ..
Rotten Apple
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This is perhaps one of the most difficult posts which I have had to write about to date. As many of you are aware, I have been appointed Pope of Canada and must walk a fine line when discussing the goings on with respect to the female brain and headphones. Today was very awkward for me as I write about Audeze headphones yet have only spoken about women as just regular consumers of headphones. Oh by Jeebus how wrong I was.
During my morning walk in the forest near the long abandoned graveyards where only those with a strong spiritual guidance and high on guard (not the deordorant) mindset may wander, as it is haunted, I stumbled across a figure. Through the mist as I approached the figure (as I have no fear) I came across a blood red cloaked person who was staring deeply into a mirror. The figure I believed to be a demon. As I looked into the mirror from behind I saw a hand, not a claw - a beautiful woman's hand conjuring up a pair of Audeze i4s. Large and beautiful they were (the headphones). Not quite real as they shimmered through the mist.
Suddenly the figure turned around revealing a beautiful angelic face. She swiftly jumped up, called out my name as if she new me - and before I knew it her passionate lips enveloped mine begging for a pair of Audeze i4s. After an hour or so of getting aquainted I explained to her that all she had to do was purchase them from an authorized dealer such as hifiheadphones.ca. I took her back to my place gave her some oblligatory beer, and then some more to warm up those bones even more.
Men, it appears that many of us do not know women. They lust for headphones just like we do. Don't think that they want useless baubles like jewellry, engagement rings, dresses and the like. If you've been dating someone for 7 years and they are expecting an engagement ring, do the right thing. Tell them that they are going to get something "special." Then purchase the i4 headphones for them. Guaranteed they will be speechless. If it werent for this chance encounter with this woman I would never have known anything about women.
Here is a picture that I snapped with my iPhone just in case it be the last thing i saw before a demon snatched me from this world:
During my morning walk in the forest near the long abandoned graveyards where only those with a strong spiritual guidance and high on guard (not the deordorant) mindset may wander, as it is haunted, I stumbled across a figure. Through the mist as I approached the figure (as I have no fear) I came across a blood red cloaked person who was staring deeply into a mirror. The figure I believed to be a demon. As I looked into the mirror from behind I saw a hand, not a claw - a beautiful woman's hand conjuring up a pair of Audeze i4s. Large and beautiful they were (the headphones). Not quite real as they shimmered through the mist.
Suddenly the figure turned around revealing a beautiful angelic face. She swiftly jumped up, called out my name as if she new me - and before I knew it her passionate lips enveloped mine begging for a pair of Audeze i4s. After an hour or so of getting aquainted I explained to her that all she had to do was purchase them from an authorized dealer such as hifiheadphones.ca. I took her back to my place gave her some oblligatory beer, and then some more to warm up those bones even more.
Men, it appears that many of us do not know women. They lust for headphones just like we do. Don't think that they want useless baubles like jewellry, engagement rings, dresses and the like. If you've been dating someone for 7 years and they are expecting an engagement ring, do the right thing. Tell them that they are going to get something "special." Then purchase the i4 headphones for them. Guaranteed they will be speechless. If it werent for this chance encounter with this woman I would never have known anything about women.
Here is a picture that I snapped with my iPhone just in case it be the last thing i saw before a demon snatched me from this world:
Richter Di
1000+ Head-Fier
Thank you. Will definetly buy.
sorrick
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It sucks that a number of people seem to have gotten DOA i4s. It would be a huge bummer and disappointment if it were me--especially because it is a totl product that is a serious investment and which everyone who ordered is likely chomping at the bit to try.
The good news is that it seems Audeze has been taking care of the folks this happened to and making things right. While the potential prospect of a getting a DOA unit is disheartening, I still think Audeze has a home run product here in terms of sound quality and perforrmance and I would urge people to try then out (especially if you are in the US and can return to Audeze for free within 30 days if you don't like them). They are just spectacular.
Switching back and forth between the i4s and my Noble Kaiser Encores, which I think extremely highly of--the encores are fantastic iems, the i4s provide so much more 3 dimensionality to the sound. While the Encores have a great soundstage for BA sound isolating IEMs with good instrument localizations etc, the i4s really make you feel like you are in the space. I love the encore's shimmery but not harsh treble, but cymbal decays are more natural with better initial impact on the i4s. While the Encores have very good bass impact and do a great job of giving the sense of deep low end rumble, the i4s go deeper and again provide more visceral, natural sounding low end rumble. The best analogy I can think of for the Encore compared to the i4 is that it is like the difference between looking at a very high res photo of a person sitting in a room compared to looking through a window at the actual person in the room.
I haven't yet tried adding the additional eq suggested by @KMann for the i4, but even without it, I continue to be blown away by the sound quality that comes out if the i4s when listening to them from a solid source like the mojo. One if the things that is a bellwether for me for good headphones is whether I find myself hearing a sound or a voice in a track that causes me to turn around to check whether it is a part of the recording because I can't tell. This happens with the Encores in partucular, but even more so with the i4s. I think this is in part because you can still hear sounds that are around you since they are semi-open, but more so because of the increduble resolution and transpancy. The sound is just tremendously natural and lifelike.
The good news is that it seems Audeze has been taking care of the folks this happened to and making things right. While the potential prospect of a getting a DOA unit is disheartening, I still think Audeze has a home run product here in terms of sound quality and perforrmance and I would urge people to try then out (especially if you are in the US and can return to Audeze for free within 30 days if you don't like them). They are just spectacular.
Switching back and forth between the i4s and my Noble Kaiser Encores, which I think extremely highly of--the encores are fantastic iems, the i4s provide so much more 3 dimensionality to the sound. While the Encores have a great soundstage for BA sound isolating IEMs with good instrument localizations etc, the i4s really make you feel like you are in the space. I love the encore's shimmery but not harsh treble, but cymbal decays are more natural with better initial impact on the i4s. While the Encores have very good bass impact and do a great job of giving the sense of deep low end rumble, the i4s go deeper and again provide more visceral, natural sounding low end rumble. The best analogy I can think of for the Encore compared to the i4 is that it is like the difference between looking at a very high res photo of a person sitting in a room compared to looking through a window at the actual person in the room.
I haven't yet tried adding the additional eq suggested by @KMann for the i4, but even without it, I continue to be blown away by the sound quality that comes out if the i4s when listening to them from a solid source like the mojo. One if the things that is a bellwether for me for good headphones is whether I find myself hearing a sound or a voice in a track that causes me to turn around to check whether it is a part of the recording because I can't tell. This happens with the Encores in partucular, but even more so with the i4s. I think this is in part because you can still hear sounds that are around you since they are semi-open, but more so because of the increduble resolution and transpancy. The sound is just tremendously natural and lifelike.
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