LCD i4 b-stock experience so far...
First things first.... Audeze customer service is great and have almost no complaints, I'm still working with them to solve the issue that I'm about to share and hopefully get some help from an Audeze representative...
Back in 2017 I purchased a pair of LCDi4s and they were death on arrival (DOA), I got a replacement pair, there were some quality issues with the cable, worked with
@KMann and everything was fixed. Ultimately due to the lack of isolation, I decided not to keep them.
In Nov 2019 the b-stock sale came:
Got SN i4000171 - very bad crinkling sound, specially the left side, sent them back for replacement (I paid the shipping)
Got SN i4001463 - death on arrival (DOA) left side, sent them back for replacement (Audeze provided return shipping label)
Got SN i4001509 - left side was significantly louder than the right side, sent them back for replacement (Audeze provided return shipping label)
Got SN i4000959 - left side was slightly louder than the right side, the vocals were leaning towards the left, the bass was louder than the right, and the soundstage was leaning towards the left as well. (Audeze said that a technician tested them before sending them to me, and that if I wanted to send them back, it was going to be at my own expense. I sent them back anyways and will get a replacement hopefully next week.
If I count the 2 pairs I received in 2017 and the 4 pairs in 2019, that's 6 pairs and only one was working great (the one I ultimately decided to return). I will keep working with Audeze because the LCDi4s sound great!
All of these pairs were tested with the cipher cable and the 3.5mm cable. They were all compared vs my iSine20s, my custom Legend X and my IER-Z1R with custom ear-tips. I spent between 1 to 2 hrs with the last 2 pairs with the imbalanced issue to make sure that the issue was the earphones and not the cables, the source or my ears.
Before I received the last pair, I emailed
@KMann to make him aware of the situation, and I'm sure he's pretty busy and didn't heard back from him.
I'm trying to get Audeze's attention with this post and am asking not just to test my next pair by a technician and a machine but also have someone listen to them for maybe 30 min to make sure the sound is balanced (vocals, bass, soundstage), no crinkling sound and all Audeze's sonic quality standards are met and are on par with the fully priced LCDi4s.
I love my iSine20s and they sound great, they were also b-stock and never had any issues with them. Again, Audeze's customer service is great, but it's time for Production and Quality to pay extra attention to these issues not just because of my situation but also for all their customers.
Thank you!