[NYanakiev]

yep, wonderful little gems aren’t they? with all the new TOTL IEMs out there, nothing beats them to this day. I’ve been using these babies since 2017, and still at the top of my list

They are pretty amazing, yes. I certainly don’t regret upgrading to them from the LCDi3!

 

[Whitigir]

You can drive it using a mojo easily. i4 + mojo is one of our test rigs during development

How is it with Walkman wm1Z ?

 

[normie610]

How is it with Walkman wm1Z ?

1Z has more than enough power to drive these gems. But again, EQ-ing is a must for i4, and 1Z’s graphic EQ does an excellent job in tuning i4. I give it some bumps at lower frequencies (31-125 Hz), midrange at 2k and 4k, and reduce 8k and 16k. When you get it right, i4 sounds fantastic with 1Z. Highly detailed and yet it retains that warm, analogue and holographic sound of 1Z. Bass is tight with enough decay and visceral slam. The mids are lush, excels for both male and female vocal and also classical instruments. Treble decay is perfect (super airy) with very very natural timbre. And the best thing about a properly EQ’d i4 is it’s the perfect all-rounder IEM.

On another note, it has the same diaphragm used in their flagship full size planar the LCD 4 and 4z (albeit at a smaller size).

 

[Infoseeker]

1Z has more than enough power to drive these gems. But again, EQ-ing is a must for i4, and 1Z’s graphic EQ does an excellent job in tuning i4. I give it some bumps at lower frequencies (31-125 Hz), midrange at 2k and 4k, and reduce 8k and 16k. When you get it right, i4 sounds fantastic with 1Z. Highly detailed and yet it retains that warm, analogue and holographic sound of 1Z. Bass is tight with enough decay and visceral slam. The mids are lush, excels for both male and female vocal and also classical instruments. Treble decay is perfect (super airy) with very very natural timbre. And the best thing about a properly EQ’d i4 is it’s the perfect all-rounder IEM.

On another note, it has the same diaphragm used in their flagship full size planar the LCD 4 and 4z (albeit at a smaller size).

My E1da PowerDac V2 does a great job getting the i4 to respond to EQ as well.

 

[Clemmaster]

1Z has more than enough power to drive these gems. But again, EQ-ing is a must for i4, and 1Z’s graphic EQ does an excellent job in tuning i4. I give it some bumps at lower frequencies (31-125 Hz), midrange at 2k and 4k, and reduce 8k and 16k. When you get it right, i4 sounds fantastic with 1Z. Highly detailed and yet it retains that warm, analogue and holographic sound of 1Z. Bass is tight with enough decay and visceral slam. The mids are lush, excels for both male and female vocal and also classical instruments. Treble decay is perfect (super airy) with very very natural timbre. And the best thing about a properly EQ’d i4 is it’s the perfect all-rounder IEM.

On another note, it has the same diaphragm used in their flagship full size planar the LCD 4 and 4z (albeit at a smaller size).

What would the EQ settings be?

 

[NYanakiev]

I would also be keen to know some popular EQ setups.

I think the i4s are great with the standard DSP from Audeze (and even without any DSP applied) but am interested to find out what these bad boys can do with some proper equalisation

 

[acia]

They are pretty amazing, yes. I certainly don’t regret upgrading to them from the LCDi3!

i4 and i3 has such huge difference?

 

[normie610]

What would the EQ settings be?

For my pairing and setup (stock WM1Z balanced + Norne Silvergarde SX):

31 Hz: +6.5
62 Hz: +5.0
125 Hz: +2.5
250 Hz: -0.5
500 Hz: -1.0
1 KHz: -0.5
2 KHz: +3.0
4 KHz: +3.5
8 KHz: -1.5
16 KHz: -1.0

Output settings to play DSD in native format should be disabled, if not, EQ will not be applied to DSD files. Bear in mind that the EQ settings will vary depending on the pairing and tastes. In my case, I like a good bump in the lower register without any bass bleeds to higher frequencies. YMMV.

 

[DaddyWhale]

I must be doing something wrong! Perhaps I'm using the wrong ear tips, or I'm inserting them too far in my ear canal.

First, I tried all the sizes of the Audeze-supplied ear tips. But even the largest kept falling out of my ears even with slight movements of my head. So, based on posts here, I tried both spiral dots and spinfits (c155, I believe). I could not find large spiral dots. The mediums were too small for me.

Then I got some large spin fits. They definitely fit more snuggly, and go deeper in my ear canal. The problem is that treble seems to cut out.

Any suggestions?

If this is relevant, I use the ear "fins" rather than the hooks. Should I just go back to the hooks with shallow insertion and accept the fact that the iems kind of flop around when I move my head?

 

[zzfaithlezz]

I must be doing something wrong! Perhaps I'm using the wrong ear tips, or I'm inserting them too far in my ear canal.

First, I tried all the sizes of the Audeze-supplied ear tips. But even the largest kept falling out of my ears even with slight movements of my head. So, based on posts here, I tried both spiral dots and spinfits (c155, I believe). I could not find large spiral dots. The mediums were too small for me.

Then I got some large spin fits. They definitely fit more snuggly, and go deeper in my ear canal. The problem is that treble seems to cut out.

Any suggestions?

If this is relevant, I use the ear "fins" rather than the hooks. Should I just go back to the hooks with shallow insertion and accept the fact that the iems kind of flop around when I move my head?

I'm using hooks+fins to evenly distribute the weight . Trimmed the base of the fins with scissors to get the best insertion depth. Also got these to make the hooks more comfortable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076WZYWGB/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_SdbvEb1SY37H8

 

[Devodonaldson]

I must be doing something wrong! Perhaps I'm using the wrong ear tips, or I'm inserting them too far in my ear canal.

First, I tried all the sizes of the Audeze-supplied ear tips. But even the largest kept falling out of my ears even with slight movements of my head. So, based on posts here, I tried both spiral dots and spinfits (c155, I believe). I could not find large spiral dots. The mediums were too small for me.

Then I got some large spin fits. They definitely fit more snuggly, and go deeper in my ear canal. The problem is that treble seems to cut out.

Any suggestions?

If this is relevant, I use the ear "fins" rather than the hooks. Should I just go back to the hooks with shallow insertion and accept the fact that the iems kind of flop around when I move my head?

Not supposed to be a tight seal. I use hooks, they fall out my ears without hooks. Large would stay, but would be deep insertion and I don't want that.

 

[dw13]

I must be doing something wrong! Perhaps I'm using the wrong ear tips, or I'm inserting them too far in my ear canal.

First, I tried all the sizes of the Audeze-supplied ear tips. But even the largest kept falling out of my ears even with slight movements of my head. So, based on posts here, I tried both spiral dots and spinfits (c155, I believe). I could not find large spiral dots. The mediums were too small for me.

Then I got some large spin fits. They definitely fit more snuggly, and go deeper in my ear canal. The problem is that treble seems to cut out.

Any suggestions?

If this is relevant, I use the ear "fins" rather than the hooks. Should I just go back to the hooks with shallow insertion and accept the fact that the iems kind of flop around when I move my head?

I've had the i4's since 2017 and have tried a lot of tips in S,M,and L: Complys, SpinFits, Acoustune, Spiral Dots, and of course, Audeze spiral and smooth. I used the earfins for a few months and liked them. For me, I think I prefer the large curved earhooks with the large Audeze smooth eartips. I think the curved earhooks are comfortable and very secure without the deep seal which seems to reduce treble clarity.

Also, the Audeze presets and Kman's convolutions on Roon are really good at giving the i4's a brighter treble with more sparkle and clarity.

Hope you find this helpful and you enjoy your i4's.

 

[DonChuy]

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!

 

[Hoegaardener70]

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...

Yikes - sorry to hear. I must say your patience is FAR greater than mine, I would have said good-byte to any company after pair two...
How would you compare the LCD-i4 in comparison to the Sony IR-Z1R??? Thank you.

 

[Hoegaardener70]

So, I decided that I really would like to have IEM for audiophile quality on the go, e.g. while traveling in the evening in the hotel, or if possible in nature while hiking. For noisy NYC, I do have a pair of Sony WF-1000MX3. While doing my research, I got very interested in the LCD-i4. However, prices are not cheap at all, I contacted some traders and best price would be 1699,- for B-Stock (or the usual 2499,- normal). Given that the Black Fridal sale offered the same product for 999,-, I do not feel any wish to buy. Does anybody share this feeling? I know that prices fluctuate, of course, but offering a highly priced product at 60% discount does not help with sales in the time after.