[Arnotts]

  lol, sure. ask the CEO of the company who is in the business of selling their own headphones whether they think you should buy their headphones for different applications.
 
"The Fostex TH900 is a very linear headphone from the top to the bottom of the frequency spectrum. It does not have recessed midrange or an overpowering bottom end. It is a true reference headphone and a perfect fit for mastering engineers that need a true representation of the music. It is not overly analytical but truly transparent." -Drew Baird, P.E., President/CEO of Moon Audio - http://www.moon-audio.com/fostex-th900-flagship-dynamic-headphones.html
 
Either way all previous opinions stated are totally wrong! It says right on the Beats website that their Beats Pro is "the Headphones Used To Mix In Every Major Studio." Even Dr. Dre himself, CEO of Beats and a well-known hip-hop producer, says that those headphones allow you to "hear what the artists hear, and listen to the music the way they should: the way I do." Beats are "designed by professionals, for professionals." Jimmy Iovine is the chairman of Interscope records & a multitude of musicians use Beats spanning from Mark Ronson, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, MIA, Pharrell, and Zedd. ...though maybe minus Justin Bieber since I don't know if you can really call him a musician
 
ymmv of course, but I am confident that all those words aren't just marketing & advertising and whenever a company tells me that their headphones are is a great headphone for mixin & masterin, I just pull out my wallet. Off to go mix up some dope tracks!!! 
 

I find your comparison between LCD-X's and Beats hilarious. I'm not interested in changing your mind, and your contrasting opinion does not mesh with mine (or many others who actually use the LCD-X's for music creation purposes).
 
Good luck in your search, l33tpeas. All the information you need to know is at your fingertips. Like with all matters, though, it's up to you to sort the fact from the fiction 

 

[fradoca]

I would NEVER use a beats for critical listening sessions....

 

[TMRaven]

   
 
 
 
So that leaves me with the question... Which Audeze headphone is most suited to actual audio engineering work?  LCD-3?  LCD-X?

 
If I could choose, I'd choose neither preferably.  Ideally you want a control room with the proper acoustics and a real good set of monitors that's EQ'd to neutral.  Between the X and  the 3 I'd choose the 3 because it holds better neutrality and tone from bass to mids, although it's too recessed from 5-10khz (although ironically my model had a healthy amount 12khz and above). Mind you this is all pre-fazor LCD3 talk, so I don't know how the fazor and new diaphragms affected the LCD3's sound. The X has a weirder, darker and even thinner tone throughout the midrange and lower treble, but does have plentiful of mid-upper treble.  The transition from the recessed lower treble to elevated mid-treble creates an artificial sounding-- almost metallic sounding-- leading edge to a lot of its transients.  
 
Lots of studios use cheaper closed headphones like the sony mdr v6 or audio technica m50 for mere recording purposes and raw monitoring, but those are used because they're inexpensive and durable enough.  A good headphone like the LCD-X or HD800 can be used for final polishing of a recording to home in on very subtle details that might need to be filtered out in the final process, but the bulk of the mixing and mastering should definitely be done with something that's very neutral and even-handed-- unlike any of the Audezes.
 
 
Audeze advertises the LCD-X as reference grade to differentiate it from the rest of their lineup.  Before the LCD-X came out, they gave a list of Artists who used the LCD-2 in their studios as well.  It's mostly marketing on Audeze's behalf.
 
 
Anyways, long story short, use good studio monitors for what they're intended to do.  Use Audiophile headphones like the Audezes for music enjoyment.

 

[nigeljames]

I would NEVER use a beats for critical listening sessions....

 
The only thing I would use a pair of Beats for is target practice. 

 

[johangrb]

   
The only thing I would use a pair of Beats for is target practice. 

http://allhiphop.com/2014/05/13/dr-dres-beats-by-dre-cost-an-estimated-14-to-make/

 

[reddog]

The only thing I would use a pair of Beats for is target practice.  :wink_face:

I wonder is smoke would come out of a beats headphone, if played through a Ragnarok, on full power? Perhaps the newer beats are getting better but man the old ones sucked lol.

 

[money4me247]

  I find your comparison between LCD-X's and Beats hilarious. I'm not interested in changing your mind, and your contrasting opinion does not mesh with mine (or many others who actually use the LCD-X's for music creation purposes).
 
Good luck in your search, l33tpeas. All the information you need to know is at your fingertips. Like with all matters, though, it's up to you to sort the fact from the fiction 

lol. it was a tongue in cheek sarcastic post.
 
the point is that every headphone company that makes headphones claims that their headphones are high-resolution & will work well with mixing & mastering.
 
for the record, the TH900 and the entire Beats line-up are TERRIBLE for mixing & mastering... why? they are colored headphones!! the lcd-x may be audeze's most 'neutral offering,' but the audezes in general are also colored headphones... so there are definitely much better options out there for professional work.
 
just because a company claims XYZ or has "studio/reference" on the box does not mean those headphones would be ideal for that application.
 
either way, you can definitely still use the lcd-x for mixing & mastering. you can honestly use any pair of headphones for mixing & mastering. what really matters is how good your mixes turn out to be... not how expensive or good your headphones are. a neutral detailed pair of headphones will help you fine-tune your mixes better & be more suitable for that kind of work. audeze headphones are definitely detailed, but they do have an extra rich texture, slight emphasis in the mid-range, and the lcd-x has a bass boost. hence, i think there are better options out there for that sort of application & the nice thing is that many of those options are sub-$100, so you can easily pick up something in addition to the lcd-x.
 
ymmv & as always, feel free to disagree or use whatever you like

 

[RCBinTN]

   
Thanks for the input -- your feedback honestly is valuable, and I do appreciate it a ton.  I guess I'll borrow the LCD-3 and LCD-X from The Cable Company or something and determine the best sounding one for me.  I'm willing to sacrifice a little of the accuracy for having just one pair of headphones that I can not only get lost in, but do a little work with too.

 
I highly recommend that idea - you should borrow the X and 3F and compare them side-by-side.  If possible, add the HD800 to the edition session.
 
You will find the sound very different between the X/3F and the HD800.
 
The X are my favorite HP's.  I've not heard the 3F but have read where they are similar to the X.  I reach for the HD800 at times, for specific music genre.  
Overall, however, the X handles more music genre better than the HD800.  Also, the X are easier to drive to decent sound performance than are the HD800.
 
All IMO, of course,
 
Cheers, and
Enjoy the Music,
 
RCBinTN

 

[MacedonianHero]

   
 
 
 
So that leaves me with the question... Which Audeze headphone is most suited to actual audio engineering work?  LCD-3?  LCD-X?

 
Easy...LCD-X...it's the most flat Audeze I've come across. The LCD-3 is more of a laid back and wonderfully rich headphone for audiophile enjoyment.

 

[kahkityoong]

   
Easy...LCD-X...it's the most flat Audeze I've come across. The LCD-3 is more of a laid back and wonderfully rich headphone for audiophile enjoyment.

Exactly. It's a simple question with a simple answer. I think it's ludicrous to suggest the LCD-3 is better for audio engineering work. 

 

[MacedonianHero]

 
Exactly. It's a simple question with a simple answer. I think it's ludicrous to suggest the LCD-3 is better for audio engineering work. 

 
But if someone is looking for a headphone to kick back with and relax, the LCD-3s are special cans...no doubt to my ears.

 

[SuperU]

  I feel sad for any engineer using the LCD-X as their mastering tool.  It's a great sounding headphone with an addicting quasi-u shaped signature, but at the end of the day it's still darker than your average set of neutral monitors.  Their songs would end up with too much upper mid-lower treble emphasis.

I could not disagree more. 
 
A simple strategy of having a few reference songs will help you make sure you are not making things to bright or dark. 
 
The LCD-X do have a bit of color but we are talking small amounts. What little that is there I would consider more like a tuning, not coloring so strongly as to make mastering challenging.
 
I can not sing the LCD-X's praise loud enough. They are wonderful for listening, phenomenal for mastering and in my opinion could easily be your one and only.

 

[SuperU]

 
I think that LCD X may be the best of the Audeze LCD line for studio duty, but it is a heavy phone which can be more problematic to use in a studio then leaning forward over the mixing board then at home in a nice armchair. For pure enjoyable listening I mostly prefer the LCD 3F over the X.

Maybe it is better to have one lighter phone (AKG/Fidelio X2, Audeze el-8 etc.) for the time-consuming and more critical analyzing and mixing stuff and another can (LCD etc.) for controlling the end results coherence and at relaxed home listening.    

Btw I don’t think that it is preferable to use headphones or speakers that emphasis the treble to much ether. There are many records that sounds dull because of lack of upper mids and treble to, not only too much of it.

I wear mine as much as 8 hours per day and hardly notice them. They are not heavy to me.

 

[money4me247]

  I wear mine as much as 8 hours per day and hardly notice them. They are not heavy to me.

for ppl w/ weight issues, i highly recommend either using a diono "seat belt wrap" (or equivalent - just amazon it) or the modded leather strap offered by head-fi member Lohb.

 

[TMRaven]

  I could not disagree more. 
 
A simple strategy of having a few reference songs will help you make sure you are not making things to bright or dark. 
 
The LCD-X do have a bit of color but we are talking small amounts. What little that is there I would consider more like a tuning, not coloring so strongly as to make mastering challenging.
 
I can not sing the LCD-X's praise loud enough. They are wonderful for listening, phenomenal for mastering and in my opinion could easily be your one and only.

 
As long as you like them and enjoy them, that's what matters most.  Trying to argue against the LCD-X in an LCD-X thread is for sure a losing battle, so I try not to drag conversations like this on with rant after rant, but I will chime in every once in a while if I see someone asking a question I think I can definitely answer from personal experience. I found their dark signature pleasing myself, but a combination of a preference for my 560's more linear signature and a displeasure with the X's immense heft that pressed down on my head to be fatiguing caused the X to not last too long with me. I'd for sure recommend them to people who can take the weight, but I just can't recommend it to people who want the ultimate in neutrality and/or want comfortable headphones.  Both Innerfidelity and Headroom frequency graphs show it to have less upper midrange and lower treble compared to even the LCD2 and LCD3, and my subjective impressions agreed with them.  However, they weren't too unlike my HE-400, which I loved for 2 and a half years prior.  I could have just as easily fallen in love with them as my 560-- but again, the weight.  Whenever Audeze makes an LCDX-2 with a suspension strap and a slightly airier signature, I'll be for sure having to try it out again, but in the mean time I just might have to save up for an HE1k (and no I'm not resorting to having to buy some stupid 3rd party strap when the company should be doing it themselves.)