[Matias]

Most audio engineereing work, like 3/4 of the time, you need only nearfield monitors to capture different takes, adjust levels and compression, pick the best takes, do basic editing, etc. For this any near field monitor or cheaper headphone will do because it is not critical.
 
Only the 1/4 of the remaining time one spends in critical listening EQing tracks, fine tuning track compression, mixing and finally mastering (if one does all by oneself, not using third parties). And even then it is best recommended to mix and master using multiple references, including high end speakers, high end headphones, cheap speaker, cheap earbuds, stock car audio, etc.

 

[potkettleblack]

I like both.
 
Thanks for admitting that you were getting carried away. That's progress of a kind.

 

[pearljam50000]

The HD800 are like Genelec monitors ,neutral, extremely detailed and insane seperation, Audeze is more like Focal monitors, more musical than Genelec but less accurate.

 

[SuperU]

   
I'll get as carried away as I feel necessary - engineers master using nearfield monitors even if they might spend some time listening to a mix with headphones, and the HD800 is the closest thing I've heard to a pair of nearfield monitors strapped to my head. You like the LCD-X - I get that - doesnt make it the right tool for the job in this instance.  If we're talking the ability to enjoy my treasured remaster of Born to Run, that's a very different conversation.

As necessary for what? No one asked you to get on a soap box and try to persuade an LCD-X group that what is well accepted as a great mixing and mastering tool is in fact, not. No matter how much you dance and yell, this group has pretty well chosen their direction. Try preaching to the choir over in the HD-800 group. 
 
No matter how much you say to the contrary, some really big names have chosen the LCD-X to mix/master with. Do a little research and you'll see. 
 
And no matter how much you say to the contrary, you will probably not be swaying many here. 
 
This horse has been beaten sufficiently. 

  

 

[SuperU]

  +1000 on almost everything you said... except the 3rd party strap.
 
check this out:

Spoiler: 3rd party strap

 
looks pretty legit imo

So I just ordered this strap from Lohb 
 
He is one of the members here on Head-fi.  And he is a super nice guy as well. I ran into a problem making the payment (I had purchased too much recently and the bank blocked my card until I could call and verify) but in the meantime, he offered to go ahead and send it. That was amazingly kind on his part. Fortunately, the payment went through five minutes later.
 
The strap is extremely reasonably priced. And I'm excited to get it. I don't find these headphones heavy at all, but anything I can do to make them even more comfortable still, I will do.
 
This is a dual layer, leather strap with suede on one side. I can't wait. And thanks again Lohb.

 

[monkeysixtysix]

  So I just ordered this strap from Lohb 
 
He is one of the members here on Head-fi.  And he is a super nice guy as well. I ran into a problem making the payment (I had purchased too much recently and the bank blocked my card until I could call and verify) but in the meantime, he offered to go ahead and send it. That was amazingly kind on his part. Fortunately, the payment went through five minutes later.
 
The strap is extremely reasonably priced. And I'm excited to get it. I don't find these headphones heavy at all, but anything I can do to make them even more comfortable still, I will do.
 
This is a dual layer, leather strap with suede on one side. I can't wait. And thanks again Lohb.

I purchased the same strap from Lohb and couldn't be happier with it. Great price, nicely made, and most importantly very comfortable!  

 

[planet]

 
I purchased the same strap from Lohb and couldn't be happier with it. Great price, nicely made, and most importantly very comfortable!  

 
I did as well.  It arrived promptly.  Together with the vegan pads, my LCD-X feels (physically) like a whole new headphone.  Far more comfortable than stock.

 

[monkeysixtysix]

   
I did as well.  It arrived promptly.  Together with the vegan pads, my LCD-X feels (physically) like a whole new headphone.  Far more comfortable than stock.

Interesting with the vegan pads... Notice any difference in sound?

 

[planet]

 
Interesting with the vegan pads... Notice any difference in sound?

 
Note: the sonic difference is not dramatic to my ears.  Not even significant.  It's a tilt, perhaps, or a touch.
 
The common knowledge is that the vegan pads are a tad more open-sounding.  At first I wasn't at all sure I heard this; I thought heard something, but wasn't sure it was placebo or real.  But after a few listening sessions, either the placebo effect is long-lasting or else there's a bit of a difference there.  At this point, I think they do sound a touch more open, which is a step in the right direction for a buyer of the X, I think.  I bought these cans, not the 3s, because I wanted something with Audeze house sound but with greater openness and a bit more neutrality, suitable for any kind of music I could throw at it.  Opting for the vegan pads makes the X just a touch more open and... X-ish, I suppose.  Plus, they're far easier to wear in warmer weather.  Win-win.  
 
Again, this is splitting hairs.  If I had it to do over again, I'd get the vegan pads and a 3rd party support strap right away.  And I'd still get the X.  

 

[money4me247]

 
If I had it to do over again, I'd get the vegan pads and a 3rd party support strap right away.  And I'd still get the X.  

That is exactly what I did and I am quite happy with my decision.

 

[Spamateur]

I also just got the Lohb headband in and installed it today. I have a huge head (I wear a size 8 fitted New Era baseball cap for those of you familiar with that). I took someone else's advice earlier in this thread (not sure who that was?) and ordered the extended rods from Audeze to make sure that the headband would still work with my X. I had also previously installed the vegan pads and headband for comfort reasons.
 
Initial impressions are pretty good. I rarely got a hotspot on my head from the stock Audeze headbands (vegan band was moderately better than the leather) but the Lohb headband is very comfortable and helps distribute the weight much better. One note: clamping force is increased a bit from the elastic on either side of the band pulling the rods together, but it's not uncomfortable even on my gigantic dome, although I'd certainly recommend the vegan pads for that reason.
 
All in all, I would definitely buy it again. Well worth the money thus far.

 

[SuperU]

Okay, you guys have been within about an inch of purchasing the vegan pads. Though I love the look of the leather.
 
I can't believe the vegan pads cost so much. $80. I understand the leather costing that much.
 
Here's a question maybe someone who has purchased these after-the-fact might know...  let's say I get the vegan pads and try them out. And then let's say I want to go back to my leather pads. In the kit, do they include an extra adhesive so I could trade back to my leather pads if I want to?
 
Is it a general consensus that the vegan pads sound a bit more airy? Do they still make a good seal? Has anyone tried these and then preferred the leather? Really curious before I pull the trigger and buy them.

  I also just got the Lohb headband in and installed it today. I have a huge head (I wear a size 8 fitted New Era baseball cap for those of you familiar with that). I took someone else's advice earlier in this thread (not sure who that was?) and ordered the extended rods from Audeze to make sure that the headband would still work with my X. I had also previously installed the vegan pads and headband for comfort reasons.
 
Initial impressions are pretty good. I rarely got a hotspot on my head from the stock Audeze headbands (vegan band was moderately better than the leather) but the Lohb headband is very comfortable and helps distribute the weight much better. One note: clamping force is increased a bit from the elastic on either side of the band pulling the rods together, but it's not uncomfortable even on my gigantic dome, although I'd certainly recommend the vegan pads for that reason.
 
All in all, I would definitely buy it again. Well worth the money thus far.

This is great to hear. I'm really glad I bought this today.  Now I'm thinking about getting the extension rods and the vegan pads. I just don't know.
 
One thing is that I'm not super impressed with the leather. But I also just purchased the leather care liquid and that might make them a bit softer.

 

[Spamateur]

  Okay, you guys have been within about an inch of purchasing the vegan pads. Though I love the look of the leather.
 
I can't believe the vegan pads cost so much. $80. I understand the leather costing that much.
 
Here's a question maybe someone who has purchased these after-the-fact might know...  let's say I get the vegan pads and try them out. And then let's say I want to go back to my leather pads. In the kit, do they include an extra adhesive so I could trade back to my leather pads if I want to?
 
Is it a general consensus that the vegan pads sound a bit more airy? Do they still make a good seal? Has anyone tried these and then preferred the leather? Really curious before I pull the trigger and buy them.
This is great to hear. I'm really glad I bought this today.  Now I'm thinking about getting the extension rods and the vegan pads. I just don't know.
 
One thing is that I'm not super impressed with the leather. But I also just purchased the leather care liquid and that might make them a bit softer.

 
Audeze does include two pairs of the adhesive rings so you can go back to your leathers if you don't like the vegans. HOWEVER, the pads in general can be a bit difficult to remove, at least for my clumsy fumblefingers. All pads, leather or vegan, have a vinyl backing that is actually what is adhered to by the adhesive ring. When I pulled off the leather pads, I tried to do it carefully (hard to do considering how securely they're stuck there) and ended up tearing the vinyl a lot on one of the two pads. I went ahead and just tossed them after that as I'd need to buy a new pair regardless if I wanted to go back to leather. However, I have no plans to do so. The vegan is more comfortable and honestly I think it looks better, especially with a matching vegan band.

 

[DSNORD]

When I bought my LCD-X about 4 months ago, I "obviously" got the leather package because who in their right mind would think to get their new Porsche 911 Turbo Carerra with the velour seat package rather than leather. I don't seem to have the leather discomfort issues others mention here, and the leather to me just looks classier. But reading recent posts about Lohb's suspension strap piqued my interest, so I just ordered one from him to see for myself what all the rave reviews are about.

And that got me thinking about the vegan pads too, so maybe I'll pick up a set to try out if the strap is an improvement.

So my question to those who bought the vegan system from the beginning, what made you do so, and do you have any regrets?

To those who have "downgraded" (really "upgraded"?) from leather to the vegan pads, what made you do so, and what are the benefits you've noticed? Give me some solid reasons to convert.

Thanks for the consideration.

DSN

 

[estreeter]

  Well,
Erik Labson at Universal Mastering,Stuart Hawkes at Metropolis mastering and even Bob Ludwing the greatest of them all use the lcd-x as a second reference for listening.
I've said second reference.The first reference will always be their high performance speakers in a perfect acoustically treated room.Even Ken Andrews mixing engineer
for  bands like Paramore Nine inch nails etc has mixed a whole album using only the lcd-x.That said the lcd-x can be a nice and very useful addition for checking things that the monitors won't reveal.
I'm not saying it's the jack of all trades headphone but i use headphones since i was 25 (now 43) and as mastering engineer i really consider the lcd-x driven by my bha-1
a true reference.That's my opinion and as always everyone is free to express his own.

 
I have a lot of respect for what Bob Ludwig did with the Springsteen remasters, but he also cops the 'Brickwall Bob' tag from certain quarters - I think his efforts with the remasters illustrate that the DR numbers dont tell the whole story for many of us. No idea what the original analog masters sounded like through the X but his finished work sounds great through the Audeze cans. 
 
The good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war#2000s
 
In late 2008, mastering engineer Bob Ludwig offered three versions of the Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy for approval to co-producers Axl Rose and Caram Costanzo. They selected the one with the least compression. Ludwig wrote, "I was floored when I heard they decided to go with my full dynamics version and the loudness-for-loudness-sake versions be damned."^[15] Ludwig said the "fan and press backlash against the recent heavily compressed recordings finally set the context for someone to take a stand and return to putting music and dynamics above sheer level.
 
The 'ruh-roh' moment:
 
http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/77374
http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/77373
 
and my favorite album of all time, by any artist on any continent:
http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/77375
 
Personally, I dont give a hoot about the numbers - anyone who makes a purchase decision based purely on those numbers probably prefers listening to test tones than actual music recorded by artists like Springsteen. Ludwig could only work with what he had, and that album was never going to morph into something with Steely Dan production values : if compression was one of the tools Ludwig used to achieve the end result, so be it.
 
Getting back to the LCD-X, its particularly well suited to an album like BTR and I apologise if my earlier comments re soundstage and imaging upset some here.