[CarlosUnchained]

  I can testify that the carbon fiber headband from Audez'e makes a world of difference in the comfort.  I didn't mod it - so it's tight on the top of my head, but that doesn't bother me.  It made the X, for me, easily wearable for a few hours at a time.  Also improved the HP stability, when I move my head around now the cans stay put.  Made the overall X experience better.  The SQ wasn't changed .
 
Cheers,
RCBinTN

I think is an overkill solution for a poorly comfortable headphone. You can upgrade comfort without the need of the expensive carbon fiber. It's just a damn headband!

 

[RCBinTN]

 
I think is an overkill solution for a poorly comfortable headphone. You can upgrade comfort without the need of the expensive carbon fiber. It's just a damn headband!

 
Sure you can.  Good luck.

 

[514077]

 

   
Yeah does that work well with the LCDs? The carbon headband would be sweet but maaaaan... 200 bucks

No idea about this but you could also try the Lohb strap. Thats worked well with the XC.
 
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Audeze-Unofficial-Leather-Head-Comfort-Cushion-Pad-Strap-Audeze-LCD-series-/182415602934?hash=item2a78d134f6:g:uZEAAOSwZVlXud5O

It is cheap and yes, works well for me.

 

[TimeLord]

I think is an overkill solution for a poorly comfortable headphone. You can upgrade comfort without the need of the expensive carbon fiber. It's just a damn headband!

Sure you can.  Good luck.

I'm with RCBinTN. The carbon fiber headband really gets the job done while looking good. It improved the looks of the X in my opinion.

I'm sure there are cheaper solutions to comfort, but all the ones that I've seen look like what they cost. If that works for you, great. But after spending $1700 on the headphone, I'm not going to turn to a clumsy solution.

 

[HungryPanda]

I bought the carbon fiber headband, does the job for me

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Do you think the carbon fiber headband could be fitted to the HE-6?

 

[groovyd]

carbon fiber headband is way way more comfortable then the original.  i would say it is almost a required accessory and really should just come standard with all their same style headphones for the price.  why they would want anyone to have a sub-par experience with a purchase of anything in their flagship lineup just doesn't make good business sense.  it also does reduce the weight of the headphone marginally.  I just wish it also came in a vegan format.

 

[RCBinTN]

  carbon fiber headband is way way more comfortable then the original.  i would say it is almost a required accessory and really should just come standard with all their same style headphones for the price.  why they would want anyone to have a sub-par experience with a purchase of anything in their flagship lineup just doesn't make good business sense.  it also does reduce the weight of the headphone marginally.  I just wish it also came in a vegan format.

 
I agree with this post 100%.  Should have been part of the original design, or now part of the current design and not an "upgrade."

 

[514077]

 

  carbon fiber headband is way way more comfortable then the original.  i would say it is almost a required accessory and really should just come standard with all their same style headphones for the price.  why they would want anyone to have a sub-par experience with a purchase of anything in their flagship lineup just doesn't make good business sense.  it also does reduce the weight of the headphone marginally.  I just wish it also came in a vegan format.

 
I agree with this post 100%.  Should have been part of the original design, or now part of the current design and not an "upgrade."

You'd think they could've changed up with the 2016 revision.  I'd like to buy one, but it's a matter of money.  The Lohb may not be pretty, but it will do.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

Audeze, like Hifiman, are greedy biatches. 

 

[TimeLord]

Audeze, like Hifiman, are greedy biatches. 

With all due respect to you (I have seen you on multiple threads, so I think I understand your perspective) and fully acknowledging the LCD-4's shortcomings, Hifiman is on a whole other level of greediness. I didn't bother commenting on the Shangri-La (after it got crazy) and the Edition 6 (which is now a closed thread) threads, but since it's showing up here, I can't think of another head-if company whose judgement I question more than Hifiman.

Audeze may have some problems here and there (who doesn't?), but they mostly deliver on their products. I wish I could say the same about Hifiman who think they can charge $50k for a headphone without having gone through the requisite steps to prove their capabilities. They are no Sennheiser! I won't even get into the Edition 6 and the craziness that ensued on that thread. Suffice it to say headphones, as much as this forum and all of us that take it seriously may imply, do not in any way measure up to human rights violations.

So please leave Audeze out of any comparisons with Hifiman; or any other responsible headphone manufacturer.

 

[Naim.F.C]

With all due respect to you (I have seen you on multiple threads, so I think I understand your perspective) and fully acknowledging the LCD-4's shortcomings, Hifiman is on a whole other level of greediness. I didn't bother commenting on the Shangri-La (after it got crazy) and the Edition 6 (which is now a closed thread) threads, but since it's showing up here, I can't think of another head-if company whose judgement I question more than Hifiman.

Audeze may have some problems here and there (who doesn't?), but they mostly deliver on their products. I wish I could say the same about Hifiman who think they can charge $50k for a headphone without having gone through the requisite steps to prove their capabilities. They are no Sennheiser! I won't even get into the Edition 6 and the craziness that ensued on that thread. Suffice it to say headphones, as much as this forum and all of us that take it seriously may imply, do not in any way measure up to human rights violations.

So please leave Audeze out of any comparisons with Hifiman; or any other responsible headphone manufacturer.

I won't get in to a who's worse type debate, but Audeze absolutely deserve to get criticised in a similar vein.

Why? Because despite the massive premium sums they charge for their headphones, they continue to have poor quality control and reliability issues. Well beyond the average anyway, if forum posts, images etc internet wide are anything to go by. In-fact, I routinely read about more issues with Audeze headphones than from any other brand. Defects, mismatched cups or drivers, greater manufacturing variations, dead drivers, loosening cable ports, all sorts, consistently.

On top of that, not only do they continue to release new iterations that are generally more expensive than past releases (LCD2 to LCD3 to LCD4), but they also continue to use near enough the exact same somewhat uncomfortable, un-ergonomic, overtly heavy design.

You'd think when they're charging double for the LCD4 for example, they could at least radically overhaul the housing to be more ergonomic, but apparently that's too much to ask, despite the additional $2000 cost.

I know I've made a couple of these sorts of posts in the past, and Audeze are probably pretty miffed, but it's honestly because I actually just want Audeze to dramatically change their quality control, overall manufacturing tolerances, comfort and reliability, so that I can actually consider their products, which I respect for pushing musicality over outright transparency, the latter seemingly being the audiophile trend these days.

Kind of disconcerting that they're still having issues even on new releases like the EL8 with the wobbly ports. I get that they've sorted or are sorting the issue, but how was it ever allowed to occur in the first place? Did they really not put any proper time and effort in to stress testing the production model? It's baffling that issues are as common as they are across their different product lines.

 

[SuperU]

Personally, I appreciate the tone you are writing with. I believe you are being respectful. And that is important if we are to all hear each other's points.
 
And I agree with the quality control issues. Fortunately my LCD-X has held up well. Hopefully it will continue.
 
But, when I ordered cables, it took them sending 3 times to get me what I ordered. So yep, their quality control is not what it should be.
 
I too wish that they would resolve this. That said, I love my headphones from them and know of no others that come close. Which is no excuse for them to continue with the problems. I'm just putting it into perspective.
 
It is also probable that people who have issues are blowing up the boards here hoping to put pressure on the company. I understand that too. 
 
The concern I have is that I'm out of the US. So if I had to send my headphones back, and they sent them repaired, I would pay huge shipping fees and sales tax as if they were new.
 
What I would love to see, and would be the perfect solution is that Audeze puts an iron clad guarantee on their headphones that includes all shipping both ways including all costs. That would keep them honest and encourage testing. And it would fully cover their customers causing us to buy with confidence. The only way they could lose on a deal like that is if their intention is to ship faulty merchandise. Heck, I'd even pay like $500 more for a 5 year guarantee if it was iron clad like that.

 

[Naim.F.C]

  Personally, I appreciate the tone you are writing with. I believe you are being respectful. And that is important if we are to all hear each other's points.
 
And I agree with the quality control issues. Fortunately my LCD-X has held up well. Hopefully it will continue.
 
But, when I ordered cables, it took them sending 3 times to get me what I ordered. So yep, their quality control is not what it should be.
 
I too wish that they would resolve this. That said, I love my headphones from them and know of no others that come close. Which is no excuse for them to continue with the problems. I'm just putting it into perspective.
 
It is also probable that people who have issues are blowing up the boards here hoping to put pressure on the company. I understand that too. 
 
The concern I have is that I'm out of the US. So if I had to send my headphones back, and they sent them repaired, I would pay huge shipping fees and sales tax as if they were new.
 
What I would love to see, and would be the perfect solution is that Audeze puts an iron clad guarantee on their headphones that includes all shipping both ways including all costs. That would keep them honest and encourage testing. And it would fully cover their customers causing us to buy with confidence. The only way they could lose on a deal like that is if their intention is to ship faulty merchandise. Heck, I'd even pay like $500 more for a 5 year guarantee if it was iron clad like that.

 
I agree with all of this post except the last point. We should not lower our expectations or standards, nor be expected to pay to compensate for a lack of them. For heapdhones priced as premium as these, a guaranteed usage of 5 years should be the bare minimum, not an additional cost. You have golden oldies that have literally lasted decades (to varying degrees lol). My T1.1's are 5+ years old now, and besides some minor cosmetic logo smudging, they too work, look and feel as good as new, despite hundreds, maybe thousands of hours worth of use. Likewise with the HD800's I've had for a few years now.
 
On that point, Audeze do include a 3 year warranty for defects, the issue, however, is the annoyance of actually having to use it, and as you touched upon the irritation facing foreign buyers who might have to ship their items overseas and endure long wait times. I'm based in the UK, and whilst I no longer have my LCD2, and did not end up keeping the LCDXC, the fear of failure was always of concern to me. I just did not have the same confidence in the longevity and reliability of the product as I did or do with other brands, which is doubly frustrating because Audeze do actually make decent sounding products.

 

[groovyd]

I won't get in to a who's worse type debate, but Audeze absolutely deserve to get criticised in a similar vein.

Why? Because despite the massive premium sums they charge for their headphones, they continue to have poor quality control and reliability issues. Well beyond the average anyway, if forum posts, images etc internet wide are anything to go by. In-fact, I routinely read about more issues with Audeze headphones than from any other brand. Defects, mismatched cups or drivers, greater manufacturing variations, dead drivers, loosening cable ports, all sorts, consistently.

On top of that, not only do they continue to release new iterations that are generally more expensive than past releases (LCD2 to LCD3 to LCD4), but they also continue to use near enough the exact same somewhat uncomfortable, un-ergonomic, overtly heavy design.

You'd think when they're charging double for the LCD4 for example, they could at least radically overhaul the housing to be more ergonomic, but apparently that's too much to ask, despite the additional $2000 cost.

I know I've made a couple of these sorts of posts in the past, and Audeze are probably pretty miffed, but it's honestly because I actually just want Audeze to dramatically change their quality control, overall manufacturing tolerances, comfort and reliability, so that I can actually consider their products, which I respect for pushing musicality over outright transparency, the latter seemingly being the audiophile trend these days.

Kind of disconcerting that they're still having issues even on new releases like the EL8 with the wobbly ports. I get that they've sorted or are sorting the issue, but how was it ever allowed to occur in the first place? Did they really not put any proper time and effort in to stress testing the production model? It's baffling that issues are as common as they are across their different product lines.

I think it is because they are a small company being rushed in the tech dev dept (most likely driven by mgmt, and perhaps rightly so) to produce mass market products that they can sell on their audiophile-made name.  They make great sounding headphones no doubt but they also take the 'profitable shortcuts' they probably shouldn't be taking, not for the price or in the best interest of their brand name.
 
I also agree that they made a fundamental mistake in releasing the LCD-4's for $2k more without resolving the well known weight issues.  Kudos for doing so at the very least with a new headband design but don't make that an 'accessory' upgrade rather a new standard of comfort.  I would have bought a 4 immediately if they had reduced the weight by any meaningful amount.