Infrequent poster on here but I thought I would share my thoughts regarding my experience so far with the LCD-X's.
A little background first.....
I have long thought that the HD800's are underwhelming and a little boring if truth be known. I think I can safely say now I am rid of them that they totally lack character and tend to suck the life out of some music. Don't get me wrong...they are stellar with some types of music, particularly acoustic and small chamber ensembles.
I have stuck with them for a couple of years convincing myself that they must be good because everybody says they are.
With rock and classical in particular I was always wanting more from them. I have tried various amps with them...perhaps not the high end esoteric brands....but that's a cost thing and mainly due to not being able to justify spending another couple of grand on top of the £1000 already spent on the HD800's. thinking back perhaps I should have got a lesser pair of headphones in the first place.....I suppose its a bit like buying a Ferrari and not being able to afford the petrol to put in it
I know now that some of you will say that I didn't get to hear the Sennheisers on the correct amp and I am prepared to accept that to a degree.
Anyway to cut a long story short...finally decided to sell the HD800's on and started researching for their replacement.
As most of you will know all roads investigated led to Audeze.......Just which model to choose?
In the end I plumped for the LCD-X's. ...why you ask?
Because they had slightly newer technology than the LCD-3's, higher sensitivity, so a little easier to drive from a number of sources......and a huge number of reviews from pro users and amateur audiophiles which were predominantly positive.
I have now had the X's for a couple of weeks and from the moment I plugged them into my Benchmark DAC2 HGC headphone socket I knew I had made the right decision.
Straight out the box they sounded magnificent.
The Benchmark appears to be a good fit for the X's too as it has more than enough power to drive them and to high volume levels too.I was open to bying a new amp for the X's as I wasn't sure if the Benchmark would be up to the job.....but I needn't have worried
A few descriptive words to describe the sound/performance of the X's........
Holographic but euphonic and fruity. The bass is in a different class to any headphone I have ever heard. I owned a Bass beast in the Denon AH D7000's a few years ago and good as they were their bass was out of control when you compare it to the X's bass.
Voice reproduction is to die for....... particularly male voices to my ears.
I am a massive fan of big Orchestra's and Symphonic music...along with electronic music. Think Infected Mushroom and Shpongle......and the X's are just slayers of this genre of music.
Complicated mixes do not wrong foot them either.
Once again I am listening to music with a grin on my face...whereas with the Sennheisers I was always felt a bit short changed...but was in denial and wouldn't admit it to myself as I had spent so much money.
There are similarities in the two models.......but its as if the X's have taken everything great about the HD800's and then added some of their own magic and it is this which makes them such fun to listen to.......Clarity, Slam and superb P.R.A.T. On top of this they will go to ear damaging sound levels without distortion and they possess an intimate listening experience, particularly with the right material, that is rare in a closed back headphone let alone an open backed one.
Audeze have created something special with the X's......anybody still hovering their finger over the Buy button, have no fear and buy with confidence.
Rest assured, you will not regret it for one moment. And if you too are having doubts about just how good those HD800's really are......have a listen to the X's...and prepare to be amazed.
