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Very happy for you - they look so good.
can I ask for a comparison with the hd700's? Soundstage, details etc.
I picked a pair of 700's a few weeks ago for a VERY good price and I think they are the best headphones I've heard with drum and bass specifically. Knowing the LCD x get rated very well with fast-electronic music it would be good to know how you see them both.
I guess I'll go ahead and post my initial impressions on my LCD-X's.
Mind you, these headphones only have less than 2 hours of burn in time and I can imagine it getting better as I let it burn in. I'm not too experienced with describing sound so don't judge me too much! I'll do what I can.
Anyways, I listen to a lot of EDM (trance/dubstep), country, rock, and acoustic/new age type music all encoded with FLAC lossless files.
First off, the LCD-X's are highly neutral sounding and very musical headphones compared to the more V-shaped sound signature of the HD700's. Starting out with the highs, the LCD-X's have a warmer top end but still highly resolving without sounding strident or sibilant, as opposed to the HD700s which are brighter sounding by comparison. The HD700's are well known to be somewhat harsh sounding in the highs and that's not the case with the LCD-X's at all IMO. Very smooth, warmer top end makes it easier to listen to at upper volumes. Not to mention how well the LCD-X's can bring out the clarity and details as well as micro-details in some songs, which took me by surprise and made it a lot of fun to listen to. That's not to say the HD700's aren't detailed headphones, they really are and that's one of the traits about those headphones that I've enjoyed a lot. It's just I found the LCD-X's to excel much better in this category of sound.
There's also a nice presence and fullness in the lower and upper mid-range and are more forward sounding compared to the more laid back mids on the HD700's. Very smooth, rich, and lush. Vocals sound lively, present, and natural especially with female vocals which got me really engaged. The HD700's mids sound really smooth and detailed, too, but are more laid back and a tad bit thinner sounding by comparison to the X's. Because of that I often find myself a lot more engaged and involved with the music with the LCD-X's. There's just that very good sense of presence and fullness to the sound and at times I found it "thick sounding" but by no means dark. It just 'feels' right.
The sound stage is also something that I find very intriguing with the LCD-X's. There's a very good sense of height as well as a better sense of wide openness and airiness compared to the already wide open sound stage of the HD700's, all without losing the clarity and detail. Very holographic sounding that everything also seems to be in their right spot in the music. When comparing the sound stage between the two, I find the LCD-X's to be wider sounding with a better sense of instrumental separation. It's one of the best I've heard and I think Audeze has done a phenomenal job in this category. (Though I've heard the HD800's before and I've yet to find a headphone that can beat it's impressive wide sound stage and great imaging but the X's did come pretty close in that regard IMO)
Bass on the LCD-X's are some of the best I've heard. It extends deep, punchy with great impact, well defined and layered, without empowering the music compared to the tighter and more refined bass presentation on the HD700's. There's just more bass presence, definition, and quantity in the LCD-X's while balancing well with the upper frequencies, which made it very enjoyable and satisfying to listen to while listening to some of my EDM tracks.
Comfort wise, however, I found my HD700's to be just a little more comfortable to wear. The LCD-X's are highly comfortable, too, surprisingly with their somewhat heavy weight, but I can imagine in the summer time the soft leather pads can give me 'hot ears' like one of other leather pad headphones done before. It's not a big issue and I find the LCD-X to be very comfortable to wear for long hours.
That's pretty much it for my initial impressions. The more I listen to my new LCD-X's the more and more I like it much better than my HD700's. It seems to do everything good that my HD700's did, but better. Almost no competition. IF comparing these with the HD800's however, well that's a different story. There's already another thread for that anyhow. All of my impressions are all based on the 2-3 hours of burn in time playing music as I type up this review. Like I said earlier, I'm not too experienced with describing sound, but I HONESTLY did my best to describe the sound as I hear it as accurately as possible. I'm a long time lurker in these forums (note post count lol) and have read tons of reviews on headphones. Hope this little comparison review helps. =)
