Just got my LCD-X today.
Here are a few initial thoughts after about an hour of listening.
What a beautiful presentation! The box for travel is a full on professional grade box. I love Audeze's attention to detail on everything from the packaging to the headphones themselves.
The end of the 1/4 in. cable is solid and luxurious feeling. Having the cables connect to both ear pieces is taking a bit to get used to. When it only connects to one, it is easy to move the cable out of the way. Still, very nice - and great attention to detail.
I've listened to them for an hour or so. They are a definite step up from my Mad Dog Pro headphones which are closed. They cost 3 times what the MDP costs. I would not say they are 3 x better. But they are definitely better.
Now I see why people told me to go with an Open Headphone if at all I could. That was a great choice.
They are bigger. Wow, they are big - the ear pieces are large. And quite comfortable for me. Though I'd say the MDP is maybe even more comfortable with the leather on the ears. Maybe these will get better as they break in.
The weight seems irrelevant. They are definitely not real heavy feeling to me. But I'm used to a motorcycle helmet.
Sometimes I can actually feel the air hitting my inner ears - at least that's what it feels like. There is almost like a suction to them.
The first song I listed to was Long After You're Gone, by Chris Jones. When it started I was a little concerned as it was much brighter than I'm used to. But then the bass kicked in a few seconds into the song and good grief it is fantastic.
As I've been listening, the highs are more clear than with the MDP. Like a veil has been removed. Overall I like it. But I have heard a few songs where there is noise that I never noticed before - like poor production quality. So they are definitely revealing more of what's in the music.
The bass does not seem exaggerated to me at all. When it's not there in a song, it doesn't sound like it's attempting to make it bassier. But when it is there, wow it is good. Controlled, deep and musical.
Another thing is the sound stage is bigger on the LCD-X than the MDP. More a sense of being 3D. Like all the music has room for itself and isn't squished.
Just now listening to Petrichor by Recondite in the background, I heard some tapping sounds that sounded like they were coming from behind me. I started to look but realized it was the song as it was rhythmic. The song was low so probably would have recognized it had it been louder. But the stage is big with things sounding like they are coming from around me not just from the center of my head. My MDP also did some of that, but not nearly this much.
Again, the highs are more clear with the LCD-X.
These will be a true joy to use for my mixing and in that regard a real big step up from the MDP.
Again I'll say that I really like my Mad Dog Pro's. If I had a limited budget, I could be very happy with just those. The LCD-X is a very nice step up and will be very helpful for my mixing. It is a brighter can than the MDP but balanced, at least to my ears. I really like the extra brightness. Removing the veil seems like a big difference, the more I listen.
These are just my preliminary thoughts as I've had now about 2 hours listening. Even as I write this, I felt compelled to stop and listen occasionally as the sound is amazingly good.
I have not done any reviews and I'm not an audiophile just a guy who loves music. So someone who knows more than me feel free to tell me what I can do to improve my word choices. I have tried to keep this sounding the way I would want to read.
A big thanks to Greenkiwi for helping me to evaluate what I want and need.
I'm leaving for a few days so will leave them playing in case there is something to the concept of break in with these.
As I get more time with them, I'll definitely share more of my thoughts.
By the way, one more thing... they come with a 1/4 to mini plug converter cable. I used it to plug into my Galaxy Note 3. It definitely will drive the LCD-X but lacks a lot compared to going through the amp. I had to turn the setting for the equalizer to flat as I hated the sound with it on. But it works. Nice.
