[514077]

I personally don't trust zeos ears, his judgement of HP-A3=good dac is correct, but it has a pretty awful amp, which he doesn't think. I understand that I could drive the lcd-x straight out of my phone, but I've had a pretty significant differences on low impedance high sensitivity headphones on different amps in terms of soundstage, clarity, and harshness. I have seen some reviews say they are extremely amp-dependent, as well as some who say they aren't. There's a chance I'll upgrade the amp anyway, even without hard-to-drive headphones.

Drive isn't everything; I'd discount that first video. One's phone may be able to push the X to great levels. But loudness isn't everything. Transient reproduction is another factor for one: being able to manage occasional peaks in the music is important. I spent a pleasant afternoon driving my Xs with my little QP1R, which was great for sitting out on the deck with a coffee. But, these phones do upscale well with improved upstream equipment, including better amplification.

 

[514077]

Okay. So after spending countless hours watching youtube videos and reading reviews, I decided to pull the trigger on a used lcd x for gbp 635 from ebay. Also ordered a Khadas tone board with case and a JDS Labs Atom amp so there should be at least decently clean signal for this pair. I'm trying to keep my expectations low. But I do hope to be wowed upgrading from Audio Technica ath adg1x and Sound Blaster x g5.

First thing I will play on these will be This is America by Childish Gambino because there are a lot of... secondary voices and stuff and I want to hear new details and better positioning there. Oh and I hope the bass will bring a smile to my face too when those parts of the song fire up... And then BFG squadron from Doom 2016 OST will be the follow up. Must not forget to play the last wave song from They are Billions game too for some symphony orchestra game music.

After that some Avicii... and I cant skip Smooth Criminal by MJ... And then your suggestions, please!

What do you think is the most technically impressive song to play on the lcd-x? Preferrably something available on Tidal. What should bring the wow factor?

How 'bout 'Three chord trick' by Legasy.

 

[514077]

I was just thinking I got the older head strap thingie in the incoming lcd-x only to realize it was you who replied to me here. Maybe a sign of things to come.

If you ended up with the older headband, I can only say that I'm still using my Lohb strip, and have no desire to spend $200.00+ on the newer replacement CF headband.

 

[lhydavid]

Is the lcd-x a headphone that is amp dependent or nah? Not necessarily in terms of impedance and loudness, but rather, do I need to invest a couple hundreds or thousands of dollars into a dac/amp setup to take advantage of its sound? Asking partially since I can get the Aurender Flow for around $500 at the moment, and wondering if it is a necessary upgrade from HP-A3

Hi there, I don't own the X, but I own the XC.
They're really great with many genres of music and as far as being amp dependent, my personal opinion would be they are not.
I can run these out of my LGV30+ that has a built in sabre 9218p dac, though because of its sub-50ohm impedance, the high gain mode is not activated, so I run it typically between 60 to 70 out of 75 volume clicks. However, if I use a line-out to an external headphone amp such as the F-35 lightning from RSA that is a balanced output amp which has 3 different gain levels, I can run them on hi-gain, and have the volume knob of the amp set at only 8 to 9am and anything past 11 or 12pm is deafening! (I use my F-35 mainly as a portable for my HE560 that are really difficult to drive well)
I also run this headphone out of my Violectric V280 in both single ended and balanced (yes it's overkill actually in balanced) and find only very minute improvements compared with the F-35. In my opinion, the F-35 is already overkill! Though, it's the only other amp I have apart from my V280.

Loudness and volume aside, the largest sonic change for me was going from the mobile phone alone to using the F35. From the F35 to the V280, the differences were minor and probably already on the "diminishing return" side of things in my opinion. With the F35, the headphone felt more controlled, like it had more available power on tap and much more "breathable" like it had more "lungs". It also sounded more open.

Long story short, the LCD X and XC don't need a lot to drive them well according to me. You definitely don't need really high power amps to drive them to their max potential.
I see many people in the forums running these out of their portable solutions without problems, even in single ended.
If you have the Aurender Flow with you, bring them down and audition the headphones and let your ears decide.

Cheers and good luck!
These are really nice cans

 

[eee1111]

Im so torn on paying 600 bucks to get these fixed. But I miss the sound and using them.

 

[514077]

Im so torn on paying 600 bucks to get these fixed. But I miss the sound and using them.

Every time I hear about getting LCDs of any sort, being fixed, the price rockets up, ridiculously!

 

[eee1111]

Every time I hear about getting LCDs of any sort, being fixed, the price rockets up, ridiculously!

They're out of warranty

but yes, I keep changing my mind whether the price to fix is worth it.

a reasonable price would be like $300-$400 for a headphone currently selling at $1100.

 

[Mendel]

How do these break anyways? Anything I should be careful about? (Other than dropping them from the roof to the mouth of a large walrus)

 

[Nitronium]

Arent driver replacements in the 300 dollar range? Or am I missing something here? Havent had lcdx break yet, but i have had other audeze products that just stops working, for no clear reason
I know this is kind of a bad reply, and I hope others can add on

 

[mixman]

The replacement price for the drivers, according to Audeze is $500 for new drivers and $80 for new pads = $580.

 

[eee1111]

Arent driver replacements in the 300 dollar range? Or am I missing something here? Havent had lcdx break yet, but i have had other audeze products that just stops working, for no clear reason
I know this is kind of a bad reply, and I hope others can add on

when you buy them 2nd hand and the warranty is up you get no help from audeze when they break.
I had to pay shipping too. $50 extra on top of the 580.

they're from 2014

if you buy them yourself audeze is known to help if you can produce a full payment receipt as the 1st owner.

They break as does everything in this world does. If I were not getting a 3 year warranty I wouldn't be doing this.

 

[tan29844]

When pairing with great amp, which does Classic Rock & Synth Pop better in your opinion? LCD-X or LCD-3? (Latest drivers)
Auditioned the X and loved it, would love to hear more from someone who owns both of them!

Thanks!

 

[eee1111]

When pairing with great amp, which does Classic Rock & Synth Pop better in your opinion? LCD-X or LCD-3? (Latest drivers)
Auditioned the X and loved it, would love to hear more from someone who owns both of them!

Thanks!

For what the LCD-3 does it can be had in other headphones that do it better. IMO.

The lcd-4, 4z, X, and mx4 are my favorites.

When paired with a great SS amp like the gsx mk2 the lcd-x are fantastic. Not so much with tubes imo.

X and 3 both do classic rock really good. Audeze sound goes good with it.

Synth on the other hand sounds better on the X.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

Hey guys, I have a little question.
I wouldn't say I have big ears, i would say maybe average size or 10% larger than average. Would this cause my ears to touch the fazor wall inside the LCD-X ?
does anyone have this issue with their X? and if so, does the feeling go away after a few hours of listening.
Thanks!

 

[phthora]

Hey guys, I have a little question.
I wouldn't say I have big ears, i would say maybe average size or 10% larger than average. Would this cause my ears to touch the fazor wall inside the LCD-X ?
does anyone have this issue with their X? and if so, does the feeling go away after a few hours of listening.
Thanks!

I have average sized ears, and I've been noticing my ears touching the fazors on the X lately. I say lately because this hasn't always been the case. As the earpads have aged, they began to compress more and more. Now, my ears touch with the X, but not with the 2F or 2C. New pads would fix this issue, I suspect. Or, a switch to stiffer ZMF cowhide pad would give the ears a bit more room. On the other hand, while I notice the contact occasionally, it's not an irritant. Of course, I don't find them heavy either, so what do I know. lol