[Golyatx]

Thing is, there is no headphone I can think of that has the tonality of my LCD-X with my personal EQ out of the box.

hi, what eq please?

 

[Golyatx]

Thank you so much for your response! IFI products are great, but AFAIK none of them do EQ (at least not in the below 1000 USD bracket I checked). Actually I have not come across any desktop DAC-AMPs below a grand which would EQ, but maybe I missed some.

hi, you probably missed RME ADI 2 DAC FS

 

[cats4cans]

Any tips for increasing the clamp pressure on LCD-X? I’m starting to think I have a narrow head. It’s okay if my head is straight. But if I lean forward or recline in my chair, the earcups shift and feel like they’re about to fall off my head. My ZMF headphones had also felt a little loose, but I recently got stiffer steel for the headbands. Is there a similar fix for the LCD-X? I’ve read about people replacing the thin leather strap with a thicker pad, but I’m not sure of the specifics and haven’t seen pictures, so I’m not sure exactly what they actually did. I don’t think I understand how that will increase clamping. I’ve tried bending the steel band, but I don’t think it’s actually made any difference. I’m not sure how much it can bend before it just cracks. This is probably the main reason they get so little head time. I’ve actually gone as far as listing them for sale. Started thinking that might be premature if I can increase the wearability a little.

 

[franloro]

hi, you probably missed RME ADI 2 DAC FS

funny you should mention them. Just accidentally stumbled across the RME unit the other day. Looks nice.

 

[Honeypot]

Any tips for increasing the clamp pressure on LCD-X? I’m starting to think I have a narrow head. It’s okay if my head is straight. But if I lean forward or recline in my chair, the earcups shift and feel like they’re about to fall off my head. My ZMF headphones had also felt a little loose, but I recently got stiffer steel for the headbands. Is there a similar fix for the LCD-X? I’ve read about people replacing the thin leather strap with a thicker pad, but I’m not sure of the specifics and haven’t seen pictures, so I’m not sure exactly what they actually did. I don’t think I understand how that will increase clamping. I’ve tried bending the steel band, but I don’t think it’s actually made any difference. I’m not sure how much it can bend before it just cracks. This is probably the main reason they get so little head time. I’ve actually gone as far as listing them for sale. Started thinking that might be premature if I can increase the wearability a little.

I've had same feeling in the past.
A couple things before doing anything extreme like I did. Check the screw holding the caps, sometimes it looses and it makes the leather not to fit perfectly.
Also try placing the driver nail on it's lower highs.
You could also try to tighten the headband.
If none of that work, remove the drivers and try to pull the diadem apart. Do not be too rude with that
Hope it goes well!

 

[cats4cans]

I've had same feeling in the past.
A couple things before doing anything extreme like I did. Check the screw holding the caps, sometimes it looses and it makes the leather not to fit perfectly.
Also try placing the driver nail on it's lower highs.
You could also try to tighten the headband.
If none of that work, remove the drivers and try to pull the diadem apart. Do not be too rude with that
Hope it goes well!

I haven’t tried disassembling it yet. Those screws were loose not long after I bought it, but I check them whenever I wear them now. I know ZMF headbands are meant to be tweaked a little to adjust them. The LCD-X headband seems like it would just crack if bent too aggressively. The earcups are almost all the way up.
I’m just frustrated with messing with it. When I’ve accumulated a little more patience maybe I’ll give it another try. Selling them is probably premature.

 

[ishmeister]

hi, what eq please?

I used the B&K 5128 EQ by Resolve (Andrew from Headphones.com) as a starting point, then tweaked it (over a long period and lots of different music) to sound natural to my ears on my LCD-X.

Resolve's EQ was ok as a starting point, but not perfect to my ears. The Harman EQs were a similar story but I found the 5128 EQ to be a better starting point.

 

[GloriousLettuce]

I got the LCD-X today, Creator ones. The initial impression is weird.

I put them on... I listen to music. I get blown away for like a minute or a two on most tracks. Listening mostly to pop, electronic, metal, but everything else in lesser amount.

Then I get a headache of a sort. Every sound starts feeling it's hitting me over the head. I can't pin point what exactly... the treble doesn't seem too much, the bass isn't too much... it's like over a minute or few of listening any somewhat sharper out of the ordinary sound makes me feel punished for listening to the track and then I put em down.

Then I put em back again and it's fun... for a while, until I get tired pretty quickly and remove them because of some auditory discomfort. If I tone down the treble, it feels better, but then it sounds veiled. Maybe it's the upper treble extension.

Brain burn in required?

Edit: oh yes... trying the eq toning down the 20hz region helped a lot... will find a nice eq setting for myself.

 

[GloriousLettuce]

Holy hell.. 10-15 DB increase on the 15-20khz? That's probably what was bothering me. I thought I wouldn't be able to hear that. Hi res here we go.

 

[Andii]

I got the LCD-X today, Creator ones. The initial impression is weird.

I put them on... I listen to music. I get blown away for like a minute or a two on most tracks. Listening mostly to pop, electronic, metal, but everything else in lesser amount.

Then I get a headache of a sort. Every sound starts feeling it's hitting me over the head. I can't pin point what exactly... the treble doesn't seem too much, the bass isn't too much... it's like over a minute or few of listening any somewhat sharper out of the ordinary sound makes me feel punished for listening to the track and then I put em down.

Then I put em back again and it's fun... for a while, until I get tired pretty quickly and remove them because of some auditory discomfort. If I tone down the treble, it feels better, but then it sounds veiled. Maybe it's the upper treble extension.

Brain burn in required?

Edit: oh yes... trying the eq toning down the 20hz region helped a lot... will find a nice eq setting for myself.

They're accurate. The good the bad and the ugly all gets pumped into your ear holes mercilessly. It's a good idea to listen to a lot of recordings that you aren't familiar with to get your bearings. Mastering jobs that are loud are grating are completely offensive to the ears and will cause fatigue quickly almost instantly for me. For example I picked up a ticket for the upcoming Chelsea Wolfe show because it's going to be a total goth girl convention and I am into that. I checked out her new album with the LCD-X and it hurts to listen to because it's a hot master with chopped off dynamics. That's just one example. In contrast to that I checked out the new Brittany Howard album and its smooth and flowing and dynamic. I can listen to great recordings all day, but can't listen to metal at all because of the mastering jobs done in that genre are attrocious. All of the distortion in the mastering stage and the smashed dynamics get told as it is. They are audio engineering headphones. Accurate more than euphonic.

Holy hell.. 10-15 DB increase on the 15-20khz? That's probably what was bothering me. I thought I wouldn't be able to hear that. Hi res here we go.

I am not an expert and someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the fixtures that those measurements are made with are not accurate over a certain frequency and that data is junk data. The LCD-X is darkish neutral at the very top.


Another thing to note is that even though they're efficient, they have a minimum requirement listed on the Audeze website that I absolutely agree with based on experience. When underpowered the dynamics fall flat and the underpowered amp distorts the bass and that will cause fatigue. Any amp is fine, just no phones, dongles or audio interface outputs unless its one with an especially juicy amp built in.

 

[GloriousLettuce]

They're accurate. The good the bad and the ugly all gets pumped into your ear holes mercilessly. It's a good idea to listen to a lot of recordings that you aren't familiar with to get your bearings. Mastering jobs that are loud are grating are completely offensive to the ears and will cause fatigue quickly almost instantly for me. For example I picked up a ticket for the upcoming Chelsea Wolfe show because it's going to be a total goth girl convention and I am into that. I checked out her new album with the LCD-X and it hurts to listen to because it's a hot master with chopped off dynamics. That's just one example. In contrast to that I checked out the new Brittany Howard album and its smooth and flowing and dynamic. I can listen to great recordings all day, but can't listen to metal at all because of the mastering jobs done in that genre are attrocious. All of the distortion in the mastering stage and the smashed dynamics get told as it is. They are audio engineering headphones. Accurate more than euphonic.

I am not an expert and someone can correct me if I am wrong, but I think that the fixtures that those measurements are made with are not accurate over a certain frequency and that data is junk data. The LCD-X is darkish neutral at the very top.


Another thing to note is that even though they're efficient, they have a minimum requirement listed on the Audeze website that I absolutely agree with based on experience. When underpowered the dynamics fall flat and the underpowered amp distorts the bass and that will cause fatigue. Any amp is fine, just no phones, dongles or audio interface outputs unless its one with an especially juicy amp built in.

A day later now I think I agree with this.

They mercilessly shove everything to you. For a while I thought headphones could not be "complete" but these feel like they really do give you EVERYTHING, including the ugly.

Sometimes I notice this though: guitars can sound plasticky/unnatural as if the timbre is off, and the vocals can sometimes sound like they're not vocals - like they're synths who can sing or something. Is it because of the high mid/lower treble recess people mention?

I don't know what flat is or if it exists, but LCD-X do not sound as what I think should be flat. I think most audio has way too much treble and what comes out of the headphones/speakers does not sound like it does in the real world. I'd say the real world is flat (real), and to me the HD600 sound most like the real world, yet people call them veiled. But I guess I'm leaving the part out where almost nothing sounds harsh on HD600, but it probably should if the track IS harsh?

I also agree that some tracks sound like literal miracles and most metal was not listenable, unless when oratory1990 EQ was used. That made me sad, but I can enjoy my D7200s for metal. Some albums sounded like literal mush without exaggaration. Vocals unclear, bass all over the place, cymbals splashing over everything, guitars mushy.

Some were great, like Nightwish. Nightwish rocked, man. Everything had its place. And Evanescence.

To me they sounded best with high-end pop music (Selena, Loreen, Mariah Carey, Taylor Swift, etc...) and experimental electronica with a lot of pauses (Kalya Scintilla, Infected Mushroom). Trance had great tracks and bad tracks.

I tried Devin Townsend - Ki and Ghost. These ambiental albums sounded like literal heaven. It was as if I was surrounded by TONS of pure, untainted, full, 3D spacious huge sound. I didn't know a headphone could produce so much different stuff at the same time, but not talking individual elements and "oh I heard a thing I didn't hear before" but like but the decays, the ambience, everything just blended and sounded utterly huge and vibrant, something I never heard before. I heard every minor volume change of every element, every minor EQ change between vocal parts which used to sound the same on other headphones.

The mixer headphone outs are extremely powerful, they blast my HD600 at 30% volume. I again say I've yet to heard something better than that setup, but I never tried any amp above 700€ so... And the audio interface main outs are extremely clean (it's basically a DAC out, doesn't have to have much power). So power and quality of the signal are not an issue here. Finesse maybe... But I never liked any amp signature except Fiio E12 which I regret selling.

Are Crinacle measurements bad?

 

[ishmeister]

I personally wouldn't call the lcd-x accurate. To me they are "dark bright" because the upper treble is so elevated relative to 3-4khz. Some people do enjoy this tuning, just not me.

After not liking the LCD-X much I've grown to love it, not because I got used to the tuning but by spending some time tweaking an EQ to my own preferences over many hours and using lots of music.

And the stuff above 8khz just has to be tuned by ear in my experience because, as mentioned already, the measurements aren't going to be accurate there and your personal ear shape is going make it different anyway.

 

[JackarlTwo]

I personally wouldn't call the lcd-x accurate. To me they are "dark bright" because the upper treble is so elevated relative to 3-4khz. Some people do enjoy this tuning, just not me.

After not liking the LCD-X much I've grown to love it, not because I got used to the tuning but by spending some time tweaking an EQ to my own preferences over many hours and using lots of music.

And the stuff above 8khz just has to be tuned by ear in my experience because, as mentioned already, the measurements aren't going to be accurate there and your personal ear shape is going make it different anyway.

I think the area above 8KHz may vary from unit to unit as well. Mine is pretty hot at 10 KHz so I EQ that down a bit, and use a bass shelf and they sound pretty neutral/ warm to me. Stock I would agree they're sort of bright at the very top, but they're not bright headphones overall.

 

[Lookout57]

I initially didn't like my LCD-X. I thought the bass was weak and the top end harsh. I switched from the stock balanced cable to the Moon Audio Black Dragon. It wasn't much better. Then I went to the Cardas Clear Light and again, no real change. Then a year ago I decided to try my AXIOS Cu and BAM, it brought more bass to the party and tamed the top end. But I still wanted more. So my end game cable for the LCD-X is the DHC Complement C. Being an OCC copper cable the bass is now full and deep with great details. As for the top end it's now smooth and clean with zero harshness.I also did try my DHC Prion4 but when it's paired with my Sony NW-WM1Z it's too much. The soundstage is amazing but the there is too much details and is overwhelming and fatiguing. So the Prion4 stays with my MDR-Z1R where it's a perfect match.

So because the LCD-X is so analytical, cable rolling is required to find the best match for your source and musical tastes.

 

[GloriousLettuce]

I initially didn't like my LCD-X. I thought the bass was weak and the top end harsh. I switched from the stock balanced cable to the Moon Audio Black Dragon. It wasn't much better. Then I went to the Cardas Clear Light and again, no real change. Then a year ago I decided to try my AXIOS Cu and BAM, it brought more bass to the party and tamed the top end. But I still wanted more. So my end game cable for the LCD-X is the DHC Complement C. Being an OCC copper cable the bass is now full and deep with great details. As for the top end it's now smooth and clean with zero harshness.I also did try my DHC Prion4 but when it's paired with my Sony NW-WM1Z it's too much. The soundstage is amazing but the there is too much details and is overwhelming and fatiguing. So the Prion4 stays with my MDR-Z1R where it's a perfect match.

So because the LCD-X is so analytical, cable rolling is required to find the best match for your source and musical tastes.

God this is spending more on cables than the headphone. Also, I don't have a balanced amp