Well, after being almost the first one dashing into the Headfi room at RMAF when it was first open at noon today, I was one of the first one to play with the Audeze's new flagship headphone-the LCD3. As a LCD2 v1 owner and after only a brief listening, I can tell you all LCD2 owners stay clear of the LCD3 if you do not want to loose another thousand dollars. It is that dangerous.
I then continue to listen to the LCD3 for another hour during which time, I grab a LCD2 v2 from the ALO counter and switch back and forth (A-B-A-B-A-B-A-B...) I keep switching back and forth just to make sure the addition premium is worth the difference. Then I wandered over to Justin's table and played with his Blue Hawaii/STAX-009 combo just so I can keep some perspective. Later I return and tried the LCD3 for another hour to see if my initial impression still hold. The LCD3 is very impressive. When I first put the LCD3 on my head, I felt the soft fine leather pad improved significantly over the LCD2 v2 pad. May be because of its softness, I feel it made a very good seal, it just seems like the comfort level has been improved over the previous versions. The whole phone just seems to have a higher quality that the previous phones.
And then when the music started to play, almost within ten seconds and without much critical listening, I can immediately tell that it is a much improved phone. If I never hear the LCD3, I would say that the LCD2 v1 or v2 is a very enjoyable and engaging phone. But unfortunately now that I have heard the LCD3, the LCD2 V1 or V2 has has shown some graininess in comparison. With the first sound wave hitting my eardrum, I am at awe at how smooth, clear, balance, and yet very engaging the LCD3 sounded. The bass is still even tighter. Without question another layer of veil has been lifted from the LCD2. The resolution has improved and so has the dynamics. I was listening to the LCD3 driven by an ALO Isabella, sourse is from a Sony CD transport. Later I tried the LCD3 from my portable setup and received almost as good result (Ipod-CLAS-DB1-SR71b).
Of course, this is only an initial impression but I felt I spent enough time with it (around 2 hours) to know the sound good enough. According to Alex, the LCD3 uses an entirely new drive unit. It is not just an improved LCD2 for which I tend to agree. The difference to me is like the HD600 to the HD800. It still has the Audeze house sound but every aspect seems to clearly improved. I personally felt the difference was bigger than the difference between the HD800 and the HE90 (I compared the two only couple of months ago in a small meet and I have owned the HD800 for almost from the beginning). Of course, other people will chime in with their inital impressions. Later, I chatted with Jude and he told me that he listened to it all last night and he is determined to grab one of the four pair with him at the end. The phone is expensive compare to the current model. However, to me, I think it is worth the upgrade. In fact to me, I find myself enjoyed the LCD3 more so than the Stax 009 as I find the 009 a little brighter than the LCD3 which I worry may induce fatigue easier. It is getting to that point that if I never hear another phone, I be fine with the LCD3. For those who have the opportunitiy to listen to it, feel free to chime in.
