Audeze's 2016 revamp, re-voiced and re-engineered headphones, the entire line (except Sine and EL8 Ti; these have updates as standard)

[TheOneInYellow]

The topic seems to suggest that the LCD-2 has an updated sound signature now in 2016.

I'd go further. Topic is going beyond suggesting.

It's stating.

The LCD-2, and every Audeze headphone has been updated for 2016 (except Sine and EL8 Ti as they are new/updates inbuilt).

I created this topic to reflect this. I have curated sources to support this. I have taken a screenshot from Audeze replying to me on Twitter to confirm this information.

Audeze has discontinued every headphone prior to 2016 in favour of updated and new models.

It is not a suggestion.

 

[mysticstryk]

I'd go further. Topic is going beyond suggesting.

It's stating.

The LCD-2, and every Audeze headphone has been updated for 2016 (except Sine and EL8 Ti as they are new/updates inbuilt).

I created this topic to reflect this. I have curated sources to support this. I have taken a screenshot from Audeze replying to me on Twitter to confirm this information.

Audeze has discontinued every headphone prior to 2015 in favour of updated and new models.

It is not a suggestion.

I wasn't trying to imply otherwise. I was responding to someone who was writing off the LCD-2 based on outdated impressions.

 

[ardilla]

I for one welcome these changes. Dont mind whatsoever that my LCD 2.2 will come back a 2016 LCD 2F. Or that my ordered LCD 3F will sound a bit different from the loaner LCD 3F pair that I'm listening to till I get them.

I don't mind either that if there are any further driver failures I'll be able to get replacements for them - warranty or no warranty. No other headphone manufacturer does this.

Someone should do a proper comparison between old and new LCDs. Since Tyll's fallen out of love with Audeze, it will have to be someone else...

 
I don't think anyone who commented on this actually did NOT welcome the changes. They just want them to be communicated to the consumer ,)
 
Some reasons for giving models version numbers: 
1) Enthusiasts can discuss and compare apples instead of apples and pears and oranges.  
2) Customers can see what they buy. People risk listening to a demo in a store, buying what they think is an identical product but getting a different version.  
3) Reviews can be judged by the model version they actually review. 

 

[TheOneInYellow]

I wasn't trying to imply otherwise. I was responding to someone who was writing off the LCD-2 based on outdated impressions.

Sorry dude.

I poured my heart into this topic, and this week been tweeting, Facebook posting, and communicating to friends not just this but also about Double Helix Cables and my Onkyo DP-X1 digital audio player.

I misread your post as implying that I suggested, without anecdotal evidence or sources, what is going on with Audeze and them advancing the art of audio reproduction.

Forgiving hugs?

...

 

[TheOneInYellow]

I don't think anyone who commented on this actually did NOT welcome the changes. They just want them to be communicated to the consumer ,)

Some reasons for giving models version numbers: 
1) Enthusiasts can discuss and compare apples instead of apples and pears and oranges.  
2) Customers can see what they buy. People risk listening to a demo in a store, buying what they think is an identical product but getting a different version.  
3) Reviews can be judged by the model version they actually review. 

I love updates if they show true improvement to the end user.

My only quibble was no formal official announcement.
Small adjustment to model number would be nice but if an official announcement was given then I can gloss over this bit.
An announcement could make it easier for owners of Audeze gear and new potential customers to be better informed.

Otherwise, everyone does benefit, and in my opinion, I trust the engineering team at Audeze to know how to make great sounding gear.

 

[mysticstryk]

Sorry dude.

I poured my heart into this topic, and this week been tweeting, Facebook posting, and communicating to friends not just this but also about Double Helix Cables and my Onkyo DP-X1 digital audio player.

I misread your post as implying that I suggested, without anecdotal evidence or sources, what is going on with Audeze and them advancing the art of audio reproduction.

Forgiving hugs?

...

I really want to try another LCD-2 now, and an el8 open for the first time.

 

[TheOneInYellow]

I really want to try another LCD-2 now, and an el8 open for the first time.

Thanks dude! :redface:

My suggestion would be to try both 2016 EL8 and 2016 LCD-2F.

Supposedly the original 2015 EL8 was meant to be a baby old LCD-2F, but now with all the changes (and listening to how different my old 2015 EL8 CB is to my closed back EL8 Titanium), I bet that's now truer than before!

If you like the 2016 LCD-2F then awesome, but I'd be interested in hearing about your findings if you did compare.
More so, you never know, the 2016 EL8 might be more to your liking in terms of aesthetics and ergonomics over 2016 LCD-2F, meaning more money to spend elsewhere...

 

[exsomnis]

   
I'm not sure why you say that no other headphone manufacturer replaces failed drivers within, or outside, warranty.  I can't name one that doesn't in fact.  All of them will charge for out-of-warranty work, including Audeze.  In all cases you're going to get the original driver if they have it, and a newer version if they don't.  Unless, that is, the headphone is so far out of being manufactured that it's not repairable (my first pair of Sennheisers were bought 20 years ago and haven't been manufactured in the last 18).
 
In the thirty-something years I've been using headphones, across many manufacturers, I've never had a driver failure.  In fact I can't even recall reading about a driver failure in another brand that wasn't directly traceable to abuse (deliberate or accidental).  So ... this sort of thing is more of a concern with Audeze than any other high end brand right now.
 
Before Tyll "fell out of love with" Audeze (I don't think I want any reviewer in love with a particular brand), he posted some updated comparisons on the various evolutionary changes to the entire LCD line.  That's probably the closest you're likely to get any time soon.
 
It's great that you say you'll always be happy having whatever the latest spec is.  For me, I have no interest in an LCD-2.2 with fazors.  Love the LCD-4, which has them of course, and I never had an issue with the LCD-X or LCD-3 due to them, but on the 2.2 ... bleh.

 
Well, where I'm at the local warranty for anything audio or tech is 1 year, after which you're SOL. So let me rephrase it as such - Audeze is one of the few headphone manufacturers that will honor warranties internationally for 3 years, and another 3 years on the replaced drivers.
 
Tyll did comparison measurements for the fazored line back in 2014 only. Would be nice to see what the new revisions have done to the frequency response. Having said that, I don't listen to frequency response graphs, but I'm curious.
 
I am of course hoping that the 2F with 2016 improvements will be good. As good as the 2.2s were, they did have their limits and I'm interested to see how it turns out.

 

[exsomnis]

   
I don't think anyone who commented on this actually did NOT welcome the changes. They just want them to be communicated to the consumer ,)
 
Some reasons for giving models version numbers: 
1) Enthusiasts can discuss and compare apples instead of apples and pears and oranges.  
2) Customers can see what they buy. People risk listening to a demo in a store, buying what they think is an identical product but getting a different version.  
3) Reviews can be judged by the model version they actually review. 

 
I think the problem with having version numbers is that since Audeze is still trying to find a manufacturing process for the transducers that produces a good yield and a neglible failure rate, there will be many more till they get it just right. They likely do not know when exactly they will find it and it would alienate even more people besides the ones in the know, if they produced a new revision every 6 months or so.
 
I actually do think the versioning info will be useful but given their track record, it's not going to happen. We will just have to keep track of them and name them ourselves, as was done with LCD 2 rev1, LCD 2 rev2 / LCD 2.2, LCD 2F and so on. 

 

[Torq]

   
Well, where I'm at the local warranty for anything audio or tech is 1 year, after which you're SOL. So let me rephrase it as such - Audeze is one of the few headphone manufacturers that will honor warranties internationally for 3 years, and another 3 years on the replaced drivers.
 
Tyll did comparison measurements for the fazored line back in 2014 only. Would be nice to see what the new revisions have done to the frequency response. Having said that, I don't listen to frequency response graphs, but I'm curious.
 
I am of course hoping that the 2F with 2016 improvements will be good. As good as the 2.2s were, they did have their limits and I'm interested to see how it turns out.

 
My references to my LCD-2.2c and the later and, now current, offerings were intended to be an actual example of the concern over rapid and frequent driver revisions.  There are good and bad sides to it, depending on your preferences.  And all headphones have their limitations.  It took Audeze nearly four years to come up with a headphone that was enough of a step up from the first pair I bought from them for me to feel compelled to upgrade.  Not that I didn't think the LCD-X and LCD-3 weren't better ... but at least across the units I demoed they were not compelling, or consistent, enough to warrant the change in the case of the LCD-X nor risk the driver nonsense with the 3.
 
I'm hoping their new versions let them get away from concerns about driver reliability entirely, while still advancing their performance.  Only time will tell on that.
 
It's not like I'm not an Audeze fan ... my LCD-4 didn't just magically appear in my collection.

 

[TheOneInYellow]

My references to my LCD-2.2c and the later and, now current, offerings were intended to be an actual example of the concern over rapid and frequent driver revisions.  There are good and bad sides to it, depending on your preferences.  And all headphones have their limitations.  It took Audeze nearly four years to come up with a headphone that was enough of a step up from the first pair I bought from them for me to feel compelled to upgrade.  Not that I didn't think the LCD-X and LCD-3 weren't better ... but at least across the units I demoed they were not compelling, or consistent, enough to warrant the change in the case of the LCD-X nor risk the driver nonsense with the 3.

I'm hoping their new versions let them get away from concerns about driver reliability entirely, while still advancing their performance.  Only time will tell on that.

It's not like I'm not an Audeze fan ... my LCD-4 didn't just magically appear in my collection.

LIES YOUR ACTUALLY AN AUDEZE HATER AND YOU JUST GOT THE LCD-4 TO STOP A REAL AUDEZE FAN FROM GETTING ONE (me)!

Jk jk

I sympathise with some of your points and agree to others.

Audeze are still a relatively new company, just like HiFiMan, Oppo, Master & Dynamic, etc, so teething stuff will occur.
In the TOTL world of headphones, companies are going much further and advancing the art at unprecedented levels.

As long as the companies continue to show great support and hands-on community level interactions, we will benefit down the line.

Think of this hobby like a PC gamer does.
The similarities between these these two, somewhat seemingly disparate, hobbies are eerily similar.
Upgrades will occur, but how how this is represented to consumers is the question.

Many of us here are positive positive about Audeze's changes to update their lines, but some would prefer a better way to differentiate between newer and older version's off the same family headphone line.

My biggest concern is that the reviews of certain, now discontinued, 2015 headphones (2015 EL8 series) will still echo louder than the the noise generated that new versions exist (2016 EL8 series).

Audeze on Facebook, has a stickied post promoting the new Audeze Audeze EL8 Titanium headphones.
I've posted to this post a few times, and more than once informed via my posts of the older and newer EL8 series.
However one poster was still oblivious and wrote negative points about the older 2015 EL8 CB headphones. His points were (generally) true. The issue his post represented was that those who read his comment will assume that the EL8 CB series has issues, which is only true for for 2015 EL8 headphones and no longer true for the new 2016 iterations.
Secondly, only a few are in the know about the changes. There is a significant number of Audeze owners of who are in the dark of newer versions of their headphones.

I support the changes. All I ask is a formal announcement.

To those who are thinking of upgrading your Audeze headphones to the updated versions, I cannot wait to hear your thoughts and impressions.

 

[Torq]

<snip>

My biggest concern is that the reviews of certain, now discontinued, 2015 headphones (2015 EL8 series) will still echo louder than the the noise generated that new versions exist (2016 EL8 series).

Audeze on Facebook, has a stickied post promoting the new Audeze Audeze EL8 Titanium headphones.
I've posted to this post a few times, and more than once informed via my posts of the older and newer EL8 series.
However one poster was still oblivious and wrote negative points about the older 2015 EL8 CB headphones. His points were (generally) true. The issue his post represented was that those who read his comment will assume that the EL8 CB series has issues, which is only true for for 2015 EL8 headphones and no longer true for the new 2016 iterations.
Secondly, only a few are in the know about the changes. There is a significant number of Audeze owners of who are in the dark of newer versions of their headphones.

I support the changes. All I ask is a formal announcement.
 

 
They need to go further than a formal announcement, regardless of whether they start labeling the specific iterations of their headphones (e.g. the driver change in the LCD-4 was not a trivial one); they need to get the new units in the hands of their dealers so that people aren't stuck auditioning (or buying) last years (or worse) model.  And since those dealers have to buy their demo units themselves, they'll need to make that attractive to them to do so.

 

[Dillan]

Yea I agree that more attention needs to be brought to this.
 
When the EL-8 first came out it was exactly the type of headphone I was wanting to be released, but after hearing the reviews I decided not to get them.
 
Recently I got to listen to a pair and I was stunned at how great it sounded (especially when compared to some of the negative reviews).
 
Then it was brought to my attention that this was a pair of the 2016 version and it kind of started to click.. at that time I didn't even know there were 2 versions and most people still don't.

 

[Skampmeister]

Well I have March 2016 2.2F's and if anyone in Canberra wants to hear those, they are more than welcome. mine are the only Audeze headphones ive ever heard, so I can't be of help with stating their possible improvement.

 

[zambz]

Thanks dude!

My suggestion would be to try both 2016 EL8 and 2016 LCD-2F.

Supposedly the original 2015 EL8 was meant to be a baby old LCD-2F, but now with all the changes (and listening to how different my old 2015 EL8 CB is to my closed back EL8 Titanium), I bet that's now truer than before!

If you like the 2016 LCD-2F then awesome, but I'd be interested in hearing about your findings if you did compare.
More so, you never know, the 2016 EL8 might be more to your liking in terms of aesthetics and ergonomics over 2016 LCD-2F, meaning more money to spend elsewhere...

 
I personally found the open EL-8s a little more neutral than the LCD-2, they are a bit closer to the LCD-X which I really liked personally as I found the LCD-2Fs still a pinch too dark for me.
 
I first heard the closed EL-8s late last year and they were a slightly pre-production model that Audeze had sent the dealer and quite frankly, they sounded absolutely AWFUL!  If anyone asks me what the closed EL-8s are like, well that's what I'll tell them.  I highly doubt the dealer will get new samples for customers to hear of the 2016 model but I'll ask as they are the official distributor of Audeze here.
 
The open EL-8 at the store was also pre-production and sent by Audeze.  The magnetic connectors kept falling out constantly and I was assured that this was fixed in the production model ... and clearly it's been improved again since.
 
Further to this, the open EL-8 at the store seemed to have a more noticeable dip in the lower treble (closer to what Tyll measured) while my purchased pair is actually very smooth and only has a little bit of a pulled back lower treble (for me, the absolutely perfect amount to avoid harshness and still a very present, neutral and accurate sound).
 
I recently heard the SINE and that sounded absolutely incredible, far far far better than the closed EL-8 I had tried last year.
 
There's no doubt that Audeze are a small company and on one hand, I really appreciate that they make changes available to customers.  Just not a fan of this moving target mentality and doing something like they did with the LCD-4 where they literally doubled the impedance and not renaming the model is a huge deal.  I demoed the LCD-4 at the store and loved it, it also ran fine from my amp, was that the old one or the new one?  The LCD-4 that Tyll disliked in his review, old or new?  The open EL-8 that Tyll measured a major dip on, what revision was that because I don't hear that on mine at all and have measured it (with what I have) and confirmed no dip at all in that region?  Tyll's review of these models likely will have an impact on sales ... so it's in Audeze's best interest to make it obvious that there is a new revision of these and offer them to someone like Tyll to review.
 
All Audeze reviews are now basically redundant and it will be impossible to know if new reviews are reviewing the 2015 model or the 2016 model unless they literally confirm the production date in the paperwork.
 
I really hope they consider comfort improvements in newer revisions and anything they can do to make their headphones lighter.  Audeze headphones are some of the most uncomfortable high-end headphones (excluding Grado of course ...).  That thick heavy LCD headband should have been discontinued and replaced much earlier than their drivers as the headband is a way bigger problem for most.