[danzaman]

I'll caveat by saying I'm completely new to the hifi headphone world...but after lots of research I decided to pick up a pair of Audeze LCD-4's hearing the rave reviews everywhere. Got them last night and they sound horrible. I'm assuming I'm either doing something wrong or there's something wrong with them. I've tried different cables (an upgraded XLR cable and the 6.5mm included cable).

I've tried listening through a Burson DAC/Amp as well as an Anthem MRX1140. Both sound equally awful. I'm not getting any bass response and the music that is coming through sounds flat. It's as if these were $9.99 from a local pharmacy.

What am I missing?

 

[davesa]

I have a pair of Audeze XC's that I really like, and like you I thought I would love the LCD-4 based on reviews. Ordered them and when I unboxed them and tried them I was like... umm these sound awful. Tried a few cables, and a couple different amps but in the end I returned them - not sure if they were defective or it was something else but they are expensive and should be right. For me it was a big let down as I really wanted to love them.

I also currently have the Ether 2 from Dan Clark Audio and a couple ZMF headphones - really like both brands and if you return the LCD's might be something to check out.

Good luck!

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I'll caveat by saying I'm completely new to the hifi headphone world...but after lots of research I decided to pick up a pair of Audeze LCD-4's hearing the rave reviews everywhere. Got them last night and they sound horrible. I'm assuming I'm either doing something wrong or there's something wrong with them. I've tried different cables (an upgraded XLR cable and the 6.5mm included cable).

I've tried listening through a Burson DAC/Amp as well as an Anthem MRX1140. Both sound equally awful. I'm not getting any bass response and the music that is coming through sounds flat. It's as if these were $9.99 from a local pharmacy.

What am I missing?

Maybe post a few pics of the gear, this doesn't sound normal.

What is your source into your Burson? The PC should be on 100% volume and volume should be controlled at the amp. Turn it to 0 to start with!

 

[silent-circuit]

Maybe post a few pics of the gear, this doesn't sound normal.

What is your source into your Burson? The PC should be on 100% volume and volume should be controlled at the amp. Turn it to 0 to start with!

Yeah, that's weird.

 

[539465]

I'll caveat by saying I'm completely new to the hifi headphone world...but after lots of research I decided to pick up a pair of Audeze LCD-4's hearing the rave reviews everywhere. Got them last night and they sound horrible. I'm assuming I'm either doing something wrong or there's something wrong with them. I've tried different cables (an upgraded XLR cable and the 6.5mm included cable).

I've tried listening through a Burson DAC/Amp as well as an Anthem MRX1140. Both sound equally awful. I'm not getting any bass response and the music that is coming through sounds flat. It's as if these were $9.99 from a local pharmacy.

What am I missing?

yeah the M1570 has close to same response and generally outperforms some of Audeze's $1000+ offerings technically except I love the rest of the frequency range of them because of the thick but natural timbre/tone, send them back ASAP and look for a ~$400 M1570 + an iFi amp like the Zen CAN that has xbass and 3D and I promise you will like that combo more than the LCD-4... to me it's the best can I have heard by a good bit and it's one thing to need special amp features for a $400 headphone but for the LCD-4 price that is pretty insulting