[DavidA]

@jsmiller58, I wish I was like you with more dollars than sense . These days most of my disposable income goes to hosting wine parties and golf.

 

[jsmiller58]

@jsmiller58, I wish I was like you with more dollars than sense . These days most of my disposable income goes to hosting wine parties and golf.

See, David. Right there is your problem. Plain as day. You have a real life. Cut that out and your problem is solved!!

 

[Dobrescu George]

I have a SERIOUS question for those here... I just got the Sundara and am letting it burn in... in the meantime I have an opportunity to return the Sundara and purchase an LCD-MX4 for around 2K. I know completely different beasts. The question is will it be worth the upgrade in sound?

My other cans include, among others, NAD Viso HP50 (my sound signature reference cans), AKG 7XX, heavily modded M1060 (fazors, honeycomb grills, Eikon suede pads), AudioQuest Nightowl, modded Fostex th-x00 (Lawton driver only mod, Alpha pads), DT 1990 Pro, Elex, and the Sundara. Others on order include Massdrop 6XX & Massdrop 58X.

One of these days I will post some comparison reviews, I promise!

Thanks

Some insight, HP50, Nightowl are both very thick sounding in comparison with MX-4 with much much less clear midrange and treble, less impact and less dynamics.

HD6XX is similarly thick sounding, but MX4 has much clearer sound overall, with more midrange emphasis, and better bass impact and amounts.

DT1990 PRO are somewhat similar to MX4, but MX4 has more bass impact and more midrange, where DT1990Pro has more treble around the 9-11kHz area, so cymbals are rendered differently.

I would recommend MX4 wholehearedly, but they are a bit different from everything you have there, try to take those differences into account.

Hope this helps a bit with your decision

 

[jsmiller58]

Some insight, HP50, Nightowl are both very thick sounding in comparison with MX-4 with much much less clear midrange and treble, less impact and less dynamics.

HD6XX is similarly thick sounding, but MX4 has much clearer sound overall, with more midrange emphasis, and better bass impact and amounts.

DT1990 PRO are somewhat similar to MX4, but MX4 has more bass impact and more midrange, where DT1990Pro has more treble around the 9-11kHz area, so cymbals are rendered differently.

I would recommend MX4 wholehearedly, but they are a bit different from everything you have there, try to take those differences into account.

Hope this helps a bit with your decision

Thank you for the observations and insights!

I agree with everything that you point out. Definitely I have some darker, more congested cans. That is not my preferred sound, it just turned out that way...! My DT1990s are definitely more bright and less congested. I don’t find them overly sibilant, except on tracks that are poorly mastered (and show sibilance on other cans). I have a feeling, based on sampling my new Elex headphones that are being burned in, that they will be much more like the 1990s...

So how would you compare the MX4s and the LCD-X?

 

[Dobrescu George]

Thank you for the observations and insights!

I agree with everything that you point out. Definitely I have some darker, more congested cans. That is not my preferred sound, it just turned out that way...! My DT1990s are definitely more bright and less congested. I don’t find them overly sibilant, except on tracks that are poorly mastered (and show sibilance on other cans). I have a feeling, based on sampling my new Elex headphones that are being burned in, that they will be much more like the 1990s...

So how would you compare the MX4s and the LCD-X?

I had limited experience with LCD-X, but a few things that I noticed are that MX4 is more portable, lighter, the sound is more impactful to my ears, it has better PRaT

I will be honest though, I have quite a limited experience with LCD-X, so my input might not be as good as that of some more experienced users of LCD-X

Compared to everything you have, LCD-MX4 should feel fairly neutral, maybe slightly mid-centric, would not have the bass of most of your darker and bassy headphones, but it should have more bass quantity than DT1990. It is generally less bright than DT1990, being focused on a really revealing and clear midrange, with a slightly smoother top end. I end up adding some treble for certain music, so it is smoother than my reference, but this makes it an easier listen, especially for leaner types of music

Comfort is excellent on both of those pairs.

LCD-MX4 is amazing in all senses you can imagine when it comes to dynamics, impact, soundstage and clarity, at least to my ears, and when driven well (FiiO Q5 + AM05, iBasso DX200 + AM05, EQ'ed Hiby R6). You need power for LCD-MX4, they will not work without enough power, and I haven't really found any sub-600$ DAP that will power them properly at my listening levels, similar to DT1990 actually, which needs a ton of power to sound its best, especially if you listen loud.

The one thing I can't do yet is compare it to Sundara, I am still waiting on Sundara, seems that they are in shortage in the local area...

 

[jsmiller58]

I had limited experience with LCD-X, but a few things that I noticed are that MX4 is more portable, lighter, the sound is more impactful to my ears, it has better PRaT

I will be honest though, I have quite a limited experience with LCD-X, so my input might not be as good as that of some more experienced users of LCD-X

Compared to everything you have, LCD-MX4 should feel fairly neutral, maybe slightly mid-centric, would not have the bass of most of your darker and bassy headphones, but it should have more bass quantity than DT1990. It is generally less bright than DT1990, being focused on a really revealing and clear midrange, with a slightly smoother top end. I end up adding some treble for certain music, so it is smoother than my reference, but this makes it an easier listen, especially for leaner types of music

Comfort is excellent on both of those pairs.

LCD-MX4 is amazing in all senses you can imagine when it comes to dynamics, impact, soundstage and clarity, at least to my ears, and when driven well (FiiO Q5 + AM05, iBasso DX200 + AM05, EQ'ed Hiby R6). You need power for LCD-MX4, they will not work without enough power, and I haven't really found any sub-600$ DAP that will power them properly at my listening levels, similar to DT1990 actually, which needs a ton of power to sound its best, especially if you listen loud.

The one thing I can't do yet is compare it to Sundara, I am still waiting on Sundara, seems that they are in shortage in the local area...

By the way, starting to read your comments on the main MX4 thread. Sounds like you really love those headphones and that they suit you very well!

Your description “LCD-MX4 should feel fairly neutral, maybe slightly mid-centric, would not have the bass of most of your darker and bassy headphones, but it should have more bass quantity than DT1990. It is generally less bright than DT1990, being focused on a really revealing and clear midrange, with a slightly smoother top end“ sounds very much like what I am looking for...!

 

[Dobrescu George]

By the way, starting to read your comments on the main MX4 thread. Sounds like you really love those headphones and that they suit you very well!

Your description “LCD-MX4 should feel fairly neutral, maybe slightly mid-centric, would not have the bass of most of your darker and bassy headphones, but it should have more bass quantity than DT1990. It is generally less bright than DT1990, being focused on a really revealing and clear midrange, with a slightly smoother top end“ sounds very much like what I am looking for...!

Thank you!

I think you should try MX4 if you can!

It is one heck of a headphone, I am amazed that it isn't getting more recognition, but then again, there is a full LCD-4, which although harder to drive, more heavy, and more expensive, also sounds a bit better, and there is an LCD-4Z, which is similar to LCD-4, but easier to drive.

Of course, I may be the only one who'd try it while outside

 

[buntyster]

Some of you may remember that after the Sundara broke down on me, not once but twice, I have been looking for < $1000 headphones which sound as good or better than the Sundara. Just wanted to share that after a lot of auditioning, I think I have found the perfect ones for me : AUDEZE LCD-2 Classic. Got them for $799 and they are simply out of this world. The only negative, especially compared to Sundara and others I tried is that they are a bit heavy, comfortable around the ears, just their weight starts weighing on you after 30-45 mins of listening. But well worth it. To my ears, they are in a different league compared to the Sundara. Might be my end-game..at least for some time to come. Having said that, the only other headphone I am still interested in are the Focal Clear, which I will auction towards the end of the year...

 

[FullBright1]

Some of you may remember that after the Sundara broke down on me, not once but twice, I have been looking for < $1000 headphones which sound as good or better than the Sundara. Just wanted to share that after a lot of auditioning, I think I have found the perfect ones for me : AUDEZE LCD-2 Classic. Got them for $799 and they are simply out of this world. The only negative, especially compared to Sundara and others I tried is that they are a bit heavy, comfortable around the ears, just their weight starts weighing on you after 30-45 mins of listening. But well worth it. To my ears, they are in a different league compared to the Sundara. Might be my end-game..at least for some time to come. Having said that, the only other headphone I am still interested in are the Focal Clear, which I will auction towards the end of the year...

I owned the Sundara's, if you consider the 5 mins i had them on, then the reboxing, ....a total of less then 10 mins.
Mine failed in the first 5mins, so, .......that'll do.
I might buy them again after HIMN works out that QC buggery.

Your LCD-2s are on my trigger list for a while, but, everytime i think i might pull it, i read another review that says the same thing as the last one that caused me to reconsider my trigger.

Z-reviews, loves them.

but others :

"warm comfy sound, trebles rolled off".
"not for detailed listening, because of the rolled off treble".
"lack of treble'.
"treble is very laid back".
"lovely sound, lacks upper register sparkle"..
ect.

So, im not a treble head, and i like warm and rich mids, but, as so many reviewers discount the treble in the LCD-2s, .... ... .that i ended up ordering the Aeon Closed, which are inbound tomorrow.
If i hate these because they are too weak in the bass, as some have declared ...., then i'll probably buy the LCD-2s and see if what many have said about their treble, is correct.

 

[seanwee]

Some of you may remember that after the Sundara broke down on me, not once but twice, I have been looking for < $1000 headphones which sound as good or better than the Sundara. Just wanted to share that after a lot of auditioning, I think I have found the perfect ones for me : AUDEZE LCD-2 Classic. Got them for $799 and they are simply out of this world. The only negative, especially compared to Sundara and others I tried is that they are a bit heavy, comfortable around the ears, just their weight starts weighing on you after 30-45 mins of listening. But well worth it. To my ears, they are in a different league compared to the Sundara. Might be my end-game..at least for some time to come. Having said that, the only other headphone I am still interested in are the Focal Clear, which I will auction towards the end of the year...

I owned the Sundara's, if you consider the 5 mins i had them on, then the reboxing, ....a total of less then 10 mins.
Mine failed in the first 5mins, so, .......that'll do.
I might buy them again after HIMN works out that QC buggery.

Your LCD-2s are on my trigger list for a while, but, everytime i think i might pull it, i read another review that says the same thing as the last one that caused me to reconsider my trigger.

"warm comfy sound, trebles rolled off".

"not for detailed listening, because of the rolled off treble".

"lack of treble'.

"treble is very laid back".

"lovely sound, lacks upper register sparkle"..

ect.

So, im not a treble head, and i like warm and rich mids, but, as so many reviewers discount the treble in the LCD-2s, .... ... ................

What's the difference between the LCD2 and LCD 2 classic?

 

[FullBright1]

What's the difference between the LCD2 and LCD 2 classic?

=
About $300 USD, and a color change.
Thats the easy answer.
i cant speak to the technical change, if they are compared, as i have not studied them both.
There are those here, who have owned both, who im certain can inform you in depth.

 

[SilverEars]

I owned the Sundara's, if you consider the 5 mins i had them on, then the reboxing, ....a total of less then 10 mins.
Mine failed in the first 5mins, so, .......that'll do.
I might buy them again after HIMN works out that QC buggery.

Your LCD-2s are on my trigger list for a while, but, everytime i think i might pull it, i read another review that says the same thing as the last one that caused me to reconsider my trigger.

Z-reviews, loves them.

but others :

"warm comfy sound, trebles rolled off".
"not for detailed listening, because of the rolled off treble".
"lack of treble'.
"treble is very laid back".
"lovely sound, lacks upper register sparkle"..
ect.

So, im not a treble head, and i like warm and rich mids, but, as so many reviewers discount the treble in the LCD-2s, .... ... .that i ended up ordering the Aeon Closed, which are inbound tomorrow.
If i hate these because they are too weak in the bass, as some have declared ...., then i'll probably buy the LCD-2s and see if what many have said about their treble, is correct.

Audeze tends to tune their headphones with very noticeably dipped upper-mids. This is why I will never risk buying an Audeze unless I can demo. For the price of LCD2C, it should be tuned better. Ever since the LCD-2, I thought their headphones were overpriced for what it was(sound quality, but build quality is much better than Hifiman of course).

 

[seanwee]

Audeze tends to tun their headphones with very noticeably dipped upper-mids. This is why I will never risk buying an Audeze unless I can demo.

I had no choice but to go with the Sine on ear headphones as they were durable and closed. Can't have open back headphones on flights

The Sundara just blows them out of the water.

 

[MarkArtz]

I demo'd the LCD 2C and I dont think its worth the extra $300 ($400 in my case since I bought the Sundara when ebay had the 20% discount coupon). The sound on the LCD 2C is not as detailed and its too heavy to wear. As mentioned here by others, the only thing that justifies the price difference is the built quality, but then again that's exactly what makes it heavy, at least for me

 

[seanwee]

I demo'd the LCD 2C and I dont think its worth the extra $300 ($400 in my case since I bought the Sundara when ebay had the 20% discount coupon). The sound its not as detailed and its too heavy to wear. As mentioned here by others, the only thing that justifies the price difference is the built quality.

Yeah I thought so.

I the LCD-X was only slightly better sounding(to me) than the Sundara so I though it was unlikely that the LCD 2Cs were better.