[clarktrent]

What exactly are the differences between the two?

 

[pbui44]

Based on facts and impressions:

-LCD-X is $1.7k and LCD-4 is $4k
-LCD-X has aluminum cups and LCD-4 has wooden cups
-LCD-X has a leather headband and LCD-4 has a more smooth and flexible headband on your head and leather headband over the flexible headband (LCD-X has this option for more cash)
-LCD-X has ultra thin film diaphragms and LCD-4 has ultra thin nano-grade uniforce diaphragms
-LCD-X is lighter than the LCD-4
-LCD-X has a much lower impedance (20 ohms) than the LCD-4 (200 ohms)
-LCD-X has a more forward sound presentation than the LCD-4
-LCD-X has a "colder" sound presentation than the LCD-4
-LCD-X has a smaller soundstage than the LCD-4, though the instrument separation is not as warm (this may be amp and/or DAC dependent)

Neutral similarities and differences between the two can be disputed on many sound presentation parts and various setups, so I left this part out of the list. If you do not have a good DAC or amp, then I highly suggest going for the LCD-X and spending the cash saved on a good DAC and amp, as the LCD-4 will need a really good DAC and amp to make the $4k price tag show its worth in sound signature, sound presentation, and overall listening experience.

Edit: Confused LCD-4 connectors with Mr.Speakers Ether Open/Closed connectors.

Edit #2: If you choose the LCD-X and need suggestions for a good DAC and amp, a Schiit Gungnir Multibit ($1,250) DAC and Schiit Mjolnir 2 amp ($850) will work great and both have balanced and unbalanced connectors.

Edit #3: Changed "colored" to "warm", since the LCD-4 has a oddly scaleable sound presentation, probably reflected in the price tag.

 

[pbui44]

Added a bunch of edits. Man, that LCD-4 can be some kind-of beast! Anyone have $4k to splurge?

 

[pbui44]

Read this entire page, especially Shembot's posts:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/782442/audeze-lcd-4/1200

 

[TimeLord]

I did an extended listen to the LCD-4 at a meet and while it sounded good, I didn't hear anything that made me want to upgrade my existing LCD-X. The LCD-4 sounds exactly what you'd expect from and Audeze headphone. What I need from Audeze to upgrade is for them to keep their awesome bass response, don't let the lower mids be too warm and the treble region has to be substantially improved for their headphones to be an all around headphone. Classical and jazz are simply out of the question right now.
 
Some of that can be mitigated by matching them with brighter DAC/Amps such as the Oppo HA-1, which brings the fully fury of Sabre's brightness. But until such time those improvements are made, the LCD-4 is at best an incremental improvement, nowhere near over twice the price of the LCD-X.
 
In terms of comfort, the LCD-4's new headband is a huge improvement over the LCD-X. After my audition of the the LCD-4, I immediately ordered the new suspension headband. I've been using it now for about a week and what a difference it makes. I can now listen to the LCD-X for extended periods without getting a dent in my head. The original headband was too narrow and all the weight of these heavy cans were pressing down on a smaller region of my head, which made them uncomfortable after about 1.5 hours. I highly recommend the new headbands.

 

[riverlethe]

What on earth is warm instrument separation?

 

[pbui44]

What on earth is warm instrument separation?

Something I did not think existed in a headphone until I compared the JPS Labs Abyss with the Stax SR009. Both are extremely spacious sounding in soundstage and instrument seperation, but the Abyss has a warmer instrument seperation than the SR009, which has a colder instrument seperation. Once I better clarified this to myself, I realized that this generally shows up in differences between planar-magnetic and electrostatic drivers. Between the same drivers, I saw this as a distinct difference between the LCD series.

Soundstage went from smallest to largest: LCD-2 < LCD-X < LCD-3 < LCD-4

Instrument Seperation type went from coldest to warmest: LCD-X - LCD-2 - LCD-3 - LCD-4

This line of products made me rethink how soundstage and warmth should be examined in build materials (wood vs. aluminum and driver type), like how Stax products helped me see how soundstage and cold sound attributed should be examined in electrical currents (DAC vs. amp). If someone else has their own explanation on how they see higher-end sound, I am all ears.

 

[riverlethe]

Well, I still have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[pbui44]

Well, I still have no idea what you're talking about.

Well, I guess you will have to hear it for yourself. BTW, nice HD800 you have for sale.

 

[clarktrent]

Based on facts and impressions:

-LCD-X is $1.7k and LCD-4 is $4k
-LCD-X has aluminum cups and LCD-4 has wooden cups
-LCD-X has a leather headband and LCD-4 has a more smooth and flexible headband on your head and leather headband over the flexible headband (LCD-X has this option for more cash)
-LCD-X has ultra thin film diaphragms and LCD-4 has ultra thin nano-grade uniforce diaphragms
-LCD-X is lighter than the LCD-4
-LCD-X has a much lower impedance (20 ohms) than the LCD-4 (200 ohms)
-LCD-X has a more forward sound presentation than the LCD-4
-LCD-X has a "colder" sound presentation than the LCD-4
-LCD-X has a smaller soundstage than the LCD-4, though the instrument separation is not as warm (this may be amp and/or DAC dependent)

Neutral similarities and differences between the two can be disputed on many sound presentation parts and various setups, so I left this part out of the list. If you do not have a good DAC or amp, then I highly suggest going for the LCD-X and spending the cash saved on a good DAC and amp, as the LCD-4 will need a really good DAC and amp to make the $4k price tag show its worth in sound signature, sound presentation, and overall listening experience.

Edit: Confused LCD-4 connectors with Mr.Speakers Ether Open/Closed connectors.

Edit #2: If you choose the LCD-X and need suggestions for a good DAC and amp, a Schiit Gungnir Multibit ($1,250) DAC and Schiit Mjolnir 2 amp ($850) will work great and both have balanced and unbalanced connectors.

Edit #3: Changed "colored" to "warm", since the LCD-4 has a oddly scaleable sound presentation, probably reflected in the price tag.

Thank you for your detailed comments! I have been looking into those dacs and amps, but how would a Benchmark DAC2 compare to those?

 

[pbui44]

Thank you for your detailed comments! I have been looking into those dacs and amps, but how would a Benchmark DAC2 compare to those?

You're welcome. According to this review with that DAC and LCD-3:

http://audio-head.com/benchmark-dac2-d/

If you mind the gain jumper they were talking about and carefully move the jumper, it would work well with at least the LCD-X. You probably have more options with the Gungnir Multibit as a DAC the Mjolnir 2 as an amp, especially with balanced headphone connectors, but the Benchmark DAC2 looks like a very good all-in-one solution.

 

[TimeLord]

Well, I still have no idea what you're talking about.

Well, I guess you will have to hear it for yourself. BTW, nice HD800 you have for sale.

I have to admit, I too was curious to understand what you meant. When I think of a warm sound, I hear the notes represented at a bit lower frequency and the natural musical peaks having been somewhat shaved. This can be be a good thing in moderation, making less-than-well-recorded music less fatiguing and therefore allow for longer listening sessions. With that context, a warm instrument separation didn't make sense to me since separation speaks to the ability to distinguish individual instruments from each other.

The more I thought about it, did you mean that some headphones with warm separation do a better job of separation in the low end and cold separation headphones do a better job in the higher frequencies?

We all use these terms like warm, airy, and woolly and they're not necessarily well defined, so it makes communication a challenge.

 

[pbui44]

I have to admit, I too was curious to understand what you meant. When I think of a warm sound, I hear the notes represented at a bit lower frequency and the natural musical peaks having been somewhat shaved. This can be be a good thing in moderation, making less-than-well-recorded music less fatiguing and therefore allow for longer listening sessions. With that context, a warm instrument separation didn't make sense to me since separation speaks to the ability to distinguish individual instruments from each other.

The more I thought about it, did you mean that some headphones with warm separation do a better job of separation in the low end and cold separation headphones do a better job in the higher frequencies?

We all use these terms like warm, airy, and woolly and they're not necessarily well defined, so it makes communication a challenge.

Very few have heard the Abyss? It is not necessarily warm overall, but warm in soundstage, which the SR009 also is, but the SR009 has a colder instrument seperation, whereas the Abyss has warmer instrument seperation and the LCD-4 shares this characteristic with the Abyss as both are planar-magnetic. I think this is where I disagree with others with the SR009, as this "colder instrument seperation" makes me feel that any orchestral performance just sounds like robots playing instruments. But yeah, you will have to compare the SR009, the Abyss, and LCD-4 for yourself.

 

[riverlethe]

If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college.

 

[miko64]

Some additional comments, which might be helpful

a) impedance: lcd-x 20 Ohm, lcd 4: 200 Ohm
b) As a consequence of this LCD-X can be used with Astell and Kern et al (such as iPhone), LCD 4 can not be adequately driven
c) LCD 4 needs also quite powerful headphone amps, LCD X not. LCD 4 can be driven (marginally ?) with Hugo 1/2 and with ifi iDSD
d) Soundwise there are siblings. LCD X is very good, but LCD 4 is better and reaches imho the Level of say Star SR007 or SR009
e) Case of LCD 4 is much bigger
f) You get a glove wth LCD4 - not sure whether this is value add
g) The service level of Audeze is impeccable for both