They implemented the grill change on all models in early 2020
I ordered my creator package LCD-X with leather pads from Adorama the first week of February. My serial indicates I have the 2021 revised version but it came in the cardboard box (my understanding is the new economy case only started shipping a few weeks ago)
I have no comparison to the previous version but I must say.......I REALLY enjoy the way they sound and don’t hear any of the flaws I’ve heard others express in the past about their FR. I originally had the LCD-2 Classics for a month as they seemingly fit the bill for my needs. I’m treble sensitive and a lot of the music I enjoy (specifically Metal) tends to be poorly recorded with hot treble that gets fatiguing very quickly for me. As much as I enjoyed them I simply found them too dark in the top end and missed a lot of the recorded details because of that. Apprehensively I decided to send them back and spend more than I ever thought I would on headphones ($1900 after tax for us Canucks) and got the X. Why was I apprehensive? Because of concerns I’d seen others raise about their FR shortcomings.....areas that are red flags for me. I assumed I wouldn‘t enjoy how the mids/top end was implemented. But I figured what the heck......if I don’t like them, back they go. In short......2hrs into my first listening session I knew they were keepers for me and my preferences. I listen to them for hours on end, often at elevated levels and never find them fatiguing except on truly bad recordings which is no fault of the X themselves. I simply find them very enjoyable to listen to and early on I often wondered why so many others had the issues that I wasn’t hearing at all. Now I guess we know why with this revision news.
Speaking of the pads. Again.....I don’t have ”in my hands experience” from the previous version but I can compare them to the 2020 LCD-2 Classics I mentioned earlier that I had for a month before I returned them and stepped up to the X
Compared to the non leather, memory foam pads those are fitted with, the revised pads on my LCD-X are not memory foam which surprised me at first when I took them out of the box because my understanding was thats what Audeze used. They’re also slightly shallower in comparison (and seemingly shallower than photos of older LCD-X I’ve seen). Still super comfortable, no issue with the fazor touching my ears (YMMV) and I don’t get that initial vacuum seal I used to get with the LCD-2 Classics when I’d put them on. In short I have no comfort complaints whatsoever and couldn’t be happier with them.
I'm a former Canada resident living in Texas, and would like to point out that the Canadian dollar has risen sharply over the past year, meaning you should be able to get a better deal on US goods than you had on those LCD-Xs. At least Audeze hadn't called it a brand new model at higher price, with the update. Was it the GST and PST owing that had made up most of the difference? The cardboard box should have reduced your shipping costs (and with any luck, they will now have to send the new, smaller case free of charge). There isn't a tariff, as headphones are part of NAFTA. I would avoid UPS Ground and use air instead so you don't get stuck paying for their full brokerage services.
The LCD-2 Classic is the darkest one they sell (the fazor had helped flatten the frequency response between 1K and 2K).
I had LCD-3s for a bit, and wish Audeze would update that one as well. At least they hadn't raised the price over all those years. The purchase had more to do with the second hand price I was able to get, than anything else, not because I think they're worth $245 over the LCD-Xs (they only offer the creator edition with the -X). They had a creamy, pleasant, liquid midrange (but arguably, not a more accurate one). I had to pay extra to get the new headband at the time, and I had also bought Dekoni hybrid earpads ($89.99). Those had replaced their floppy "vegan" pads (prying them off hadn't been fun). You can view the FR charts on their website, but I can't say conclusively that those had improved the sound. People do exaggerate (though not as much as they do with cable swaps).
I don't want to pay for the LCD-4 or any of its derivatives, so I suppose I'm kind of stuck. I had sold the LCD-3s because my Martin Logan speakers $3200 MSRP at the time) out-resolve them handily (they are far more lively than the LCD-X or the LCD-3, and closer to Focals).
Focal Clears, with their aluminum drivers had sounded fatiguing and brassy with percussion heavy music in particular. I would definitely prefer any Audeze for metal and hard rock music. The trouble area of my speakers is between 50 Hz and 120 Hz (room nodes, phase shift, the sub/tower crossover, rising distortion). Bass notes in a certain frequency range (60 to 90 Hz or so) sounded better defined on the Audeze headphones. I had noticed the resonance free, low distortion, flat impedance, low end a planar headphone offers.
Yes, I might look at the updated LCD-Xs, if I can find a set at a good price. There's no doubt in my mind that those are their best value (and not surprisingly, their best seller).
IEMs are another world that I won't get into right now.
