[AudezeGrover]

@AudezeGrover when LCD4 closed is coming out?

lol, now that IS an interesting idea...

 

[Another Audiophile]

Yes, and obviously the company is going to push the positives of any change they make but there may also be negative implications as well. People are concerned that the newer LCD-X at least appears to have -4 magnets from the old model. What this means for technical performance is not clear.

If someone demos a headphone in a shop and wants to make sure they get one just like it they should be able to place an order for a new one and not have to worry about the demo model being drastically different. This is also better for retailers because they can then say with confidence yes, if you place the order you will get what you just heard brand new straight from the manufacturer.

If I had the newer version without knowing and with any public information by Audeze then this would make Audeze liable and open to be challenged legally.

 

[AudezeGrover]

Then that's some pretty big news for this thread.

@AudezeGrover explicitly said none of these changes are being made to the other models. So which is it?? lol

I would email suppport@audeze.com
as far as I know this was just an LCD-X and XC change, but I could be mistaken about that.

EDIT: Just checked with support - ALL of the new LCD models have this pad change. Apologies for my previous mistaken answer.

 

[mikecheck95]

I would email suppport@audeze.com
as far as I know this was just an LCD-X and XC change, but I could be mistaken about that.

EDIT: Just checked with support - ALL of the new LCD models have this pad change. Apologies for my previous mistaken answer.

Thank you for this. I feel much more security with my recent purchase now.

 

[AudezeGrover]

@AudezeGrover

Hey man, good luck with your new venture with Audeze.

For the love of all that is holy please make them update the wonderful but flawed LCD4. It's been nearly 6 years since launch and I think nearly everyone in the community agrees that the tuning (particularly the upper mids) could use an update.

Also there must be a way to lighten the 735 gram weight without compromising the power of the magnets and introducing resonances/distortions.

I'm a former owner of the LCD4 and I absolutely loved the headphone after EQ but it was so heavy I was concerned about long term neck injury if I used it for many years.....

Your build quality and transferable warranty/ customer support are solid. ''Made in the USA'' is another advantage. If you can update the tuning across the line and update the headphone frames to be lighter you can really dominate the market and win back market share from the likes of Focal and Hifiman both of which have serious lapses in build quality and after sales support.

I'm absolutely ready to hand over another $4K but you need to update the Flagship.

C'mon guys! All the best

Thank you! It's been really fun and I'm glad to have a job with cool people. Working freelance in entertainment during covid was not fun...

As for the other requests?
Just you wait.

 

[Rolesium]

Audeze has been promoting the use of their Reveal+ plugin. If you had received the new version of the LCD-X prior to this announcement, then you would not know that using that plugin's LCD-X adjustments would not be advised and would most likely make the headphone sound worse.

 

[elira]

With so many different revisions I don’t think the reveal plugin would work for all. You need to be lucky to have the same revision the plug-in was designed for.

 

[metal571]

It's super unlikely that the plugin was tuned for the memory foam pad revision - you can tell just by looking at what the resulting EQ profile from the preset looks like on a graph, and comparing that to the extreme deviations from Audeze's own house target in the memory foam LCD-X pad measurement from Resolve I posted previously.

Reveal was probably tuned for the 2016 rev, and before the memory foam pads happened, which goes back to at least 2018, since I own a 2018 LCD-2F, reviewed a 2018 LCD-X, and both had memory foam pads from the factory.

 

[AudezeGrover]

Just wanted to post this for anyone interested.

First is my former EQ for the LCD-X (w/ stock memory foam pads), not showing bass EQ, as I did that in another EQ instance (required too many bands).



Second is my current EQ (done blind, did NOT look at Resolve's measurements.) Regardless, relative to his FR graph, there are differences worth noting: I noticed my 1kHz area being more recessed than Resolve's. Turns out 9.5k started to bug me quite a bit more with music than the sine sweeps initially suggested. Other than that, it's remarkably similar! Super pleased, especially because I previously had to run THREE instances of ProQ3 to get it sounding good (it maxes out at 24 bands); one for channel matching, one for my overly-thought-super-anal bass shelf (which can be seen in the below graph) and one for mids and highs. Being able to bring it all into one instance felt reeeeeally good

hahaha, wow this looks like the marketing material Fab-Filter puts out xD
What host are you using to run the VST?
I admit to being a little out of the loop on head-fi stuff. Just downloaded Equalizer APO to test out with, but I'm more familiar with pro tools such as FF at the moment.

 

[AudezeGrover]

That’s a good question for @AudezeGrover

Unless we can get people to hold flashlights up to their LCD-X drivers.

Keep in mind that a good part of perceived detail retrieval/clarity is attributed to frequency response. Even if they have removed a set of magnets they are still going to have the same “quantity” of magnets as an LCD-2 (I believe) which is already a headphone with great bass response. But, with the improved stock FR, we will still be getting MUCH better all-around performance out of the box.

My biggest concern actually is the quality of these non-memory foam pads and their longevity.

The engineering team is constantly coming up with new solutions and improvements to things, and pad longevity is something they do think about a lot based on conversations I've had with Dr. C. I'd say the new pads should be pretty sturdy. I requested a pair of XC's so I can speak to the details more firmly, I'll let you know more when I get them.

I don't know exactly what the details of the changes are in terms of actual effect, but I was told the magnetic circuit change and the earpad change were designed to work synergistically towards the result you're seeing in the new X/XC. Beyond that I can't really say much, since I don't know the fine details of how adding/subtracting or moving magnets in the circuit makes an audible difference. I don't think it's as simple as 'magnet change = better FR.' As usual, understanding it and engineering it live in two separate realms of difficulty.

 

[AudezeGrover]

It's super unlikely that the plugin was tuned for the memory foam pad revision - you can tell just by looking at what the resulting EQ profile from the preset looks like on a graph, and comparing that to the extreme deviations from Audeze's own house target in the memory foam LCD-X pad measurement from Resolve I posted previously.

Reveal was probably tuned for the 2016 rev, and before the memory foam pads happened, which goes back to at least 2018, since I own a 2018 LCD-2F, reviewed a 2018 LCD-X, and both had memory foam pads from the factory.

Also asking about this.

 

[FYFL]

lol, now that IS an interesting idea...

I hope that it’s more then that.

 

[AudezeGrover]

This is a nice one. "Btw we have changed the Audeze LCD X/XC". Good for all, who just recently bought a LCD X/XC as me. These companies are still such amatuers, it's really ridicolous, especially considering the price range of their products. I'm not sure if they don't have marketing und product management staff with experience? There are standards that you can just copy from other industries regarding product upgrades and how communication should look like. Especially that you do communication it in advance and not afterwards.

I like the sound of my LCD-X in general, but you get crackling sounds when it gets warm after some time on your head and move it a little. The stock cable is braided so badly, the ends were already unbraided when they arrived brand new. The logos of the i4 are glued on where you can see the glue smeared all around (its a 3000€ product). It's like they are creating products in a garage. Sorry can't take this company seriously. The LCD-X is definitely my last Audeze product.

Please get in touch with support@audeze.com you should not be having these issues with a new product like this at all.

 

[metal571]

Also asking about this.

I know for sure you guys have good ears and use measurements as a guide for making the presets. When the LCD-1 was brand new before the Reveal profile for it existed, I came up with some kind of EQ profile by ear, and the final profile was similar to how I had tuned my profile, but with better filled-in bass and more appropriate ear gain filter frequency locations. Given that experience, and the resulting very high accuracy to your own house target with the Reveal preset, I cannot for the life of me understand how the Reveal presets could have been tuned for the memory foam pads - they are very far off even with correction.

Not sure if the team will let this information out there, but it would also help to know when the memory foam pads started being shipped as standard on all models, too...

 

[AudezeGrover]

Disappointed the way these expensive products are treated and constantly “updated”. It’s laughable when reviewers are using the lcd-x for example and they have to refer to alteration, version etc. At these level there should be a pride of ownership and the company should stand firm behind their products. Changing sound signature that way is disrespectful to their customers and will hurt their reputation in the long run. I own the LCD-MX4 and would like to buy the LCD-4 but with all these changes, alterations, revisions just doesn’t worth it. If they have new knowledge and “improvements” they should launch a new headphone.

No engineering is perfect. It's a difficult balance between improving the product and trying to maintain a stable supply for customers. It's not possible to please everyone especially the audiophile community which has high standards. I'm not saying it's the right choice, but we didn't improve and put out a new LCD-X and XC to try and piss off our community believe it or not...