[mitchb]

I’m loving my LCD4 phones and am getting a pair of LCD XC phones for the fun of it and they were on sale for the wood cup ones. How can I expect them to compare to my LCD4’s? I owned the LCD3’s for years but much more like the LCD4’s. Will the XC’s be an obvious step down or will they hold their own with the 4’s? I will be able to answer that question for myself tomorrow but I thought I would ask other people’s experience. I own a pair of Utopia phones and they’re nice but the LCD4’s are more to my liking. I did enjoy the LCD3’s but the 4’s are nicer.

 

[VandyMan]

Will the XC’s be an obvious step down or will they hold their own with the 4’s?

Sorry to say, but they are an obvious step down, in my opinion.

 

[mitchb]

Don’t be sorry. My LCD4 were $3500 and the XC are $1100. I expect the 4’s to be in another league.I figure they may have attributes of their own being a $1700 Audeze headphone. As I stated I liked the 3’s. If I had the same deal on the 3’s I would have considered them.

 

[mitchb]

Would the cable from my LCD4 phones be the same or better match with what comes with the XC’s. I am thinking a pair of wood XC would be nice to have in my collection. It and a pair of Denon D7000 are my closed headphones. My LCD4’s are my favourite phones.Ive been a fan of Audeze phones since 2010 with a pair of LCD2 Rev 1.

 

[mitchb]

I’m enjoying my new XC’s. The wooden cups are nice and the sound appears balanced left and right. The sound is settling down and I am enjoying the sound.The LCD4’s are gorgeous but I forgot what I missed with my LCD3’s as I enjoy the lively XC’s.

 

[mitchb]

The XC’s do make for a nice compliment to the 4’s laidback presentation.The XC’s rock actually. I’m truly enjoying them still new out of the box. Where as the LCD4’s are 200 ohm the XC’s are only 20 ohms.

 

[mitchb]

I find that although the LCD4 have sufficient bass the bass with the XC are punchier or more snappy. These two headphones compliment each other nicely both being quite nice.

 

[mitchb]

Is it normal for the XC’s to appear to have a louder punchier bass than the 4’s. I find myself listening to my 4’s louder after listening to the XC’s for a while.

 

[mitchb]

These LCD-XC headphones are quite nice! My LCD4 phones are in for repair and I’ve been giving my Utopia phones a lot of listening but for fun I am giving my XC’s a listen and I’m very impressed with the sound of these headphones.

 

[Audio-Phile]

I found the Xs to be brighter and harsher than my 4s, but then again that could also be due to the fact that they were being driven by a slightly bright amp.

Either way, my 4s are about perfect, hard to imagine where you could go from there. But the XCs have always interested me, as I need a pair of closed-back headphones as well. Do you find them significantly harsher than the 4s? Also, what is the rest of your chain like?

 

[mitchb]

I have both, enjoy both but find the 4’s are much smoother sounding. The XC’s are much punchier sounding. They are both nice. The 4’s are three times the price so they should be a finer headphone. The XC’s isolate well.

 

[mitchb]

I am using PS Audio Transport and Directstream dac going to a Moon 430ha headphone amp so my sound signature is very smooth and neutral. Upgraded digital cables balanced out my sound nicely. I also have an Auralic Aries G2.1 streamer which is nice. I recently upgraded all my power cables and signal cables which has given me a nice improvement in sound.