Time to report back on my findings between the LCD-X and Ether 1.1.
First, I must say I believe both of these headphones are quite impressive, and I could highly recommend both of them. Onto the differences and pros and cons:
LCD-X: It's interesting, because I believe the way the Ether got it's name was from the idea of it creating sound in space and detail backed with silence in between the notes.... but I believe the LCD-X did this better. I pick apart instruments and vocals much easier with the Audeze's, which shocked me. It was so 3D like that I felt I was in the music, not just simply listening to it. And tonally it was very, very pleasant... although I can hear what others talk about that there's a bit of a peak in the treble with the LCD-X, it is nonetheless pleasant, and I think it goes well with most modern recordings. And the bass? Powerful. Absolutely authoritative without diminishing the mids or detail.
Sometimes however, it's missing something, I believe it's because of that treble peak. Sometimes things just didn't sound quite natural, especially female voices, they sometimes felt slightly off-balance. Still pleasant, but it sounded like coloration to me. The Ether on the other hand made many things sound as you would imagine they sounded right there in the studio.
Pros:
Warmer, yet airy tone
Articulation and decay during more complex parts of songs, especially noticeable in the live performance of Hotel California by the Eagles
Bass impact
Soundstage
Cons:
600 grams (which feels more like 6000 grams to me)
Headband
Treble peak/less balanced
$100-200 more expensive than the Ether
Cable and connectors are not nearly as nice as the DUM cable(not referring to SQ, but the LCD-X cable is always tangled and the Ether connectors are the best I've ever seen)
Ether: Ahh, the Ether.. comfort is incredible. Each time I put it on, that was my reaction... "ahhhh". Seriously, this is my favorite headphone when it comes to the fit and the build--I love the way it feels, I love the way it looks, I love the way it functions.
This is a thinner headphone sound signature wise, and although I find it immensely enjoyable at first, it fatigues me. The bass is almost like a mix between the HD800 and the LCD-X to me, it's pleasant and is never overpowering, but it's also never quite awesome in impact. However, lots of low end detail and I was really really impressed with the transitions of bass notes with the Ether.
The balance though, oh how I loved the balance. Things just sounded "right"... I never felt like it was colored, and I loved that. But what I found was that after a little bit of listening, my ears started to get tired and the longer I listened the less I enjoyed it and the more I wanted a warmer signature. I also noticed that during more complex and louder parts of songs, some of the detail would be lost and notes where there were nuances and differences would start to sound the same, and I'm not sure if that was just a product of my ears being fatigued or the headphones themselves, but it ultimately was unpleasant.
Pros:
Balanced sound
Vocal details
Comfort!!!!
Price
Design Quality
Dan (customer service was fantastic)
Cons:
Less sense of instrument separation and space
Fatiguing Sound (for me)
Less headbanging-like bass
So, I could only keep one.... and that was the LCD-X. What it really came down to was the fatigue and those background details that I could pick up on more easily at higher volumes with the LCD-X. I like to listen for an hour or more at a time and frankly I couldn't do that with the Ether. The 1.1 made it much closer than it had been for me with the 1.0, but ultimately it still was too bright for me. I hope however that Dan does make an option in the future with more warmth, as I would absolutely be interested in a warmer sound in that form factor. I really, really wanted to keep the Ether as I loved many things about it, but for me I couldn't do it. I will miss them though...
For someone who wants a little more balanced sound like that though, and comfort hours on end, I can't recommend them enough. And that customer service doe.
