[mwilson]

Over the course of 5 months I had 3 pairs of LCD-3. None sounded alike. One was clearly veiled, two were not. Of the latter two, the mids and treble presentation was quite different. I wonder which one, if any, is supposed to be the sound Audez'e had intended (if there was any intention to begin with, other than a desire to wing it with a pricey product). I'm getting increasingly fed up with being a beta tester on my own dime. No other audio product I've ever owned exhibited such loose tolerance, and I'm even counting soviet gear from the 80s.
 
 
Quote:

Sure one person,  multiple persons get their LCD's back just a week or so ago and say they are fixed, but that still does not mean the QC issue is solved.  Safe to me would be to wait a month or so to see if this new batch has driver failures.  It has happened.  Someone in the forum recently got a new fixed LCD-3 only to have the driver fail and then when a replacement was sent that person felt that although his current LCD-3 sounded excellent it did vary in sonics from the so called fixed pair where the driver failed.  It was all posted right here in this thread.  The indication that there still might be variances in sound even among the newest batch would be of great concern to me if I were to lay down 2K.  Then again we still have to see if the drivers can stand the test of even a few months without failing.  So safe is not a word I would use. 

 

 

[Grev]

Quote:

Let me add fuel to the fire and I'm sure this has been said before, if I'm buying a $2000+ (more in Australia...) pair of headphones, I expect nothing but utter most quality without any issues hindering its performance.

That's because you are not buying 2000+ dollar headphones.

Are you saying if I don't support them with $2000 headphones then I can't address my concerns? I do have a LCD-2 rev2, you know? I've spent a lot money in headphones but I much prefer to spend it on something sensible.

不知所為.

 

[kennyboy2]

 
Quote:

I think that's a valid point, but unless I am completely wrong, this is the first driver failure reported in this thread? So to use your words. Sure one person
And again as far as it seems problem(s) are being solved. But I guess time will tell.

There have been several people with failed drivers from the initial batch. I know of two people (including me) who had a replacement driver fail. I have no doubts that Audeze will take care of their customers. They have been very responsive. It's matter of inconvenience, and having to pay for shipping them back for RMA if after the grace period.
 
Waiting is never a bad thing in life, whether it be buying a house, getting married, or buying LCD3s.
 

WRT waiting, methinks that you are right on all three counts, especially the latter two. I've waited this long, so deferring my gratification for a few more months is not going to kill me. On the other hand, attempting to keep up with this thread for another couple of months might.

 

[MorbidToaster]

Quote:

Let me add fuel to the fire and I'm sure this has been said before, if I'm buying a $2000+ (more in Australia...) pair of headphones, I expect nothing but utter most quality without any issues hindering its performance.

That's because you are not buying 2000+ dollar headphones.

Are you saying if I don't support them with $2000 headphones then I can't address my concerns? I do have a LCD-2 rev2, you know? I've spent a lot money in headphones but I much prefer to spend it on something sensible.

不知所為.

I think he's saying it's priced slightly under 2000 dollars... C:

 

[Jian]

Please anybody report any defect or inconsistency of the lcd3s produced after 20 feb. As far as I know, from this forum and our community, none, expect for purrin, and I'd say it is pretty good.
 
So, for those who doesn't have the new LCD3s and have no interest in buying one, stop complaining please. 

 

[Jian]

Quote:

Are you saying if I don't support them with $2000 headphones then I can't address my concerns? I do have a LCD-2 rev2, you know? I've spent a lot money in headphones but I much prefer to spend it on something sensible.
不知所為.

That means you are not in this hobby long enough or haven't spend enough on DIY staff or audio gears from small production companies. And believe me, the LCD3 is way better than sensible, it is sensational.

 

[temporaryname]

Quote:

Please anybody report any defect or inconsistency of the lcd3s produced after 20 feb. As far as I know, from this forum and our community, none, expect for purrin, and I'd say it is pretty good.
 
So, for those who doesn't have the new LCD3s and have no interest in buying one, stop complaining please. 

I don't own an LCD-3 and I definitely won't in the future if my concerns (same as Grev's) won't be addressed. It may cost $1945USD but after shipping, customs and import taxes it'll be much more than that. As much as I'd like top sound, I'm not a millionare to cheerfully waste over 2 grand on headphones that are likely to fail or be defective.
Audeze may want to get rich quick, but at those prices they're going to run out of customers willing or able to spend that much. Especially with such varying quality and poor customer service records overall. My friend is now waiting 3 months to have a simple cable issue addressed.
And I understand that Audeze may have created a great product, but that doesn't mean they can't be held accountable for driver failures and quality inconsistencies. Premium prices dictate premium quality, service and consistency. If that's not what we're getting then we'll vote with our wallets and simply won't buy their products, so it's in their interest to fix things.
 
Asking people to stop complaining when there are legitimate concerns to be addressed is highly disturbing to me. If I wasn't interested in their product I wouldn't care enough to complain. I'd appreciate it if you'd respect our concerns or opinions, even if you don't share them.
 
Quote:

That means you are not in this hobby long enough or haven't spend enough on DIY staff or audio gears from small production companies. And believe me, the LCD3 is way better than sensible, it is sensational.

What does that mean? That unless you've been ripped off enough times you can't demand better quality or service for the asking price? Correct me if I misinterpreted your post, and I hope I did.
 
They may be sensational in your experience but that doesn't mean everyone's experience will be identical. Just look at mwilsons post below for a recent example.
Quote:

Over the course of 5 months I had 3 pairs of LCD-3. None sounded alike. One was clearly veiled, two were not. Of the latter two, the mids and treble presentation was quite different. I wonder which one, if any, is supposed to be the sound Audez'e had intended (if there was any intention to begin with, other than a desire to wing it with a pricey product). I'm getting increasingly fed up with being a beta tester on my own dime. No other audio product I've ever owned exhibited such loose tolerance, and I'm even counting soviet gear from the 80s.

 

 

[temporaryname]

And to be clear, I check this thread everyday in wait for further developments. I'm excited about one day owning a pair of LCD-3's, however my sensibilities won't let me purchase a pair until I'm confident that the issues are well and truly fixed.
 
Or if the price falls.

 

[ardilla]

I think Jian is saging that one should keep in mind that Audez'e is a small company and if you want to spend money on their products you should be aware that they are not a multibillion company with streamlined production runs. And even big companies fails.... Think Toyota brake failures. MacBook exploding battery. Etc..

 

[rgs9200m]

FWIW, I had 2 pairs of Senn HD800s and to me they sound quite different (and there are reports, like from Innerspace) of going thru at least 3 HD800 pairs to find the right sound. 
This phenomenon may go with the territory. Break-in is also a factor.
 
Just philosophically here, high-end audio sound is subject to a million factors  and upstream moving parts at any one time,
even current power company distribution conditions, not to mention the cable jungle and
the age and condition of tubes, caps and other internal electronic components upstream (and their inter-relations).
 
You kind of have to expect this kind of uncertainty at this level of equipment and this level of concentration on critical listening.
But that's part of the fun of this hobby, and if you think that's a nightmare, high end audio is not for you.
 
If you read around high-end audio forums, you will read about people discussing that great middle of the night 2am sound (often relating to power conditioning).
So, you know, this is not an exact science, A produces B results exactly each time; we're in the murky world of electronics and human hearing.

 

[ardilla]

So right indeed. There are also claims in this thread that the newer batches of HD800 sound different, less bright than the early versions. If Sennheiser can't do it, we should not be to annoyed with Audez'e. They are doing what they can. I believe Alex and Shankar aren't spending lazy days by the pool and their evenings in Las Vegas casinos gambling with "our" money.

 

[Radio_head]

In the interest of being an insufferable pedant:
 
Shankar:

 
Sankar: 

 

 

[mwilson]

^ ah, good 'ole Ravi. Played the sitar like nobody's business.
 
Edit: is that from the early 70s? That George next to him?

 

[schwallman]

Just a question to anyone that had a set of 3's that had a driver cutting in and out.
 
 
I was listening this morning at work and noticed that the right side was having some issues. It would only happen at the beginning of a track but went away once more instruments started to come in. It almost sounded like the a blown speaker with crackling and the sound was distorted. This happened with a few different tracks and it doesnt seem to be happening in the last hour or so.
 
These are a newer set. I believe they were from the newest batch. Recieved the week of march 12-16.
 
Does this sound like something anyone else has heard with the 3's?

 

[mwilson]

^ Yah, mine had an intermittent failure, but not like yours; mine were either working or not.