[philo50]

^^^^very similar to my own experience.....glad it worked out for you......

 

[kkcc]

  My story has a happy ending. I sent my LCD3s to Audeze and in exactly one week, I received them back. Audeze replaced both LCD3 drivers, made a new graph, and cleaned and buffed the headphones. Their point of contact was incredibly polite and communicative and let me know exactly when my headphones arrived and were shipped back out to me.
 
They sound dramatically different now. They're extracting detail better than they were before. Cymbals are particularly noticeable. Vocals are more forward. Everything just sounds clearer and less recessed. I don't remember the LCD3s sounding like this when I first listened to them on my First Watt. The LCD3 was kind of meh overall, not great, not bad. They sound a lot more fun now. I can make out backgrounds instruments better, while vocals, guitars, and drums are tighter, and vocals are much more engaging. Before, vocals, sounded like they were buried. I usually have pretty good memory when it comes to audio, and I'm shocked at the difference. I just thought the LCD3 paired poorly with my First Watt J2 and every other amp I've heard them on. I can't wait to hear them on a Leviathan and balanced Dynahi.
 
Audeze's customer support was some of the most courteous and responsive I've ever experienced in electronics. I'd recommend them unreservedly to anyone thinking of picking up an Audeze headphone.

 
That's the same difference comparing my Mar2012 unit to the one I have now (Jul 2013).  I suspect they might have different tuning or even some different materials in the newer drivers.  It seems many find later batch or recently replaced unit way less dark and a more neutral sig with better transparency/even more resolving.

 

[Elysian]

I think that's a good way of putting it. I like dark sounding headphones, but they were previously a bit too dark for my tastes. I wouldn't call them bright, but they sound less muddy and recessed than I had remembered. They sound closer to the HE-6 now but with the Audeze house sound.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

  I think that's a good way of putting it. I like dark sounding headphones, but they were previously a bit too dark for my tastes. I wouldn't call them bright, but they sound less muddy and recessed than I had remembered. They sound closer to the HE-6 now but with the Audeze house sound.

 
 
so theres a rev 3.2 or something?

 

[Elysian]

I wouldn't assume that unless Audeze says anything official. Since 2012 I've heard people mention experiencing some awesome sounding LCD3s, and some veiled ones. I'm sure there are manufacturing and design challenges with such a thin diaphragm.

 

[citraian]

Why did you send them in the first place? Did their serial number start with 231?

 

[Elysian]

It's a 26xxxx. One of the channels was giving out. Much softer than the other channel and was sounding very muffled. The other channel wasn't sounding quite right either but was hard to tell since the primarily failing channel was so bad.
 
Forgot how much fun this headphone is with pop and metal.

 

[citraian]

So you had a failing 26xxxx? Never heard of this before...

 

[Elysian]

There are a few reports that are easy to find of Q1-2 2013 LCD3s failing.

 

[kkcc]

There are a few reports that are easy to find of Q1-2 2013 LCD3s failing.

I recall the initial batches until Apr or May 2012 were struggling most but since then it's more isolated incidents..

 

[Solude]

Everything can fail.  High tension and natural products just make it that much more likely.  Audeze has not changed the driver they play with dampening and pads.  The LCD-3 I have now is quite a bit more natural and bright than the first.  The pads are also stiffer though still very soft.

 

[archeryc]

I have a pair of LCD3. From the graph it says that my LCD3 is from September this year, so far it works perfectly fine, never heard any problem from the driver.

 

[Zoom25]

LCD-X....and so it begins.

 

[jerg]

Finally Audeze caves and makes fully metal headphones. Looking forward to the impressions and measurements of LCD-X and LCD-XC.

 

[citraian]

Finally Audeze caves and makes fully metal headphones. Looking forward to the impressions and measurements of LCD-X and LCD-XC.

Even if backed out by incredible measurements the LCD-X is too expensive. 9k for a headphone? Come on! I knew something was fishy when they doubled the price at LCD-3...