Audeze LCD2C Great Expectations

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by Scubadude, Oct 7, 2017.

  1. dumbo

    dumbo Facebook Friend

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    I still prefer my HD650 for casual extended listening because they are way more comfortable than my LCD2C. I find the Audeze are hot and clampy in comparison. The Audeze Cs can be too in my face from the top end so I tend to wear them for more intense listening over shorter periods of time. If I want to crank something up I put on the C's.

    I find with the LCD2C there's an edginess in female vocals and wind instruments that make them more present but a little irritating.

    My next purchase will be Clears and at that time I might even sell my Audeze LCD2C. I wouldn't ever think of selling my HD650 because I like them too much and not worth a whole bunch of money anyway.
     
  2. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    I just got the 2Cs in on loan. I forgot about the Audeze air pressure issue. They seal so well, it creates pressure on the eardrum. Ears feel like I'm flying at 35k feet.

    Might just be an issue for those of us with shaven heads. I dunno.
     
  3. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    Nah I still have my programmer ponytail and get that anyway.
     
  4. Vtory

    Vtory Audiophile™

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    Isn't that a good thing? At least it mostly accounts for why audeze generally outperforms stax in the super-low sub bass. Audeze doesn't need so-called "Audeze-fart", while stax must have "stax-fart" (even so sub-bass performance from staxes hugely depend on one's skull curvature or hairs) before seriously listening to musics..
     
  5. Jerry

    Jerry Friend

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    Is this safe for our hearing?
     
  6. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    It's fine.
     
  7. dumbo

    dumbo Facebook Friend

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    Been a couple of weeks now since I got the Clear and not once have I put on my 2Cs in that time. They are that superior. The Cs have more bottom punch but the bottom end on the Clears are much more refined. No comparison on vocals. I might as well sell them. But make no mistake the LCD2Cs are damn fine cans.
     
    Last edited: May 18, 2018
  8. Hammy

    Hammy Friend

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    I often have to stick my finger between the pad to break the seal and get the pressure to equalize and get rid of driver crinkle after putting the LCD-2C on my head. I never had that problem with my old LCD-2 with the older firmer leather pads.
     
  9. TheBarnard

    TheBarnard Friend

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    When putting them on, stick your thumbs in the bottom of the pads (or gently pinch) . This will provide release of the pressure caused by the pads compressing against your head.

    This probably occurs pretty naturally over the course of a few minutes, but this'll hasten the process. The same thing works for silicon tipped IEMS. Once i've pushed them in place and feel the pressure from the seal, I hold them in position and pull my upper ear to break the seal
     
  10. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    A question on etiquette: As I pass, do I give you the ass or the crotch...

    Seriously though, I heard these on the loaner program, and hesitate to write my thoughts as to not bias the next person in line. To post, or not to post, that is the question...

    (And sorry for the Fight Club reference.)
     
  11. BenjaminBore

    BenjaminBore Friend

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    Although everyone publishing at the same time might be ideal, it would take forever and I doubt anyone has the time or memory span to cordinate and not forget. People usually just post when they can, and anyway, there are plenty of impressions around already.

    And if you hate it, great. It’ll offer a counter-point to other perspectives.
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2018
  12. rott

    rott Secretly hates other millenials - Friend

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    More impressions, the better. Critical and useful evaluations & comparisons are better than a purely worship thread.

    I still like them for a listen just to mix things up but am looking into an upgrade with more clarity and detail. Clear or Auteur, even HD800. This is just another flavor which won't appeal to everyone, regardless of the initial hype, but I still feel a good value all things considered.
     
  13. Shazb0t

    Shazb0t New

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    I think you should post your thoughts/impressions. The more viewpoints the better IMO.
     
  14. BenjaminBore

    BenjaminBore Friend

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    Has anyone had luck getting frequency measurements from Audeze? I was under the impression Audeze would provide them upon request, but I’ve been told that they do not keep or publish the ones they take for test.

    EDIT: Apparently Audeze save and can provide measurements upon request for models above the LCD-2 and LCD-2 Classic only.
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2018
  15. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    I've been trying to find the time over the last few days to get my thoughts in order about the LCD2C and to get them posted. It appears I may not have that time in the foreseeable future, so I'm just going to summarize my general thoughts.

    I don't like the air tight seal. It creates pressure on my ear drums and makes it difficult to wear for long periods of time. If they were mine, I'd stick tiny straws between the pads and cups to vent / stabilize the air pressure. Even then, I don't know if that would screw the bass or not, so... who knows.

    This is a slightly brighter headphone than I care to listen to for long periods. I perceive little peaks in the treble that bite me, and I don't like that.

    There is also something fucked in the mid-range frequencies which made some songs unusually shouty - such as Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac - and which made other songs seem off tonally. It sounds like Lindsay Buckingham had recorded that song with a sinus infection or something. (Or maybe it was just all the cocaine? hehe)

    All in all I can see why a great many people might end up liking this headphone. I don't. For me the comfort and tonality nitpicks would certainly keep me from buying it at $799. Honestly, I wouldn't even go for the $599 introductory price.

    It's not a bad headphone, it's just not for me.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2018
  16. Mystic

    Mystic Mystique's Spiritual Advisor

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    Loaner LCD2c impressions:

    - Sounds decent from the ZDS but the Black Widow really brought the strengths of the headphone out.

    - Bass is really really good. Easily passes my Doin it Right test. Reaches deep and has really great slam out of the BW.

    - Aside from the bass there wasn't much I liked about the headphone. Artists like Daft Punk and Chvrches sounded great outside of vocals. Vocals don't have near the engagement factor as the hd650 or 600. Guitar crunch is not adequate for most of my metal. Still has that wonky mid to upper end that I've heard from a lot of other LCD headphones, minus the brightness that all the fazor models suffer from to some extent.

    - Audeze has finally decided to join us in the 21st century and add a suspension strap. I have no problems with the weight anymore. There is a vacuum when putting them on though. It is a bit excessive and more than I ever felt with other LCD headphones.

    - $800 is too much to ask. I think it is a okay deal at the pre-order price of $600 if you understand its shortcomings.


    I loved listening to a lot of Daft Punk this past week, but overall I was kind of bleh over this headphone. It is really going to depend on what kind of genres you listen to imo.
     
  17. scapeinator1

    scapeinator1 Once You Go Black You'll Never Go Back

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    I would like to add that my pad swap to the Eikon suede pads solved a lot of the tonal issues and as an added bonus the air pressure is not as oppresive. I think this is because the suede is generally more permeable to air and less pressurized than the original fake leather material on the provided pads. I know that it is an expensive swap and that people may hesitate to rip off their old pads in favor of taping on new ones but it is definitely worth it in my opinion.
     
  18. P-Car

    P-Car New

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    This is 100% correct. I believe it's due to not being profitable to spend the time unless a certain threshold of profit has been attained. That's too bad but it makes sense from a business standpoint.
     
  19. gimmeheadroom

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    Wow, I thought I was hallucinating but your impressions are very similar to mine.

    Been a Sennheiser guy since 1980. This was my first brand-x headphone ;)

    What struck me was more air around the instruments, more clarity (micro detail?) which I guess you described as clean, but somehow with a more narrow soundstage. Mine have only a few hours on them so I realize all this could change. When I read your comment "narrow" above I thought huh I am not the only one.
     
  20. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    Home:
    MBAir, Roon, RPi HifiBerry DigiPlus coax, Gungnir Multibit, Freya (passive), Cavalli Liquid Carbon

    Work:
    Fiio X3iii, Lyr3 (Psvane UK-6SN7)​

    Albums:

    DJ Koze, Knock Knock
    Nils Frahm, Solo, and All Melody
    Justice, Woman
    Max Richter, Songs From Before
    Tool, Lateralus
    Punch Brothers, Ahoy!
    Kiasmos, Lit​

    TL;DR:

    Treble - fairly sweet and cohesive, but lacking the last bit of air and decay.
    Mids - a bit amp dependent, but leaning towards the "throaty" side of neutral.
    Bass - VERY clean and extended bass/sub-bass.

    Macrodynamics - excellent, these are fairly efficient cans, so not shocked with this. great attack.
    Microdynamics - Compared to HD650M, they fall a bit short; not sensing the "listening into the instrument" you get with HD650M.

    Headstage/imaging - Meh.

    Overall, I agree with the sentiment that the LCD-2C is a good value at $400-500. $700? $800? Mostly nah, but it depends. If I were coming from something like MD TH-X00 exclusively, eh, maybe? If they were $1k I'd tell Audeze to go suck a f**k. Don't get me wrong, they're good headphones; but I think the LCD-2C is really another upper mid-fi purgatory side-grade step back onto a merry-go-round.

    I'm not going to blabber about build quality, visual impressions, or comfort.

    Initial impressions are smooth, a little sluggish sounding in the upper bass, but not to the point of being muddy. Through the Liquid Carbon, the matchup seems more slightly bass-boosted rather than rolled off in the treble. Bass quality is some of the best I've heard; but quantity (esp. midbass into mids) is just a touch too much. After spending a few more albums listening, EQ-ing out 1.5dB centered at 200Hz with broad Q seems to fix this on my home setup. Personally, with the minor EQ adjustment, these are very "livable" daily-driver cans that are sufficiently resolving without becoming fatiguing.

    Headstage is distinctly 3-blob; two large side blobs, with one small-to-medium-sized center blob. Interestingly, these are the only cans I've tried crossfeed (through Roon DSP) where it actually works and doesn't f**k everything up. The swirling effects at the beginning of Tool's Grudge go from being a disjointed distraction to an obvious studio choice. Though headstage with crossfeed is better on the LCD-2C, it's not great; they're still bettered by HD650M and lack cohesiveness/specificity, even compared to Audeze EL-8O.

    Lyr3 synergy, yes! Tone color/timbre is just about perfect, and is a bit tilted up from the body/fundamental, and the mild bloat in the midbass is tamed. Percussive and plucked instruments jump forward/up in the mix (esp. on Ahoy!), but not neccessarily in the headstage. This is not due to overly energetic treble, or tizziness. Acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolins, etc., on Ahoy! were more present-sounding than on HD650M. Through the Lyr3, the LCD-2Cs are still slightly veiled and and lack the last bit of air or space around instruments. The mids, however, are very well defined. For example, the ringing of the snare drum body (rather than the snap of stick on the drum head or the vibrating drum head and snares itself) on Lateralus is what defines the tonal "center" of the instrument through the LCD-2C. I could see how the upper mids could be a little too revealing on other setups. But I wouldn't call the LCD-2C strident or shouty through Lyr3. There's not fuckery in the sibilance region that would be obvious on vocals or solo piano, and it doesn't come across as a problem with distortion in that region.

    The thing that jumped out to me while listening to Lateralus (with regards to the snare drum thing) was that LCD-2C's resolution in the mids/upper mids made it easier to tell how far across the drum head it was being stuck when playing a rimshot. Depending on the depth of the drum shell and the head tuning, different rimshot tones are possible/inevitable especially when you're thrashing about on a drum kit. And anybody that's played percussion would probably agree that when you get a great rimshot, it's kind of amazing how you feel the attack in your chest, but the decay/sustain is where the timbre (or essence, if you like) is. This effect or variance in playing technique was more noticable to me with the LCDs than it has been on any other headphone I own.

    Elsewhere in the frequency response, through Lyr3 there is a slight lack of sub-bass extension which is not entirely disagreeable. This could be due to the fact that I wear glasses and therefor the pads perhaps don't seal perfectly. I didn't spend any time playing around with this, though. It wasn't apparent when using the Cavalli LC, so I'm inclined to call it an amping issue, not a pad sealing issue. The only time I felt a lack of heft in sub 40-ish Hz response was keeping the LCD-2C from portraying a recording convincingly was on Nils Frahm, Solo. LCD-2C didn't seem to convey the size of the piano, which is interesting considering the actual instrument being played is literally 2 stories tall... HD650M presents more realistically here, surprisingly. On Max Richter, Songs From Before I didn't notice the slight lack of weight as much, I think mostly due to how exaggerated the synth bass has been mixed in the recording.

    Headstage is improved over the home rig by roughly 7.86-7.92%. The qualities of the Lyr3 (cleanliness of the mids and treble, lack of distortion, excellent transient snap) are discernable, but not quite as obvious compared to the HD650M.
     

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