Audeze lcd-1 hype train getting ready to leave the station?

I mean, this basically sounds like an open Mobius. That couldn't get EQ'd to have much subbass, so I wouldn't put much faith in it.

It's one of those things where if you have to think "man, I need to EQ to make this a good headphone" and not "man, just one spot to EQ and this headphone would be even BETTER!" just don't bother.

 

Another set of measurements now available on rtings. (Just stumbled across it when looking for something else.)

Looks a bit more acceptable than the previous set linked few posts ago but the same tonal profile is observed. Still quite dont see LCD1s breaking world records for neutrality, despite all the accolades in that sense. Might be a nice-sounding headphone anyway, dunno.

NOTE: Rtings usually show too much of a bass roll-off IMHO, probably to account on latest research done by Harman. Also, it seems like the left channel was measured with improper seal. The right channel seems more representative of what to expect, again taking the bass roll-off inherent to rtings compensation curve into account.

 

I thought these weren't too bad for the price. Many already covered the major points I noticed. They lack big boy dynamics as noted above. The bass extension is a bit disappointing for a planar and they have no soundstage. I also thought they had a slight 'plasticky timbre' and then read that someone else noticed the same in this thread.

Somehow I always hope we'll get a price/performance breakthrough in headphones from one of the big players - especially since $400 is still a lot of money for headphones for normal folks. I always hope for the big LCD sound in a portable form factor. But I think these hit their mark in goals - no more no less. If they had true planar bass extension I'd feel a lot better about it. If you're used to larger, heavier and more expensive headphones you'll only notice what they're lacking in technicalities but I think for those looking for portability at this price point it's a decent choice.

 

I received the loaner pair of LCD-1 at the end of the tour. After arranging a replacement with Audeze when I realized the left driver was out, I was up and running to take a listen and leave some impressions. I wanted to do them justice and run them through the Aficionado that I have on loan from the very gracious @BillOhio; but Audeze don't supply a balanced cable, and because you can only use this new type of Audeze cable with the LCD-1, you can't use 3rd party cables (balanced or not). Oh well, I'll instead use what I have listed in my signature below, plus try them with my iPhone.

Build quality
Like others have mentioned, this feels like a step-down in quality compared to other headphones in the LCD range; but this is forgivable due to the lower price point and obvious effort to reduce bulk and weight. The slightly cheap, rattly feel reminds me of consumer grade headphones you could pickup from giant electronic retailers or airport stores (Bose, Beats, etc). While the LCD-1 is less likely to fall apart than the aforementioned brands, the notorious driver reliability issue is clearly still plaguing Audeze.

Comfort
My pet peeve with LCD-2/3/4 headphones, is they always felt too heavy and bulky on the head. While Audeze have alleviated those particular problems with the LCD-1, they've unwittingly created new ones. First and foremost, the ear cups are really small; to the point of only barely being classed as over-the-ear, and not on-the-ear. I have average sized ears, and can still feel the inner cup sides, top to bottom. This will be a major problem with people with large ears. The other thing I miss is a leather strap under the headband; because if you feel a firm surface (instead of a something that evenly hugs your head shape) you'll always be aware of a slight top-of-the-head pressure. Oh and these clamp a fair bit too, but I would image you can counter this with some careful band bending.

Sound
Due to the replacement, I ended up breaking in a brand new pair of LCD-1, and noticed they were somewhat veiled and pretty bright out of the box. After burning them in overnight, they seemed to settle in and open up a little. While happy with the weight/bulk reduction, I desperately wanted the LCD-1 to sound at least as good as the current incarnation of the LCD-2. Alas, it falls short with the drastic changes in design. I'm a big fan of soundstage, and we've sadly moved further into bucket-dom compared to the LCD-2/3/4. This I suspect is mainly due to the tiny amount of cavity space between your ears and the cups. While definitely airier sounding than the LCD-1, I had similar issues with HiFiMan's current range of headphones with shallow/teardrop shaped cups ruining the great sound of the older deep/round cup design. Bringing the driver closer to the ear never seems like a good idea (unless you're listening to IEMs, obviously). Other than that, the LCD-1 sounds fairly balanced and neutral, if a little mushy compared to higher quality headphones. I noticed the top-end can get a little grainy/screechy during louder or busier passages of music. I found the low-end abundantly present, well separated and reasonably hard hitting, so bassheads shouldn't be disappointed.

Value/Comparison/Conclusion
In the crazy world of headphone pricing, $400 doesn't seem too bad; but in this case you can definitely do better. For a home system they make no sense; you can pickup vastly superior planar headphones such as the HE-5se for a similar price, or even the HE-4XX for less than half price. For on the go, I'd pickup some decent IEMs (like the Drop JVC HA-FDX1) instead.

I really wanted to like the LCD-1, but ultimately would not recommend.