Audeze LCD2 Classic Closed Back Headphones

better come back in off the ledge then ...... no worries, i don't pay attention to that stuff but I have always wondered if I have hit any buttons while using my phone ..dB

 

Heard the demo unit at The Source AV before it was officially announced, so I assume what I heard should be regarded as pre-production. I don't agree that it seemed cheap, it did seem to be made of quality materials. The sound was much duller than expected vs all other LCD's I've heard, so the posts here saying a batch had the wrong damping material certainly resonates.

 

How closed are these really, I wonder. Like, are there any vents anywhere?

 

By nature all planar sound systems (headphones, speakers - no matter) should be open. But if we want to make such system closed-back for some reason we need to solve one important task - make internal volume of closed back virtually as much as we can. All internal volume should be filled with low density sintepon without any driver damping.

 

Bringing this thread back to life. I test drove these at the Source on two different occasions against every other audeze can, Mr speakers, and a few others-about 20 in total. I think these are the best-tonally-balanced audeze cans yet: there is real upper midrange, so the transition to the treble region is much smoother than on the 4,3,2 open versions respectively. I'm not going to go on about soundstage as they are closed cans. besides, all headphones have shitty staging anyway. Tonality is king for me on headphones. They are lively sounding 'phones, moreso than any other audeze, for sure, but I don't find them overly bright. Plus, they don't have that slightly hollow sound that most Audezes have in some measure. Anybody looking for a closed-back solution should consider these if you can test them out.

 

Yes. These are similar to the refreshed LCD-XC, but with a slightly better (moar) bass balance. I listened to them on a Kenzie amp playing from the line out of my A&K sr15 player. Not optimal, but good enough, and they sound better from my desktop rig (Gungnir A2, Lyr 3).

 

Was the Aeon Closed among those 20 cans? It would be interesting to know how they compare.

 

Yes they were, and I prefer the lcd-2: the treble is smoother and the freq response more even over all. And forget about the ether series, they're too thin sounding overall.

 

I am going to buy a closed back can soon and I'm on a Denon D7200 (which I had, then sold, then regret since I originally bought it for a very good price, about 350€, and actually found quite good also for a 600€ target) and this LCD2 closed. Do you have any info that can compare the two? Thank you!

 

I really can't do any comparison for the Denons, I'm not that familiar with them.

 

Nevermind Thank you anyway!

 

These appear to be somewhat available now- I'd love to know what the usual suspects (especially @Hands and @purr1n ) think of them, as they're known quantities.

It's normally "good, affordable, closed- pick any two", after all.

 

Just had my LCD2 closed at my door yesterday... I took the risk and bought it. I was crossing fingers a lot before putting them on: too many times I bought an HP without demoing due to lack of possibility and simply returned two days after. But this LCD2 not, I definitely love it!!! I was expecting a kind of d7200 or something rolled down or fearing to find a hollow tone, but instead I found a wonderful headphone! I would keep this over Elegia and D7200 with no doubt at all. But being less romantic, here my two cents:

1) It has a lot of similarities with my Elex, with better isolation (well... ofc), better bass extension that are quite flat with no artificial boost. I like this bass a lot. They strike my perfect balance between quantity and slam/cleanness.
2) The FR is quite flat (listening to a freq sweep), so mids and low-highs up to 2kHz feel well consistent/integrated to me, they live well together. After some recession in the 3kHz to 4kHz range (quite normal) it goes back to almost the same level and extend up to 16kHz, then roll off; I tend to hear a lot of up and down in other closed can hear (or a sooner roll off): not in this LCD2CB.
3) Detail retrieval is very high, I would say it bests my Elex. Elex seems to have a little more energy in the mid range, but again, I did not expect them to be so similar.
4) Again, extension of treble is very good. This is not a rolled back can as I was fearing (I head an LCD3 and I really disliked it, hollow and lifeless to me)
5) Comparing to Elegia, which I sold, I find another review around that tells exactly what I feel: "going from Elegia to LCD2CB is like coming from a meatless hamburger to a real one"... more or less. Well, I could not say it in a better way.

At the end, I would say it is a little bit aggressive than Elex, which bass is a bit faster/cleaner(/leaner) but compensate with a wonderful FR and a full perfectly balanced bass.
The Elegia was more clinical, but let me stress this, because this really frustrates me: how can I even consider a can that sounds so different (FR wise) from neutral? If I listen to "Strive" of Trivium I can hear a certain guitar tone on my dt880, Elex, sonos speaker, car stero, parents 150€ HIFI... but NOT on Elegia. The timbre is SO fucked up in this can (even in a more evident way than Elear and its sucked out mids). No way. So I'm glad that this LCD is tonally correct at first.

All of this coming out from a Jot with MB module, single ended for the LCD, balanced for the Elex

I hope I gave another little contribution (even if not up to the best contributors here). I'll keep with more listening in the next period of time and post more "stable and cold blood" comments and consideration.

For my taste, this is the closed back can that I will keep (after years of buying and selling).

 

I have a set on order that will be paired with JRiver / Surface 3 > Schiit Jotunheim. I’ll be glad to post a review after a few weeks of use (breaking in exist, magic cables don’t...piss off), they are due for delivery around the 20th. The Jotunheim has the basic DAC, not Multibit. The Surface3 is connected to a powered USB 3.0 hub which goes to a Schiit Wyrd then to Jotunheim. Hub also has a TB SSD with my FLAC files.

Personally I’ve always been a fan of the Audeze house sound, however I’d like to provide useful information so tips on how to provide you all useful measurements and information is always helpful; of note I did not like the LCD-4 when I tried them at a friends, Yggdrasil/Rag setup. To be quick, they didn’t resemble my old LCD-3’s in any way, sub bass was lacking and a weird mid-bass I didn’t care for.

 

I'll bring the thread back to life again now wondering what the latest 2021 pads bring to how these sound in case anyone has heard them.