RD-R - rhythmdevils modded LCD-R reviews and measurements

^I didn't talk about these because you can't get them but man I hope there is a way for Audeze to make more of them.

RD's modded LCD-R are so good...they sorta remind me of the O.G. Stax Omega.
Such a great midrange and so pleasing.
Not a thick/fat/warm wall of sound but good space and delineation. (Faster decay than LCD-4?)

Now, RD's modded LCD-4 are great...full/complete sound across the range and nice warmth but I think it adds at the top which I needed with LCD-4 (stock they are just a bit too warm/rolled at top for my taste).
I want to spend some more time on my rigs with LCD-4 to test.
But the LCD-R I just wanted to go back to and enjoy. RD will confirm this happened at our nano-meet.
Agree with Marv. Add in the price difference and the modded LCD-R is fantastic.

Yes, if Audeze could bring a new version LCD-R with RD-mods? Very compelling.

 

Even stock, the LCD-R has an intoxicating sound that makes it hard to pick up other headphones.
I took me months after owning them to finally listen to my “main” setup (ECP T4 + Utopia).
I was reminded that the Utopia is still the king of resolution and clarity and I find the LCD-R maybe “lacking” in the technical department by comparison. In isolation, I just get lost in the music and don’t think about the Utopia lying in its box right next to me.

 

Great. @purr1n Can you perhaps post some close up pics? Never doubt 'it didn't happen' thing.. oh no never lol. I'm wondering if RD added some air-passing vents (something similar with straw-tuning he's done to LCD-X). If the mod exactly look identical with stock. Please feel free to disregard my request.

I'm pleasantly surprised his mod seems to lower the treble energy. I used to think the other way. I'm guessing (without intending to make it darker) he took out fazors and/or removed sources of unnecessary internal reflections -- I might be totally wrong of course. But quite interested in how the mod sounds subjectively to me.

 

link to stock csd

Spoiler

 

I figured but didnt say since @rhythmdevils told me to stay out of his threads.

I am impressed CSD is cleaner AND frequency response is more balanced compared to stock plus all the other positives you noted. But I was wondering if there was compromise. Looks like rd chose more bass dynamics instead of cleaner bass. Nice!

I wonder how venting front side of driver via vents is better than using more porous pads (like velour). ETA, Focal, etc choose this route. On the other side is Grado whom just go with open foam pads.

 

Thats what makes most sense based on measurements. Distortion, burst response, and frequency response suggest a possibly less damped driver. Front of driver air leaks would explain the faster decay / release in bass despite less damping. So maybe Audeze fazors do more harm than good and is responsible for most of the stock CSD issues in upper frequencies? Would be very interesting to see before/after fazors on any Audeze. Ear graters for no good reason?

edit: rd’s mod has longer ortho walls but cleaner elsewhere. More evidence of less damped driver, yet cleaner elsewhere because rd removed fazor. (Was fazor removed?)

 

I don't know much about Jerg pads but from what I know they are just vented pads. There's a lot more going on here. The special thing is that the vents are in a long skinny tube shape, with the pads sealed all around this which does a number of things to the sound. They delay the sound waves as they pass through it, so the escaping front wave does not wind up canceling out with the back wave. The affect is actually increased bass response while gaining air and spaciousness. Which is kind of a first in orthos. They do a number of other cool things too, I'd like to patent the idea but there are a lot of other players with a lot more money than I have and this mod has been made public so I'm not sure I'll wind up getting there first before someone else patents my idea. We'll see. It's something I came sip with while sick for years laying in bed thinking about things....

But the tube shaped vents increase air and spaciousness while increasing bass response which allows me to use very leaky perforated earpads which further increase sense of air and soundstage.

None of this is really true. It's more complicated than this, and the driver isn't less damped. It's moving much faster than stock, the difference in transient response is huge. I remove the fazors on all my Auseze mods becaue I find they do more harm than good in creating resonance rather than fixing anything. But with the LCD-R, the rear fazors actually do good things. I'm not sure why, but the rear fazors are left on my LCD-R mod. But I do a lot of resonance absorption not present in the stock LCD-R along with FR tuning.

Hopefully @purr1n or others if I loan these out can say more about the sound, I think these are really special and deserve more impressions and listening time.

 

Ever considered having some exposed open cell foam earpads made to fit LCD headphones? The pressure release would be more uniform vs tube outlets and perforated leather (and less reflective than leather), plus exposed foam earpads are vastly cheaper to manufacture than typical encased pads. Not to mention you wouldn't need an underhung foam cut for a slip fit since Audeze designs simply require adhesive for pad mounting. You could probably have them made for under $3 per unit from the right manufacturer, maybe with an MOQ of 500 instead of the usual 2000.

Front wave air pressure release is very high on the list of variables that effect the sonic outcome the most. Seems like your approach does wonders, so feel free to ignore my speculation on the grounds of 'if it's not broken, don't fix it'. Never seen a planar tuned around exposed foam earpads though... They've done wonders for my electrodynamic designs in terms of livening up transients and giving better clarity in the top octave. Dunno how much that'd translate.

Regardless, your LCDR looks stellar as-is. Seem like it'd be interesting to A/B vs your LCDX/4. Looking forward to hearing any of them some day.

 

I don't think it would work, the perforated earpads on their own tune the sound more upward tilting towards more treble and less bass. The only reason I can get away with it is because of the tube vents which add body and bass. If I just simply vented the front wave, I'd loose all bass and they'd be very thin and treble-y. Which Is why I'm so proud of my tube vents, which I thought of years ago lying in bed and have only been able to implement now.

 

Nothing is unintentional. This is the first ortho that has been measured that is close to the target curve and sound I envision for orthos. Note that I didn't create the treble peak in any of the Hfiimans, I just didn't manage to get rid of it. But I did improve them in many other ways. I have some new ideas I'm going to try when my health allows to try to get rid of the peak in the Hifimans. But even as is, they sound much better than stock to me. Stock you can clearly hear cup resonance for one thing...

 

Some vintage orthos use open foam pads (Yamaha YHD), like that KHP-30i I sent you. @stratocaster liked to add a dense felt between pads and baffle of vintage orthos which worked incredibly well by his measurements and impressions. Of course padrolling has been pretty extensive community-wise on Hifiman and Audeze. The famous vegetarian pads for Audeze were most balanced, probably they were also most porous. Awhile ago I sent @purr1n an open foam pad for HE400i that measured like trash but I felt that it sounded faster and the highs were not worse than stock due to the shallowness of pads. It was a long time ago!

@rhythmdevils the measurements do indicate less damping. I am wondering if your LCD-R sounds faster due to a more open front wave (less air pressure, less reflections, etc). Ive not experimented much with such mods for that effect, usually front wave mods are for energy release (or seal from rear wave cancellation), reflection managment, absorption, driver damping, and ear to driver distance. Im sure there are more variables, and Im sure you and Ev could go on and on.

The rear fazors I imagine would not be as major an issue for reflection. They would reflect but not towards ears, and the high frequencies may not even be able to travel back through (reflected or absorbed / dissipated into heat) the driver diaphragm and magnets to earside. The lower frequencies would just pass through the open grills. The mid area should be okay so long as the grills are open enough and not reflecting back too much. Damping materials on back of driver since this is an open back headphone would be mainly there to increase acoustic impedance. Some absorption or even reflection could occur from damping materials. Sometimes I get a more “closed” sound which is likely reflection / reverb depending on mods and materials. Im starting to think reverb can be used for seasoning (see Foster biocellulose bass).

I would like ”newb” as my title so people know to take my comments lightly. Im just guessing. Teach me.

 

This is a lot of wild speculation, much of which is untrue, and would be better for the ortho thread, can you please keep it out of my LCD-R thread? I've asked kindly before. These headphones don't deserve this....

 

Please be more specific? I dont know what kind of comments exactly are acceptable. I am confused because vtory, E_Schaaf, and purr1n made speculations as well.