This is a review and detailed measurements of the Audeze LCD-24. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $3,499.
I must say, this is a manly looking headphone:
It would fit right at home with someone wearing their leathers and driving a Harley Davidson motorcycle!
There is an unusual mechanism to adjust the headband which puts side ways pressure on the headphone. I kind of like it. Overall comfort is very good.
This is the second heaviest headphone since I started to keep track of them at 575 grams:
It doesn't feel that heavy though. The inside cup dimensions are 70 mm, 56mm and 34 mm (height, width and depth).
Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I have confirmed the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!
Fitting the LCD-24 to the fixture was extremely easy. With the large cups and excellent seal, the first try worked and I ran with it.
Audeze LCD-24 Measurements
As usual we start with our frequency response:
Looks like some attempt is made in having a flat response even though there is "ear gain" in my fixture which doesn't make much sense. End result is lack of bass and uninteresting, muffled sound due to shortages in the 1 to 5 kHz We will confirm this in listening tests.
As a deviation from target, this is what we have:
I design my EQ by eye and in this case, creating a curve for 1 to 10 kHz is going to be challenging. So automated filter design may work better.
The next measurement popped the eye out of my socket:
This is one comfortable driver no matter how much sound you expect it to produce! Even at incredible 114 dBSPL, it is cruising with minimal distortion. I hope companies that produce distortion factories (I am looking at you Abyss), are paying attention. Distortion barely touches our 40 dB reference line:
And that is in upper bass, dominated by second harmoni.
Group delay is messy indicating internal reflections, resonances, etc:
Impedance is typical dead flat but very low at 14 ohm:
You need an amp that has good current delivery. Fortunately efficiency is quite good:
So most portable devices should be able to drive it to reasonable levels.
Audeze LCD-24 Listening Tests and Equalization
Stock listening experience was not good. The sound was dull and sub-bass almost faint, non-existent. So EQ tool came out fast and furiouis:
Despite the crudeness of my EQ design, the transformation was massive. You now had good sub-bass and the spatial qualities bloomed like nobody's business (function of 1 to 5 kHz). Instrument separation was very nice and fun. It feels like there is a miniature orchestra playing little instruments around your head. One of my reference test tracks for spatial qualities (and general fidelity) is Jewele's Serve the Ego:
The detail, resolution, bass and localization of different sounds was just excellent. I just compared the youtube version above which plays without EQ compared to my Roon player doing so with EQ, and the difference is night and day. The youtube version is totally uninteresting and recessed. The EQ version is just a delight. If you own this headphone and have not applied EQ correction, you don't know what you are missing.
I wanted to compare my EQ to presets that ship in Roon for Audeze. Alas, there was not one for LCD-24. Hope Audeze remedies that.
Conclusions
Despite the incredible popularity of headphone measurements and talk of preference curves, it is amazing how many headphones ignore that and produce a headphone with its idea of target response. LCD-24 is one such example. Fortunately it provides a capable platform for equalization with its extreme low distortion driver. Producing an EQ curve takes some work but what I have above generates more fidelity and delight than I need. I hope Audeze moves more towards having a response that is closer to target so that out of box experience is better.
Overall, I cannot recommend Audeze LCD-24 in stock form. With equalization though, it gets my strong vote for a wonderful sounding headphone.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
First harvest from the Garden!!! Been behind this year in my gardening chores so it was nice to have something ready to eat:
The nice head of cauliflower came out of a plant that I potted back in fall of last year! It produced some fruit which instantly got eaten by some creature. I put it in the greenhouse nearly dead looking. This spring it sprouted back to action and produced to heads! What a delight. Crunchy, flavorful and sweet. Flowers you see are from kohlrabi which is normally grown for its over the ground bulb. If you leave it in the garden though through winter, in spring you get this amazing harvest of yellow flowers that taste like broccoli. I eat them while working in the garden all spring. Below that is a smorgasbord of greens from different lettuces to beet greens and cilantro.
On the right was a new planting: wasabi radish. Was hoping that it would taste a bit like wasabi as advertised. Well, it does not. It just tastes like a normal radish, albeit in that pretty green color. These were pulled out to let the others bulb out better. They were decent eating. And oh, I am growing real wasabi for the first time!
Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
I must say, this is a manly looking headphone:
It would fit right at home with someone wearing their leathers and driving a Harley Davidson motorcycle!
There is an unusual mechanism to adjust the headband which puts side ways pressure on the headphone. I kind of like it. Overall comfort is very good.This is the second heaviest headphone since I started to keep track of them at 575 grams:
It doesn't feel that heavy though. The inside cup dimensions are 70 mm, 56mm and 34 mm (height, width and depth).
Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I have confirmed the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!
Fitting the LCD-24 to the fixture was extremely easy. With the large cups and excellent seal, the first try worked and I ran with it.
Audeze LCD-24 Measurements
As usual we start with our frequency response:
Looks like some attempt is made in having a flat response even though there is "ear gain" in my fixture which doesn't make much sense. End result is lack of bass and uninteresting, muffled sound due to shortages in the 1 to 5 kHz We will confirm this in listening tests.
As a deviation from target, this is what we have:
I design my EQ by eye and in this case, creating a curve for 1 to 10 kHz is going to be challenging. So automated filter design may work better.
The next measurement popped the eye out of my socket:
This is one comfortable driver no matter how much sound you expect it to produce! Even at incredible 114 dBSPL, it is cruising with minimal distortion. I hope companies that produce distortion factories (I am looking at you Abyss), are paying attention. Distortion barely touches our 40 dB reference line:
And that is in upper bass, dominated by second harmoni.
Group delay is messy indicating internal reflections, resonances, etc:
Impedance is typical dead flat but very low at 14 ohm:
You need an amp that has good current delivery. Fortunately efficiency is quite good:
So most portable devices should be able to drive it to reasonable levels.
Audeze LCD-24 Listening Tests and Equalization
Stock listening experience was not good. The sound was dull and sub-bass almost faint, non-existent. So EQ tool came out fast and furiouis:
Despite the crudeness of my EQ design, the transformation was massive. You now had good sub-bass and the spatial qualities bloomed like nobody's business (function of 1 to 5 kHz). Instrument separation was very nice and fun. It feels like there is a miniature orchestra playing little instruments around your head. One of my reference test tracks for spatial qualities (and general fidelity) is Jewele's Serve the Ego:
The detail, resolution, bass and localization of different sounds was just excellent. I just compared the youtube version above which plays without EQ compared to my Roon player doing so with EQ, and the difference is night and day. The youtube version is totally uninteresting and recessed. The EQ version is just a delight. If you own this headphone and have not applied EQ correction, you don't know what you are missing.
I wanted to compare my EQ to presets that ship in Roon for Audeze. Alas, there was not one for LCD-24. Hope Audeze remedies that.
Conclusions
Despite the incredible popularity of headphone measurements and talk of preference curves, it is amazing how many headphones ignore that and produce a headphone with its idea of target response. LCD-24 is one such example. Fortunately it provides a capable platform for equalization with its extreme low distortion driver. Producing an EQ curve takes some work but what I have above generates more fidelity and delight than I need. I hope Audeze moves more towards having a response that is closer to target so that out of box experience is better.
Overall, I cannot recommend Audeze LCD-24 in stock form. With equalization though, it gets my strong vote for a wonderful sounding headphone.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
First harvest from the Garden!!! Been behind this year in my gardening chores so it was nice to have something ready to eat:
The nice head of cauliflower came out of a plant that I potted back in fall of last year! It produced some fruit which instantly got eaten by some creature. I put it in the greenhouse nearly dead looking. This spring it sprouted back to action and produced to heads! What a delight. Crunchy, flavorful and sweet. Flowers you see are from kohlrabi which is normally grown for its over the ground bulb. If you leave it in the garden though through winter, in spring you get this amazing harvest of yellow flowers that taste like broccoli. I eat them while working in the garden all spring. Below that is a smorgasbord of greens from different lettuces to beet greens and cilantro.
On the right was a new planting: wasabi radish. Was hoping that it would taste a bit like wasabi as advertised. Well, it does not. It just tastes like a normal radish, albeit in that pretty green color. These were pulled out to let the others bulb out better. They were decent eating. And oh, I am growing real wasabi for the first time!
Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
