Audeze LCD-XC Review (Closed-back Headphone)

[AluminiumEar]

Audeze is one of only two companies providing headphones to me for testing.

The other one is Abyss... i guess?

 

[bidn]

Email their customer support and ask them to sell you their shorter leather band (or DIY). Once the top of the head does not touch the headband anymore, comfort improves a lot.

Again this should have been done factory default. What is the point of a suspension headband if the suspension is not working?

Anyway simple fix for an awesome headphone. I miss mine...

Thank you for your suggestions.

Actually I bought my LCD-XC quite some years ago, with the original, heavy headband, before the carbon headband.

With the original headband, the top of my head was really aching quickly.
So I bought the expensive and lighter carbon headband. The carbon headband solved the initial problem (pain at top of the head), allowing the headband to stay by putting instead a lot of pressure around the ears, but that pressure also becomes painful after some time. In the end, for me, they moved the pain to another place of the head.
I have given up solving this, and accepted to wear my LCD-XC only for short sessions. ( I like its soothing sound when I have a headache).

 

[BigSweeny]

Amazing distortion levels on this and the frequency response seems great as well, alas I had to vote for “Fine” because comfort is a huge concern for me where I’m wearing headphones for 6-8 hours a day at my desk. I’d rather take something that is “fine” to “good” with some EQ but lighter as I’m rarely doing critical listening the whole day.

It’s also great seeing the comments of people confirming what Amir said: it’s a great sound but comfort on long sessions is a concern. When you’re spending this kind of money on a headphone it’s always nice to have real user experiences.

Big kudos to Audeze for providing these, it says a lot about the company, and I’ll be definitely looking at their (lighter) products when I get the upgrade itch.

 

[_thelaughingman]

This is definitely worth the kilobuck price tag for its performance alone. Glad they've chosen to work with @amirm and tune their products to a desired target.

 

[saich]

If only they could manage to reduce weight to below 500g...

 

[someguyontheinternet]

For the LCD-5 it seems they went with significantly lower weight in exchange for higher requirements on the amp:

LCD-5 | Transparency, Resolution and Speed at only 420 grams.

For the past decade, Audeze’s LCD series has set the standard for planar magnetic headphone performance. Starting with the LCD-2 that ushered in a new era of planar technology in 2009, we then introduced the LCD-3 in 2011 and LCD-4 in 2015. With the LCD-5, everything has been improved – drivers...

www.audeze.com

 

[CopperFox]

I would see calling something that has a 7 to 10 db bass deficit "a distortion-less transducer" misleading.

How do you know if the bass distorts anything more or less than standard if there is no bass?

 

[Matias]

Thank you for your suggestions.

Actually I bought my LCD-XC quite some years ago, with the original, heavy headband, before the carbon headband.

With the original headband, the top of my head was really aching quickly.
So I bought the expensive and lighter carbon headband. The carbon headband solved the initial problem (pain at top of the head), allowing the headband to stay by putting instead a lot of pressure around the ears, but that pressure also becomes painful after some time. In the end, for me, they moved the pain to another place of the head.
I have given up solving this, and accepted to wear my LCD-XC only for short sessions. ( I like its soothing sound when I have a headache).

That was exactly my experience: original headband => carbon fiber with hot spot => carbon fiber with short leather strap.
Don't give up! The short leather strap makes all the difference in comfort, really 10/10. The headband wobbles as it is suspended now, but I could listen for hours without problem.

 

[wemist01]

I do own one, I like its sound, yet I voted "not terrible", because after a while, when I wear it, the weight and pain (pressure will the carbon headband) becomes unbearable for me = not acceptable IMHO.
It is excellent that Amir put the weight chart on top position, people should not overlook this major issue.

I have the older model with the padded headband. I've never had any discomfort.

The mystery about these is the "improvements" Audeze made to the tuning. I use Sonarworks True-Fi and SoundID Reference to EQ output, but I prefer the former, hoping that the EQ filter on it (it's the older product) is based on the earlier make. I'm very happy with the sound, whatever the case.

 

[wemist01]

That was exactly my experience: original headband => carbon fiber with hot spot => carbon fiber with short leather strap.
Don't give up! The short leather strap makes all the difference in comfort, really 10/10. The headband wobbles as it is suspended now, but I could listen for hours without problem.

This makes me think I either must have a dead spot on the top of my head or the shape of my skull (tall) just suits these. When I wear mine, the cups are extended to the lowest notch and things are perfectly comfortable.

 

[Matias]

This makes me think I either must have a dead spot on the top of my head or the shape of my skull (tall) just suits these. When I wear mine, the cups are extended to the lowest notch and things are perfectly comfortable.

I think people with curly or dense hair have a more "natural suspension" and no hot spots than people with little or no hair and/or straight that don't push back up.

 

[Peterinvan]

Email their customer support and ask them to sell you their shorter leather band (or DIY). Once the top of the head does not touch the headband anymore, comfort improves a lot.

Again this should have been done factory default. What is the point of a suspension headband if the suspension is not working?

Anyway simple fix for an awesome headphone. I miss mine...

I did a DIY fix on he leather headband by drilling new holes a few millimetres in (see pic).
Tip: hang these phones by the steel or carbon straps, not on the leather strap which may stretch (as in the review picture).

I find my LCD-XC (2019 @ 730gm) heavy for desk listening, but when reclining, e.g. in my La-Z-Boy, the headrest (or a pillow) takes most of the weight off my neck. It's worth it to me for the excellent sound quality.

At my desk I use my Elegias with Dekoni Fenestrated Sheepskin pads.

 

[someguyontheinternet]

I would see calling something that has a 7 to 10 db bass deficit "a distortion-less transducer" misleading.

How do you know if the bass distorts anything more or less than standard if there is no bass?

If I understood this correctly: by looking at the distortion measurements at different levels in conjunction with the EQ values.
For example if you listen at a volume that produces max 94dB, you know that after adding EQ the distortion would be in the area between the 94dB and 114dB graphs (assuming you don't boost by over 20dB).

Maybe someone with more well-founded knowledge can confirm or correct this.

 

[beagleman]

Seems like Audeze did a lot right with this one. However that weight is probably a dealbreaker for a considerable chunk of users.
Some weight is fine, but if it's heavy enough to distract the listeners from the music, it's simply too much.

The weight and price are for sure deal breakers for me. Not that I can not afford them, but that I buy things based on performance and value.
Something this expensive, if a year down the road I grow tired of it, will never even remotely recoup that initial price tag.

I prefer very good performance AND a price that is reasonable.

 

[CopperFox]

If I understood this correctly: by looking at the distortion measurements at different levels in conjunction with the EQ values.
For example if you listen at a volume that produces max 94dB, you know that after adding EQ the distortion would be in the area between the 94dB and 114dB graphs (assuming you don't boost by over 20dB).

Maybe someone with more well-founded knowledge can confirm or correct this.

The measurements of several headphones here show that adding 10db of bass volume can lead to an exponential increase in bass distortion.

This image is from the AKG K271 MK II review. There is a 10db difference between the blue and red lines.

 

[Jimbob54]

I have the wood original version (no suspension band either, just leather clad steel band torture device) . Heavy and not hugely comfy but fun for bass with some eq. Definitely not an all day listen but fine for a couple of hours.

 

[RichT]

Wow Audeze must know that these HP's don't match the Harman Curve bass response, maybe this is what Audeze is after. I'm always surprised to see that none of the headphones out there match the Harman Curve. Maybe it can't be done, regards

 

[someguyontheinternet]

The measurements of several headphones here show that adding 10db of bass volume can lead to an exponential increase in bass distortion.

This image is from the AKG K271 MK II review. There is a 10db difference between the blue and red lines.

But we already see that this is not the case with the LCD-XC, because the graph does not escalate when pushing volume to 114dB.
There is a trend visible that there is an increase in distortion with increasing volume (which is pretty much always the case), but the increase is very minor at reasonable listening levels.

If you listen at 94dB and add 20dB with EQ you will get the distortion shown in the 114dB graph.

 

[Zensō]

The FR and low distortion look very good, but the ridiculous weight makes it all moot.

 

[Robbo99999]

I would see calling something that has a 7 to 10 db bass deficit "a distortion-less transducer" misleading.

How do you know if the bass distorts anything more or less than standard if there is no bass?

If I understood this correctly: by looking at the distortion measurements at different levels in conjunction with the EQ values.
For example if you listen at a volume that produces max 94dB, you know that after adding EQ the distortion would be in the area between the 94dB and 114dB graphs (assuming you don't boost by over 20dB).

Maybe someone with more well-founded knowledge can confirm or correct this.

That's about right @someguyontheinternet judging from the graph:

You're at around 95dB RMS at 1kHz so the 114dB distortion graph would be showing you what the bass distortion would be like if you had a 20dB bass boost whilst still at 95dB RMS at 1kHz.

So of course this headphone is a fine platform for boosting the bass through EQ.