[ajzepp]

So with higher end offerings from Mr Speakers, Abyss, and Hifiman hitting the market, it was only a matter of time before Audeze unveiled their latest state of the art headphone.

Say what you want about the pricing, we're all big boys who have been in home audio for a while now (most of us anyway), so we know this sort of thing happens on the high end side of the hobby, it's always interesting to see the latest and greatest.

Behold!  The LCD4 https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-collection/lcd-4

[mresseguie]

That is a stunning pair of cans if you ask me. They must sound very impressive.

If I could get my wife to stop wandering in to ask 3 questions every 15 minutes, I'd seriously consider upgrading my HD650s in a big way - but I'm a realist.....she won't change much and she will keep asking me questions in the middle of a great song.  It's easier for me to pull out of a nirvana moment with speakers than it is with cans.

[milford3]

Yes indeed the planar arms race is on.  The 4 is a must on my list.  But, after seeing the price I had to reach for one of these.

[kingdeezie]

Every now and then I kick around the idea of getting rid of my speaker set up (my room is an acoustical nightmare), and just getting a nice headphone set up.

They keep raising the stakes higher and higher. I am sure these, or the new hifiman's, with a nice source and amp, has to provide a very satisfying experience.

[ajzepp]

Yes indeed the planar arms race is on.  The 4 is a must on my list.  But, after seeing the price I had to reach for one of these.

Sad to say I think Audeze has finally priced me out of the market...so ill join you in a shot or two

[grsimmon]

It's interesting that they don't list the weight in the specs list.   Purposeful omission? 

[grsimmon]

Ultrasone,  Sennheiser,  and I think Beyerdynamic,  AKG etc.   all list headphone weight as part of their specs.   Some also list "contact pressure" measured in N (?).   Of course nothing is as good as trying a pair on, so headphone meets are really helpful......but from past experience,  I know that when a given headphone weighs more than 400 grams or so,  it's going to drive me nuts.

[grsimmon]

It looks like Audeze lists the weights for their EL-8 series, but not the others...

[ajzepp]

Though I've never been bothered by the weight of Audeze headphones, I purchased an aftermarket suspension strap from the user "Lohb" over at head-fi. So many people swore it made a huge difference, I gave it a go...and I have to admit, it made a world of difference. I actually use my LCD-Xs more often than I did before. I usually used them as my main music headphone, but would swap out back to the T1s for movies since the T1s are supremely comfortable...but now the LCDs have comfort as a "plus", and not just a neutral.

The new LCD4 does have Audeze's new suspension headband, though, and they are offering the headband for purchase for use with other LCD models. I haven't tried it yet, but will likely pick one up soon.

[steve in jersey]

I don't know but it appears to me that the "Higher End" a headphone appears to be in any Manufacturers lineup the less you are able to enjoy how well your playback chain is able to present the better recorded music
that you listen to. Having 2 headphone that until recentlly were placed at (or just below ) the top of their respective companies lines , this has been my experience ! These headphones are simply not "voiced" as neutrallly as they could be.

This leads me to believe that if you happen to be an "Old School Audiophile" who is not inclined to change these voicings that are intended to be an "equalizer" for all recorded music (at the cost of changing the balance of the recordings that don't need "enhancement") you're probably better off not buying these TOTL (the New Age term for the "Lazy"; guilty as charged) headphones & buying the model just below them. Do you buy speakers to "color" how your music sounds ? Well I suppose you do, if you don't know how to put a good playback system together !

One of these days I'll have to take a listen to an LCD-2 to see if it has any potential to be "fixed". There's no rush though,as now my headphones sound right in place with the system I'm using & more importantly the music I listen to. Now if there was a headphone that compensated for lackluster conducting ,sloppy "bowing" technique or poorly regulated pianos I'm on board for that : Not the "Let's add some imaging effects to the music that doesn't really exist in the recording that will mask how mediocre the recording might be" model of headphone voicing that is used by a famous German headphone

Does popular, non-acoustic based music really need this much help to make it sound like music ? Hopefully I'm just being skeptical as I don't have enough interest in 90% of it to find out.

[FullRangeMan]

OUCH! LCD4 stand for the price $4K.
It made other Audeze LCDs cheap.

[Warpspeed CE]

Wouldn't this be subjecting our brain to great music and a $4k dose of MRI (3.0 Tesla)?

[steve in jersey]

The biggest problem in finding a headphone that meets your wishes for overall sound and balance, but is irritating on just some music, are the strong peaks and/or recesses it has that show up worst on those other tracks.  That's where an equalizer, particularly a parametric equalizer is very handy - just tweak up the worst recesses and/or tweak down the worst peaks, and the chances are good that everything will sound much better.

Actually, I've gotten pretty "stinkin" close with one of these headphones & the other one's only a smidgeon (real word ?) behind that one of having my ideal headphone. (I think the difference is always going to be 1 is a
dynamic & the other is a planar magnetic; there's a undefineable characteristic I can't put my finger that had me throwing my hands up while making changes to both headphones!) I would be dishonest if I didn't mention
that I don't wander too far from the genres of music I listen to. Orchestral music rules "the Roost" when it comes to making decisions on how sthings sound. If that is inline with my preferential sound , anything else I should listen to always sounds correct to me.

I'm not a great believer in using a parametric equalizer other than adding about 10db of gain at 18hz to my dBPa rips in JRMC in library mode using the parametric equalizer there to the files I will load to a USB drive
to play through my Auraliti PK100 into my Metrum Hex DAC. I think the biggest game changer as far as my sound is concerned is the Equitech 1.5Q BPT line conditioner I have sitting in front of everything. There's really
no substitute to having a dead silent  noisefloor at all times . I can hear immediately how good of a recording I'm listening to & more importantly what is actually on the recording. There's really less need to equaliize different parts of the frequency response then you would think,simply because you're not hearing an accurate
presentation of what you're hearing. (This kind of prentation comes at a steeper $$$$ than most people are willing to go. I was using a PS Audio PP conditioner, I was floored at how much further this reaches into the noise floor

I don't know how much of what I've said is even translateable to others listening habits,so if I've yet again bored anyone to tears my apologies . I definitely don't view my headphone listening as just something I do when not listening to speakers (Well not until I get my Maggies back up & running. They shoud sound very
interesting with things now,as I didn't yet have the Equitech before the last time I listened to them.)

Audious (Im not above cheap puns, regardless of how much I spent on this hobby)

[steve in jersey]

I think based on the responses I get that there's a wall I can't penetrate on the EQ thing.  It isn't about changing the balance or getting a flatter or more "correct" frequency response.  It's about identifying where on your overall frequency response spectrum that the volume suddenly changes up or down, and then fixing those aberrations, for the most part.  If you do that, you are simply removing the most severe colorations that make your music less natural.  The concept is simple and elegant, but the execution of that concept goes awry many times as users lapse into the standard 'EQ'-think.

Dale,

I may have incorrectly stated my feeling about using "Equalization". In reality I probably haven't explored how pratical using it in the configuration of the playback chain I normally use, would be .

There is a thread of "musicality" that runs through the music I listen to, that has me shaking my head as to regardless of how the sound is comparitively placed against any other recording I might have, where the sound
elements aren't out of place in terms of live music making occuring in a specific type of space.

I think the "device" that I'm using , that is allowing me to hear a "natural scale" of the musical event is the line
conditioning I'm using ! (Which may be even a "harder thing to sell" to most people , then the correct usage of
equalization)

Great talking with you ( At somepoint I'll have to take a listen to the Nighthawks )

[NekoAudio]

It's interesting that they don't list the weight in the specs list.   Purposeful omission?

I'd heard the final choice of wood (and one other part I can't recall) might still change so the weight isn't final yet.

[steve in jersey]

I'd heard the final choice of wood (and one other part I can't recall) might still change so the weight isn't final yet.

While the dense hardwoods (Rosewood,Teak, Zebrawood , etc.. are visually more exciting than other woods
I'm not so sure if it's such a good idea to use them for earcup choices if the planar drivers you're using are
already necessarily adding heft to the headphones

Unless we are talking about only using these choices as veneers applied to a less inert material choice for this
part of the headphone I would definitely reconsider using these solid wood choices. I've heard it mentioned that the Audeze sound signature can be "Dark" . Any amount of sound  reinforcement created within an earcup
of an open backed design headphone is probably working slightly against the reasons of porting the sound this
way (Unless of course a deeper lusher sound is what you were looking for: Which obliterates my comment if that's the intention)

& Therein lies the difference between those who greatly prefer the Audeze sound & those who prefer the Hifiman sound.Yeah, I guess I'm being a "Captain Obvious" for those who've heard these headphones; It comes down to which way you prefer your overall sound to be "tilted" not whether one sound is correct & one isn't. 

[Letitroll98]

Ref your last paragraph Steve, I think you hit the nail on the head, both sound signatures sound great.  For myself the Hifiman house sound is about as dark as I want to go, and completely valid that anyone might prefer the Audeze house sound or Mr Speakers for that matter. These new phones, the Hifiman 1000, Audeze LCD4, or Mr Speakers new stuff even, might change those preconceptions and the whole thing may not be so obvious, at least at the TOTL.  Waiting to hear them.

[milford3]

Has anybody bought or auditioned the 4's yet?

[ajzepp]

Has anybody bought or auditioned the 4's yet?

I have one of the new headbands...does that count? lol

[Russell Dawkins]

OK, I have to say I find the physical design and execution almost insultingly marginal for the price; they look almost home made. Audeze should just hand over production to some outfit that can really do it and concentrate on the guts—the sonic aspects and internal design. For 4 grand I would expect better finish.
Shiny bits of wood do not equate to good design or high build quality in my books.