[milford3]

I have been wanting a Planar type of headphone for a while.  Been on the internet all morning and decided on the Audeze LCD-2.  They receive stunning reviews.

[FireGuy]

I too have read all positives on these cans.  Let us know how they compare to the T1's.  Congrats.

[Bob2]

Very nice!
I too would like to know how they compare to the T1's...

[milford3]

I need another screw in the wall for headphone number six.  And I'm just getting started.

[Quiet Earth]

Hi Milford,

Last month I got to hear three different models of Audeze headphones for my first time. I heard the X, the XC, and the 3. I really liked all three of them but especially the LCD-X. They (Audeze) have a different kind of presentation than regular, dynamic cans. I really felt compelled to listen to the music while they were on my head. I didn't want to take them off. But I only had about half an hour with them, so just a gut feel at this point.

Which amplifier are you going to drive them with? Just curious.

Which cable is this in the picture? Are you getting that same cable included with your LCD-2s? :



I look forward to reading about your LCD-2 adventure. I think I might get a pair of LCD-X, but I need to do a little more research first.

[Audioclyde]

I have a pair of LCD-2's Rev 2's that my wife insisted I buy for her when I got mine a couple years ago; she hasn't used them enough to properly break 'em in, so they are like new & could be up for grabs. If interested pm me and I'll check & get back to you.

[milford3]

Quiet Earth, I'll be using the Schiit Lyr with the LCD-2's.  I ordered the 2's with stock cables for now.  The pic you see is from the internet with the custom twisted cable.  If needed, I'll upgrade to a cable from Moon Audio.

https://www.moon-audio.com/

[Quiet Earth]

Ok, cool. Thanks for the info Milford. I will do a little more homework now. 

AudioClyde,
Thank you man for the generous offer! I think if I eventually do this thing then I will probably go straight for the model X, having heard the X and knowing the difference in sound between it and the 3. I wish I could have heard the 2 also, but I have a feeling that the 2 is closer in nature to the 3 than the X. Alphabet soup! Maybe someone who knows them all very well can chime in and lend an experienced hand.

Meanwhile, congrats on your new purchase Milford3. And for the information about the cable.

[ajzepp]

I've  become a huge fan of Audeze...I bought a pair of LCD-2s last fall and loved them...I made a very difficult decision to send them back in order to upgrade to the Xs, and it's all I listen to now. On the one hand they are they are the first headphones that I can honestly use the term "perfect" with given my listening preferences, but on the other hand they sort of screwed up my modus operandi when it comes to headphones. I've always enjoyed  having a handful of phones around for variety, and even though some were technically better than others, it was still mostly just different flavors and I had various roles in place for each one. But the Xs have come in here and just changed the game completely. They are such a significant step up from everything else that none of my other phones have had any head time since I bought them last month. I've been having so many "holy sh*t" moments, and feel that they get me so damn close to what my Magnepans give me in terms of speakers, that i just dont want to listen to anything else.

I think the LCD-2s were a great choice, Milford, cause those will play nice and join in the fun with those other beautiful phones you have acquired. Heed my warning if you ever decide to upgrade to the Xs, though, cause I think you and I have always been similar in not only our taste, but also in how we both enjoy having a headphone harem as opposed to one phone to rule them all. The Xs are from another galaxy, and they will come in there and take over the joint.

Audeze is a fantastic company...amazing products, fantastic customer service, etc...

[hibuckhobby]

I'm torn between the LCD-2 R2 and the HiFiMan HE500's.  I had the revision ones and eventually
sold them.  Now that I've gotten a Bottlehead Crack for my Sennheisers, and a Bottlehead S.E.X. for
the HE500's...it made them into a whole new experience.  Now I'm wondering what the LCD-2's would
sound like with it.    Guess I'll wait for the ubiquitous "good deal" to come along.
regards,
Hibuck....

[bjski]

I have the Hifiman HE-500 and it was my go to headphone. I also have the Sennhieser HD800 & HD650. All 3 headphones sound great and they each offer something special. I auditioned the  Audeze LCD-3 and there is no turning back. These have become my everyday headphones. I gave my son the Sennhieser HD650 and I use my HD800 on special recordings with my poor HiFiman HE-500 collecting dust.(they do look cool on a stand,LOL)

Go for  Audeze  either the new Audeze x or the LCD-3. It's only my opinion but I think ajzeep got it right you'll find yourself listening 95% time to the Audeze.

[viggen]

I had no idea you could upgrade the LCD2 to the X.  How much did that set you back?  And, how much of a bump up is it in terms of both sound and change in personality?

I've  become a huge fan of Audeze...I bought a pair of LCD-2s last fall and loved them...I made a very difficult decision to send them back in order to upgrade to the Xs, and it's all I listen to now. On the one hand they are they are the first headphones that I can honestly use the term "perfect" with given my listening preferences, but on the other hand they sort of screwed up my modus operandi when it comes to headphones. I've always enjoyed  having a handful of phones around for variety, and even though some were technically better than others, it was still mostly just different flavors and I had various roles in place for each one. But the Xs have come in here and just changed the game completely. They are such a significant step up from everything else that none of my other phones have had any head time since I bought them last month. I've been having so many "holy sh*t" moments, and feel that they get me so damn close to what my Magnepans give me in terms of speakers, that i just dont want to listen to anything else.

I think the LCD-2s were a great choice, Milford, cause those will play nice and join in the fun with those other beautiful phones you have acquired. Heed my warning if you ever decide to upgrade to the Xs, though, cause I think you and I have always been similar in not only our taste, but also in how we both enjoy having a headphone harem as opposed to one phone to rule them all. The Xs are from another galaxy, and they will come in there and take over the joint.

Audeze is a fantastic company...amazing products, fantastic customer service, etc...

[Russtafarian]

Keep in mind the new LCD-X is easier to drive than the 2 and 3.  If you don't have or don't plan to get a high current headphone amp, the X is the obvious choice.

Also, new 3rd party cable options for Audeze headphones are starting to emerge.  Of those I've heard, Cardas is the most neutral, Wywires is the most open and airy, and Zu has the best drive and impact.  I'm going with the Wywires cable in that it preserves all the strengths of the LCD-X while nudging it towards the lighter, more open sound of the HD800.

[ajzepp]

I have the Hifiman HE-500 and it was my go to headphone. I also have the Sennhieser HD800 & HD650. All 3 headphones sound great and they each offer something special. I auditioned the  Audeze LCD-3 and there is no turning back. These have become my everyday headphones. I gave my son the Sennhieser HD650 and I use my HD800 on special recordings with my poor HiFiman HE-500 collecting dust.(they do look cool on a stand,LOL)

Go for  Audeze  either the new Audeze x or the LCD-3. It's only my opinion but I think ajzeep got it right you'll find yourself listening 95% time to the Audeze.

Definitely...and just to reiterate, I never WANTED it to be that way. The Audeze are just so good I can't help it...lol

[ajzepp]

I had no idea you could upgrade the LCD2 to the X.  How much did that set you back?  And, how much of a bump up is it in terms of both sound and change in personality?

Well, what happened was that I purchased the LCD-2 in October and found that most of the negatives that I had read about just didn't apply to me. Loved the beautiful bamboo finish, REALLY loved the ear pads, and of course found the sound very alluring. Shortly after that, I saw that Audeze had just come out with their new X phones...the X and the Xc. The reviews that were coming in were so solid that I decided to go ahead and take the risk, so I sent the 2s back within the 30 day trial period and got a refund since I didn't quite have all the funds yet. They charged me a 15% restocking fee, but said if I did decide to upgrade to the Xs then the'd just apply the fee toward the purchase of the Xs. So technically I still paid the full retail price of $1699, but they credited me the fee back when I pulled the trigger on these guys.

As for the sound, it's just absolutely perfect for my preferences. I would say that the upgrade from the 2s to the Xs was objectively significant. I was very fond of the 2s, but the Xs are without question on another level. Bass is clean and hits deep, sound stage is layered and on par with something like the T1s, which is my frame of reference for a nice open stage...imaging is spot on...microdetails are there in spades...beautiful top end...I honestly have not found a single thing about these phones that I don't like, and I can't think of anything else I'd want them to offer. No headphone is for everyone, of course, but in terms of what gets me excited the Xs tick all the boxes and then some.

Earlier today I sent a text to fellow head-fi'er Douger...I was telling him that I was watching an episode of "Suits" last night on Amazon streaming. All of a sudden I hear this very faint crackling type sound in one of the drivers. It freaked me out because I thought something was wrong...I felt my stomach drop. Then a few seconds later the scene shifts to another person in the shot who has a lit cigarette in his hand. He goes to take a drag and the very same sound was heard again. What I was hearing was literally the faint "sizzling" sound of the burning cigarette when he took a drag off it.    It's details like this that I have never heard in a headphone before...I was really very impressed by this.

The thing is, though, I could have been very happy with the LCD-2s...I ranked them slightly higher than my T1s and Grado PS500s...they are very beautiful, well built, and IMO very comfortable. It's just that now that I've heard these things, everything else pales in comparison...so as I said above, if you really love the headphones you already have, DON'T BUY THESE lol.

Not everyone will love these as much as I do, but if you guys read through the head-fi pages about them, you'll see that there is review after review of people raving....IMO, this offering goes beyond just appealing to those with a particular preference...it's been nearly unanimous in terms of people seeing these as a huge step up from other stuff.

[viggen]

I just acquired a Rosewood/leather LCD2/2 about two months ago and your reply is making it tempting to move to the X... Thanks a lot!   

Same as you, lots of the negatives I've read about the LCD2 didn't apply to me as well.  I think what most audio forum demographics deem as "musical" is slightly different than how it is deemed over at head-fi.  They are more technical in terms of how they perceive their sound.  They like to use frequency response graphs and such.  The complaints such as "too dark" and "too warm" are probably technically correct but are also characteristics that I find more musical.

As a matter of fact, LCD2 so far is the only headphone I've tried that does sound musically right to me.  Not the last word in detail or soundstaging but pushes my buttons where I think counts.  And, regarding the headphone being hard to drive, IMO, it's a very easy to drive headphone.  I can plug it in directly to my tablet and get very good sound.  My Audioengine D3 does a great job.  Out of the many headphones I bought and returned before deciding on the LCD2, LCD2 is the easiest to drive out of all of them.

[eclein]

Those X's look very serious, like super secret agent serious.......LOL.....I bet they sound great!!!!! Didn't I tell ya Zepp once you start into the planars or the HE5-LE's in my case they just make everything else pale in comparison. They had nothing to complain about, no flaws in sound.......its wild!!!!!

[ajzepp]

Those X's look very serious, like super secret agent serious.......LOL.....I bet they sound great!!!!! Didn't I tell ya Zepp once you start into the planars or the HE5-LE's in my case they just make everything else pale in comparison. They had nothing to complain about, no flaws in sound.......its wild!!!!!

Ed!! What's goin' on, my audio brother! I definitely have to give you a lot of the credit for why I started seriously considering pulling the trigger last Fall...as you said, that's something you had told me about in our previous conversations, and now that I've jumped into the deep end I dont ever want to go back. I never would have guessed that there would ever be ONE headphone for me, but I'm now convinced there is.

Oh, btw, you're also the first person to ever tell me about that ZO2...well, I've been keeping tabs on them cause they have recently finisihed up the design of the ZO3 and it sounds like quite an upgrade over the 2...hoping to have more details soon.

What all have you been up to??

[ajzepp]

I just acquired a Rosewood/leather LCD2/2 about two months ago and your reply is making it tempting to move to the X... Thanks a lot!   

LOL! Sorry 

One of my buds over at head-fi was trying to resist the urge, but last week he decided to see his 2s and pick up a pair of Xs...I sent him a msg to ask if he'd recieved them yet and this is what he said:
"They arrived today...dude, these are serious" 

[hibuckhobby]

Those X's look very serious, like super secret agent serious.......LOL.....I bet they sound great!!!!! Didn't I tell ya Zepp once you start into the planars or the HE5-LE's in my case they just make everything else pale in comparison. They had nothing to complain about, no flaws in sound.......its wild!!!!!

Hey Ed!  Great to see you back on board.  Hope life is treating you well.  Happy 2014
Hibuck....