Article: Audeze LCD-4z Review

[The Computer Audiophile]

12 hours ago, audiobomber said:

What a load of great news! I'm assuming the DAC3 will be formally reviewed? It's near the top of my list right now, second only to the Alchemy DDP-2. The Lakewest Audio L2 is the third under consideration, but it's still vapourware and looking like it will not make my deadline of October 2019.

DDP-2 Review is up

 

 

[MhtLion]

Audeze planar is something for somone.  From my own personal experience, I just could never agree with most of the people when it comes to Audeze sound.  To my ear, they were a complete a true complete crap.  I think it's because that some of us like me and perhaps Sonis cannot hear certain frequency from Audeze's planar drivers.  It never happened to a dynamic driver to me, but I just could never see a reason how anyone say Audeze LCD line up sounds good.  Because to my ears - and I tried - they were completely off.  I think it's just that some of us cannot decode Audeze's planar driver sounds like others.  Well.. just that's just my guess.

[Sonis]

1 hour ago, MhtLion said:

Audeze planar is something for somone.  From my own personal experience, I just could never agree with most of the people when it comes to Audeze sound.  To my ear, they were a complete a true complete crap.  I think it's because that some of us like me and perhaps Sonis cannot hear certain frequency from Audeze's planar drivers.  It never happened to a dynamic driver to me, but I just could never see a reason how anyone say Audeze LCD line up sounds good.  Because to my ears - and I tried - they were completely off.  I think it's just that some of us cannot decode Audeze's planar driver sounds like others.  Well.. just that's just my guess.

Well, there’s no doubt that we all lose some hearing acumen as we age. I can still hear 15KHz pretty well in my left ear, but my right one seems to be fairly attenuated by about 13.5 KHz.

on the other hand, I have three pairs of planar headphones here at home. HiFi man HE-560, Edition X, v.2, and Ananda.I also have 2 pair of Electrostatic phones:, the HiFiMan Jade 2 and the Mr. Speakers “Voce” model. I have no problem hearing the “important frequencies” from any of these headphone models. In fact, they all sound very good for their price-points with the electrostatics sounding the best, of course.

[MhtLion]

17 hours ago, Sonis said:

Well, there’s no doubt that we all lose some hearing acumen as we age. I can still hear 15KHz pretty well in my left ear, but my right one seems to be fairly attenuated by about 13.5 KHz.

on the other hand, I have three pairs of planar headphones here at home. HiFi man HE-560, Edition X, v.2, and Ananda.I also have 2 pair of Electrostatic phones:, the HiFiMan Jade 2 and the Mr. Speakers “Voce” model. I have no problem hearing the “important frequencies” from any of these headphone models. In fact, they all sound very good for their price-points with the electrostatics sounding the best, of course.

Or, perhaps we have a super hearing.  For others, Audeze planar isn't any different, but for us it maybe missing something completely.  I think an easy test for you is to try another Audeze LCD line up.  For my experience, Audeze LCD 2C was uber completely lifeless - complete lack of emotion.  But, I'm sure that so many raving reviews are also true to their ears.

[kirkmc]

All this makes me wonder, half serious, half joking, if reviewers of audio equipment should have their hearing tested regularly, and publish the results of those tests. 

[Sonis]

17 minutes ago, kirkmc said:

All this makes me wonder, half serious, half joking, if reviewers of audio equipment should have their hearing tested regularly, and publish the results of those tests. 

Being totally serious; of course not. Perfect auditory perception is simply unnecessary. 

A review is an informed opinion. It is not meant as an absolute endorsement or condemnation of any product. A review is meant to peak consumer interest in the product being reviewed by describing the product fully, pointing out its features and, when appropriate, its shortcomings. For that, a reviewer’s knowledge of the field, and his experience is far more important than his physical hearing acumen. 

Armed with a favorable review, it is then up to the reader to decide from such a review whether or not to investigate the product further. A person who buys, based solely on a review is a foolish shopper. When buying audio equipment, two rules should be observed: 1) Always listen before you buy, if possible. 2) if it is not possible to listen first, always buy from a dealer who will allow you to return the item, if it doesn’t meet one’s expectations.

 

 

[Archimago]

13 hours ago, kirkmc said:

All this makes me wonder, half serious, half joking, if reviewers of audio equipment should have their hearing tested regularly, and publish the results of those tests. 

 

No need to be "half serious", Kirk.

 

I've always thought that for purely subjective reviews, something like this would be essentially! At least the reviewer should have some awareness of their own hearing frequency range, especially those 60+ years old. I've seen some Stereophile equipment descriptions where I've heard the same speakers, but they seem to have missed some issues in the higher frequencies or not noticed what appears to be lack of treble extension. I suspect this is because of hearing deficits.

 

Not asking for perfect Golden Ears of course... But some reviewers seem to believe they have them when maybe they should not be so confident.

 

[asdf1000]

28 minutes ago, Archimago said:

where I've heard the same speakers but they seem to have missed some issues in the higher frequencies or not noticed what appears to be lack of treble extension. I suspect this is because of hearing deficits.

 

You heard the same speakers in the same room though?

 

Same speakers in different rooms can sound very very different...

[Archimago]

8 hours ago, asdf1000 said:

 

You heard the same speakers in the same room though?

 

Same speakers in different rooms can sound very very different...

 

Yes... 🙂 Like at RMAF 2019 recently.

[christopher3393]

On 9/16/2019 at 9:06 PM, The Computer Audiophile said:

George - Something isn't adding up for me on this. You sent the AR headphones back in June, but you took a photo of them today from what appears to be your place (given the GPS coordinates included in the EXIF data.)

 

Can you help me understand what's up here?

 

 

 

?

[kennyb123]

On 9/24/2019 at 8:35 AM, christopher3393 said:

 

?

 

I was looking forward to seeing the reply to this as well.  

[The Computer Audiophile]

Look for a full objective and subjective follow up Friday. 

[Sonis]

5 hours ago, kennyb123 said:

 

I was looking forward to seeing the reply to this as well.  

Asked and answered already.

[kennyb123]

30 minutes ago, Sonis said:

Asked and answered already.

Where did you answer that?  Obviously a couple of us were interested in the answer.  

[Sonis]

17 minutes ago, kennyb123 said:

Where did you answer that?  Obviously a couple of us were interested in the answer.  

Answered to Chris. The pictures were only on my audio system computer by the time that Q came up. The computer is connected to my 4K TV. It was just easier and faster to snap the screen than to go to the trouble of transferring it to my iPad, since that was what I was using to answer posts on Computer Audiophile that day. Happy now?

[The Computer Audiophile]

The follow up reviews are published.

 

 

 

 

[One and a half]

In early 2013, I bought the Audeze LCD-3. Sounded terrific, but far too heavy on the head. Persisted for a time, then enough was enough, especially in the summer, and bought Sennheiser HD800S, pretty happy with them. So the LCD-3 sat in a cupboard for some years until this year, took them out for a spin and condition check.

 

The Left channel wasn't working, debugged cabling, but turned out the left driver was damaged. Online price to repair were more than half of the cost of the headphone. If just having them stored caused the driver to fail, then would a replacement fail again or the other side fail shortly thereafter? An online search revealed the problem was very common.

 

The best day was to throw the LCD-3 in the trash, begone. Never again an Audeze to buy. Kept the Pelican case though and the foam to store HP cables, connectors, very handy!

[Sonis]

1 hour ago, One and a half said:

In early 2013, I bought the Audeze LCD-3. Sounded terrific, but far too heavy on the head. Persisted for a time, then enough was enough, especially in the summer, and bought Sennheiser HD800S, pretty happy with them. So the LCD-3 sat in a cupboard for some years until this year, took them out for a spin and condition check.

 

The Left channel wasn't working, debugged cabling, but turned out the left driver was damaged. Online price to repair were more than half of the cost of the headphone. If just having them stored caused the driver to fail, then would a replacement fail again or the other side fail shortly thereafter? An online search revealed the problem was very common.

 

The best day was to throw the LCD-3 in the trash, begone. Never again an Audeze to buy. Kept the Pelican case though and the foam to store HP cables, connectors, very handy!

I borrowed a pair of LCD-3 several years ago after hearing them at the San Francisco HiFi Show. I thought they sounded great! That’s why I was even more disappointed with the sound of the LCD-4z. I was aghast at the screechy

[kennyb123]

7 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

The follow up reviews are published.

 

Very nicely done, Chris! 

[damascato]

Sorry to say, but this review is a joke. 🤣

 

I have not experienced anything like loose bass, messy midrange or horrible highs. 

 

You didn't like the cans? Good. But you'd be very hard pressed to find anyone else saying that they objectively sound bad.
 

But, you know, my ears might be defective. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 hours ago, damascato said:

Sorry to say, but this review is a joke. 🤣

 

I have not experienced anything like loose bass, messy midrange or horrible highs. 

 

You didn't like the cans? Good. But you'd be very hard pressed to find anyone else saying that they objectively sound bad.
 

But, you know, my ears might be defective. 

These two follow up reviews might be interesting to you. 
 

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/objective-audeze-lcd-4z-headphone-review-with-measurements-r839/

 

 

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/subjective-audeze-lcd-4z-headphone-review-r840/

 

[Blake]

I recently bought my LCD-4z, with full warranty from an authorized online dealer, without hearing them first.  This review made me a bit hesitant, but then I read the review threads on other fora, with lots of praise from very experienced members owning all of the usual suspects of what are considered the very best headphones on the planet (Susvara, Abyss, etc.).   Some of the LCD-4z threads have been running for years and I wasn't reading any similar complaints to the reviews here and to the contrary, there is a lot of praise.  Sure, some of the posters on the other threads had sonic preferences for other TOTL cans, but I didn't come across anything extremely negative.

 

The Audeze 30-day return policy sealed the deal for me.  

 

Swapping back and forth between my LCD-4z, and my Hifiman HE-1000se and Arya Stealth over the last week and I am really impressed with the LCD-4z.  It has all of the technicalities covered while being very musical.  From a sound quality perspective, the LCD-4z is very much competitive with both of my Hifiman cans and in the TOTL/Summit-Fi category for me. 

 

I had Empyrean, HD-800s and HD-800 at the same time as the HE-1000se and I sold off all these and kept the HE-1000se.  By extrapolation, the LCD-4z for me would also be sonically superior to all these cans (and also superior to the TH-900, W3000ANV, EnigmAcoustic Dharma, T-1 and other headphones I've owned that were beaten by the HD-800 and HD-800s).  

 

I can't square my findings with Sonis' and Chris' reviews.  I am 100% sure they are both being transparent and honest.  My only possible thought is their review pair was somehow defective?  Audeze is known to have driver issues and that is why I bought mine with the full warranty.  

 

Bottom line, I am glad I decided to pull the trigger on the LCD-4z.  I absolutely love them.  I have no plans to return them under the Audeze 30-day guaranty.

 

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 minutes ago, Blake said:

I recently bought my LCD-4z, with full warranty, without hearing them first.  This review made me a bit hesitant, but then I read the review threads on other fora, with lots of praise from very experienced members owning all of the usual suspects of what are considered the very best headphones on the planet (Susvara, Abyss, etc.).   Some of the LCD-4z threads have been running for years and I wasn't reading any similar complaints to the reviews here.  Sure, some of the posters on the other threads had sonic preferences for other TOTL cans, but I didn't come across anything extremely negative.

 

The Audeze 30-day return policy sealed the deal for me.  

 

Swapping back and forth between my LCD-4z, and my Hifiman HE-1000se and Arya Stealth over the last week and I am really impressed with the LCD-4z.  It has all of the technicalities covered while being very musical.  From a sound quality perspective, the LCD-4z is very much competitive with both of my Hifiman cans and in the TOTL/Summit-Fi category for me. 

 

I had Empyrean, HD-800s and HD-800 at the same time as the HE-1000se and I sold off all these and kept the HE-1000se.  By extrapolation, the LCD-4z for me would also be sonically superior to all these cans (and also superior to the TH-900, W3000ANV, EnigmAcoustic Dharma, T-1 and other headphones I've owned that were beaten by the HD-800 and HD-800s).  

 

I can't square my findings with Sonis' and Chris' reviews.  I am 100% sure they are both being transparent and honest.  My only possible thought is their review pair was somehow defective?  Audeze is known to have driver issues and that is why I bought mine with the full warranty.  

 

Bottom line, I am glad I decided to pull the trigger on the LCD-4z.  I absolutely love them.  I have no plans to return them under the Audeze 30-day guaranty.

 

 

Happy to read you’re pleased with the headphones. If we all liked the same thing, there may be only a single headphone on the market :~)

[Blake]

21 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Happy to read you’re pleased with the headphones. If we all liked the same thing, there may be only a single headphone on the market :~)

 

For sure.  Headphones as a category of audio equipment in my view are by far the most likely to elicit different perceptions from user to user as compared to other types of audio gear.  There is no right or wrong answer, no universal solution.  Buy, try, sell, rinse, recycle, repeat until you find a combination that works for you. 

 

My comments here are simply one additional data point.

[Bill Kilpatrick]

I'm wearing a pair of LCD-4z right now.  I'm not having the same experience you reported.  What I'm hearing doesn't sound "shrill," especially next to the HE1000 V2 sitting next to me.  It doesn't have as large a soundstage as the HD800 (or the HE1000 I just mentioned).  It's not as fast as my SR-009 or my SR-0097a but the details it churns up are tasty.  

 

The bass is robust.  There may be a tad more mid-bass than I like but the bass extension is solid and it's both tight and impactful.  I have no complaints with the quality of the midrange.  If anything, I'm surprised at how engaging these headphones are off a naked MacBook.