Article: Review & Measurements | Audeze LCD-1 Headphones

[Josh Mound]

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[The Computer Audiophile]

Thanks @JoshM. Wonderful work as always! Much appreciated.

[AudezeLLC]

@JoshM Thanks very much for the balanced review with meaningful comparisons. Such reviews are hard to come by.

 

I also agree with your assessment that some initial impressions (though not the fault of the reviewer(s)) were enthusiastic and may have came off as hype and we don't have any control over the review process. This was in part  because LCD-1 was a surprise that no one was expecting. We managed to reduce the price point and also the weight while not sacrificing on tonality much and something that has been requested by many reviewers.

[jbparrish]

Thanks @JoshM for a very nice review! I have two comments. First since we’re talking about the audiophile “on the go” I think it would be nice to talk about the Audeze IEM‘s. I say this because I

recently purchased the  iSINE20’s and I totally love them. Second since we are talking about frequency response, for the audiophile “not on the go” and who has access to roon, it should be mentioned that Audeze unlike anybody else provides within roon DSP presets for each of their earphones.

[Ben-M]

Yeah, I also had a different take for "audiophile on the go", which was either the Oppo PM-3s or the new, wireless incarnation called Pandas. The closed back and wireless offering from the Pandas close the deal for me vs. the Audeze, unless "on the go" means "in a library" or "at my Aunt's house". 

 

I just wish somebody would knock it out of the park with some baddass noise cancelling on something like the Pandas. 

 

As for the review, I also thought it was top notch. Great comparisons, clear, and with a final answer. 

[davide256]

Thanks @JoshM, much appreciated that you stressed the LCD-1's in context of their actual use case portable/ on the go. Transducers do tend to have a house sound,

Audeze headphones always remind me of Conrad Johnson electronics because of their midrange tone color solidity. Wear comfort does count for a lot, as well as durability...

I won't buy a headphone with  wood surround unless the wood is grenadilla or cocabolo which have proven durability in musical instruments.

[Josh Mound]

23 hours ago, jbparrish said:

Thanks @JoshM for a very nice review! I have two comments. First since we’re talking about the audiophile “on the go” I think it would be nice to talk about the Audeze IEM‘s. I say this because I

recently purchased the  iSINE20’s and I totally love them. Second since we are talking about frequency response, for the audiophile “not on the go” and who has access to roon, it should be mentioned that Audeze unlike anybody else provides within roon DSP presets for each of their earphones.

 

8 hours ago, Ben-M said:

Yeah, I also had a different take for "audiophile on the go", which was either the Oppo PM-3s or the new, wireless incarnation called Pandas. The closed back and wireless offering from the Pandas close the deal for me vs. the Audeze, unless "on the go" means "in a library" or "at my Aunt's house". 

 

I just wish somebody would knock it out of the park with some baddass noise cancelling on something like the Pandas. 

 

As for the review, I also thought it was top notch. Great comparisons, clear, and with a final answer. 

 

I have to confess that I'm not much for IEMs, wireless headphones, or active noise-cancelling headphones. I don't have anything against IEMs philosophically, but I don't find them very comfortable. I've definitely heard good things about the Pandas, but I wasn't a huge fan of the standards PM-3, largely because I felt they were really finicky with seal to get proper bass response. 

 

As far as DSP, I also don't do much of that, either. Though I do think that Audeze's headphones tend to take EQ very well.

 

As Mary Crane says of coffee in Frasier, "I'm a regular Joe, and I like my Joe regular." That's how I am with headphones and speakers. I tend towards passive, wired on-and-over headphones and speakers that sound good without any DSP.

 

That doesn't mean I'm right in my preferences, of course. But I think that's a solid starting point for good sound. It's easier to fix small problems than large ones. 

[Josh Mound]

7 hours ago, davide256 said:

Thanks @JoshM, much appreciated that you stressed the LCD-1's in context of their actual use case portable/ on the go. Transducers do tend to have a house sound,

Audeze headphones always remind me of Conrad Johnson electronics because of their midrange tone color solidity. Wear comfort does count for a lot, as well as durability...

I won't buy a headphone with  wood surround unless the wood is grenadilla or cocabolo which have proven durability in musical instruments.

 

Audeze's warranty is three years on drivers and one on the rest of the headphones. That seems on the standard-to-generous side of things. (The most generous warranties tend to come from small companies like ZMF, in my experience.) Based on recent measurements of the same models that I've seen, I also thing Audeze has improved unit-to-unit sound variation, which seems to be difficult with planars, quite a bit in recent years.

[barrows]

Hey Josh,

 

Any comment on LCD-1 vs. EL-8?  I understand this would be from memory, with a caveat for that.  I have EL-8s, and am hoping with this being a newer model, that it might improve on the EL-8s sonic performance while also allowing for easier portability.

[Josh Mound]

On 5/21/2020 at 3:12 AM, barrows said:

Hey Josh,

 

Any comment on LCD-1 vs. EL-8?  I understand this would be from memory, with a caveat for that.  I have EL-8s, and am hoping with this being a newer model, that it might improve on the EL-8s sonic performance while also allowing for easier portability.

Yes, I think it would be a significant improvement, both based on memory and on Innerfidelity’s measurements of both. The LCD-1 is a much more neutral and much more comfortable headphone. Really the only area the EL-8 surpasses the LCD-1 on paper is in the sub-bass, and I didn’t find that true for me, personally, because I had a difficult time getting a good seal with the EL-8.

[barrows]

On 5/22/2020 at 11:50 AM, JoshM said:

Yes, I think it would be a significant improvement, both based on memory and on Innerfidelity’s measurements of both. The LCD-1 is a much more neutral and much more comfortable headphone. Really the only area the EL-8 surpasses the LCD-1 on paper is in the sub-bass, and I didn’t find that true for me, personally, because I had a difficult time getting a good seal with the EL-8.

Thanks Josh, that is good feedback.  I woudomlgove to have the lower weight, and more compact size of the LCD-1, AND better sound quality than my EL-8s...  I like taking some headphones on the road with me, so size/weight matters, but I do not really enjoy using in ears...

[david86bcn]

Hello, I have read your review of the Audeze LCD-1 and wanted to ask you if the LCD-1 sound better than the sine with cipher? I tried the sine and I was impressed by its sound. Do you think the LCD-1 will impress me the same?  I am looking for headphones to connect to my iphone and I want to know which of the two sounds better. Thank you.

[david86bcn]

I have also been recommended the hifiman sundara above the lcd-1. But I don't know if an iPhone will be enough (with a 3.5mm lightning dongle). What do you think?