🎧 Audeze LCD-X vs LCD-XC Headphone Comparison & Review

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✅ Check out the Audeze LCD-X: bit.ly/audeze-lcd-xc
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The @AudezeHQ LCD-X and LCD-XC headphones have emerged as some of the top picks of music producers, audio engineers, and audiophiles alike. But with both closed and open-back versions, which one is right for you? This video compares and contrasts between the two styles to equip you with all the info you need to choose the perfect option for your situation.
★ SKIP TO SOMETHIN’ ★
0:00 Intro
1:37 Should you get open-back or closed-back?
3:03 Sound stage / stereo field
3:55 Frequency response
4:57 Transient response / dynamics
5:39 Mixing on speakers vs mixing on headphones
7:44 Outro
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I’m a full-time audio engineer and a sponsored artist with Audeze. I’ve had a chance to use many of the headphones in their lineup. In this video, I’m going to compare and contrast between the two variants of the LCD-X platform: The open back variants, the LCD-X, and the closed back variants, the LCD-XC. I’m going to share my perspective as an audio engineer.
These headphones are very popular with both audio engineers and audiophiles - or hi-fi listeners - but what I look for in headphones as an engineer is very different. I’m looking for headphones that are as true as possible; headphones that don’t flatter or accentuate certain aspects of the spectrum, or certain frequencies, because that can impair my judgement and perspective and could get me to over-mix or under-mix certain aspects of the song.
An audiophile is typically looking to have headphones that sound as good as possible as an end listener, so they’re two very different perspectives.
The LCD-X and LCD-XC headphones have emerged as some of the top picks of music producers, audio engineers, and audiophiles alike. But with both closed and and open-back versions, which one is right for you? This video compares and contrasts between the two styles to equip you with all the info you need to choose the perfect option for your situation.
My perspective is based on about a year of full-time work with these headphones; I’ve had been using them day in and day out. I’ve had a chance to do lots of critical listening, back and forth with them, and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned with you, so let’s hop in!
#musicproducer #headphones #audioengineer

Опубликовано:

14 фев 2023

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Комментарии : 62

@forgehorizon9932 Год назад

Thanks Vesper! Glad I can validate my purchase of the LCD-X for bass productions

@warpacademy Год назад

Nice one mate. Yeah, the LCD-X are solid for bass music. Just watch out for the super wide sound stage and account for that in your stereo field decisions. Make sure you reference on regular stereo speakers to gauge if your decisions in the mix are translating. Cheers!

@pbenson56fran Год назад

Thank you very much for the information.

@warpacademy Год назад

No problem!

@andikerl2486 Год назад

Great information. Thanks a lot

@warpacademy Год назад

My pleasure

@horaziohorazio 3 месяца назад

one of the best reviews I've seen... thanks

@warpacademy 3 месяца назад

Glad you liked it!

@Voronguitar 5 месяцев назад

Thanks a lot for this comparaison!!!! Huuuuuge help for choosing the right version!!!! :)

@warpacademy 5 месяцев назад

Happy to help!

@Hasan-bl3fo Год назад

one of the most professional headphone reviews! I hope we will see a comparison with the MM-500 in the future :) Which of the two headphones (LCD-X vs LCD-5) sounds more neutral across the frequency range and has a more REALISTIC sound stage?

@warpacademy Год назад

Thanks very much. Glad you enjoyed it. I too hope to review and compare the MM-500s. That will depend on availability. I think they've been very popular and Audeze is shipping them out as fast as they're making them. Regarding the LCD-5 vs. LCD-X, that is an excellent question. I find the LCD-X to slightly more bassy than a perfectly flat response, and a bit wider than a totally neutral sound stage. That said, I sometimes prefer a slightly emphasized LF / bass response in my headphones, as it simulates what many music studios actually sound like, with some longer LF modal ringing. The sound stage is a little wide for my liking though. The LCD-5 has a more flat sounding low end and mid-range. However, they're slightly dark in the very top end. Their sound stage is very neutral. Bang on for my liking. The clarity and instrument separation is improved as well. They're a step up in terms of accuracy. They also have better acoustics because their ear cups are angled to prevent standing waves inside the ear cup. It's a unique design I haven't seen on any other headphone. I use the LCD-X and LCD-5 both in my engineering work and often swap between them. Thanks for watching and commenting. Cheers!

@rolardnb 9 месяцев назад

Thanks for review 👍

@warpacademy 9 месяцев назад

No problem 👍

@danepaulstewart8464 11 месяцев назад

Excellent! THANK YOU for speaking to us as an engineer speaking to other engineers. THAT is what has made this useful for me. 😎👍👍

@warpacademy 11 месяцев назад

Hey Dane. Thanks for watching and commenting. My pleasure. Yeah with products like this, many of them are used by both audiophiles and engineers. I wanted to offer a clear perspective just as an engineer because, as you well know, our needs and what we're looking for are different.

@JureJerebic 11 месяцев назад

Fantastic video, thank you

@warpacademy 11 месяцев назад

Our pleasure!

@ItsWesSmithYo Год назад

nice one, keep it poppin WA

@warpacademy Год назад

Thanks, will do!

@danielhipwell3607 10 дней назад

Been doing a lot of research on the x’s and boy they do sure seem to be lining up to be my forever headphone one day.

@warpacademy 10 дней назад

Hey hey. They're certainly considered the industry standard for professional mixing headphones. They're the most common headphones I see used by mixers and mastering engineers. I love them.

@danielhipwell3607 9 дней назад

@@warpacademy Vesper, what do you recommend for me to use with the LCD-X for best results for powering the 18ohm cans. Most people just use an Apollo no? DO you believe audio interfaces like the UA Apollo make much of a difference in sound. And yes, this is for more of a hifi listening config with potential to go producing in the future.

@warpacademy 9 дней назад

Hey hey. To be perfectly honest, any fairly neutral headphone amp will work great. Don't get lost in the details. Just make sure you're driving them from a pro spec headphone amp, like the ones you'd find in any professional audio interface. I use an Apogee Groove, Duet, and Element 24. I also use a Lewitt Connect 6. They all sound more or less the same. Cheers!

@danielhipwell3607 8 дней назад

@@warpacademy Hey it's Dan again, thanks for telling me about your audio interfaces, I looked up the Groove, that would do the job and portable for on the go listening as well! Thank you :)

@warpacademy 17 часов назад

Nice one. It’s great! Simple and small.

@aerialgrey2566 7 месяцев назад

Fantastic video. Thank you. Been going back and forth between the two. So I’m guessing for the genre of house/techno or any bass style music, the LCD - X is probably the way to go?

@warpacademy 7 месяцев назад

In general I would agree yes. But also remember that you can EQ your headphones to add more bass. What you can't do is change their ability to block out or contain noise. So I'd choose based more on whether you need open back or closed back. If you buy closed back and need more bass, just use a low shelving EQ to change the frequency response. Easy peasy.

@aerialgrey2566 7 месяцев назад

That’s a great point. Thanks a lot brother. 👊🏽

@warpacademy 7 месяцев назад

My pleasure.

@joeyf808 Год назад

I 100% agree! Amazing headphones, 3 grammy noms and 1 win for me, with them.

@warpacademy Год назад

Congratulations on the success! Which ones do you use Joey?

@joeyf808 Год назад

@@warpacademy Thank you!! I used my LCD-X ‘s and LCD-X 2021’s, Calibrated with Realphones, I currently added the MM 500’s to the arsenal. Keep up the great work, Love your channel!

@warpacademy Год назад

Right on. I love the new chassis that the MM-500s are on. Same as my LCD-5s. Very nice progression in their design. If you have the MM-500s are you not using them as your main reference headphones? I'd be interested in comparing the LCD-5s to the MM-500s sometime. Glad you're liking our videos mate. Cheers!

@joeyf808 Год назад

@@warpacademy I do use the MM500 as a third reference, much lighter than the X’s, also more comfortable, they have a different presence in the upper mids, different than the X’s. They were tuned by golden ears Manny Marroquin. Would love to hear you opinion, and see you do a review on them.

@warpacademy Год назад

Yeah, I've had my eye on them for a while and have watched Manny work on them with Audeze. I absolutely love the LCD-5s and they're my go to reference headphones. From what I understand, the sound is loosely similar. We'll have to see in a real world test. Where are you based out of and what type of music are you engineering? Are you primarily a mix engineer?

@leeahegg2377 Год назад

If I'm using SoundID for my monitoring path, is it makes no difference for bass heavy or not! Thanks in advance!

@warpacademy Год назад

You can certainly use SoundID Reference to EQ the drive signal, yes. Cheers!

@samire2151 Год назад

Superb video ! I am hesitating between X and XC. I can just buy one. I need to have a better mix. I have a home studio with some noise (not that much). I am Small Focal speakers. I am thinking that XC would be the best choice to cancel noise but I am afraid it make it too complicated to have a reliable mix. What would you advise as the less risky version in my situation ?

@warpacademy Год назад

Hey Samir. I think if you have even a small amount of background noise in your listening environment that you need to go closed back. Open back headphones will bleed in noise and you'll be masking things in your mix with the ambient noise. You'll probably be too tempted to override the masking by turning up the output volume, and then you'd be at risk of mixing too loud and getting hearing damage and ear fatigue. I mixed for several years, as a professional engineer, on the LCD-XC model because I had background noise when I was working on the road. I had all my clients approving my mixes. I needed to use reference tracks to adjust my ears and mix decisions to the slightly brighter top end, and narrower sound stage, but at the end of the day I was able to nail my mixes by careful use of reference tracks.

@samire2151 Год назад

@@warpacademy thank you appreciated 🙏🏼

@samire2151 Год назад

I am just afraid of these extra high and lack of bass that you were mentioning. What is worst between a well balanced X and well isolated XC

@warpacademy Год назад

I never said "lack of bass". They have lots of bass. Look at the frequency response. It's a very slight sense of brightness, and that gives the impression that they're less bassy than the X. There is no sense of "lacking bass" with the XC at all. You should really try both pairs. Hopefully there's a spot where you can hear them.

@palaHD 4 месяца назад

I want the lcd-x but am a bit confused. If I’m only using them when I’m producing in Ableton using a focusrite 18i8 how would I connect a headphone amp if my monitors are already plugged into it ? Also how would I EQ what I hear in ableton ? Or would I just use a plugin on the master ? Sorry for the long questions but thanks

@warpacademy 4 месяца назад

All good. You don’t need a headphone amp in that case. Your audio interface already has a decent headphone amp built into the unit. Just leave your monitor speakers off when using headphones and plug your headphones into the Focusrite. I would be very cautious about EQing the resulting signal. If you do, use an EQ like FabFilter Pro-Q3 on your master in Live after any master effects. I would recommend linear phase mode or at least natural phase mode. Try and keep any EQ adjustments to fairly broad Q little nudges. And make sure to remove the EQ before any renders.

@palaHD 4 месяца назад

Thanks a bunch for that man I really appreciate it

@warpacademy 4 месяца назад

My pleasure. All the best with your headphones!

@eLcHiNoChannel Год назад

(knowing there are no higher-end Audeze closed backs) - From an audiophile perspective, what would be the natural upgrade from the LDC-XC? - MX4? 4z? 5?

@warpacademy Год назад

Hey cHiNo. Happy to answer this. I've listened to the MX-4s and didn't love their tuning. I don't feel like they'd be a step up from the LCD-XC. Of course if money is no concern, I'd recommend the LCD-5s. They are the top dogs for sure and they're my primary engineering headphone that I use currently. Note the sound of the LCD-5 is darker, compared to the LCD-X lineup though, so you may or may not like that as an audiophile. But shy of that, I'd highly recommend the MM-500. They're built on the same new chassis as the LCD-5s, but they're less of an investment ($2,333.00). They're also tuned by Manny Marroquin. They're aimed a bit more at the engineering market than the audiophile market, but they'd definitely be a step up from the LCD-XC (albeit open back). Thanks for watching and commenting. Cheers!

@eLcHiNoChannel Год назад

@@warpacademy Wow... excellent. This is exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. Thank you! - Any reason you didn't mention the 4z? Wondering if you haven't tried them or if they are just not a direct upgrade to the LCD-XCs. I'd appreciate your feedback.

@warpacademy 11 месяцев назад

Hey hey. Glad you found that useful. I haven't tried the 4z. They have quite a few headphones in their lineup.

@Musictron Год назад

What about the MM-500 compared to the X or XC?

@warpacademy Год назад

That's a good question. I'd love to be able to comment, but I don't have a pair of MM-500s. I'll see if I can get a pair. Cheers!

@Musictron Год назад

@@warpacademy that would be great. As I like the sound LCD X when I had them for a year but they were just too heavy for me so I’ve been curious about the MM 500? The Neumann ndh 30 are a bit cheaper but are a good alternative… transient, detail and clarity in the bass is something they do well.

@warpacademy 11 месяцев назад

I have the LCD-5, which is the same chassis as the MM-500. They are amazing. I use them primarily as my main engineering headphone. I think the sound with the MM-500 is similar, but I won't know for sure until I try a pair.