Audeze Headphones for Mixing/Mastering with Justin Gray - LCD-5, CRBN, LCD-4, LCD-4z, LCD-XC & LCD-1 

Thank you :)

LCD-5's :)

For music enjoyment, of these headphones, I would choose the 4z. That said, the MM-500 are probably the best price-to-quality ratio. They are also the lightest/smallest of the bunch. I just really love the 4z, and how they sound.

@@justingraysound Thank you! This is the nod in the right direction I needed. I appreciate you helping me.

Good question. A tough call. I like my LCD-XC alot, but I would not consider them portable (they are quite giant. The Neumann closed-back can sound pretty good. I also like my focal Listen-Pro, but I would not consider them a fully professional mixing-level headphone. I still think there is room in the market for a sub 1000 closed back, that is portable and flat. Hope to see a great planar magnetic option come to market (MM500 closed back would be well received I would imagine).

Thank you Stuart.

They are one of the most lovely cans for home enjoyment listening. They are a bit bass-heavy / dark to be a mastering-level headphone. They are still miles ahead of most mixing headphones though. At this point, I would suggest the MM500 in that same price range.

Thank you, I forgot to say it is for mixing. Now I m more thinking about LCD X or MM-500

The LCD-5 are IMO, but the MM500 are incredible for the price. Incredible!

@@someoneacomputer1905 Hey. Thanks for asking. I have no financial incentive or requirement to recommend them in this video. I am an affiliated artist with Audeze, which means as a professional I have had access to some cost savings (how most endorsements work), but all of the headphones I have in this video, I purchased myself. Ultimately, I made this video because I wanted to. I had quite a few of my Audeze headphones before being affiliated with them as an endorsing artist, and eventually, it was my love for their headphones in my own workflow that led to me having a more direct relationship with the company.

Fanboy indeed! The LCD-X are likely the best balance of quality and cost out there. They are not quite as honest in the mids and highs as the LCD-5 or CRBN IME. I would use them for mixing for sure, but for me I would want to average them with another pair for mastering work. The X’s are just a bit brighter overall, which can be very inspiring to work on. For the cost to quality ratio, I don’t think the X’s can be easily beat. Hope that helps.

@@justingraysynthesis9082 How about the Manny's vs. the LCD X for referencing during mixing and mastering?

My pleasure. Thank you.

Thank you, and great question. This could be a video itself :) The next few years will yield massive advancements in this area. That said, in the world of Atmos, binaural is only one piece of the pie. Therefore, we should never look to replace speaker-based mixing entirely. Will it be more and more possible to achieve translation with headphones only? Yes. Will headphones be able to truly eclipse/replace an immersive system? I don't think so (at least not in the near future)....unless the art was itself designed for a binaural experience of course. I don't see speakers and headphones in competition with each other. They are different lenses, that show different things. Certainly, headphones are more important by the year, hence why I am so dedicated to using them in my work.

The LCD-X are likely the best balance of quality and cost out there. They are not quite as honest in the mids and highs as the LCD-5 or CRBN IME. I would use them for mixing for sure, but for me I would want to average them with another pair for mastering work. The X’s are just a bit brighter overall, which can be very inspiring to work on, but I found (in my testing) the need to make a few more adjustments to balance with speakers when I worked on them for longer periods. This is all in the realm of subtle of course! For the cost to quality ratio, I don’t think the X’s can be easily beat. Hope that helps.

So nice to hear from you and thank you, my friend! The MM-500 is impressive. I have compared them several times, and I do recommend those headphones. I think they are likely the best value available right now. There is a certain level of upper-frequency clarity and speed that the LCD-5 has, which the 500 doesn't quite reach, but I think the 500s are world-class headphones, and I would be happy mixing on them. Hope that helps.

@@justingraysound Thanks so much! They didn't end up being available in Vietnam at moment (and was gonna be months) so I went with the LCDX and I'm blown away. Might have to pick up some more at some point but these seem to be like they are gonna get the job done for a long while!

@@JaredLucow-h4w Enjoy. The LCDX truly are an amazing headphone!

Can you be a bit more specific? I QC every file I have put on streaming, and I am very confident this is not an issue. I appreciate your drawing attention to it but would be curious if you could identify a specific song, so I can listen and confirm. Please feel free to email directly as well through the website. I appreciate your time.

Hello again. This comment has been on my mind. I wanted to follow up and see if I can help to find what it is that caused the issue you experienced. As a mix and mastering engineer, I certainly deliver robust masters, but I always remain focused on delivering masters that prioritize clarity, and dynamic range. As such, I am confident that there must be something external causing the issue you experienced, but I would love to figure it out. Mostly so you can have a good listening experience to some good music, but also because I am always open to figuring out issues like this. As an experiment (if you have time), you could listen to a song directly on my website, and then the same song with your streaming service. In both cases, I do not think there will be any audible distortion, unless a DAC is being overloaded by accident, but I can guarantee that the files I chose to feature on my site all have healthy headroom and peak clarity. If you hear distortion there, there is something going on technically worth exploring. If you do not, and then you do hear it on the streaming service, I am curious what streaming service, and which normalization setting you may, or may not have chosen. Again, thank you for your time, and if you wish to reach out via my website, I would be happy to get to the bottom of the issue. Have a great day.

I feel the need to chime in on this thread. Having just listened to your interview with Matt Boudreau I became interested in your work. I just visited your website, listened to the tracks provided and completely disagree with the posters assessment. The tracks presented are beautifully mastered, w/superb dynamics and tastefully eq'd, no evidence of distortion. I sincerely appreciate your contribution to the Music and Recording Arts community. Cheers!

Thank you. I am sure that the OP had an issue with their playback system. I just wish they had a chance to hear everything properly :) Appreciate the follow-up comment.@@SlickBMD

It is a great headphone! (the M500). I think it gets closer to the LCD-5 than the 4. It is quite open and clear. Not quite as open in the top end, and therefore a touch smoother overall. The soundstage is also not quite as open/wide. That said, like the LCD-X, the M500 is a very good headphone, and really fantastic value

I finally had a chance. I like them, but I do prefer the highs in the Audeze LCD-5's. I also found the 30's did not fit my head just right, but that is of course completely personal.