If we include all headphones technically on the entire market, I'd say you probably have to go all the way to a full Shangri-la to upgrade even further in detail here, and I'd imagine also the HE-1, even though I haven't heard the Orpheus yet personally. Pretty damn impressive. Hmm, maybe at CanJam NYC 2020 they'll give me a shot at it
Great review! One thing I'm not clear on, did you feel that the THX 789 was a good pairing for the LCD4, or not strong enough? Which amp(s) did you use to base this review from? Thanks!
@@metal571 I mean, that's just an opinion. I love you as a reviewer and I understand that you love lcd 4 but you can be a bit more open minded about this right? You, resolve and max aren't the end all and be all when it comes reviewers, your ears aren't perfect no ones is, ishca and tyll still think hd800/utopia/009 are the top 3 in terms of detail, heck majority of the people think like this. You can read a lot of lcd 4 impressions and you fill find very few of them mention that lcd 4 outresolves hd800, utopia or high end estats like l700,007 and 009.I think for a lot of people, the statements that max made in this video contradicted the statements that he made in his previous videos and forums, hence the dislikes. And also the unnecessary hate that he gathers in general from Stax and zeos fanboys or the people who can't take a more blunt approach in reviews.
Even though I recommend a certain set of channels, that doesn't mean we are all out there to parrot the same thing over and over just to disagree with the "big guys" on purpose. I've never found detail to be a subjective thing either. The way I've always seen it is that the noise is far greater in the reviews for this hobby than the signal, so trying to make a point by saying the reviewers I like are the minority and therefore are wrong, just doesn't make any sense when you've sat down with all of these headphones side by side at home in a quiet environment and evaluated them for a significant period of time. Hearing something at a meet is nothing. Saying big name reviewers disagree therefore this review is wrong is nothing. Everyone will decide for themselves who to follow, but this is what it's like from my perspective after being a part of this hobby for over 5 years now.
@@metal571 I am not saying that you guys should parrot each other nor am I saying that your review is "wrong" because it's in the minority. I'm telling you only to just be a bit more open minded about any headphone not just lcd 4. You can't say that people can't accept how good lcd 4 is, since it's not a factual statement but instead a subjective one.I also explained some reasons why max recieved dislikes in this video, nothing more nothing less.
The 4Z is a weird product. The point of the 4Z was to make an easy to drive and slightly lighter version of the LCD-4. The problem is, in order to achieve this the driver and the trace had to be radically changed. The result of this is a massive hit to the detail of the LCD-4. So you are stuck with a far less detailed LCD-4 for the same price as a LCD-4. And frankly, I think most people who can spend $4000 on a LCD-4 can more than afford an amp to power it.
@@maxsettings7884 I am not sure if you are talking out of experience or just voicing people's thoughts. I own them that's why I'm asking. Never heard a pair of LCD-4s but I can tell you they're detail monsters so I honestly don't know how much more detail the LCD-4s can muster but I doubt it is much different than its sibling.
I disagree with your review . I purchased a set from a seller that accepted returns . The weight is only an issue when you lean over and the headphones roll off your head . You say typical Audeze but then you say the most detailed headphones which contradicts . Audeze is not known for detail I can believe the LCD-4 more detailed than the lower LCD's but that's it. When Tyll reviewed these awhile back he said something that really grabbed my attention . He said from LCD-2 LCD-3 to LCD-4 each model revealed a little more than the lower model but then he said it revealed what he didn't like about LCD and lowered his opinions about audeze . He was highly disappointed in the LCD-4 . I am heavy invested in Audeze and that really left a mark . I had to see for myself so I purchased a pair . My opinion is they sounded very good but not 4 K good more like -2 K good And that what the resale value seems to be . Audeze is also known for defective drivers and they have the worst Warranty support . People should know that replacement parts like drivers are almost the cost of the headphones .
Mr Future replied and then deleted his comments "Audeze headphones has gotten better over the years" It's true that Audeze has made some improvements . from the first LCD-2 to the LCD-2.2F . Of all the Audeze headphones I own the LCD-2.2f is my favorite and the one I recommend . Audeze however has the worst customer service and warranty consistency of any of the major headphone manufacturers. then I wouldn't know because I haven't had any failures with any of my sennheiser's (HD800 HD800S HD600 HD650 HD700 IE800 IE80) . The LCD-4 that I owned sounded good not great and combined with poor customer service and warranty not worth the 4 K they are asking . they also resale horribly . I feel if you are demoing you should listen to them for about a week because initially they sound great but after an hour they sour . Poet didn't know it .
Significantly more detailed than hd800?I thought hd800 was supposed to be one of the most detailed headphones rivaling utopia and was more detailed than l700 as you said in your review and discord.
@@maxsettings7884 That's fine it's your opinion and you are certainly more experienced than me, but don't you think "significantly more detailed"is a big word? Considering it rivalled utopia which majority of the people think is more detailed than lcd4. Even "more detailed" or "barely more detailed" is fine, "significantly" makes it sound like hd800 can't compete with lcd4.
@@akshat1287 Haven't heard the LCD-4, but my L500 is clearly more detailed than my HD800, and I do mean clearly. So I really don't know how he thinks the HD800 is more detailed than the L700. Perhaps he is confusing elevated treble peak of the HD800 with detail, but they are separate things.
@@SolidSpider195 L500 is a souped up l300 right? 100% People in discord (to my knowledge)certainly think it can't compete with totls in technicalities that includes hd800 which is by "general consensus" the most detailed headphone. Haven't heard any Stax myself so can't compare. But Stax does have razor sharp 10khz peak in measurements though.
lol these dislikes... In general, when people say that it's just a review is just a reviewer's opinion, they sound like a caveman snorting lake water. Yeah, it's review channel... that's the point. You get an opinion. This is a well structured review and that's all the dislike button should be for. Side note, I don't even love Audeze, but the most objective thing in this hobby is that 85% of its participants subsist on a diet of paint chips and rage. It just gets old seeing people disregard the quality or usefulness an entire video or written review over just thinking that something is objectively wrong in this hobby of all hobbies.
Man, I listen to all the flagship phones at shows (all aud, focal, hi-fi man sundara, meze, abyss, hd800, stax, etc) and I think because of the environment, equipment, music etc i just don't think they shine so much. I was impressed with the utopia though, so clear. I think I've heard these but they obviously weren't that memorable because I dont remember. It must be the enviroment.
Meets are definitely the worst environments to make serious evaluations. It's very important for every reviewer to point out that meet impressions are not too useful and should never be considered final. It also hurts that a lot of the time you can't use your own music unless you bring some of your own stuff like a portable amp or dap
The LCD4 blew me away on a 5 minutes audition at an audio show. So did the abyss which is super open. The Utopia left me very disappointed at that same show. Don't underestimate the importance of personal tastes.
i own the audeze lcd 2f and the lcd x .. and love them ..but instead going for the lcd 4 i would try the abyss diana phi because the word on the street is they are the best in that price category
Hey, what do you think about cables? I have an Audeze LCD-2F. And I recently bought a $300 6N+ OCC Arctic Cables' Cuprum Model. After 200 hours of burn in, I seriouslly question whether an LCD-X with it's stock cable, would outperform an LCD-2 with a 300$ 6N+ cable. I wish I could do the comparison. I'm really curious since everyone seems cold to luke warm on aftermarket cables. To my surprise, this 300$ cable is at least 30% better than the stock audeze cable. My point is, is that, if a $300 cable can transport your headphones into the next price category, then why aren't more reviwers talking about it? Now I feel like the stock cable is neutering the drivers.
This review really makes me want to buy this headphone to try it out. I was originally set on a ZMF Verite open cos it apparently sounds natural, which i like, but i'm worried the bass doesn't quite slam nearly as much as this headphone. I also don't know how behind or ahead the Verite is in terms of detail and resolution.. soundstage and speed are important as well. Does the LCD4 leave the Verite in the dust in these areas, or does it come close to the good qualities of the LCD4?
@@SoundWaveTrax I listen to hd800s with sdr mod and multiple treble eqs though so brightness is not a factor. The only dark headphone that I really think beats or is on par with hd800 is 007 in terms of tech ability. Susvara is the most detailed planar to me and it's treble is more annoying than hd800 yet I wouldn't say it's more detailed than hd800. The "Lcd 4 being more detailed than hd800" opinion is in minority honestly. I will argue that the 6khz glare and wide soundstage on hd800 reduces the overall detail perception since too many people are sensitive to that region of fr.
@@akshat3516 Maybe you define detail differently. I would gravitate towards headphones that give you smooth detail. I have yet to hear a dynamic driver that can really do that. They have this character of almost forcing detail into your ears and they resemble speakers more so than any other type of driver but with that forced detail there's often more grain as well, or whatever artifacts dynamic drivers typically produce.
@@SoundWaveTrax I would say that the grain the dynamic drivers "produce" is natural, many planars and estat that eliminate grain sound like plastic and liquid, that to me is not natural. Most of the good speakers are dynamic drivers I would say and they produce grain. If planars and estats were so superior in sounding natural and delivering more detail then most expensive studio monitor speakers would be estats or planars but a lot of them have berilliyum, ring radiator (same as hd800) in barefoot speakers, amt(hedd,adam and Eve), metal dome (high end genelecs) tweeters. At least in the speaker world, dynamics, amt/ribbon, horns are dominant, planars and estats for eg Martin logans and maggies aren't very liked. Unless your definition of grain is different to mine, I disagree with you.
@@akshat3516 I find that even balanced armature IEMs have that kind of smoothness that may seem less natural to some people but the detail is also seemingly more distant as well, not as in your face as dynamic drivers. I find that ultimately dynamic drivers get you that speaker sound you're used to but it's not necessarily the most accurate representation of a recording. How does a recording actually sound like? If you want to get philosophical, it actually doesn't sound the way the engineers heard it in the studio because even those speakers, as great as they are, are still not the fastest thing that can reproduce that music. So drivers like e-stats (will buy my first one in October hopefully) and planars are much lower in distortion typically but also smooth out some of the harshness. But do they really? I mean what if that harshness\grain is just an artifact of the dynamic drivers in speakers and headphones? We know they do produce artifacts and they probably do have a cumulative effect when music is playing. I prefer the smoothness of drivers that are not dynamic even though they sometimes come with compromises (e.g. lack of dynamics or excitement) and I can definitely appreciate the lively sound of a dynamic driver depending on tuning though I tend to be very picky in that regard. I don't even find the HD600 particularly pleasing to listen to other than acoustic and well recorded metal. They're still a bit too bright and have the grain that is typical in that price range. Switch to BA IEMs with decent enough FR and that grain is mostly gone but you have to get used to softer sounding drivers.
if was going to get the audeze 4 I would get a 200ohm version with black magnesium w/gold so the so it's not so heavy and silver dragon v3 XLR balance it and Dekoni Audio Ear Pads fit Audeze LCD Series Headphones - Fenestrated Sheepskin if audeze comes out with a magnesium 200ohm version I think that would be the best thing to do if I was going to buy a 4k audeze if it is more detailed than the HD800 and the focal Utopia I think I found my headphone if it's scales well with amp of course because I want to be able to upgrade with my gear but I'm probably going to stick with the DROP + THX AAA™ 789 LINEAR AMPLIFIER or a Monolith by Monoprice Desktop Balanced Headphone Amplifier and DAC with THX AAA Technology (Dual AKM 4493 DACs & Dual AAA-788 Modules)
At 700+ grams they are waiting for some serious personal injury lawsuits at Audeze. It's wrong for ANY neck, whether you feel it or not, permanent damage is being done.
@@pizzaplanet646 Average weight of a hardhat = 400 grams. Helmets sit differently. You're also not sitting still with those, same position, same muscles. You go ahead and wear this 700+ gram now discontinued because of the weight brick, hot shot.
I never really liked the audeze tonal balance it always sounds woody warm and nontechnical for me. The lcd 4 is the only one that is decent but only after precise equing. I do like the stax l700 more than the LCD 4, or even that ridiculously expensive abyss ab1266 tc, which is overrated and expensive. I don't know but most American headphones aren't spectacular with imaging or even tonal balance they always favor the bass more, and try to please with mids, which isn't accuracy. Anyhow I still think that the LCD 4 is decent after eq and it should have been a 1500 dollars headphone rather than 4000 dollars.
