Hey man you are my inspiration into the world of HiFi, I've learned a lot since you stopped making videos, but your passion and care for headphones got me into the hobby
I owned the LCD-2 (with the fazors) and ended up auditioning both the LCD2C and the LCD-X. Ironically, I liked the LC2C better than either the fazored LCD2 or the LCD_X. I like the minimalism. The wood cups never had anything to do with the sound. The hammock-like headband was actually more comfortable than leather. The pads on the LCD2C are softer than the pads on the LCD-X, which had a weird smell. When I first got the LCD-X, I heard something I hadn't heard before (hum in a guitar amp), which really blew my mind, but the longer I wore them, the more I felt like the high mids were being tweaked and the sound didn't feel as natural as the LCD2C. These are ligher and more durable. The braided cable is great. When you combine the heavy discount with the sharp focus on what these cans do well, it's a real bargain. You don't get the big plastic case. I don't need a military-grade lunchbox to go with my headphones. I went with these.
I got to try these and the rest of the Audeze lineup last weekend and I liked these the most, yes even more than the LCD4. I guess I’m just not a fan of fazors. The build quality also puts the rest of their lineup other than the LCD4 to shame Edit: do take my opinions with a grain of salt, I didn’t have time to do critical listening and I’m only judging by how the different headphones fit my personal tastes
Same hear actually, had to listen bunch of the headphones in the shop with price range from $500 to $4500, and was quite surprised that I liked LCD2C the most preferring its sound over much more expensive headphones like Focal Clear MG for example. They sounded so musical and engaging even considering that I could hear recessed upper-mids, so I just come back to them again and again, and after sleepless night at home, I just come back and took them home. They are also extremely well reacts to EQ, so with a click of a button you can make them flat and boring for critical listening, and they are quite resolving even within recessed frequencies, so for my taste they are perfect all-rounder headphones, and I don't think I'll go anywhere higher than that just because I have found something I love.
@@snowmean1 haha I love mine too, even bought them a gift as hand crafted balanced cable 💕, not using EQ I use audeze reveal at medium latency but I'm not even sure if it makes that much of a difference. Omen XIII - Anonymous deep bass rumble only them can handle, but they can handle anything. HD600 on tubes is my 2nd lover 👌
Thanks for the review. I read Tyll's written review and couldn't help notice he used the word, "bit" 17 times in 38 paragraphs. Seems a wee "bit" to many. That said, I regard his reviews, and this may be the one which influences me to buy the LCD2 Classic. I was leaning toward the Focal Elear because they are $750 right now.
Big detailed review. Well done. Haven't heard headphone from this company yet, sadly. I'm in the buy procedure of some good one will take this review under serious consideration
you should review your measurement graph for this headphone. and in every review. like your understanding headphone measurement video. do that in every review. there is alot of your professional insight that is left out
FWIW, I'll take the LCD-X sound sig over the LCD-3 any day of the week, 'dry' or not, but I may be in the minority there. Steve 'Zeos Pantera' also claims he prefers this headphone to the LCD-X, but its good to hear your impressions given that you are less prone to declaring the last thing you had on your ears to be 'better than the rest'. Thanks for the review.
Definitely minority, the difference between the lcd3 and x grows as the 3's are fed with excellent power wheras the x are sensitive and easy to drive already
My opinions after testing. Good: Almost never fatiguing Great dynamics and decays A lot of detail and good separation* Bass can have great oomph at times Bad: Separation some times feels disjointed Lack energy/aggression for metal etc Overall too much airiness Vocals/mids can sound distant Low end usually punchy but lacking weight Low end lacks detail All in all I still preferred the HD650 for almost all test songs. Source: Chord Mojo.
@@cirotube74 Yeah, technically yes, but I still prefer the HD650 sound and they're a better all-rounder as well. Faster metal for example sounds prettt horrible on the LCD-2C.
I just don't understand. I keep seeing people that are saying these are amazing for metal, actually seen people saying these are one of the best if not the best they heard for metal, and we are talking about people that tested dozens and dozens of high end headphones but every now and then I come across someone like you that just says they are bad for metal. Like how is it possible that people have such drastically different and opposite opinions on that? It's not even about subjectivity here because it's not like we are comparing two different headphones with different signatures. They sound the same for everyone because they sound how they sound. So they either sound good for metal or they don't. You are not hearing something others aren't and vice versa.
@@chrysio7 I wrote that early in my headphone hobby and I agrer with most of it still, but I'm using words unclearly and to be clear these are garbage for metal. The macrodynamics are rather poor and they sound slow and relaxed and busy passages get really mushy. LCD-X is far better, but still 8/10. HE6se V2 is probably the best I've heard. I have an LCD-5 and even that is a 9/10.
What amp would you suggest for these headphones? I love my LCD-2Cs. They actually sound really really good on my Lg-v30, but my main amp/dac for them is Audeze's Deckard. Also, I really enjoy metal, hip hop, and some EDM on these headphones.
Yeah. I listen to a lot of genres and they sound very good. I haven't found anything that sounds terrible on these because they're so versatile. They kinda remind of the hd600s but obviously warmer, deeper, but maybe not as crisp... You would have to try them out.
I think that had they kept them at $599 they would have had a problem keeping them in stock. That price mark was a good buy for the consumer because there are better headsets in the $799 price range and if you are willing to go up a few hundred more you can get the Sennheiser hd800 which IMO is much better sounding.
Should have included the case and some accessories, also at this point of time proper detach ear pads are the norm especially at the price they are asking . Audeze iSine LX next please and any info if they will build a closed version?
I just recently got the LCD 2C after seeing your review and I was wondering if the Little bear B4 would go good with the headphones I have never own a tube amp before.
tubes most likely are not made for planar drivers but maybe xD my tubes gain is set for 300/600 ohm when 2C are 70 if I set it for that range power could be too low
You gotta marvel at Audeze's audacity (no pun) to "bring back the classic LCD-2". For owners of the original LCD-2's and 3's (me for example), our drivers went bust a long time ago due to high fail rates of them at the time. So what do we do, send it in and they switch out the drivers and put in this fazor crap (many customers who were out of warranty had to pay for doing this) that changes the basic sound that we originally bought the headphones for. Instead of Audeze now doing right by these owners and giving them back the drivers with the sound they're accustomed to, they create a great marketing ploy by forcing them to essentially buy the same product again to get back what they bought in the first place. I have a $3K LCD-3 with the fazor put in after right side driver failure that I would very much like Audeze to return back to the "classic version" that I originally bought without having to pay for another headphone, otherwise, it's just a "classic ripoff."
The case Audeze sell for $125 is a pelican case that can be bought for much cheaper elsewhere. Paying $125 for that case is being a sucker. I agree that the price should be at $600 instead of $800 as I own these. They sound good, but are not $300 better than the Sundara which are $500. Not even close when compared to the competition. At $600 they are competitive, but at $800 they aren't.
I bought them for 595 € (imported to Germany) and I really liked the sound, but the bass felt inferior to my HD 650, so I sold them to a friend of mine. He has another DAC (I use the Objective2+ODAC and he has a Fiio something DAC+ Objective2) and told me that with his setup he has like 10 % more bass on the LCD2C compared to my HD 650. Seems like my ears aren't a fan of objective sound...
Lone Wanderer That's really difficult to explain, since I'm not that extremely critical when listening to music and there were many factors outside the sound why I didn't want to keep the LCD-2C. First off, a long warranty is essential to me and I've owned several Sennheiser products now, which all still work and are backed by their 2 year warranty. Now, I've read Audeze has 3 years of warranty and barely read any negative stuff about their support, but the number of driver failures as well as degradation problems worried me quite a bit. When I pay so much money on headphones I want them to work for a much longer amount of time than just the 2 and 3 years of warranty each offer, but I'd be 100 % certain that Sennheiser could easily give a 3 year warranty because the HD 800 S are built so well. I mention this first because I never really hear any reviewers talk about warranty of a product, but this is just so important. Another thing was the strange comfort I had with the LCD-2C, which was on one side really good and soft, but on the other hand much heavier than I'd like them to be. The first 3 days or so they were so heavy that my neck hurt from wearing them all day. After that it was more like a pleasing sensation putting them on, even without music. Like Tyll would say: "They're hugging your head". Coming to the sound this is a hard one, because I think my taste is more towards a little more bass than usual. At the time I could only compare the HD 650 against them and only had the O2+ODAC at the time, which might not have been enough for the LCD-2C to show off its strengths. I'd advice you to go to reviews for this one since subjectively the LCD-2C had less bass than my HD 650, but everything felt like it was simultaneously present, really weird to describe. I'm just not confident enough to say yes or no to the LCD-2C based on sound, as I need to re-test them together with my friend again. Probably buying an iFi micro iDSD Black Label for the test, so I can switch around dacs and make sure everything is powered properly. What I can safely say is that I think the HD 800 S has a really great bass, it just feels right to me, even when most people say it lacks bass it definitely has it if the music has it. It was only recently that I got invested in high end audio equipment, so yeah, I'll have to test out different things out very soon in the search of my perfect headphone.
599 is a decent price for them, so it competes directly with the dt1990, HE500, HD660, etc, since it's not perfect overall. But on 799 or even higher with the case. Just no... It's getting right into HD800(+mod yourself) teritory, or even just saving a couple more for the LCDX, which are way better again.
thanks audeze seems to be a forward thinking company: finally no more wood (amazonas, nobody seems to care about it)l no box pushed on the buyer and a realistic sound. and for the price , i think there is a lot worse on the market bravissimo californian brains
You've uh been doing uh headphone reviews uh for a long time. *Smack lips*, um You need to um take um a look at uh uh how you form words. Um, this review uh was hard to watch
No offense intended here. Thought I was the only one. He seemed to struggle a lot with this one, in terms of word forming and just trying to find the right words to describe the lcd2c in general.
Thanks for you I think I read between the lines , somewhere around 500 maybe a good price for these but I think a better buy would be a used pair of their originals around 200 or $300. Or wait for somebody to purchase them brand new not like them and then put them immediately up for sale after a few months and get them for around $400
Hi Tyll, Just purchased these headphones after watching your review. I'm in the UK and they cost £599 which is a lot less than the LCD-2f which cost £899. I think they sound wonderful. Actually a better sound fit for me than the LCD-XC which until recently I also owned. To me they sound better than the Elear (also own), with still enough dynamism to widen your eyes but an overall more musical presentation that allows you to relax into the music, similar to original LCD-2. I like them on valves a little more than solid state. Anyways another great review and cant wait for review on new Hifiman Sundara.
Jason Warren I purchased the last pair on Amazon UK, I was saving up for the LCD -X though, then this happened. I'm dreading to look at my emails incase there is "Sorry but we refunded your money" as there is no more stock!😵😵😵😵😵😵
Hello Sir can you advice me a great headphone with good noice cancellation but also with great audio? Are theThe NAD HP70 a good choice? I just bought the Sony Bluetooth WH1000XM2 but is was not a good listener experience. To much bass and the audio is not good in general. I am musician and I love classical music but also Jazz and ragtime music. I would be glad to hear your advice. Thanks in advance. Franco Di Nitto
They still make their stuff in the U.S.A. In fact a few months ago they announced on their website they were moving to a bigger facility a few miles near their old place in order to increase production.
apparently, if you had no exp with lcd2 hp even before the controversy fazor, you had no idea what had made Audeze famous , you would be hesitant to buy it and had to wait for a proper review or some sort. I preordered it no question made because I knew what i would be getting.
HellstromGR I'm considering these as the only one from the LCD line from Audeze. How do you find the spatiality, soundstage, and instrument separation?
There would be too much to say, BUT...Bought an LCD-X 3 months ago with the creators package for 1300 € (1200$ in US), and the price/value imo is terrific, unbeatable. The separation and imaging are imo absolute top notch in the category, soundstage is great but not a the level of the best of the range, anyways it will also depend on the DAC/source you'll be using. The detail and resolution is also at a great/top level, and probably the best of all Audeze line (excluding LCD / MX 4), and the most neutral too. The physical sound weight and punch is the best highlight to this drivers imo, you not hear but feel the sound (if that makes sense to you). Big advantage is no need of huge power, but will benefit a ton from high class amps; great all arounder with all genre, and with rock/metal, hip hop/R&B these just fly. Spectacular for gaming (punch), maybe even more sensational with movies. Carbon fiber headband is practically a must, so cool, so comfortable. Build quality is stellar. Will benefit a lot from aftermarket cables, and quite a lot from balanced depending on the amp. Etc...
correzzana1992 Thanks for the detailed reply. You just got me curious when you said "soundstage is great but not at the level of the best of the line". What do you consider Best of the Line? Also, very few headphones can do DEPTH rather than width, how do LCD-X perform on that regard?
Apologies for the late reply. I got the chance to audition lcd3 lcdx focal clear and focal utopia in a single day with my own setup (a2 beyer amplifier / ca dac magic plus / laptop with dsd and foobar etc). Unfortunately the creators package was not available and I had to order directly from audeze. I already own t1 from beyer which I find somewhat bright sometimes and ultrasone pro 900 for the bass and V. lcd x vs lcd3 : close but lcdx wasn't so bright and the bass didn't leak. LCDX bass went deeper with faster response. very punchy and nice. I was going for the lcd3 and chose lcdx instead. These are now my favorite pair. focal clear was a less bright t1. I would buy these in a heartbeat if I didn't own T1 pair. These are a work of art. Sexy and sound amazing and the package is really good. check them out definitely. focal utopia is someone raping your ears and the bass gave away on conga fury from animatrix (thats a 4k headphone...) Soundstage is there but not to the extend of T1 but the sound is soooo much more relaxing but not too much like the lcd3. All in all compared to lcd3 I preferred the more precise bass and the sound seperation/precision of lcdx vs the really relaxing, liquid or leaking sound of lcd3. But thats between them, compared to a bright pair they are very soft. Just buy them.
I've had a 2015 LCD2-F that I sold because I wasnt really impressed and wanted something even more laid-back (to complement my HD800). I'm so hesitant between LCD-2C and old pre-fazor LCD2.2 The only kind of comparison I'd like to see, but didnt come yet on the forums/net (or if someone has a link..)
Tyll, you tend to spend wa-a-ay too much time on how well Headphones perform for Rock & Pop music. "Punchy Dynamism", "Impact" , "Fundamental of how Cymbals sound" etc, etc.... are frequency characteristics that are skewed one way or another due to the general recording techniques & microphone placement used for this music. Believe it or not ,some of us , find the way most of this music pretty flawed sounding to begin with....... & you're going to spend $600 to "Infinity" on "cans" that will make this "Sow's Ear" flawed recording technique music sound more like a "Silk Purse".... Why ??? . On the other hand these Headphones don't need nearly as much help sounding good with less "Electrically" influenced recorded music, where the "Fundamental" & "Harmonic Development" of played musical notes are accounted for during the recording process . Yes, I know the saying "To each,his own", but most times little to no mention of the less popular music genre listening performance. (He,he.he..... although it seems someone who doesn't spend as much time listening to these genres isn't recognizing the differences of "live listening perspective" & "studio recorded" sound)
