đŸ”¶ Audeze LCD-X

Thanks. I forgot the 2 was still a thing; it seems to be overshadowed by the 2C.

The dark horse is the Focal Elex, which gets amazing reviews. But for reasons I can’t explain I really want to try Audeze.

The lcd 2 is my favorite of the bunch actually lol vs the 2 classic and the x (the 2.2 non fazor is my preference but they are harder to find)

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Come the LCD X dark side. We have cookies.

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I’ve owned the LCD-2 (pre-fazor) , LCD-X, and LCD-3F
 I ditched the 2’s after the X’s came out and was never happier. I purchased the 3’s a bit later and am very happy with them. I have the HP3s now and feel like I need a different amp/dac solution to love them (will try RebelAmp). At this point I listen to the X’s 60% of the time the 3’s 30% of the time and HP3s 10% of the time. I find that with the Lyr if I roll my “best tubes” into them it really wakes up the X’s which can be a bit dark. The 3’s are great for live music, blue grass, or anything else instrumental focused while the X’s are more adaptable across genres.

The HP3s are almost too bright as I’m very sensitive to the highs/tweeter response on speakers. Metal dome tweets drive me crazy so I avoid any bright cans.

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The HP-3’s are an odd outlier and only just now starting to get used to them. Then need a solid state amp that is a bit smooth and could benefit from warmth an touch on smoothing out weird highs. I would recommend a Liquid Spark with them and you should enjoy them quite well. To battle darkness of the LCD X I am searching high and low for a better chain for it than an Bifrost 2 -> RNHP but I’m thinking it might not be possible.

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I was looking at this little guy for the X’s. Adding this to the RNHP might be good since the RNHP already pairs well with them, but they still need a little eq.

https://www.schiit.com/products/loki

That is personal preference and the Loki really hasn’t helped that much. With that said, it’s still really nice and I abuse the bypass switch with it. I really like having the the heresy with the loki.

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so what’s the price I should look for if considering a (used) LCD X
Went today to an audio store and they’d sold both the DT1990 and the Neumanns just hours before I got there! :frowning:
They have Audezes (LCD 2C at $550 and the LCD X at $860).
The first ones I suspect would be too dark for me, I’m looking for natural timbre (not necessarily flat).

I think the 850 range is pretty fair if it’s the creators package, more if it comes with the case and bal cable

Do you (still) have the LCD X? How is it compared to something like the DT1990 or the Elex?
Are the mids recessed, bass overpowering etc, vocals?

I don’t have an lcd x on hand atm, but if I had to compare to the 1990, the 1990 is more aggressive, wider and also more aggressive in it’s staging, more elevated treble, not as linear in the midrange and bass as the lcd x, although I actually think the 1990 might have a tad more extension but it doesn’t matter too much, neither are bloated in the bass. For speed, I think the lcd x is a speedier headphone with better separation and quicker transients, also more impactful and detailed, with a bit more smoother sound than the 1990. I think the lcd x is in a higher tier of headphone for sure but the 1990 still holds it’s own in some aspects imo

For the elex, the elex and the lcd x might actually be on a similar tier of detail, but the lcd x is more forward in it’s detail. The lcd x is more neutral where the elex is more mildly w shaped. The elex is easily more dynamic, and also pretty different in spatial recreation where it’s more of a sphere around your head, whereas the lcd x is more traditional in it’s staging. They are some pretty different headphones tbh (I can go more into this one later)

This has been dependent on batch variance lol, but generally they have a more linear midrange with also pretty flat bass, not the most extension but not too little to bother me. For vocals, they are pretty nice but not the main highlight of the headphone imo, they are pretty vocal neutral to where they don’t really pop out, but also aren’t masked by other aspects of a track. Soundstage width is smaller than you would think compared with other audeze (it’s pretty different than most of the audeze in this range tbh), but it does have great layering and imaging is pretty precise, so it doesn’t bother me too much. Overall it’s pretty neutral and no nonsense, but is still an enjoyable listen.

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Amazingly clear and concise, thank you!
However, I know it sounds absurd but I just called the same audio store a second ago and they’d sold the LCD X! I can’t believe this crap :rofl:
It’s like somebody is tracking my hifi-hunts and purposefully beating me to it.

FFS. how does this happen


Just head to headfi amp classifieds every other day and a pair will pop up
 I see 3-5 per week popup with a good price.

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Seems like you are being watched lol

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yeah, but I’m from the EU. Most of that stuff is US-based and import fees are murder :confused:

ah sorry I missed that
 you could try posted a WTB LCD-X EU Thread on that forum
 There are some EU listings from time to time.

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Use the web hifishark.com and filter by Europe. You will find used stuff here in the old continent.

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I recently became an owner of LCD-X. Tried it out of my RME ADI-2 DAC and coming from generally warm and relaxed headphones I found it quite weird sounding. I was about to return them but I found out how to use the EQ settings on the RME and lets say to give it a second chance. I used metal571 settings and based on them I applied the EQ with minor tweaks after long sessions listening on the RME and the difference was night and day. Its nothing artificial at all and the headphone does whatever I would ask for. This headphone has some serious capabilities especially in bass region. Ofcourse you are paying so much money for a headphone and better sounds good stock, but what I am getting right now is what I was looking for, so the only thing a maybe add at the future will be a RNHP at the chain and thats it for me.

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How cool is it, to have Michael Jackson singing background vocal on your one-hit-wonder

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