A few words before i start with the review itsself:
I owned the LCD-2f years ago and regretted selling it, it was my third hifi headphone and the second one that i truly loved (Sundara, 6XX, LCD-2f, disliked the 6XX).
I am also a guy that prefers to have a collection of a few different coloured sounding headphones instead of one neutral allrounder.
I always had the LCD-3 and LCD-4 in mind after that, but i tried a lot of other headphones and no perfect deal for any of those two did come up. After reducing my headphone collection significantly, i tried to get one of those two, and always preferred to get the chance for a LCD-4, because a) the LCD-3 has that
treble spike at 6k and b) because the LCD-4 seemed to be the pinnacle of the old Audeze house sound (warm, dark, punchy, relaxed) that i liked. I never chased the LCD-4z since it seemed to have less of that typical old Audeze house sound. I also heard the LCD-5 and the MM-500 at Highend Munich and disliked them because of their shouty sound signature, they sounded completely different.
Well, look what i have here now:
Isn't that thing gorgeous?
The headphone itsself is heavy, but comfortable.
Let's hear some music!
AMP / DAC: It's somewhat dependant (i haven't tried it on a cheap dongle).
RME ADI2 DAC FS: Sounds very nice as a reference, but leaves a bit to be desired.
Spring 3 KTE -> Rebel Amp: Bigger soundstage & more accurate imaging (that's the DAC i guess), it does not sound muddy at all (which i thought it would, because the Rebel is already warm), all in all way more organic and inviting, also better dynamics, it's a big step up! A pure class A seems to be a very good choice for the LCD-4!
Spring 3 KTE -> Envy with upgraded tubes: Honestly a smaller upgrade, a small step in soundstage and then details, also a small step up in dynamics, but it seems the scaling stops somewhere in between the Rebelamp and the Envy, the difference between them is just too small with the LCD-4. Voices are a bit further away on the Envy than on the Rebelamp.
Imaging is crazy stupidly good (to the point where i thought i had a channel imbalance, turns out it was the song)
Soundstage is average (smaller on a worse amp), but because of the relaxed nature, the soundstage depth is nice.
Random thought: Zeos must have severely underpowered his unit in his review (it's also some time ago), on a decent DAC/AMP (which i think the RME is) it's good, on a R2R DAC + class A / tube amp (with transparent sounding tubes) the LCD-4 really shines. He did describe it as extremely aggressive, i think the opposite is the case when it's properly powered.
Here's a frequency response graph, but keep in mind that the LCD-4 seems to suffer a lot from unit variation, for me the treble is dark, but not "extremely over the top" dark.
We see a solid flat bass extension, a slight bump at around 1k, a very relaxed pina gain, and a somewhat dark treble without any spikes (i don't hear any aswell).
My main driver is the Hifiman Susvara, i also listen a lot to my Verite Open (VO) and the Abyss 1266 TC.
Let's start with voices, they do sound so sweet and rich on the Audeze, it's magnificent.
Both with the LCD-4 and Susvara voices sound godly, Susvara covers them from above, LCD-4 from below. It's impossible to tell on which headphone i prefer them between the LCD-4 / Susvara, the VO is slightly behind because it gets to aggressive in comparison.
The Susvara is so so so much brighter, the VO is still very noticable brighter.
The LCD-4 is very easy to listen to, the VO sounds aggressive in comparison.
Susvara is noticable more detailed (also because of the ton of more treble), the VO may be more detailed in the treble (it has "normal" treble, but it often "forces" the details into your brain), the LCD-4 never sounds forced or fatiguing in comparison.
For anything classical with violins etc, the Sus is just far better because of the enhanced treble which sounds way airier (which also makes the soundstage larger).
Susvara gets fatiguing with bad recorded music or with too much electric guitars - LCD-4 is perfect here.
The bass of the LCD-4 is really good and gets only bested by the 1266. The Abyss has an even better bass than the Audeze, but nowhere near the voice / midrange quality, it's also very aggressive, the Sus has worse bass (still on an extremely high level).
It also has very nice dynamics, not quite Abyss though, for electronic music the 1266 is still the king, its bass is unbelievable.
The VO is more agressive / worse with bad recorded music.
A few examples:
"
White Stripes - Seven Nation Army" 0:26 "
TTTaking their
TTTime" has way too much energy on the VO, the LCD-4 is perfect.
"
Saliva - Click Click Boom" The LCD-4 is fantastic at the start of the song and my favourite, when the song opens up at the one minute mark, the Susvara takes the lead.
"
Tina Turner - Goldeneye" 0:24 "
SSSee reflections in the water", the VO sounds too sharp, the LCD-4 sounds perfect, the Susvara does sound slightly below that sharpness edge, nowhere near as sharp as the VO but also nowhere near the LCD4, here Tina Turner's voice sounds even better on the LCD-4 than on the Susvara.
On well recorded classical tracks it's no contest, Susvara wins by a mile (
The Night Unfurls Ryan Amon Bloodborne OST) because of the details, treble and soundstage.
"
Iron Maiden - The Evil That Men Do" on the Sus is very busy, it's fatiguing (the brightness gets to you), it also lacks that last punch of dynamics;
- The VO sounds fantastic, also a bit busy, but the guitars have a nice sparkle, but not overly so like with the Susvara.
- The LCD-4 sounds sooo relaxed and fun and still engaging enough to rock out.
- The 1266 has the best dynamics but falls short with its voices in comparison, it's also extremely aggressive.
The peak (more like a small bump) at around 1000Hz bothers me on very few occasions, best example: "
A Demon's Fate - Within Temptation" at 0:16-0:20, weirdly only at the beginning of the song, then never again in the whole song.
Best genres for the LCD-4: Rock, Hardrock, Metal, anything not perfectly mastered, for
Symphonic Metal (that is well recorded) i prefer the VO or the Susvara, i need that treble energy!
So, in the end the Audeze gets bested by the Susvara in classical and by the 1266 in eletronic music.
The relaxed nature is also sometimes a drawback. For genres like rap, this thing sounds too easygoing. Eminem sounds too relaxed when he's spitting his rhymes.
I actually prefer my SJY Starry Night in comparison for his tracks, since this headphone has a slightly forward midrange.
I have a lot of music in my library that fits perfectly for the LCD-4. For stuff like Breaking Benjamin, Avenged Sevenfold, Emil Bulls, Iron Maiden, Airbourne, etc, which is a lot of my library, i had the following issues with my cans:
- The 1266 suffers in the voice department and is very aggressive (which is sometimes nice, but not all the time).
- The Susvara sometimes lacks the punch and gets easily fatiguing with its emphasized treble.
- The Verite Open is my normal choice here, but sometimes even that one is too aggressive sounding.
I don't want overemphasized cymbil hits or electric guitars in every track for a longer time / depending on my mood -> The LCD-4 is my new toy for that.
Will it stay forever? I don't know, but i truly enjoy it for now. I'm now at 5 headphones again (i don't count the Maxwell which i also love for its utility) and i don't want to make my collection as big as it was at one time (more than ten - urgh!). Every can i own has to bring something truly special to the table, which thankfully the LCD-4 does.
Conclusion: It's a shame that you cannot buy this thing anymore, i think it still holds a tremendous spot even in the current market (if you can get your hands on one).
If you like a coloured presentation and have a similiar rock & metal heavy library and want a relaxed headphone i can truly recommend it.
::SMALL UPDATE::
You need to get new fresh pads! You SIGNIFICANTLY reduce that 1kHz bump! It's so much better now.
I consider this thing now the best allrounder i have with the only negative point being the weight. It's SO GOOD on an Envy with
PSVane Globe tubes, they reduce the darkness (enhance the treble), are generally U-shaped in their signature and make the LCD-4 truly fantastic.
Thanks for reading!