"Gaming headsets are ultimately just headphones with boom microphones. Different models add different features, like wireless connectivity, simulated surround sound, and lights, but at heart all a gaming headset needs is a driver on each of your ears and a microphone in front of your mouth. The $899 Audeze LCD-GX takes this philosophy to an extreme, combining an enthusiast-level pair of open-backed planar magnetic drivers with a simple boom mic to create the most expensive gaming headset we’ve tested. It’s wired, analog, and stereo only, but it offers the most accurate, detailed listening experience you can get in this category, earning our Editors' Choice for super-high-end headsets. That said, the $200 JBL Quantum 800 will still do just fine for most users."
"High-end headphones often have a high impedance and work best with a headphone amp. The LCD-GX has a low impedance of just 20 ohms, so it doesn’t require an amp to work well (the $4,000 LCD-4, for comparison, has an impedance of 200 ohms and effectively needs an amp). The headset worked fine plugged into a Google Pixel 3a XL, a Nintendo Switch Lite, and an Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 connected to an Xbox One X."
"The LCD-GX uses 105mm planar magnetic transducers capable of a range from 10Hz to 50kHz. They’re larger than the transducers in the LCD-1 (90mm) or Mobius (100mm), and are closest to the LCD-2 in specs. Planar magnetic transducers, along with an open-back design, can produce much better imaging and a sense of space than closed-back, conventional-driver headphones simply can't. This design and the engineering that goes behind it are the primary reasons this headset costs $900."
"The Audeze LCD-GX is quite simply the best-sounding gaming headset we’ve ever tested. It outclasses other high-end headsets like the Sennheiser GSP 670, the Astro Gaming A50, and even the Audeze Mobius in audio depth and clarity, which should be expected for $900. It’s wildly expensive and doesn’t have any unique processing tricks like other high-end gaming models, but for the pure listening experience, you won’t find a better headset. The LCD-GX isn’t for everyone, but if you have a very discerning ear and very deep pockets, this is the headset to get, and an Editors' Choice."
