December 28, 2022
"Audeze LCD-XC 2021 is a very cool headphone and a very welcome step in the right direction for Audeze when it comes to proper upper-midrange tuning with good ear gain. XC does some things exceptionally well for a closed-back headphone – a very open and airy soundstage, good stage width and depth, really good left to right separation, very good imaging and even better micro-detail retrieval. But then there are a few things that restrict it from perfection – mostly the much airier than neutral upper-treble and leaner lower-midrange tuning. Luckily, it does take EQ well and I find it quite easy to EQ the tonal disagreements to my personal preferences. In general, you should know that closed-backs are not the easiest to tune and for that reason I find LCD-XC 2021 checking quite a lot of boxes in terms of getting things right, which in fact makes it one of the best closed-back headphones I’ve had the pleasure of trying, especially when it comes to technical performance. So, if you’re in the market for a closed back, I recommend you give LCD-XC 2021 a shot! If you’re good with slight EQ-ing, then I can recommend it even more easily, in fact highly! "