"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"
At the end of the day, if you're wondering about the value of LCD-XC, they are not the most expensive studio or listening headphones, but they're a really good option if you're looking for a neutral, clean, articulate and resolute headphone.
The LCD-XC (2021) does take DSP and EQ very well too, which helps address some of the technical issues with ear gain and ungainly peaks in the treble response.
"You could argue that this is a headphone for those who like their female vocals front and center but there is more to the LCD-XC 2021 than that. There is energy in this performance and flexibility also to EQ to balance it for your own personal preferences without it falling apart. Should you get the Professional Edition? Debatable for the price jump if you have some good balanced cables anyhow and do not plan to be carrying it in a box everywhere with you. Is it still a heavy headphone? Yup, it is, no getting around that but the new designs and very comfy leather earpads help a great deal in getting the balance just right. Overall, this is a unique tuning with a cleaner, vocal-centric performance for an Audeze LCD headphone, but also one very impressive closed-back planar headphone. "
We sit down with Chris Berens, Audeze's head of customer support and artist relations, as he takes us through the LCD Reference line of headphones. The LCD Reference line features our most neutral drivers, so you can edit, mix, record and produce in confidence anywhere in the world, from studios to bedrooms to volcanoes...
The Audeze LCD-XC are part headphones, part mahogany library. That burly look and their superb sound quality will set you back $1,799. But think of it this way: They're 3% the price of the Sennheiser Orpheus.
If you are in the market for a high-end headphone that will serve as both an audiophile experience and a brilliant studio headphone, then the closed-back LCD-XC is worth your consideration. This is by no means the newest headphone in the lineup, but after hearing it at NAMM in January 2020 at the Audeze booth, we had to get our hands on a pair to test in the studio and at the home turntable lounge aka the sanctuary.
