My past acquaintance with the new headphones Audeze However, this review was much more difficult for me, not because there were three headphones this time, but mainly because of how remarkably different the products of the same firm were within the same concept.
So, I got three pairs of headphones... Audeze, models Sine DX, LCD—X и LCD—MX4All three models are new headphones, with a slightly different approach to design, the most conservative look is here. LCD—Xbut they also got a new headband design, with a separate leather band and a separate steel base (the same headband was on the previous models on the test) as opposed to a solid leather headband on old headphones. Audeze.
All three models are produced in response to requests from the recording industry and are primarily positioned to work with sound, but of course no one is stopping them from being used to listen to music. For their testing, I called for the Schiit Jotunheim headphone amplifier as well as some of my own techniques.
Okay, Sine DXThese are compact headphones, suitable for use with any equipment (according to the manufacturer's assurances). The manufacturer's assurances need to be trusted with care, and from the phone or laptop headphones do not show their potential, although they are equipped with a cable with a microphone for use with iPhones. But even from simple players they already play well.
The headphones have an attractive appearance, created in collaboration with the design department. BMWCables are flat, connectors are made so that the cables do not "stick out" at right angles, and as if separated from the cups in the continuation of their surfaces. In general, they look great. On the head sit like almost all other "overhead" headphones - that is, with a compromise level of comfort. But, again, the appearance and level of production is above all the praise. Very stylish and expensive thing - that's what impresses.
Sound is generally consistent with the concept Audeze - surprisingly dense and saturated. Audeze usually comes with a brutal appearance, as opposed to what we have here).
The scene is quite compact and doesn't go beyond the head, but still the instruments don't sound in a pile, but rather evenly distributed inside your skull.
The bass is modest (and it would be strange to expect the opposite), but very collected, well articulated.
I would estimate detail as average, considering that these are expensive headphones. However, there are enough details here, and the main thing is that they don't break out of the general picture. Tembras are well worked out, instruments are separated just fine, you can hear all the nuances of sound.
To summarize the experience of these headphones, I would like to point out that this is the initial, portable model from a manufacturer of luxury segment, I would even say image, as evidenced by the presence of a cable with a microphone. It is an option for working with a laptop, somewhere in the office or in the airport lounge. On the move, the use of these headphones is questionable - they are open and too gentle for the street. If you like beautiful and expensive looking things that will look good next to your macbook - this is it.
Audeze LCD—XOn the outside, the headphones are no different from the past. LCD-2Xbut I thought their housings were metal, so they're cold-touchable. Otherwise they offer the standard for Audeze a combination of massiveness and comfort.
LCD—X have literally struck me with their sound, which, in my opinion, has gone far beyond the usual canons. Audeze.
It's a very bright, catchy sound, the music is played with sweeping strokes, powerful bursts, the dynamics are outrageous. Headphones play very widely and expressively, with sharp attacks, they are very fond of percussion, copper wind and wood plucked instruments, where they show themselves in all their brilliance, and the word "brilliance" I mean literally. The instruments are fleshy, tangible, real. The tiniest details of the placers of percussion, the rough details of the timbres in the middle are perfectly transmitted. The dynamic gradients are huge, headphones are able to play. pianissimo and immediately bark at the hearing limit, without any audible sign of distortion.
PRAT - It's their middle name. They're very responsive and fast, and their precision in amplitude allows them to keep up with even the most difficult rhythms. The headphones force the percussive lobes, a bit excessive, but very attractively inflate the extra expression. Surprisingly, when the musical pressure in a recording subsides, they're quite capable of playing the music adequately, and quietly, as I thought, due to the fact that they very well convey the intonation.
Their tembres are firm "fleshy" and the music fills the space as well as the "bamboo" ones. LCD-2, which stood out very well in the last test.
The headphones are great at immersing you in music, making you trample and shake your head, and there's no desire to interrupt the track. In my opinion, even at a high price, these are some of the most successful headphones. Audeze in the sense of a musical return on an invested ruble.
Audeze LCD—MX4No, don't get me wrong, not that there's nothing to write about them, but when you look at the price tag you keep thinking, are they convincing enough? The manufacturer evaluated his product in a very round sum, but what's behind this bid? The case was complicated also by the fact that I had three pairs of headphones, and comparison was involuntarily interfering. To abstract myself from different impressions, I packed up the "unnecessary" ones. MX4. But first it turned out that this couple needed a long process of development, and that just like that, "in the forehead," out of the box, they wouldn't take the listener with their qualities. If you expect that in comparison with LCD—XIn any case, I needed a period of getting used to them. Don't expect them to make a lasting impression on you in the salon or at an exhibition, unless it's a special demo pair in a rebuilt path.
The headphones are a modified version of LCD-3 in every sense. They are lighter (carbon headband, magnesium alloy cups), have a more rounded and "soft" design, lighter load on the amplifier, the price tag compared to the flagship (LCD-4z) is also "lighter", but on the other hand - much more expensive than LCD-3 or much more expensive than LCD-X and as it seemed to me at first glance, we can say the same about the sound. By the way, the manufacturer declares that the headphones are quite capable of working from a laptop, because the low impedance as if hints ... However, really, the handle should be twisted by half.
Below are my impressions of the sound of these headphones after they've been worked on for several hundred hours, and after I've "worked on" them too.
These headphones are much more restrained than the previous ones, and this is at the same time their weakness and strength. The weakness is that on the first impression they lose to the flashy relatives, but in the end, such restraint has its beauty, and this is what it is.
Indeed, these headphones are more neutral in terms of the transmission of emotions, they do not force them, but rather transmit them as they are. However, their advantages lie in the greater accuracy of signal tracking, probably due to a thinner membrane. Excellent articulation, singing features, lip closure, vocal chords work. If the end of the previous headphones was PRATThey've got a flowing, singing flow, music flowing, I'd even say echoing streams, sparkling mass of details, with headphones giving a big flow of information, listening to all the nuances, but all of these are natural details that accompany playing the instruments, not an artificial attraction close to the microphone (although, of course, these things headphones diligently convey).
In comparison with LCD—X you can complain that the timbres, especially the male voices, are a little bit lightened up, and also it seems that the sharpness of musical events is weaker, but perhaps it's all claims to the headphones, and perhaps it's a signal that the path for them will have to be chosen particularly carefully. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the dynamics and there's nothing wrong with it, there's just no such unbridled removal, and if you consider that the manufacturer focused on greater neutrality, it seems right.
In addition, I noticed the following thing: the better the path, the more headphones' merits come to the fore, the more they immerse themselves in music, the more musical moments that can be called "halftones" turn on themselves.
After a few weeks of using these headphones, you realize that their hobby is the mood, the subtle transmission of emotional nuances, the feeling of the correct transmission of the idea. Such things are not immediately noticeable, especially in comparison with flashy relatives. Besides, it is not easy to characterize verbally, and this is the reason why words do not adequately convey literally the peculiarities of their sound. Something similar is experienced when a good DAC delta sigma you change in the system for a good multibit. Something comes to the music, but you do not tell about it.
Here are three completely different pairs of headphones, which differ literally in all parameters, from design and price to sound. The recommendations of some specific headphones will depend more on the nature of the person and the requirements that he or she makes for sound reproduction. The most "understandable" in terms of demonstrating their capabilities look LCD—XThey show you what they're capable of. I think this model will find its admirers the fastest. MX4 - they're for those who like to dig and listen to everything thoughtfully, with a diving. Sine DX - as the only headphones I don't see, but if you're a wealthy man who likes quality things, you should take them.
Information:
Audeze LCD-X: http://audeze.su/lcd-x/
Audeze LCD-MX4: http://audeze.su/lcd-mx4/
Audeze Sine DX: http://audeze.su/sine-dx/
Text and photo: Yury Volobuyev
