Audeze LCD-X

The reviewer is highly impressed with the 2021 revision of the Audeze LCD-X, noting that it retains the excellent technical performance of the original while significantly improving the stock tuning, making it more natural and enjoyable without EQ. They consider it an outstanding value in the high-end headphone market, provided the user can handle its heavy weight.

The reviewer spent several weeks with the Audeze LCD-X (2021 version) and found it to be an exceptional planar headphone with impressive detail, separation, and flexibility for EQ, though it is heavy and not comfortable for long sessions. They note it is surprisingly easy to drive and works well out of the box, but the stock tuning lacks some low end and has a slight treble sizzle. Overall, they strongly recommend it for those with the budget, despite comfort and price concerns.

The reviewer finds the Audeze LCD-X to be an exceptionally well-built and balanced headphone, with outstanding bass texture and organic midrange, though it is heavy and expensive. He considers it a significant step up from the cheaper Hifiman Edition XS and believes it is worth its $1200 price for dedicated headphone enthusiasts.

The reviewer finds the Audeze LCD-X to be a technically capable planar headphone with excellent build quality and detail retrieval, but notes its heavy weight and a problematic frequency response that sounds congested and hollow without EQ. He recommends using Audeze's Reveal+ DSP to fix the tonality, and concludes that while it competes well at its price, the cheaper HiFiMAN Ananda offers similar performance for less money.