🎧 Audeze LCD-X vs LCD-XC Headphone Comparison & Review

[@Voronguitar]

Thanks a lot for this comparaison!!!! Huuuuuge help for choosing the right version!!!! :)

[@warpacademy]

Happy to help!

[@forgehorizon9932]

Thanks Vesper! Glad I can validate my purchase of the LCD-X for bass productions

[@warpacademy]

Nice one mate. Yeah, the LCD-X are solid for bass music. Just watch out for the super wide sound stage and account for that in your stereo field decisions. Make sure you reference on regular stereo speakers to gauge if your decisions in the mix are translating. Cheers!

[@Hasan-bl3fo]

one of the most professional headphone reviews! I hope we will see a comparison with the MM-500 in the future :) Which of the two headphones (LCD-X vs LCD-5) sounds more neutral across the frequency range and has a more REALISTIC sound stage?

[@warpacademy]

Thanks very much. Glad you enjoyed it. I too hope to review and compare the MM-500s. That will depend on availability. I think they've been very popular and Audeze is shipping them out as fast as they're making them. Regarding the LCD-5 vs. LCD-X, that is an excellent question. I find the LCD-X to slightly more bassy than a perfectly flat response, and a bit wider than a totally neutral sound stage. That said, I sometimes prefer a slightly emphasized LF / bass response in my headphones, as it simulates what many music studios actually sound like, with some longer LF modal ringing. The sound stage is a little wide for my liking though. The LCD-5 has a more flat sounding low end and mid-range. However, they're slightly dark in the very top end. Their sound stage is very neutral. Bang on for my liking. The clarity and instrument separation is improved as well. They're a step up in terms of accuracy. They also have better acoustics because their ear cups are angled to prevent standing waves inside the ear cup. It's a unique design I haven't seen on any other headphone. I use the LCD-X and LCD-5 both in my engineering work and often swap between them. Thanks for watching and commenting. Cheers!

[@danepaulstewart8464]

Excellent! THANK YOU for speaking to us as an engineer speaking to other engineers. THAT is what has made this useful for me. 😎👍👍

[@warpacademy]

Hey Dane. Thanks for watching and commenting. My pleasure. Yeah with products like this, many of them are used by both audiophiles and engineers. I wanted to offer a clear perspective just as an engineer because, as you well know, our needs and what we're looking for are different.

[@horaziohorazio]

one of the best reviews I've seen... thanks

[@warpacademy]

Glad you liked it!

[@ciccio7239]

Hello! First of all, congratulations on the excellent review I wanted to ask you for some advice For personal reasons I am about to move house, the new studio will not have an ideal acoustic treatment like the previous one, so for practicality reasons I will work exclusively with headphones at the beginning! At the beginning I thought about the LCD-X, but next to the study room, there is the living room which, having the TV, can be heard, annoying me during the mix In my case I was thinking of the LCD-XC To make them linear and correct them, I will use calibration and emulation software such as: Sienna Pro, Realphone, Sonarworks etc... To give them the right power I will power them with a dedicated Pre, so not connected to the sound card Regarding the Pre, do you have any models to suggest? Thanks for any advice you can give me!

[@warpacademy]

Hey hey. Glad you found this useful. I can definitely share some insights. I would use software like Sienna Pro or CanOpener only. Don't mess with "calibration" general profiles with these. They'll ruin them. Audeze cans sound amazing and need only gentle manual tuning you can do with any parametric EQ plugin. I would use the apps for the crossfeed feature only, to emulate a stereo pair of speakers, and perhaps some very mild room ambience (emphasis on VERY - because the last thing you want to do is swamp your sound with reflections which would never be there in a real acoustically treated studio). For EQ, I would give these a high shelf attenuation above 10 kHz of several dB as they are bright sounding. Then I would give them a bass lift under 100 Hz, again by a couple dB. Adjust to taste. Regarding the pre, don't bother. Audiophiles will fuss with that stuff all day long and tell you it's needed, but they are trying do hi fi listening. That's now what we need as producers and engineers to make music. You don't want something adding unnatural "warmth" or color that's only there on that pre. What you DO need is a professional, clean, transparent DAC with a headphone amp. Easily done. All modern audio interfaces have that. Plug them directly into your audio interface headphone output and be done with it. As long as you have a pro-spec interface, or even a good pro-sumer one. It'll do the job just fine. I personally use an Apogee Groove, Apogee Element, and Apogee Duet. They're not the most expensive out there. I don't use a pre. And I do this professionally day in and day out. Hell, I could even mix with them plugged into my macbook headphone port if I really needed to. The difference is not huge.

[@ciccio7239]

@@warpacademy You were very kind in answering me also focusing on the Eq parameters and the fact of using Sienna or CanOpener only as a crossfeed! Regarding the Pre choice, I would like to be on the safe side because I don't have a good interface, I use a Behringer Wing for mixing and recording, an excellent controller and console, but it only has a basic resolution of 24 bit and 48 khz, but its Pre doesn't give me the idea of ​​being Pro So given the fairly high investment, I wouldn't want to make a mistake on the quality and performance Some colleagues have recommended the LCD-X with a Topping A90D PRE Now, however, having seen your review of the LCD-XC, I'm convincing myself that they are the right ones for me, being closed Except that reading and seeing various reviews around, they say that the LCD-XC are more suitable for recording and editing, rather than Mix and Mastering But that the LCD-X or the MM500 are the ones suitable for Mix and Mastering So I wonder which one to choose? Before selling myself a kidney? Thanks!

[@warpacademy]

Hey hey. Happy to help. I will reiterate. Using a pre is a big WASTE OF MONEY. Don't do it man. 24 bit, 48 kHz output spec is completely fine. That's what I use. I never go above 48 kHz. Not needed IMO. For the price of your Topping A90D Pre, you could easily just buy an entirely new pro-spec interface / DAC like an Apogee Groove (which is actually portable and bus powered so you can use your headphones on the road without carrying around something the size of a brick) or a Duet. A good audio interface has a really nice, totally suitable headphone amp built in. LCD-X and MM-500s are both open back. The only closed back is the LCD-XC. If you need to block out the TV, that's your only option. Then just EQ them like I said. If you can go open back, I find the LCD-X has more bass (which I like), but an accentuated stereo sound stage with is a bit hyped. The MM-500s are very true and accurate. I do boost their LF a bit under 80 Hz. I prefer the chassis of the MM-500. It's smaller, lighter and really nice. Unlike a lot of people who complain about the weight of the X series, I do not find them too heavy. It's just the newer chassis on the MM-500s and LCD-5 is really amazing. Not sure if that alone is worth the price difference tho.

[@danielhipwell3607]

Been doing a lot of research on the x’s and boy they do sure seem to be lining up to be my forever headphone one day.

[@warpacademy]

Hey hey. They're certainly considered the industry standard for professional mixing headphones. They're the most common headphones I see used by mixers and mastering engineers. I love them.

[@danielhipwell3607]

@@warpacademy Vesper, what do you recommend for me to use with the LCD-X for best results for powering the 18ohm cans. Most people just use an Apollo no? DO you believe audio interfaces like the UA Apollo make much of a difference in sound. And yes, this is for more of a hifi listening config with potential to go producing in the future.

[@warpacademy]

Hey hey. To be perfectly honest, any fairly neutral headphone amp will work great. Don't get lost in the details. Just make sure you're driving them from a pro spec headphone amp, like the ones you'd find in any professional audio interface. I use an Apogee Groove, Duet, and Element 24. I also use a Lewitt Connect 6. They all sound more or less the same. Cheers!

[@danielhipwell3607]

@@warpacademy Hey it's Dan again, thanks for telling me about your audio interfaces, I looked up the Groove, that would do the job and portable for on the go listening as well! Thank you :)

[@warpacademy]

Nice one. It’s great! Simple and small.

[@JureJerebic]

Fantastic video, thank you

[@warpacademy]

Our pleasure!

[@sergeyleps8492]

Hello! Finally I found a professional video where they accurately and concisely explained the DIFFERENCE between these two models. Thank you very much for this work! I have a question: 1) Do you use EQ of any programs to correct the frequency response (and is it necessary for the X series)? 2) Do you use virtual rooms/plugin to understand the space in headphones - as we hear from our monitor speakers? For example, do you use the plugin from Acustica Audio called "Sienna".? Thank you.

[@warpacademy]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the comment. To answer your question, I don’t find that I’ve yet wanted any EQ on the X open. The XC closed is a bit bright up top so I would knock off a little upper HF with EQ. I’ve not used the Acustica plugin but I have used Waves NX (don’t get it) and CanOpener and now Sonarworks SoundID Reference with the new virtual monitoring add on. I like CanOpener for the crossfeed. Room sims are hit and miss. Most add way too much ambience with too much decay. You have to be very careful with it which acoustic space you use. If you do, use a very good acoustically treated mix or mastering studio as the room sim. Something with even and short decay time across all frequencies. Most “room models” don’t do this.

[@sergeyleps8492]

@@warpacademy Wow, that's some complicated information for me. So without room simulation and crosstalk, it's not possible to fully work with the open X series? -Waves NX, you absolutely didn't like it? It's useless? -CanOpener - sorry, I don't even know what it is. Do you have a link to it? Is it a DAW plugin? Thank you very much for your help!

[@warpacademy]

Hey hey. With headphones, they sound very different than regular stereo speakers, so you have to tweak them if you want them to sound even remotely the same. Headphones are binaural, coming into the ears discretely at 90 degrees. Stereo speakers have a 30 degree toe in, and are not discrete, meaning sound from the left speaker will reach both the left and right ears, just with a delay. This is called crosstalk. And headphones don't have any reflections from a real room, meaning they sound unnaturally dead in comparison. So it can be useful to add a room sim which is just adding crosstalk and reflected energy. CanOpener is here: goodhertz.com/canopener-studio/. it's a plugin. I would recommend using a crosstalk plugin for working with any headphones. Room sim is a matter of personal taste, but it is more realistic if you want your mixes to translate to stereo. NX, I just don't like Waves as a company. This is why: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYDVipSoqLGer68 Cheers!

[@sergeyleps8492]

@@warpacademy Thank you again for your practical input and help! This is very valuable for me. Since I have never worked with headphones in 18 years of working in the studio. - In your last message you also noted "Sonarworks SoundID Reference". Now you work with this plugin? Or is it some special program? Do you have the names of your favorite Presets/rooms for these plugins? - So you completely abandoned the EQ of your Audeze LCD-X? You are not the first who came to this decision. I also read from some serious engineers that they completely abandoned EQ for their Audeze LCD-X, and also abandoned Room Emulation (perhaps room emulations introduce their own EQ and change the sound of the Audeze LCD-X, and they did not like this in their work). Thanks again and I wish you all the best.

[@warpacademy]

Hey Sergey. Glad that's helpful. Sonarworks SoundID Reference is both a plugin and standalone app for speaker/room and headphone calibration. See my videos on it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jobbaaF6ns6Np80 and here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qH3Vi5eXnc12eac Regarding headphones and Audeze and EQ. Most headphones need EQ and calibration (because of all the reasons I mention in my video above). However, Audeze headphones are extremely good, with well matched drivers, and are well tuned. I would EQ some of their models (for example my Audeze LCD-5s are very dark in the top end so I would add some HF boost to them). However the LCD-X sound very neutral to me and actually are quite similar to the sound of my control room with my Neumann KH-420s. I just don't feel like I need to EQ them at all. That's a matter of personal taste. If you can mix on them, and they sound flat, or at least sound like the balance you want to hear as an engineer, don't touch them. In general, don't try and fix problems that you can't hear. Room sim is the same. Most room sim apps are horrible. They make the huge mistake of modelling "professional studios" that actually have sub-par acoustics. For example, so many studios they model have speakers on stands gapped out from the wall which is a big acoustics mistake: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZPQdKuhmK2Se7c. So why would I want to model a room that doesn't actually have ideal acoustics? It's really rare in room sim apps to see them model rooms that I would actually want to mix in. So I typically just use the crossfeed in CanOpener. A big exception here is if you're mixing for immersive formats like Apple Spatial, Dolby Atmos. Then you need to use their encoder and Apple Spatial will add it's own room simulation with ambient energy.

[@palaHD]

I want the lcd-x but am a bit confused. If I’m only using them when I’m producing in Ableton using a focusrite 18i8 how would I connect a headphone amp if my monitors are already plugged into it ? Also how would I EQ what I hear in ableton ? Or would I just use a plugin on the master ? Sorry for the long questions but thanks

[@warpacademy]

All good. You don’t need a headphone amp in that case. Your audio interface already has a decent headphone amp built into the unit. Just leave your monitor speakers off when using headphones and plug your headphones into the Focusrite. I would be very cautious about EQing the resulting signal. If you do, use an EQ like FabFilter Pro-Q3 on your master in Live after any master effects. I would recommend linear phase mode or at least natural phase mode. Try and keep any EQ adjustments to fairly broad Q little nudges. And make sure to remove the EQ before any renders.

[@palaHD]

Thanks a bunch for that man I really appreciate it

[@warpacademy]

My pleasure. All the best with your headphones!

[@aerialgrey2566]

Fantastic video. Thank you. Been going back and forth between the two. So I’m guessing for the genre of house/techno or any bass style music, the LCD - X is probably the way to go?

[@warpacademy]

In general I would agree yes. But also remember that you can EQ your headphones to add more bass. What you can't do is change their ability to block out or contain noise. So I'd choose based more on whether you need open back or closed back. If you buy closed back and need more bass, just use a low shelving EQ to change the frequency response. Easy peasy.

[@aerialgrey2566]

That’s a great point. Thanks a lot brother. 👊🏽

[@warpacademy]

My pleasure.

[@andikerl2486]

Great information. Thanks a lot

[@warpacademy]

My pleasure

[@pbenson56fran]

Thank you very much for the information.

[@warpacademy]

No problem!

[@samire2151]

Superb video ! I am hesitating between X and XC. I can just buy one. I need to have a better mix. I have a home studio with some noise (not that much). I am Small Focal speakers. I am thinking that XC would be the best choice to cancel noise but I am afraid it make it too complicated to have a reliable mix. What would you advise as the less risky version in my situation ?

[@warpacademy]

Hey Samir. I think if you have even a small amount of background noise in your listening environment that you need to go closed back. Open back headphones will bleed in noise and you'll be masking things in your mix with the ambient noise. You'll probably be too tempted to override the masking by turning up the output volume, and then you'd be at risk of mixing too loud and getting hearing damage and ear fatigue. I mixed for several years, as a professional engineer, on the LCD-XC model because I had background noise when I was working on the road. I had all my clients approving my mixes. I needed to use reference tracks to adjust my ears and mix decisions to the slightly brighter top end, and narrower sound stage, but at the end of the day I was able to nail my mixes by careful use of reference tracks.

[@samire2151]

@@warpacademy thank you appreciated 🙏🏼

[@samire2151]

I am just afraid of these extra high and lack of bass that you were mentioning. What is worst between a well balanced X and well isolated XC

[@warpacademy]

I never said "lack of bass". They have lots of bass. Look at the frequency response. It's a very slight sense of brightness, and that gives the impression that they're less bassy than the X. There is no sense of "lacking bass" with the XC at all. You should really try both pairs. Hopefully there's a spot where you can hear them.

[@Musictron]

What about the MM-500 compared to the X or XC?

[@warpacademy]

That's a good question. I'd love to be able to comment, but I don't have a pair of MM-500s. I'll see if I can get a pair. Cheers!

[@Musictron]

@@warpacademy that would be great. As I like the sound LCD X when I had them for a year but they were just too heavy for me so I’ve been curious about the MM 500? The Neumann ndh 30 are a bit cheaper but are a good alternative… transient, detail and clarity in the bass is something they do well.

[@warpacademy]

I have the LCD-5, which is the same chassis as the MM-500. They are amazing. I use them primarily as my main engineering headphone. I think the sound with the MM-500 is similar, but I won't know for sure until I try a pair.

[@leeahegg2377]

If I'm using SoundID for my monitoring path, is it makes no difference for bass heavy or not! Thanks in advance!

[@warpacademy]

You can certainly use SoundID Reference to EQ the drive signal, yes. Cheers!

[@ItsWesSmithYo]

nice one, keep it poppin WA

[@warpacademy]

Thanks, will do!

[@eLcHiNoChannel]

(knowing there are no higher-end Audeze closed backs) - From an audiophile perspective, what would be the natural upgrade from the LDC-XC? - MX4? 4z? 5?

[@warpacademy]

Hey cHiNo. Happy to answer this. I've listened to the MX-4s and didn't love their tuning. I don't feel like they'd be a step up from the LCD-XC. Of course if money is no concern, I'd recommend the LCD-5s. They are the top dogs for sure and they're my primary engineering headphone that I use currently. Note the sound of the LCD-5 is darker, compared to the LCD-X lineup though, so you may or may not like that as an audiophile. But shy of that, I'd highly recommend the MM-500. They're built on the same new chassis as the LCD-5s, but they're less of an investment ($2,333.00). They're also tuned by Manny Marroquin. They're aimed a bit more at the engineering market than the audiophile market, but they'd definitely be a step up from the LCD-XC (albeit open back). Thanks for watching and commenting. Cheers!

[@eLcHiNoChannel]

@@warpacademy Wow... excellent. This is exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. Thank you! - Any reason you didn't mention the 4z? Wondering if you haven't tried them or if they are just not a direct upgrade to the LCD-XCs. I'd appreciate your feedback.

[@warpacademy]

Hey hey. Glad you found that useful. I haven't tried the 4z. They have quite a few headphones in their lineup.

[@joeyf808]

I 100% agree! Amazing headphones, 3 grammy noms and 1 win for me, with them.

[@warpacademy]

Congratulations on the success! Which ones do you use Joey?

[@joeyf808]

@@warpacademy Thank you!! I used my LCD-X ‘s and LCD-X 2021’s, Calibrated with Realphones, I currently added the MM 500’s to the arsenal. Keep up the great work, Love your channel!

[@warpacademy]

Right on. I love the new chassis that the MM-500s are on. Same as my LCD-5s. Very nice progression in their design. If you have the MM-500s are you not using them as your main reference headphones? I'd be interested in comparing the LCD-5s to the MM-500s sometime. Glad you're liking our videos mate. Cheers!

[@joeyf808]

@@warpacademy I do use the MM500 as a third reference, much lighter than the X’s, also more comfortable, they have a different presence in the upper mids, different than the X’s. They were tuned by golden ears Manny Marroquin. Would love to hear you opinion, and see you do a review on them.

[@warpacademy]

Yeah, I've had my eye on them for a while and have watched Manny work on them with Audeze. I absolutely love the LCD-5s and they're my go to reference headphones. From what I understand, the sound is loosely similar. We'll have to see in a real world test. Where are you based out of and what type of music are you engineering? Are you primarily a mix engineer?

[@D800Lover]

Start at 2:00 and cut out the intro stuff.

[@rolardnb]

Thanks for review 👍

[@warpacademy]

No problem 👍