Audeze LCD-5 Review

Sound – Intro

Ever since I bought my Rosewood LCD-2.1 about a decade ago, I have been a fan of Audeze products. I’m not into gaming so the Penrose and Mobius kind of went by me, but all of their IEMs and LCD-series headphones had something intriguing and addictive. Two of my all-time favorite headphones are the LCD-XC pre Fazor and the original LCD-2.1. And then there’s the portable LCD-1 and the iSine IEMs. All great units, and so my expectations for the LCD-5 are very high.

I’m not always a believer of burn-in, but for certain audio units it actually does work. The LCD-5 in example really changed a lot after about 96 to 120 hours. Straight out of the box the LCD-5 sounded very light in regards to body, thin on the bass and forward – even sharp – with the upper treble and vocals. After 120 hours (and much more now), the LCD-5 still is more vocally forward, but there have been serious improvements in its tuning. Think softening the presentation/delivery down and increasing its general presence.

One thing is very certain: the Audeze LCD-5 needs quality desktop amplification and it’s a bit picky. Luckily we have a whole series of amps here (more on this later), but do take then into account when you’re in the market for one. The 5 (and especially the bass and upper midrange/treble) doesn’t sound at its (/their) best with any amplifier you hook it up to. In general it’s also safe to say that normal portable amplification isn’t ideal for the LCD-5 if you want to get the best out of it. There of course will be exceptions with say a HUGO or L&P LP6.

Cable-wise I – for the general description of its sound – have opted to use the stock cable in single ended mode. I was first planning on doing the review with one of my aftermarket cables as said earlier, but in the end I actually quite like the sonic character of the LCD-5 and “Ultra High Purity Cable” combo.

Unless specifically mentioned, the setup used for the part on sound are the Pegasus Musician R2R DAC and the Auris Audio Headonia 2A3.

Sound – General

The LCD-5 has many impressive characteristics such as it’s transparency and resolution aka detail retrieval, but what I also really like about the newest Audeze is the sound stage width and the extension. Not all Audeze’s were the best when it came to sound stage width and spaciousness/airiness, and that in the LCD-5 definitely is one of Audeze’s best. The LCD-5’s sound stage is really nice and with the excellent depth and layering, you get perfect positioning as well. You’re surrounded/immersed by the music and you can easily pinpoint the location of the instruments.

From top to bottom you get a very detailed rendering with good depth and layering. Notes have excellent decay and extension. The LCD-5 also sounds spacious and airy, yet never overly so. It’s a realistic rendering.

Tuning-wise the LCD-5 is more neutral. You get a typical lighter presentation from top to bottom, without any added body. Together with that you get more forward upper mids and vocals (clearly noticeable on the FR as well). These scared me a bit in the beginning as I said, but the burn in period really improved it and softened it down. The choice of amplifier is also important in this regard, some tune it down making it sound more linear, while others strengthen this sensation.

With its neutral tuning, the LCD-5 is about precision and a heavy and full presentation isn’t part of that. So you get a lighter amount of body and presence in the bass and mid region, but the quality is excellent. This is one of the typical cases where the quality is more important than the quantity.

While the LCD-5 has a neutral and flatter approach, I do find the delivery to be just smooth enough to keep it musical at all times. This absolutely isn’t a headphone just for studio use but it will also please the high fidelity music lover. Together with that slightly smooth/warm delivery, you get great energy and the LCD-5 is a very lively sounding headphone. I personally never found it to be too exciting or aggressive in any way, though I personally would recommend to pair it with a light and fully neutral amplifier. If I remember well, someone called the LCD-5 a dull sounding headphone, but I can’t agree with that. Sure, if you’re not used to higher end sounding headphones and prefer a heavy bass presentation and v-shaped frequency curve, I can see why you would say that. But the LCD-5 wasn’t built for that type of listener.

The Audeze LCD-5 has excellent detail retrieval as a high end headphone should have. The timbre, and especially in the mids, is so nice and vibrant. At the same time the LCD-5 is very transparent and that’s both good and bad. The 5 will make you aware of bad recordings and less strong elements in your setup. The other side of the medal is that if you have good gear and HD-recordings, the LCD-5 will seriously impress. Bass and mid detail is sublime, timbre is impressive and addictive (even in the more forward vocals). It’s a little bit less the case for the treble region, but it’s still good.

Sound Classics

As explained, the LCD-5 is not a bass heavy headphone at all. With its neutral tuning, the bass quality is the most important. Bass in the LCD-5 is lighter, but it is fast and tight. The LCD-5 drivers are perfectly in control at all times and bass has a nice punch and kick in the delivery.

Detail retrieval in the bass area is very good. Bass goes deep with excellent layering and timbre. The sub bass performance is lighter as there isn’t enough body to make it very present, but it is there. There’s just no sub bass rumble as in a bass heavier headphones. If you “up” the listening volume, the sub bass rumble will become more apparent, but not everyone listens at higher levels. The bass region is all about quality and the LCD-5 plays at a high technical level. If you want a bass heavier presentation in the LCD-5, you can of course EQ it or you can use a bass heavier amplifier. No, the LCD-5 isn’t bass-shy but it is lighter compared to most headphones and more in check with a balanced, linear and neutral tuning.

The mids logically are also lighter in body, but they perfectly connect to the bass section and they share the same characteristics and high technical level: great detail and precision, excellent depth, nice layering. The mids also have a nicely spacious and airy presentation which give it that natural feeling. Separation is top notch. The upper mids and vocals are more forward sounding, there’s no denying that. In the beginning before burn-in this was a bit too energetic and sharp for me but now it has settled more and my ears/brain have gotten more used to it. But it’s safe to say it’s a more high mid and vocally forward headphone. At the same time the LCD-5 does sound natural in this area, probably because of the bit of smoothness & warmth in the delivery (not much). I absolutely love the realism and timbre of mouth harmonica, piano and vocals (especially male in my case) together with whistling sounds, are super impressive.

The treble section is lively with a lower treble emphasis but it at the same time is tuned in a safe way. It’s pretty easygoing on the ears but the LCD-5 carries enough energy in the upper regions to keep things exciting. A pretty safe treble tuning if you ask me. Treble is never exaggerated or sharp on the ears.

The last part on Sound with comparisons and the Conclusion can be found on the last page here.

Page 1: Audeze, Planar magnetic Tech, LCD-5 main features

Page 2: LCD-5 Full Feature Overview & Technical Specs

Page 3: Price, Box, Accessories & Design, Build Quality, Cable & Fit, Comfort and Isolation, Sound

Page 4: Sound Intro, Sound General, Sound Classics

Page 5: Sound Comparisons, Amplification synergy, Conclusion