This review is about the Audeze Mobius, the latest, geekiest headphone from the brand.
Disclaimer : the Audeze Mobius was sent to us free of charge by the brand itself in exchange for our honest opinion.
About Audeze
Born in 2008, Audeze is an American manufacturer producing planar-magnetic headphones. Like (al)most all US start-ups, the company began in a garage, where two guys – Alexander Rosson and Sankar Thiagasamudram – put together pieces of metal to create “the next big thing.”
And they succeed.
From there, Audeze began to roll success after success, all based around one technology: a thin layer surrounded by an array of magnets, or most commonly said a planar magnetic driver. The rest is history and all led to this day, where we review their first Bluetooth headphone, the Audeze Mobius.
The Audeze Series
Audeze range covers three different typologies of listeners, or so they say: the audiophiles, the prosumers/sound engineers and more recently, the gamers. All of those headphones are sorted in different categories – Flagship, Reference, Gaming&Multimedia, Origins – but we’ll just lay out the one that really matter down here.
LCD-2
The Audeze LCD-2 is where everything began. A big fat can with a rounded cup made of wood, massive plushy earpads and, of course, an astounding 106mm transducer, which remains huge even up to today’s standards.
It was a direct hit. A headphone both craved by audiophiles and revered by sound engineers. So much that the brand chose to make a re-edition, known as the LCD-2 classic. Available in both open-back and closed-back version, Lieven even reviewed it and said :
“In this price range, the LCD2 classic certainly is recommended if you want a balanced, precise and clean sound from a more neutrally tuned headphone. It’s very easy to like”.
LCD-X
The Audeze LCD-X introduced the next-generation of the brand. If visually the main difference was the replacement of the wooden cups by aluminum ones, the insides of the headphone enjoyed a few upgrades.
The magnet embedded a new technology, named Fazor, which both lowered the distortion and expanded the dynamic range. Also, Fazor versions of the LCD headphones require less power to be driven, since they act as waveguides.
Since then, Audeze has created two new iterations of the LCD-X, the LCD-XC (closed back) and the LCD-GX, made for gamers, just like the Mobius.
It’s still one of my favorite headphones of all-time, the one that I used for almost all my reviews and one that may never leave my office.
What did we think of it?
“It’s a terrific execution, that I haven’t really heard in any headphones. How can reducing the bass body on a non-basshead headphone (LCD-3) end up with a headphone that’s far more neutral yet still feels planted? I suppose the HD600 is a good analogy here, except that the X’s drivers are far ahead of the 600’s class.”
LCD-4
The Audeze LCD-4 is the pinnacle of the brand, remaining one of the best cans available out there.
It costs 3995 $/€, got the best drivers that Audeze ever developed with Nano-Scale Uniforce Diaphragm, 106mm wide transducer, 200-ohm impedance, fiber carbon headband… so yeah all the high-end specifications you’d expect.
It impersonates the LCD Flagship range, which comes with the LCD-4z (easier to drive), the LCD-i4 which is an open-back, planar, earphone, priced at 2495$/€ (but sounds fantastic) and last but not least, the LCD-MX4. All in all, la creme de la creme.
Lieven reviewed them and said :
“Do I like the Audeze LCD-MX4? I do, without any doubt. It’s a great sounding headphone with its own characteristics and positive and negative points but it’s also a headphone that makes all genres sound good. The MX4 is a headphone you can use in the studio but you can also really enjoy it at home and even for non-critical listening.”
Mobius
The Audeze Mobius is a very different kind of animal. Firstly, it was created through a Kickstarter and not through the usual R&D process. Second, it’s a closed-back headphone, with Bluetooth and its own embedded DAC and various surround sound parameters.
The future is here guys, and Headfonia is about to review it, for you.
That said, it’s time for us to see what the new generation has to offer.
The review continues on Page Two, after the click HERE or by using the jump below.
JDG
Gaming. You’d use the Footsteps profile for gaming. That positional surround bit you like works wonders when you’re trying to detect someone sneaking up behind you in a competitive shooter.