So, I first did my listening tests in bypass mode and hated what I was hearing. Audeze claim these are highly transparent and resolving, but in bypass mode the mids onwards are muffled together with no layering in soundstage/imaging, missing the sparkle up top in all music I played. It honestly sounded like a cassette tape for those born in the 80s as a reference point, that classic shhing of Ss and so on. It is a flat and boring sound, I would call it clinical but even clinical has detail and there was no detail here.
I then got the HP-EQ enabled and this is when the LCD-5 sounded like a completely different headphone, like going from some high street knock off to an actually premium sounding headphones.
It seems weird to me that these require a parametric EQ as well as some of the more advanced tweaks the X9 is capable of in order to make them sound how you would expect for headphones costing £3700 today.
And even then, with HP-EQ enabled on the X9, the sound still isn't as nice as the HE1000se in bypass mode, the HE manages to out-resolve the LCD-5 whilst still giving a fun and very wide staging sound, the HE has deeper bass, wider soundstage, better resolution up top and music just feels more alive whereas the HP-EQ enabled LCD-5 sounds more intimate as everything is brought closer. Stereo imaging is there but the finely tuned layering on the HE does not appear the same way on the LCD-5 and I get the impression this is by design and perhaps even Audeze's house-sound.
The earcups leak less sound outward than any Hifiman or Sennheiser I have ever heard, this might explain why the sound feels more like a closed back headphone than an open back, this was further confirmed when I placed a hand several cm away from one cup and noticed no change in the music, whereas if i do the same on any Hifiman, there there is sound compression, to get a similar effect on the LCD-5 I have to completely cover the earcup with my palm which confirms the grilles and inner film restrict a lot of the sound.
That was all based on music listening today, for normal videos like YouTube or games the HE1000se/Arya Stealth etc all sound more natural and all in bypass mode.
By the way I left both headphones in high gain, both have similar loudness at my desired -30dB which is a comfortable level for critical listening, which was interesting as the LCD-5 is 14 ohm and the HE1000se is 35ohm, their differential sensitivities are not a mile apart either... I expected a loudness difference at the same volume level, but nope nothing that I can tell apart anyway, both get plenty loud.
The X9 really does seem to bring out the best of headphones that do not sound great out of the box, but kudos to Hifiman (even through all the QC issues in various models), for not only lowering the price of a headphone that launched at £3000 to below half that today, but engineering a headphone years ago that beats the competition that currently costs twice as much.
The LCD-5 wins in some areas of construction, but the closer you look under macro photography, the more you see that the glossy wood finish, whilst nice, distracts from other flaws, such as:
Clicking headband arm on one cup:
The badge on one cup was slightly lifting on one end, adhesive issue, needed to be pressed in again:
On one side the connector is much stiffer to remove than the other:
I like the cable though, it's thin and pliable but it's not as pliable as the softer Linsoul Tripowins, and the terminations are heavy on this too as mentioned earlier, so flop about and add to the headphone weights a bit.
How many kilograms do they weigh?
I measured 15.39 grams for the 2 connectors, and 444 grams for the headphones, which puts them at a total worn weight of 459 grams. The HE1000se is 467 grams for the cans and 4.88 grams for the Tripowin connectors, heavier due to memory foam pads, but feels lighter on the head due to the extra comfort and lack of any hotspot pressure which the LCD-5 seems to have as I found myself adjusting the cup placement regularly due to hotspots from the sharply turned leather pads and aggressive taper.
Personal take? Buy the Arya Stealth instead for £550 if budget is under £1k, if it's £1k-£1.5k though then the HE1000se. Either choice will deliver great sound from any amp that is reasonably smooth sounding without having to EQ anything.
