A thorough analysis of the Audeze LCD 2 vs LCD 3 vs LCD 4.
Audeze (pronounced awh-deh-zee) was formed in 2008 by a pair of science fiction buffs. Alex Rosson and Ankar Thiagasamudram discovered a technology engineered for NASA spacecraft, so the forward-thinking duo did what any lover of music would — put the innovative space-age tech in a headphone!
Passionate about accurate sound, the founders immediately recognized the huge potential of this special tech for planar magnetic transducers. Today, Audeze is the world’s leading manufacturer of planar magnetic over-ear headphones. Nearly every pair of headphones created by the company is designed and hand-made in the USA at their Southern California facility.
Music lovers all over the world covet Audeze over-ear headphones, but the LCD line is one of the brand’s most popular. The LCD-2, LCD-3, and LCD-4 have been the most successful wired headphones Audeze makes. In this comparison, we compare all three wired headphone models while sharing some of the details from our listening experience.
With this comparison, you'll have everything needed to select the right pair of headphones for you.
If you're looking for fundamental knowledge about headphones, check out our Headphone Buyers’ Guide.
Audeze LCD-2 Over-Ear Headphones
Audeze LCD-3 Over-Ear Headphones
A Tradition of Excellence.
The Audeze origin story began with its first open-back headphone: the LCD-2. In our Audeze LCD 2 review, we shared the company’s backstory where it all began inside of an Orange County, CA garage.
The Audeze LCD-2 has become a classic icon and a top-selling open-back headphone at Audio Advice. If you aren’t familiar with open-back headphones yet and their distinct advantages, open-back designs tend to give you a more spacious feeling and a wider soundstage. You can read more about the benefits of open-back vs closed back here.
The Audeze LCD 2 does an excellent job of creating a wide soundstage that’s well-defined and provides an incredibly accurate bass response. With distortion nearly eliminated above 10Hz, the bass is tight and very defined. The impedance of the Audeze LCD2 is 70 Ohms, so you’ll want a decent headphone amp if you want to experience the LCD-2 to the full extent.
The diaphragm in all of Audeze’s planar magnetic headphones is special. As a leader in planar magnetic driver technology, Audeze developed a way to manufacture an Ultra-thin diaphragm that’s thinner than a human hair. The lighter and more flexible the diaphragm, the faster it can move.
Similar to a piston that pushes and pulls the air around it, the faster the movement of the diaphragm, the better it’s able to reproduce sound waves as they occur, naturally, in the real world. The diaphragm in the LCD-2 is the first to implement this ultra-thin diaphragm that produces accurate deep sounding bass with ultra-low distortion.
With incredible accuracy, LCD-2 can produce frequencies (10hz-50kHz) that go below and above human hearing (20Hz-20kHz). The response from the international headphone community has been extraordinary ever since, making the Audeze LCD 2 stand out as a headphone classic.
When testing the LCD-2, we immediately noticed how comfortable they are! All the LCD models in this list weigh in a little over a pound, so they’re all slightly on the heavier side. But, that extra weightiness didn’t transfer on our heads the way we expected. Most of the headphones in this comparison feature a new precision-engineered steel and leather suspension headband, which evenly distributes weight across the headbands, comfortably. A professional-grade travel case is included with all the LCDs too which is a nice touch for any high-end headphone.
Additionally, the ear cups are large, providing ample breathing room for the ears. All the LCD models have a “sloped” earpad design and are made with specially selected memory foam which offered just the right amount of firmness when they made contact with the sides of our heads. The memory foam material underneath the LCD-2’s soft subtle premium leather felt like it “hugged” the sides of our heads.
The sound of the LCD-2 is what makes them worth every cent. With distortion nearly eliminated, the LCD-2 can sing accurately with precision and details. To test the LCD-2, we used the Chord Mojo and the Naim V1 DAC/headphone amp to demonstrate a portable setup compared to a luxury home setup. Both allowed us to drive the LCD-2 to peak performance.
We decided to push the performance of LCD-2’s bass response even further. We pressed play on Rihanna’s 2011 Electro House smash hit, “We Found Love,” which features Calvin Harris on Rihanna's sixth studio album, "Talk That Talk."
The 808-style kick drum bounced in the soundstage with clear resolution and without any distortion. This made is so easy to just get lost in the music and let our heads bob up and down with the pulsing hypnotic four-to-the-floor beat. The LCD-2’s ability to reproduce big bass with ultra-low distortion was exemplified at the max performance here. In terms of low-distortion, it's safe to say the LCD-2 passed our big bottom-end weight test.
We played a mix of classic rock, funk, and EDM — and while they all sounded great, it was the organic genres (Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical, and Funk) that stood out the most. If you have an ear for accurate detailed sound — at this price, Audeze LCD2 is for you.
To see what sets LCD-2 apart from the average headphone, read our Audeze LCD 2 Over-Ear Headphone Review.
Sound Signature: Warm/Smooth/Accurate.
Who it’s for: Home Music Lover.
What it’s for: All types of music — shines the most on organic genres (Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical, and Funk).
How to get peak performance: Home or Private Settings — connect with a good DAC/headphone amp.
Audeze LCD-2 Over-Ear Headphones
Timeless heritage taken to the next level.
Up next in our line-up of Audeze LCD headphones is the LCD-2’s bigger brother — LCD-3. The LCD-3 takes off where the original LCD-2 started by pushing Audeze’s advanced planar magnetic technology even further. This time, Audeze outdid itself by designing the LCD-3’s ultra-thin diaphragm to be even thinner than the classic LCD-2.
While these headphones are priced above the LCD-2, these are a bargain for high-end headphones. They use the same space-age technology that made the LCD-2 a time-tested icon, but they will take that performance to the next level.
The impedance of the Audeze LCD-3 is 110 Ohms, so you’ll need a good headphone amp if you want to experience the full potential of this headphone. The extra power requirements needed to drive the LCD-3 allows you to experience an extra level of detail with realism that you will feel.
The brand’s drive to innovate is deeply imprinted into the LCD-3. Audeze developed a way to manufacture the Ultra-thin diaphragm from the original LCD-2 (already thinner than a human hair) to be even thinner.
As we mentioned, the faster the diaphragm moves, the better it reproduces sound as it exists in the real world. By making a diaphragm so thin, Audeze has created a high-performance driver that can move extremely fast and achieves the level of precision that lets you get more from your music.
LCD-3 reproduces frequencies in the same frequency range (10hz-50kHz) as LCD-2, but with even more accuracy compared to its little brother. This makes the LCD-3 even better at reproducing transparent bass extension that’s bigger, fuller, and even more natural compared to LCD-2.
Besides the technical advancements, Audeze’s choice of premium materials takes the build quality up a notch. Outfitted with natural Zebrano wood rings, the LCD-3 is decked out with vintage nostalgia and introduces the newer steel and leather suspension headband system. Weighing in at a little under a pound and a half, the LCD-3 is slightly heavier than the LCD-2. Just like the LCD-2, the newer suspension system distributed the extra weight evenly and comfortably across the headband, so immediately we noticed how comfortable it was!
The LCD-3’s extra weight only became noticeable on the top of the head after listening to a full-length album from front to back; however, this was not enough to be a deal-breaker. When we noticed a pressure point, pushing the headband forward just a bit helped to redistribute the weight that was sitting on top of our heads. We attributed the headband’s ability to remain comfortable to its cushy “clamping force” and the supreme larger-than-life ear cups that all LCD models feature.
Like the LCD-2, the premium leather on the LCD-3’s earpads hugged the area around the ears, which created one of the best sealing conditions we have experienced from headphones.
The sound of the LCD-3 is what was the most impressive. At this price-point, the LCD-3 will deliver an experience that most people have never heard before. To test the LCD-3, we used the Naim V1 DAC/headphone amp, which revealed great detail and dynamics that allowed us to experience the LCD-3’s full potential.
This is where the LCD-3’s open-back design shined the most. The sound was wide-open and spacious, which provided the illusion that we were in a room filled with great sound. One song that jumped out to us was the classic rock hit “The Chain” written and recorded by Fleetwood Mac in 1977 for their eleventh studio album, “Rumours.”
Right from the beginning of the song, the LCD-3’s holographic realism came alive. At the start of the song, a guitar strummed so naturally in the right ear, it was almost like we were holding an acoustic guitar in our hands and strumming it ourselves! Then, that four-to-the-floor kick drum thumped and thudded with full-bodied dynamic detail that sizzled. Every time the kick drum stomped in the stereo image, the LCD-3 presented the detail with the musical impact that we could feel beating into our chests. The rhythm and the pacing were so lifelike, the pulsing kick drum made us want to stomp our feet along with it just like a live concert.
If you have an ear for realistic, accurate, and immersive sound — the Audeze LCD-3 will give you the extra performance for a listening experience that’s like no other at this price-point. For this level of realism, this is a bargain.
To learn more about the LCD-3 and the specific features we love, check out our Audeze LCD-3 Over-Ear Headphone Review.
Sound Signature: Warm/Smooth/Accurate.
Who it’s for: Home Music Lover.
What it’s for: All types of music — shines the most on organic genres (Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical, and Funk).
How to get peak performance: Home or Private Settings — connect with a good DAC/headphone amp.
Audeze LCD-3 Over-Ear Headphones
The peak of natural sound.
For our last headphone, we have the flagship Audeze LCD 4. This time, Audeze outdid themselves once again. For planar magnetic driver tech, the original LCD-2 might be the headphone that started it all, but the LCD-4 is the headphone that takes it all to the pinnacle of high-performance audio.
While these headphones aren’t priced for those on a budget, these are some of the most impressive state-of-the-art headphones we’ve ever heard. The LCD-4’s Nano-thin diaphragm is so thin it’s thinner than a single bridge thread from a spider’s web — this takes the space-age tech to a higher dimension of sonic realism.
The impedance of the Audeze LCD 4 is 200 Ohms, so you’ll need a good headphone amp if you want to squeeze every last drop of performance from this headphone. The extra power you need to drive your audio signal to a suitable listening volume will be worth it. You will experience immersion, holographic details, and dynamics that will make your jaw drop.
The reason these headphones are so tough to drive is partially due to the nature of their planar magnetic design, but also the incredible elasticity and thinness of the Nano-scale diaphragms. Since the movement of the diaphragm relates to the level of details you hear, extreme weight reduction is the key to a speaker’s ability to reproduce transients with a high degree of accuracy.
Audeze says the Nano-Scale Uniforce Diaphragms in the LCD-4 are state-of-the-art and the thinnest produced in the world. For comparison, an average human hair is about 75 microns thick. 1 micron is about 0.00004 inches thick. Now, imagine the thinness of a single bridge thread in a spider’s web — that’s 2 microns across. The diaphragms in the LCD-4 are 0.5 microns thick, or about 1/10th the thickness of a spider web. That’s incredible! Audeze brilliantly designed a diaphragm thinner than a spider’s web and put it inside a headphone.
But, Audeze didn’t stop there. When it developed the Nano-Scale Uniforce Diaphragm for the LCD-4, Audeze doubled the propulsion power using a Double Fluxor magnetic structure that creates a magnetic field with a whopping 1.5 Tesla! This allows the diaphragm’s voice coil to achieve the most extreme control and precision possible with fazor elements managing the phase between the magnets. All of this state-of-the-art tech requires sufficient power.
With the LCD-4, the diaphragm’s Nano-thin design achieves so much elasticity, it’s able to reproduce frequencies in the bottom-end weight with honest transparency at near-zero distortion. This headphone can drop way down to lows at 5Hz and soar as high as 50kHz well beyond our range of hearing and even higher than what some studio mics can capture. While you might not audibly detect some of these higher registering frequencies, the LCD-4 will add natural textures to instruments such as pianos, harps, brass, strings, and especially deep bass.
With the LCD-4, you will capture every single musical detail with precision, accuracy, and with near-zero distortion. But none of this matters if the headphone isn’t comfortable. One notable difference here is the switch to carbon fiber in the leather headband suspension system instead of steel. Made from the most premium materials, it weighed in the heaviest at a little over one and a half pounds. However, once again, the extra weight didn’t add any noticeable pressure even during our longer listening sessions.
Similar to the other LCD models, we narrowed down the LCD-4’s ability to stay comfortable for the following reasons:
This headphone feels good, really good.
All of these headphones do a phenomenal job of reproducing sound accurately and musically, but the sound of the LCD-4 is what will blow you away. These will deliver an experience that most people have never heard before at any price-point. To many, $3,995 sounds unbelievable for a headphone, but most will agree there’s nothing else like them.
When we tested the LCD-4, we used the Naim V1 DAC/headphone amp again which allowed us to squeeze every last drop of performance from them. Right from the start of the session, we noticed the LCD-4’s immersive three-dimensional soundstage. One song that stood out, in particular, was Camille Saint-Saens’ 1877 classical composition “Samson et Dalila.”
From the beginning to the end of the composition, we were genuinely in awe of the LCD-4’s top-end extension. At the center of the LCD-4’s wide-open soundstage, the clarinet introduced the song with a top-end sizzle that was so detailed and resolute, it felt like it almost “tickled” the tops of our heads. It sounds superlative, but the realism was so holographic, it almost felt as though we conducted the clarinet’s performance ourselves.
Brass sections sounded really good with the LCD-4. The 50kHz top-end extension allowed the harmonic details of horns to sizzle naturally. Tubas possessed a full-bodied warmth that was almost texture-like in tonality — not metallic or brittle — but presented with a deeper bottom-end resonance like a live orchestra would sound in a wide-open room. After 3 minutes, the presentation of details was so accurate and natural sounding, it almost felt like we were in the orchestra. We could hear the pizzicato violins in the soundstage as though the violinists were sitting next to us! We’ve never experienced holographic details at this level of intimacy.
If you are looking at high-end open-back headphones and looking for hyper-realistic, immersive sound, then the Audeze LCD-4 is one of the best money can buy.
To see how LCD-4 performs in a listening session, watch our Audeze LCD-4 Over-Ear Headphone Review.
Sound Signature: Warm/Smooth/Holographic.
Who it’s for: Home Critical Listener.
What it’s for: All types of music — shines the most on organic genres (Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical, and Funk).
How to get peak performance: Home or Private Settings — connect with a good DAC/headphone amp.
Each Audeze headphone has its price-point in the LCD lineup. They are all priced respectively to fit the way you listen to music. The entire collection of Audeze planar magnetic headphones is built on a passion to innovate and the love for accurate sound. Any headphone by Audeze will be an impressive statement piece in your collection of high-end audio gear. If you’ve been looking for a great sounding headphone that offers premium craftsmanship and that’s hand-made in the USA with some of the most comfortable materials on the market, consider Audeze.
If you have a question about a pair of Audeze headphones and how it will fit in with your setup or listening style, give us a call, chat with us, or send us an email. Our experienced team can help you find the right pair for you.
Audeze LCD-2 Over-Ear Headphones
Audeze LCD-3 Over-Ear Headphones
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