# Instructive and sad story about LCD-3 modification attempt



## cleg

Preface. On russian forum I've met excellent DIY maker with nickname Snorry. He makes really excellent headphones, using old soviet TDS-7 and TDS-15 as a source of drivers, but also he is a big fan of headphones modding. He's approach based on objective measurements, not only subjective listening. I think I should tell more about his works later.

Recently, he wrote his opinion about Audeze's flagship LCD-3 and his modification attempt. I've thought that it's an interesting experience, and I've tried to reinterpret it (as much as my poor english allows me to do it) and post on Head-Fi, as I think it's extremely interesting. So, all direct speech below, it's not me, but Snorry.

I've recently got LCD-3 Fazor for modification. It was provided by other person, he understand all risks of losing warranty and possible damage of such expensive headphones. Also I want to thank to Audeze engineers for interesting model.

Technically, headphones are interesting, but there some things in their sounding that I don't like. I'll try to use my experience and tune headphones. I won't mind, if Audeze engineers will take some of my notes for consideration.

So, what should be improved.



 Owner asked me to do something with high frequencies, being "too harsh" for him on some records, but he wanted to keep bass intact. On my first listening, they seemed to be really fatiguing on highs, especially on female vocals. I've made measurements that showed pretty noticable channel imbalance on highs. 


Without smoothing 


 On my pretty big head, headpads became too squeezed, and Fazors starts to push my ears with their edges, it's not comfortable.
 Appearence. I don't like this black grill esthetically and acoustically (more on this below)

I'll post more information during the mod desription.  

To be continued.


----------



## cleg

First inspection showed some possible reasons of highs imbalance.

*1. Earpads*
They've appeared to be different in height and softness. 



On photo above — measurements in thickest place. 5 mm of difference looks too much.

If you push cups towards each other, you can see that they have different hardness



Earpads should be definitely redone. With stock ones, channel imbalance is inevitable. 

Also, I'd like to notice, that only outer part is made from natural leather. Inner parts are made from average quality leatherette.

Even accurate and slow attempt to pull them off, causes material stratification.



*2. Grill*
Unfortunately, grill's gaps aren't aligned with magnets and fazors.



Why is it bad?

Flat diaphragms of planars are very sensitive to multipath sound reflections. If you place your palms opposite grills closer then 30 cm, you'll hear sound changes. And outer grill and fazors gives much more reflections, and this causes some interference on high frequencies.

In this implementation, fazors on outer side are useless, moreover, they make sound worth.

So, grill should be replaced.

*3. Damping*
Old LCD-3 had damping done with some kind of felt. Now, it's some king of white paper. 



This makes assembly simpler, but also gives parasite reflections to membrane. So, to tame highs a bit, this should be also replaced.

Important notice. This paper is glued with two-side duct tape, so remove it without leaving traces — impossible. Here you'll lose your warranty. Headphones owner gave me permission to remove it, so I'm moving further.

To be continued...


----------



## cleg

So, first step of modification is grill. For a long time, in my mods I'm using grille made from stainless steel, fluted across the magnets. It's acoustically transparent and lets air flow freely. So, it drastically reduce parasite reflections, as there is no parts, parallel to membrane. Everything is angled, no direct reflections. I'm working on receiving the patent for this element of my mods.

This grille should be attached in some way. I want to thank Audeze engineers, screws, they're using made grille attachment easy.

I've tried to make new part in common style with zebrano, used for cups. It's hard to get zebrano in our country, so I've used composite, made of 16 layers of red wood and oak.

That's how it looks.


----------



## cleg

I've looked to torn earpads, to rests of duct tape... 



... and thought that it would be a masochism to try different earpads models. So I've made two simple details.



They attach to the same holes that used for driver attach, just take screws 4-5 mm longer.



Now, it takes just few moments to replace earpads.



I got no idea, why Audeze doesn't make it in stock headphones. Use two sided duct tape for headphones that cost about $2000, is strange.

Additional benefit, this element adds about 5 mm to earpads depth, so fazor doesn't touch my ears anymore.


----------



## cleg

Now about fazors

Fazors are cheap plastic details, painter from one side, to make it looks like metal



They are mounted, using the same two-sided scotch, and on one ear, fazor's grill was about 5 mm displaced, compared to magnet system of headphones. It's one of the reasons of highs imbalance.

Then I've measured width of fazor and magnets.



And width differs. This gives additional source of parasite reflections.



And on the outer side, it's really hard to align fazor properly, as magnet system grill is closed by damper. So, it's pretty easy to get something like this.



And it can be not 100% parallel...

Inner fazors can ba controlled by sight, so they were aligned correctly.

So, I've decided to use needle file to make fazor's bars same width as magnets.


----------



## cleg

Before tearing fazors, I've make a closer look to drivers.

1. Nope, front fazors are also aligned not perfect.



2. Membrane surface is dirty. I've found some hairs stick to it (green arrows), and some rests of black sponge (red arrows)



I think sponge was used to remove leftovers of glue, but some parts of sponge struck.

As for membrane construction.

You can't see wirings itself, they're under magnets. Membrane is reinforced with foil squares, gaps between them are translucent



3. Second driver is even more interesting. You can see same problem with fazor alignment, here it's even more noticeable, and mismatch grows from left to right



4. You can see dust between membrane layers.



5. Edges of membrane aren't perfectly glued



6. One of drivers have problems with parallels



Some conclusions.

- hairs and sponge will be removed
- most sound impact cames from bad fazor and membrane alignment.
- dust and bag edges glue can't be fixed, but they didn't impact on sound much. They can cause some durability problems, here membrane can exfoliate, but most probably it will be in distant future.

To be continued...


----------



## manbear

This is really interesting. I can't believe this attention to detail isnt included in the $2000 people are paying to Audeze.


----------



## cleg

I've obtained the consent for drivers disassembly from headphones owner. Here are the photos of membrane



And now, the sad part. 

*Don't ever try to disassembly drivers. Also, don't try to unscrew the contacts, for example for rewiring.*

Contact spacers and screws are glued, so any attempt to unscrew them causes irreversible damage of contact pads. I've disassembled old versions of LCD-2, and they didn't have any glue, so I've assembled them back without problems. New LCD models have disposable drivers. 



Scratches near the contacts pads are from my attempts to get to aluminium and fix contacts. In this case it's impossible. Aluminium is under the polymer layer, so it's impossible to attach to wire.

This was the end of this modification attempt. LCD-3 surprised me a lot, so I've decided to share my observations, hope it will be useful.

Translator's note: Snorry will appreciate any feedback and can answer your questions, I'll translate them to him.


----------



## Mirininc

This is awful, it makes sense why I had to replace the left driver on my LCD-2 four times. I babied the heck out of them and they would always go out on me ~4-5 months after getting them back.


----------



## NzAudezey

This makes me sick to the stomach I've had to send mine back 2 times for failed drivers. Is this a recent thing or have they been doing this for a while?


----------



## Badas

Not very good manufacturing practices.
  
 I don't find any distortion in the higher frequencies on my classic (non fazor) LCD-3. So I'm really hoping I don't get the dreaded driver failure. I don't think I would like the new fazor version.


----------



## jerg

My main curiosity is whether the "beat up" condition of the diaphragm in the two exposed diaphragm photos, are due to the aggressive method of ripping apart the magnet arrays, or are they actually like that (all scratched up) even under the magnets?


----------



## Stereolab42

I've PM'd the Audeze HeadFi account to invite them to respond to this thread. As the owner of two LCD-XCs and a new LCD-3 I can say I've zero problems aside from a couple fitment issues that were trivially remedied. Audeze is famous/infamous for continuous improvement so I have no doubt that if these issues represent ongoing flaws rather than a one-off QA miss they will be fixed.


----------



## cleg

jerg said:


> My main curiosity is whether the "beat up" condition of the diaphragm in the two exposed diaphragm photos, are due to the aggressive method of ripping apart the magnet arrays, or are they actually like that (all scratched up) even under the magnets?




I'll clarify with Snorry, but most probably, there was no any "aggressive" attempts to rip apart magnet arrays, everything was made very gently and accurate (but it doesn't helped to avoid contact pads destruction).


----------



## NinjaHamster

Ouch!!


----------



## AManAnd88Keys

It's only paint on the fazors....... Audez'e, come on. For two grand you shouldn't resort to such methods. I understand that a full metal fazor would be heavier and probably not make a difference sonically. On the other hand, I think the look of the fazor is completely irrelevant anyway. I don't really get it, it's like the designers worried about some customers that might get angry because their fazors are not nice and shiny.


----------



## cleg

I've contacted Snorry, he confirmed me that he dosn't touch membrane in any way, except for broken contact pads, of course. So, it's an original view. But it was pictured with flash, so it looks worse then it is in real life


----------



## tomb

I'm swimming upstream on this, I know, but I take a different lesson from this: don't attempt to mod headphones unless you're prepared to ruin them.
  
 Headphones, by and large, are a completely manufactured, often machine-fabricated product.  Either they're too cheaply made to take apart or they're too expensive to risk it.  A headphone company is in the market to compete.  It's ridiculous to assume that a headphone mfr is not trying to make the best sounding headphone at the lowest price.  So, they've already optimized the audio quality.  It may not be to your own particular preference, but they tuned it to sell, period.  Likewise for the manufacturing - pricing is so competitive worldwide, that every effort is going to be made to reduce manufacturing and fabrication costs.  That doesn't always mean the result is going to be easy to dis-assemble and re-assemble.  More often, it won't be - repeatable connectors/fasteners are always more expensive.
  
 I've been a bit dismayed at how this forum section has seemed to transition from electronics and electrical DIY to modding headphones.  It seems to be the tide that's sweeping around here lately.  There have been some notable successes in modding with the Fostex planars, but those are a glaring exception, not the rule.  This thread is an example of that.
  
 I'm sort of hoping that the tide will go out on this headphone modding wave and we can get back to actually creating entire products with DIY instead of the latest blu-tack and sock mods.  JMHO, but I'm probably in the minority right now.


----------



## Badas

tomb said:


> I've been a bit dismayed at how this forum section has seemed to transition from electronics and electrical DIY to modding headphones.  It seems to be the tide that's sweeping around here lately.  There have been some notable successes in modding with the Fostex planars, but those are a glaring exception, not the rule.  This thread is an example of that.
> I'm sort of hoping that the tide will go out on this headphone modding wave and we can get back to actually creating entire products with DIY instead of the latest blu-tack and sock mods.  JMHO, but I'm probably in the minority right now.


 
  
 You have some good points.


----------



## Wulfsta

amanand88keys said:


> It's only paint on the fazors....... Audez'e, come on. For two grand you shouldn't resort to such methods. I understand that a full metal fazor would be heavier and probably not make a difference sonically. On the other hand, I think the look of the fazor is completely irrelevant anyway. I don't really get it, it's like the designers worried about some customers that might get angry because their fazors are not nice and shiny.



 


It may not be purely aesthetic: the paint may have some quality the plastic does not, or allows a smoother surface than the plastic used. I'm just speculating, but there might be some justification for it.

Also, could you ask Snorry why he doesn't rotate the mesh by 90 degrees so the lowest parts of the mesh are directly over the magnets?


----------



## Music818

Interesting....really appreciate to disassembly the hp step by step. But it's really sad there's no actual modification at all.


----------



## cleg

music818 said:


> Interesting....really appreciate to disassembly the hp step by step. But it's really sad there's no actual modification at all.




well, second LCD-3 pair ordered, so we'll see mod in future


----------



## cleg

wulfsta said:


> Also, could you ask Snorry why he doesn't rotate the mesh by 90 degrees so the lowest parts of the mesh are directly over the magnets?




sorry, didn't got what mash


----------



## Wulfsta

cleg said:


> sorry, didn't got what mash




I meant the fluted stainless steel, wouldn't it (in theory) work better rotated?


----------



## cleg

wulfsta said:


> I meant the fluted stainless steel, wouldn't it (in theory) work better rotated?




this grill is perpendicular to magnets, sorry if I didn't express it correctly in original post


----------



## Music818

cleg said:


> well, second LCD-3 pair ordered, so we'll see mod in future


 
  
 Oops.....that's good. But I think the modification and verification can carry out step by step. Most of the time, tolerance is allowed in each part, like the earpad thickness, the alignment, workmanship etc.. There's no need to disassembly the whole headphone before doing any mod (actually I'm eager to see the mod and result 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




).


----------



## cleg

music818 said:


> Oops.....that's good. But I think the modification and verification can carry out step by step. Most of the time, tolerance is allowed in each part, like the earpad thickness, the alignment, workmanship etc.. There's no need to disassembly the whole headphone before doing any mod (actually I'm eager to see the mod and result  ).




sure thing, but the purpose of disasebmly was to find out everything that could be upgraded. if he knew that driver will break, he definitely don't do it. initial idea was to remove sponge and hair


----------



## AManAnd88Keys

wulfsta said:


> amanand88keys said:
> 
> 
> > It's only paint on the fazors....... Audez'e, come on. For two grand you shouldn't resort to such methods. I understand that a full metal fazor would be heavier and probably not make a difference sonically. On the other hand, I think the look of the fazor is completely irrelevant anyway. I don't really get it, it's like the designers worried about some customers that might get angry because their fazors are not nice and shiny.
> ...


 
 An interesting thought. If that's true, some paint is maybe cheaper than a different quality of plastic.


----------



## keanex

tomb said:


> I'm swimming upstream on this, I know, but I take a different lesson from this: don't attempt to mod headphones unless you're prepared to ruin them.
> 
> Headphones, by and large, are a completely manufactured, often machine-fabricated product.  Either they're too cheaply made to take apart or they're too expensive to risk it.  A headphone company is in the market to compete.  It's ridiculous to assume that a headphone mfr is not trying to make the best sounding headphone at the lowest price.  So, they've already optimized the audio quality.  It may not be to your own particular preference, but they tuned it to sell, period.  Likewise for the manufacturing - pricing is so competitive worldwide, that every effort is going to be made to reduce manufacturing and fabrication costs.  That doesn't always mean the result is going to be easy to dis-assemble and re-assemble.  More often, it won't be - repeatable connectors/fasteners are always more expensive.
> 
> ...


I understand your view, but a $2,000 headphone should not have these inconsistencies with the frequency response in the treble and neither should it have those issues with the pads.


----------



## AManAnd88Keys

keanex said:


> I understand your view, but a $2,000 headphone should not have these inconsistencies with the frequency response in the treble and neither should it have those issues with the pads.


 

 I have to agree. Regardless of the fact the manufacturer has to make money with these headphones, two grand is a price point at which customers can and should expect a very high level of quality - at least in the world of headphones.


----------



## roskodan

keanex said:


> tomb said:
> 
> 
> > I'm swimming upstream on this, I know, but I take a different lesson from this: don't attempt to mod headphones unless you're prepared to ruin them.
> ...


 
 in fact even without measuring there have always been customers complaining about the sound deviations, from sample to sample, across the lcd product range
  
 1) i suppose the OP thought his measurements applied *to all the lcd3 manufactured*, hence the need to do the mod as the only possible way in getting a '$2000' sound/measurement/quality (or it was purely a curiosity/scientific thing, perhaps out of warranty as well?)
  
 2) while the truth is that each lcd3 (or any model in the lcd series) is *different in sound and measurement *from sample to sample (even the hd800 do, each have its own graph which is visibly different, although the margin of 'error' is much lower), as they are manufactured in a niche, home made, kind of process, in other terms, with loose or no strict standards, low tech manufacturing with higher margin of 'error' (this is not a bad thing, it's just how niche works)
  
 3) that's why *there is a warranty* and/or return period, so if the product does not match a '$2000' standard, which is also a *highly subjective* matter in audio (not to mention gear matching, and the effect of the whole chain on the headphone's performance/sound), you can have the manufacturer to deal with that risk, *no need to do their job* 
  
 other than that, for diy-ers, it's very sound to be *well documented and informed* to limit unexpected risks, like the disposable diaphragm assembly, while diy-ing 
  
 also i doubt a lcd3 with better measurements would be proportionally better sounding, or even make a meaningful audible difference, that's just how the lcd3 treble is, it takes another headphones to change this i suspect, since my old lcd3 2013 had that kind of hot treble compared to my lcd2 and my lcd-x
  
 this thread reminded me of some folks that do not like a piece of gear and then start buying oils and dusts, so to speak, instead to *just get rid* of the d***ed m*f*, LOL


----------



## keanex

I don't recall anyone here talking about the sound quality, but rather the build quality. Huge deviations in drivers shouldn't be accepted in $100 headhones and they certainly shouldnt be acceptable in $2,000 headphones, the same goes for the pads.

For $2,000 that headphone better be measured to tight specifications with nearly perfect driver matching and nearly perfect pad matching.

I was able to hear an LCD-X the other day and thought they sounded fine, but in the back of my mind I couldn't help but think of this thread.


----------



## roskodan

EDIT: also what i meant is that the poor assembly and fit&finish of the fazor/pads was the cause of the treble mismatch but i don't believe it was the cause of the harsh/fatiguing treble, i don't know if the OP heard any improvement in that regard after modding, before the drivers were damaged?
  
 Quote:


keanex said:


> I don't recall anyone here talking about the sound quality, but rather the build quality. Huge deviations in drivers shouldn't be accepted in $100 headhones and they certainly shouldnt be acceptable in $2,000 headphones, the same goes for the pads.
> 
> For $2,000 that headphone better be measured to tight specifications with nearly perfect driver matching and nearly perfect pad matching.
> 
> I was able to hear an LCD-X the other day and thought they sounded fine, but in the back of my mind I couldn't help but think of this thread.


 

 come on people read the OP at least before replying, and driver matching translate to SQ btw, as well as all the quality related issues, all of which is covered by warranty and customer support
  


keanex said:


> I understand your view, but a *$2,000 headphone should not have these inconsistencies with the frequency response in the treble* and neither should it have those issues with the pads.


 
  


cleg said:


> So, what should be improved.
> 
> Owner asked me to do something with high frequencies,* being "too harsh" for him* on some records, but he wanted to keep bass intact. On my first listening, they seemed to be *really fatiguing on highs,* especially on female vocals. I've made measurements that showed pretty noticable channel imbalance on highs.


----------



## keanex

roskodan said:


> come on people read the OP at least before replying, and driver matching translate to SQ btw, as well as all the quality related issues, all of which is covered by warranty and customer support


 
 Driver mismatch is 100% build quality/quality control issues. They should never leave the factory, warehouse or whatever with big differences like that. Covered by warranty or not, I could maybe accept it in a $100 headphone but if you think that's acceptable in a $1,700 headphone then I am not going to get my point across to you. $1,700 is damn near the most expensive currently in production headphone out there. It should set the bar for how companies handle build and quality issues and this is not acceptable no matter how you want to rationalize it.
  
 If a customer doesn't like the sound signature that is his problem, "hot treble" is never a customer support issue for any company as that is subjective. What isn't subjective is huge deviations in frequency response. What you linked to is showing huge driver deviations which is a quality control issue and 100% unacceptable. This doesn't include the dust/hair issues mentioned which make me wonder what sort of conditions these are being assembled in.


----------



## roskodan

hm... point taken and agreed, but i can't but think about the fact that stax is at $5k msrp and still had/have similar issues, while with the hd800 at $1.5k and i never really read about any such quality issues... my point is that nobody, with realistic expectations and a broader picture on the matter, is expecting sennheiser standards from audeze or stax, it just doesn't work like that, for thousands of reasons which i could number here all day long, but are mostly summarized in my previous post's #2 point... haters gonna hate  ... and i eagerly bought any product that i know its manufacturer stood behind it with excellent CS and warranty, as audeze does, schiit is gonna happen


----------



## gabriel-dan

2K is a lot of money for headphones and at this price range you are not only paying for sound quality, but also build quality. Those pics show a poor manufacturing quality control for a product that is suppose to be top notch and one the best in the world. No excuse.


----------



## ZGLISZCZ

I think the same, I didnt expect such a messy work. You dont need hi-tek lab to glue diaphragm clean and straight. And missmatch on the pads...


----------



## manywelps

cleg said:


> Flat diaphragms of planars are very sensitive to multipath sound reflections. If you place your palms opposite grills closer then 30 cm


 
 I actually noticed this with my ESP-950's.  Bloody weird effect.


----------



## wnmnkh

This is well-known issue except in Head-Fi
  
 http://ko.goldenears.net/board/4418338
  
 One of the reasons why Audeze in my country does not gain much hype.


----------



## aive

What a joke. I've always sensed channel imbalance with my LCDs but always thought it was in my mind/hearing loss...

Already replaced my drivers once due to failure. Plug is now falling out of cup on one side so second RMA soon.... F'n joke.


----------



## roskodan

looks like QC is terrible at audeze nowdays, i remember my first lcd2, with wooden xlr sockets, there was rarely any issue reported, apart from a driver failure here and there, personally never had any issue, then i got a 2013 classic lcd3, no issues there apart maybe some slight difference in pad thickness, but the last one i got, the lcdx, came with drivers mismatched in phase, one was wired wrong, with inverted '+' and '-' wires... on the other hand i bought my 4th hd800 the other day, never had any issues with any of em, seems like audeze forgot how to make good sounding luxury headphones... i don't know if they let such defective units pass hoping those will sell to less experienced buyers that won't notice or what...!?!


----------



## cleg

Now, successful modification stories 

First one about LCD-2

Snorry, author of the first mod, described here, made successful LCD-2 mod. Headphones owner asked him to make sound darker to remove harshness on highs and make sound more smooth.

LCD-2 have much better Phazor alignment, channel imbalance is much better, headpads are equal. 




First picture — original FR, second — with new headpads, made by Snorry



Final version




This version features other grill, changed dampers on both size, new hedpads, now easily replaceable and sewn with taking into account headphones' owner anatomy.

Final version photo.


----------



## cleg

And now... ta-dam... second pair of LCD-3 for modification. Owner's arguing about harsh sound and sibilance.

Measurements shows some peaks on highs, imperfect channel balance and rough highs.



Snorry promised to do his best to fix this, now without driver disassembly  Only headpads, grill, damping and acoustic treatment.

I'll keep this thread updated.


----------



## ZGLISZCZ

Btw guys, if anyone would like to 3d print "fazor replacements" for pre fazor lcd2 then you can grab ready to print file from here:
 https://sketchfab.com/models/2ad2680119914de69ab8fb7dfeaedd28
 (I think for one of the sides you will need to sand it a bit)
  
 and here is BMF post with before/after measurements and impressions: http://www.head-fi.org/t/618659/fostex-t50rp-incremental-mods-and-measurements/1455#post_11126156
  
 they are not a replica of real fazors and have different cross-section but seems like it did some improvements.
  
 Sorry for bit offtopic, but maybe you would like to try them


----------



## Sonic Defender

I try to be fair and realize that creating quality headphones is likely quite difficult, but with proper processes and inspections in place it should be possible. For those that don't think 2K is really that expensive (frankly I think we are desensitized to high prices) consider that for only 8 times that cost you can get an entire car! My brother just purchased a nice new car for 16K and it has all kinds of bells and whistles, plus a fairly nice little stock stereo. Think about that, how many different parts and suppliers, layers of manufacture, transport and other expenses happen before the car even makes it to the dealers lot where some money is still to be made. While I know it isn't exactly a fair comparison, it isn't really unreasonable either. Put that small headphone on the trunk of that vehicle and stand back and try to take the scope into account. Yes, far better quality control is completely warranted here folks, absolutely.


----------



## RMSKFX

Somebody got taken for a ride


----------



## Me x3

Great thread.
 Thanks for sharing!


----------



## Benny-x

cleg said:


> Now, successful modification stories
> 
> 
> 
> ...





> This version features other grill, changed dampers on both size, new hedpads, now easily replaceable and sewn with taking into account headphones' owner anatomy.
> 
> Final version photo.


 
 Is there a link to more info on this? 
  


cleg said:


> And now... ta-dam... second pair of LCD-3 for modification. Owner's arguing about harsh sound and sibilance.
> 
> Measurements shows some peaks on highs, imperfect channel balance and rough highs.
> 
> ...


 
 What ever happened to the second LCD-3 mod? I was hoping there'd be some updated like the first one, even though the first one didn't end so well.


----------



## cleg

benny-x said:


> Is there a link to more info on this?
> 
> What ever happened to the second LCD-3 mod? I was hoping there'd be some updated like the first one, even though the first one didn't end so well.




Actually, it succeeded, but there is not much information about that. Photos are similar to the first one, and no review from owner besides "it became much better"


----------



## MilhouseV

The second mod was not intended to be quite as radical, and only focused on correcting a spike at 8kHz and channel imbalance.  Newly filled pads and a special mount which makes them sit a bit higher (above the fazor), new external grille, correction of fazor position, additional acoustic damping on both sides of fazor, internal grille.
 The alignment of tracing on the diaphragm and magnets was slightly off - but equally so on both drivers.  In theory, this would prevent the drivers from realizing their full potential, however, this did not cause any disbalance as both drivers exhibited this equally.
 Another interesting item was a subsequent look at the original pads, which showed some unexpected "craftsmanship".


----------



## NZtechfreak

I guess the variance in Audeze headphones sound is explained.


----------



## Mirininc

Now they have a 4000 USD LCD-4 headphone coming out. They really should address the build quality issues.
  
 I would love to buy printer paper dampers, misaligned drivers, plastic buzzwords and hair/dust infused magnets. I feel sorry for the poor sap that buys them only to have to return them time after time.


----------



## Synthax

Audeze quality of chosen solutions and production is far worse than I though. And far worse than Stax for example


----------

