Audeze LCD-X (2021)

Open-back over-ear reference headphone with a 106 mm planar magnetic driver

The audio professional’s choice

The LCD-X is popular with audiophiles, but especially with music producers and mastering engineers. Its overall tonality is neutral, helping mixes translate well across most speaker systems.

High-end without room acoustics

Paired with Audeze Reveal+ to build an HRTF* for your own hearing, the LCD-X can place you in renowned studios—so you can mix consistently and efficiently from virtually anywhere.

Accuracy, transparency, and efficiency

The LCD-X uses patented Audeze technologies including Ultra-Thin Uniforce™ diaphragms, Fazor waveguides, and powerful Neodymium magnets to deliver exceptionally precise, detailed sound. Its advanced planar drivers combine high efficiency with low impedance—so the LCD-X can sound great from almost any device with a headphone output.

Designed for comfort

Over the years, Audeze refined the LCD-X by reducing weight and improving comfort. A suspension headband helps distribute weight evenly, while thick premium earpads provide a secure fit. Neutral tuning and low distortion reduce listening fatigue—so late-night sessions can keep going.

The press agrees: the LCD-X is something special.

Headphones.com

I’m sincerely impressed with what Audeze has done with the LCD-X. The LCD-X was already a very good headphone since it offered exceptional technical performance at a much lower price than its competitors. With this revision, though, Audeze has really taken the LCD-X to the next level with what I think is one of the most enjoyable, and comfortable stock tunings in a high-end headphone.

It’s an unbelievable and nearly unparalleled value in the high-end personal audio market. Audeze really nailed it with this update to the LCD-X, and I look forward to listening to similar benefits on their other full-size LCD headphones.

Ear-fidelity.com

Audeze has created a monster of a headphone with the new LCD-X 2021. It does just about everything right, with its great packaging, excellent and industrial build to a highly detailed and pleasant sound performance.

Frighteningly close to being the perfect headphone for the money. Fantastic job. Highly recommended.

Technical specifications

Measurements

What does this mean?

The black line is something that could be called the “ideal” curve of what a headphone should sound like. The Harman Research Group has a range of scientific studies around audio and the human perception of it—one of which asked: how should a headphone sound to be preferred by a majority of people, regardless of age or other demographic variables? The result is called the Harman target.

From left to right we have sub-bass, bass, mids, and then the curve finally tilts upward where the treble begins—this part of the frequency spectrum gets amplified naturally by the shape of the human ear.

As we can see, because of the open-back design there is a slight dip in the bass area. The mids are slightly emphasized, the lower treble is relatively relaxed and then, in the upper treble, it rises again. The listening experience is slightly different than what the graph might suggest though: because of the massive driver size (106 mm!) and the very good coupling to the head because of the large pads, it provides a lot of rumble in the bass area, but without being overwhelming. The mids are the meat of the music and they’re a bit emphasized—but the recessed treble makes long listening sessions without fatigue possible and very enjoyable.

The LCD-X is also special in that it takes EQ like no other—you can add +12 dB in the bass without noticeable distortion, even at very high listening levels. If you're a bass lover, this is for you.

Harman Research

The Perception and Measurement of Headphone Sound Quality – What Do Listeners Prefer?