For the past week, I’ve been lucky enough to be listening to the brand new Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back headphones! They were such a pleasure to listen to so I’m excited to share my thoughts about them with you here today. Without further ado, here is the Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back First Impressions and Review!

Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back First Impressions and Review

In the Box – Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back First Impressions and Review

-Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back headphones

-2.5 m 6.3 mm’ to dual 4-pin mini XLR cable

-3.5 mm to 6.3 mm stereo adapter

Design – Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back First Impressions and Review

Headband

The headband of the Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back reminds me a lot of their other headbands. It has a two tiered design with one layer of perforated leather underneath a layer of thin, light metal. This metal layer connects to a piece that holds a metal extension rod (which adjusts for different head sizes). The extenders attach via a metal screw to a Y shaped metal yolk. This yolk attaches to the sides of the earcups. Overall, the headband is light and flexible, yet strong and durable with a smart design.

Earcups

The earcups of the Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back are large, but unlike the previous LCD-2 headphones, these ones are closed back! The outside of the cups are made of what feels like a light metal. Although these headphones feel lighter than other Audeze headphones, they still have substantial weight and aren’t for the weak necked.

Earpads

The earpads of the Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back are thick and soft. They seem to be made of firm foam.  This foam is coated in soft leather. Due to the thickness and the firmness, the ear fully suspends in the middle of the pad. In other words, the ears don’t touch the earcup and don’t touch the earpad, at least for my smallish ears. If you have larger ears, they may end up touching the earpad a bit. As a result, the headphones are super comfortable, so long as the weight isn’t too much for you or you’re doing a shorter listening session.

Cable

The cable of the Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back is detachable and attaches to both earcups, making it a Y-style cable. The cable is a  good length and not too girthy, so I had not problems managing it. Individually insulated and braided wires make up the cable, so it seems to be designed with a low impedance in mind.

Sound – Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back First Impressions and Review

Low Frequencies

The low frequencies of the Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back are strong and punchy with a tasteful emphasis. They react quickly and energetically and display a sense of low frequency extension. I also get a sense of smoothness from them in general. As a result, the low frequencies provide a foundation of power in addition to a sense of cohesiveness. For example, when I was listening to the song Royals by Lorde, the kick drum sounded big, long, and extended. And while it had good separation from the bass synths, the synths and the drum had a similar tonality which made them sit in the same area of the soundstage and exude a similar impact.

Middle Frequencies

The high middle frequencies of the Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back have a sense of smoothness and softness to them. As a result, it takes some of the bite away from overly bright recordings, but also reduces some of the separation you might get from other headphones. This reduction in separation provides an aesthetic benefit. For example, it can make guitars sound thicker, horns sound more connected, and vocals relax into a velvety warmth.

On the other hand, the low mids feel full of power and energy and provide a bit more solidity to those instruments in the high-mids.For example, when I was listening to Art is Hard by Cursive, the big electric guitars are double with strings. Consequently, with these headphones they sort of blend with each other and become this big wall of powerful sound. The vocal sits above these in the mix, and I get the feeling it may have felt quieter in the mix if it wasn’t for the darker nature of the high frequencies.  However, it remained on top and created this sense of dense warmth that felt pleasing yet powerful and dominate.

High Frequencies

While the high frequencies of the Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back are chilled out in general, I still get a sense of extension and height from them. The role of the high frequencies, rather than adding glisten or energy, add vibe and flavor. For example, in the song Sunday Candy by Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment, the highs of the percussion, vocal, and horns add height and separation to each. However, they also blend so as to feel creamy, rather than fluorescent.

Soundstage

The soundstage of the Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back, just like so many other of their headphones, is super deep and impressive! It is deep and wide, and creates a sense of space without even requiring a lot of space from the mix. They just automatically have this sense of “speakerness” to them. The height of the soundstage is less dramatic than the depth and width, but maintains spaciousness all the same. However, I was most impressed with how quickly the width of the soundstage in the headphones adapted to a changing soundstage in the mix. For example, when I was listening to Night School by Frank Zappa, there was a lot of crazy panning with the drums and percussion. Additionally, there were many instances of very dry instruments juxtaposed with wet, reverby instruments. The headphones followed along easily and seamlessly, without clouding up the soundstage and thus, the mix.

Likewise, when I was listening to Brahms Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op 73: II, I could really hear the full width of the orchestra when all the instruments played together. There was a real sense of width to the strings out to the side and on the edges of the orchestra, and a sense of intimacy and precision of the flutes sitting in the middle of the orchestra.

Overview – Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back First Impressions and Review

The Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back has a warm, smooth sound with an impactful low end. It works well with a wide variety of genres, and provides a deep soundstage, especially for a closed back set of headphones. It requires an amplifier, so be sure to have one before buying these, but if you’re looking for a great set of headphones around $899 to use a home, you’d be missing out if you didn’t check these out.

The Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back is available for the best price here:

Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed-Back at Audio 46

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