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The Audeze LCD-2 headphones may be the finest headphones i've ever had the pleasure of listening to.

The headphones arrived for review in a rugged plastic container that reminded me of the robust \"Pelican\" cases that often carry professional equipment. You could take a bat to this case and probably wouldn't be able to damage the headphones inside.

Opening the case revealed the gorgeous LCD-2 headphones. The headphones are made from a dark oiled Caribbean Rosewood, dark metal, and soft leather. The thick custom made cord connects to each ear with sturdy DIN plugs, with a 6.5mm plug to go to your source. These things reek of quality, they look almost as good as they sound, and feel like they should last a very long time.

The ear pads are an unusual design, angled in such a way as to send the sound more directly into your ear canal. They're very comfortable and I had no problems with them during extended listening sessions. The pads themselves are made from a very soft leather, with soft foam between the leather and your head. The headphones are open, so as well as the music you can hear everything else around you, so ideally you should be in a quiet environment when you use these headphones.

Overall the sound is just superb. Bass is low, clear, and powerful without being overwhelming. I haven't heard headphones that can match them for bass quality, though there are headphones with more bass available, the LCD-2 sound natural and accurate. They can't match a subwoofer, of course, but they do as good a job as any other headphones i've heard.

The mids are sweet and clear, really bringing out the singers voice. The highs are detailed without being harsh. I can't really say much more about the sound - it's natural, accurate, sweet, and superb.

In my listening tests I found jazz, vocal, and acoustic music really shined, and electronica did very well too. I didn't enjoy rock as much on the LCD-2 headphones, though I can't put my finger on why. Perhaps it was poorer source material, or maybe they just don't do as well with the barrage of sound from rock music. Don't get me wrong, they still sounded good, but there may be better headphones around if you primarily listen to rock music.

These headphones take a bit of power to drive. As an experiment I plugged them into my iPod Touch, with the volume at around half the music was about the same volume as most headphones are at 10%. To really get the best from these headphones you need a high quality source and a good quality amplifier.
In conclusion, these are the best headphones i've ever had the pleasure of listening to. They come highly recommended.

Audeze supplied headphones for this review.

Picked up a pair of these from Tyll Hertsens to review.

I tested them with a Grace m903 and uncompressed music straight from CD.

Bass: Excellent
The bass really shines when listening to these headphones. Deep, impactful, and not too fatiguing.

Bass Impact: Good
I never really had these thump, but they were fine enough for me.

Bass Quality: Very Good
Enjoyed kick drums, bass guitar, bass vocals, and electronic bass.

Mids Quality: Very Good
The phones do a great job at giving you an immersive experience in the mid range.

Highs Quality: Above Average
Thought I would be more impressed here, but even with my Grace m903 I really was not impressed. Using an iPod made me even less impressed with the highs.

Soundstage: Not as full as an HD-650 or AH-D2000, but nicely presented and not absent. The DT990 does a much better job for an open can.

Detail: Good
Bass to Mid = Great
Mid to High = Less Great
I prefer my AH-D2000's

Portability: Below Below Average
These things are heavy, clunky, big, and bold...and not in a good way for travel. I guess the wood looks cool so they get a point there.

Isolation: Average
Not really meant to seal completely, but they do enough to keep ambient noise out and 90% of the music inside your ears.

Comfort: Below Average
I had a hard time listing to them for hours due to their weight and swivel technology ( simple single pivot ). They were also quite warm due to the nice leather pads making it harder to listen to for extended periods.

Durability: Average
Single swivel point which is a clear weak point. A single screw attaches the can to the head piece and the external tooth washer does not do its job causing the cans to slide up and down the vertical adjustment shaft. Can you say Loctite?

Improvement With Amplification: Above Average
Paired with the m903 this became the listening reference when my AH-D2000's were not around.

If you want to shell out ~900 clams and you expect a really nice phone these are for you. Keep in mind the build quality is superb to amazing! The sound signature was a bit rolled off toward the highs for me. These phones are far better than T1, T5, and HD-800 for sound quality, but their comfort rating leaves something to improve upon.