Preface: This pair of LCD-4 is made in 2016 but is equipped with 2021 pads. I am using the Flux FA-22 and Schiit Modius as the source.

Audeze was a brand that I was exposed to when I first joined this hobby, but I never got around to buy any of their headphones because I knew that I would not like the tuning. However, as I have gotten more entrenched in the hobby, I learned to use my own ears for equalization and now I EQ pretty much every headphone I get my hands on. Thus, I gave Audeze a shot.

Without EQ, I finally got to experience what Audeze's "house sound" is like. To my ears, it is quite wonky. It's overly rich and warm with pretty annoying upper treble/air. However, I do equalize everything, so this wasn't much of a problem.

The bass on the LCD-4 is impressive. The extension is insane and the sense of detail/tactility is awesome. I do think that the original Hifiman HE6 (as well as the Focal offerings) have better punch, but the LCD-4 beats both in tightness and detail, while not being too behind in the slam department. These headphones can also take EQ without any problems. Just for fun, I equalized the subbbass up +12db and the LCD-4 did not break a sweat.

The midrange is great, but these took me a bit of time to EQ them to the way I wanted it to be. The SR-009 blew me away with its midrange resolution, and to my ears, the LCD-4 easily competes with it. The midrange is a bit on the drier side however, so it's not perfect.

The treble was also great after EQ. It was a bit dark so I boosted the lower treble a bit while toning down the air frequencies. The treble, like the midrange, is insanely detailed. I still think the SR-009 has a slight edge in the treble (in terms of technical prowess) compared to the LCD-4, but it is very, very close.

Overall, the LCD-4 is a an extremely capable headphone, but it requires a bit of love to shine :)