Audeze LCD-5s Flagship Open-Back Planar Magnetic Headphones (Review)

Here we are, once again with the opportunity to sit down and pair our ears to that extravagant delight that is sound. I have been obsessed with sound and music since I was a small child, when I first picked up my father’s Sennheiser HD 414 headphones. Since then, I have experienced an endless list of models, enjoying every moment (mostly).  Now, we get to the pleasure of talking about the Audeze LCD-5s Open-Back Planar Magnetic Headphones.

Fresh to the shelves this year, this is the company’s latest flagship design that hopes to capture fans who have enjoyed earlier experiences, like the Audeze LCD-4 and LCD-5. These headphones are for those looking for a specific sound signature, which means they won’t be for everybody (especially those with a limited budget).

Like most of the company’s flagship products, these headphones ship to you tucked away into a fancy enclosure that they call home. This is an aluminum carrying case with lockable latches (comes with a set of two keys) to help keep greasy or young fingers away from your joy when you are storing them between uses.

This case offers a well-protected design to keep them safe, filled with plenty of foam.

Inside, you’ll find the headphones, along with the cables (one cable and one adapter), keys, white gloves, and some basic documentation. The white gloves are for those looking to extend the life of their investment by keeping the oils of your skin from getting all over the product, while also preventing fingerprints and smudges.

Not everyone makes use of gloves (I would assume that few do since the same oils will likely be on your face/ears all the same), but it does add a little touch to the presentation of things.

Headphones require little in the way of accessories, so beyond the cables, you don’t normally get much more as there is not much more to give. The only other thing you need for your headphones is something to drive them with, and that is almost always on you, unless you buy into an expensive headphone + amplifier bundle.

Audeze chose to provide a cable that is best suited for mid- to high-end headphone amplifiers. It is a balanced 4-pin XLR cable made of directional, high-purity OCC (Ohno Continuous Cast) copper, with two 4-pin mini XLR connectors that mate to the headphones.

Then there is a 4-pin XLR to 1/4″ (6.3mm) adapter, for any other amp type that is designed for nicer headphones (or AVR/stereo systems) that takes this common connection.

The main cable offers a fantastic build quality. The high-grade wire ensures the audio signal moves smoothly from your amplifier to your headphones without losing any detail or altering the sound. Not only that, but it passes very little physical noise to your ears as you move around, causing it to slide across your clothing (some materials can create a lot of physical interaction that passes low rubbing sounds to your ears through vibrations). This cable doesn’t pass much at all, unless you pull it tight as things rub across it (physics).

The headphones feature a design similar to the previous LCD-5 model, with a tortoise-print pattern and a mostly black theme. It features the same sliding posts for adjusting to the shape of your head and uses a perforated headband that helps the top of your head breathe a little.

Where it differs is the copper accenting that is used for the posts, the outer mesh grills, and the ring that runs around between the earpad and the driver cup. This accenting allows things to visually pop better than the LCD-5 ever did, allowing it to look great on your head (or on display). There is also a different design to the earpads, giving them a slight slope.

The copper mesh grills look great and help to add a little visual luxury to the headphones. My colleagues and I felt that this made for a great balance to everything. I know I had already mentioned the grills in the previous paragraph, but I just had to highlight them as I felt they needed it.

The posts on the sides where you slide the band up and down to conform to the size of your head offer a very unique approach that can be found in some of the company’s other high-end models. It provides you with plenty of flexibility, making sure that no head will be too small or too big for them.

However, although it does add to the overall comfort of these headphones, it does allow for plenty of swivel/twist, so although you might feel like you have the best fit for your head, they may appear crooked if you don’t double-check your work. A minor detail, and only a visual one (for others who might see you wearing them), but worth a few soft laughs from our team as we watched each other position the headphones on our heads.

Going with the 4-pin XLR makes for a great choice, especially since the company includes the adapter so that no one is left out. Many modern headphone amps make use of balanced XLR, so pairing these without the adapter was easy for us (for this, we mostly focused on using the SPL Phonitor XE amplifier). At the same time, we also made use of the adapter for other amp options, like the Little Dot MKII, which we have used a lot over the years (a nice affordable solution that offers swappable tubes).

Performance

When it comes to comfort, these headphones land very well. At 475g, they aren’t the lightest out there in their category, but they are great nonetheless (and nowhere near heavy). They fit well on the head, and the weight isn’t overbearing, even during long listening rounds. The compression is acceptable, although wider heads might find it to be a tad exhausting, but only a tad. The headband is comfortable, although sometimes it may feel a little stiff. I didn’t experience the latter characteristic, but some of my colleagues with thinner hair profiles did.

Build quality and engineering are fantastic, with a focus on raw resolution and transient speed. This alone carries a major checkmark for why these headphones are a bit more expensive than some are used to. One of the major things that separates flagship models from entry and mid-tier options is engineering and part quality. This is something Audeze should be proud of (and is). The diaphragm is incredibly thin and responsive. There is also a solid list of materials throughout, such as carbon fiber, magnesium, genuine leather, and polished polymer acetate.

I have already mentioned the benefits of the quality cable the company provides, pointing out that it passes very minimal physical noise to the ears, which is fantastic.

When it comes to audio, these headphones sing when it comes to a decent (but not mind-blowing) soundstage and super clean audio. Their biggest benefits lie within the highs and mids of what you are listening to (although some EQ might be needed in the mids, depending on the user).

The highs are really clean and well balanced, allowing sources like 70s/80s classic rock, classical, and acoustic performances/recordings to really shine. Vocals, strings, and other instruments pop, allowing you to appreciate some of the tracks you pair these to. Not everything shines this way, as it can be a little selective, but this can be said for many audiophile solutions. It’s all in the art of pairing the right user to the right pair of headphones.

The mids contain a little exaggeration. This didn’t bother me too much, but a few of my colleagues did break out an EQ at the source to help balance them out a little. My ears completely understood what caused this, but again, I wasn’t so bothered by it. It is there, though, and worth noting. This can very easily be resolved via EQ as these headphones respond very well to such adjustments.

Bass/lows aren’t really a strength for this model. There are some slightly punchy tones here and there and some nice sonic lows from time to time, but most of them feel buried by everything else that is happening in your ears. I was a little surprised by this as I am usually turning down the lows in some of these headphones as the newer generations live a little too much by the EQ smile, causing there to be a little too much exaggeration of the lows. For these headphones, I had expected a perfect balance for this, but this wasn’t the case. Instead, the bass of the tracks feels like there was something my mind was yearning for that wasn’t there.

Again, it is all about finding the right headphones for the right person, as everyone’s ears are different. When it comes to audiophile headphones, it is like finding the right glass slipper for that female guest that ran off in the middle of your princely ball. So while some of these remarks might sound slightly negative, it is simply a review of what our ears are hearing. There are many out there that would prefer this pattern in their ears.

As briefly mentioned already, we have been pairing these headphones with a series of amp solutions to see what results we would get. We started with the Little Dot MKII amp and worked our way to a few AVR solutions and then up to the SPL Phonitor XE amplifier. These solutions provided a mix of similar results while also gaining unique characteristics.

Starting with the Little Dot MKII, we wanted to see how well an affordable headphone amp like this would work with the LCD-5s headphones. The result was impressive, while also showing that despite the impedance being only 35 ohms, it still requires a bit of effort to drive these. This is because that planar drivers require solid current (amperage) rather than just voltage swing. With the Little Dot MKII, we found ourselves mostly taking the volume up to around 60 or higher (range is 0-100) to get a decent presence of sound in our ears.

Moving onto the AVR options we chose to test against, we found that an older Yamaha Advantage model (I believe 2011) with Burr-Brown DACs sounded best for warmth within the AVR category for pairing with these. While a newer-generation Aventage with Sabre DACs lost some of that warmth. This, once again, is user-dependent when it comes to if this is a good thing or not, either direction. Switching over to a Denon AVR-X6800H sounded best for crisp clarity, especially in the mid-highs and highs. Similar to the newer Yamaha Aventage models, you lose the warmth that the first-generation Aventage delivered to these headphones, but again, these headphones aren’t exactly strong in the area of bass anyway.

We then broke out one of our favorite headphone amplifiers, the SPL Phonitor XE. This model offers the balanced 4-pin XLR on the back, which is exactly what we needed for this model when not using the 1/4″ adapter. I would say that I was in a conflict between what I preferred between this amplifier and using the first-generation Yamaha Aventage. The performance of the SPL Phonitor XE with the Audeze LCD-5s headphones makes for such a great pairing. The Phonitor XE is an expensive amp, but so are the headphones. So it lands right into the category of what an owner of these headphones would be looking for. I am pretty sure that I loved this pairing the best. Again, you might find yourself playing with EQ a little, depending on your preferences, but I felt this was the best configuration just as it is.

Now let’s take a look at what some of the individual tracks sounded like to us. We have spent hours listening to these, with multiple heads and opinions in the mix. So the number of tracks and opinions can get a little convoluted. So we focused on a long list, while keeping to the results everyone could agree on.

• Chris Jones (various tracks): Bass isn’t heavy, good mids, and balanced highs that aren’t exhausting.
• Rebecca Pidgeon – Spanish Harlem (acoustic): Great focus on the voice, very precise without exaggerating anything artificially
• Aurora (various): A long-time favorite of ours for testing, due to her angelic voice. One of the better soundstage results with these headphones, great vocals, music complements without distracting (bass isn’t taking any attention from the vocals, but lacking for those who prefer it).
• CSN – Deja Vu: The acoustic guitar sounds fantastic as the song kicks off; the vocals sound great.
• Greta Van Fleet – Meeting the Master: An immersive experience for your ears overall
• Evanescence – My Immortal: Amy’s operatic-like voice shines, placing a wide smile on your face. It doesn’t take much to accomplish this, but these headphones do so nicely.
• Nieka Moss – La Vie en Rose – Piano & Vocal Duet: Another good soundstage experience for these headphones, great overall experience.
• Suite No. 1 G Major BWV 1007 – 1. Prelude: Flat-sounding overall, but a decent soundstage
• Ariana Grande – R.E.M.: Good soundstage, great vocals, bass is poppy and fun and not overwhelming (although I’m sure it could use a tad more in the lows, given the track’s intentions)
• Boston – More Than a Feeling: Track is a bit compressed due to age (issue is with the track, not the headphones), but it does help give it a bit more of a stage presence, and certain things stand out, like the clap-beat in the beginning and throughout seems to pop with these for some reason.

We also spent a great deal of time listening to SiriusXM’s Coffee House (via Internet Stream). This channel has a lot of acoustic performances that sound fantastic with these headphones. I personally have likely spent a few hours listening to this alone.

Our Conclusion

When we score something like this, it is important to keep in mind that we are comparing it to similarly priced and performing options. The score is not to be considered if comparing these to headphones in a higher or lower league solutions (which have their own internal expectations for scoring).

For comfort and build quality, these headphones land very nicely within our overall scoring (carbon fiber, magnesium, genuine leather, polished polymer acetate, and a microscopically thin diaphragm that is so incredibly responsive). We also like the cable provided. The inclusion of the carrying case is also a good addition to all of this, as you can never be too cautious when it comes to protecting such an investment.

When it comes to sound, we found the highs to be incredibly clean and crisp, without any fatigue that you can sometimes get with models that focus heavily on the higher frequencies.

Mid/body performance differs depending on the preference of the person listening. Some may find it to be ok, while others may want to balance the mids out a little, as they can be a little exaggerated in areas.

Lows are a bit lacking, so if you prefer lows to be a little less present, this is a winner for you. If you prefer heart-pounding bass, these headphones are not for you.

While you aren’t getting a perfect spread of sound across all frequencies (out of the box), these headphones still shine when it comes to build quality and the sheer engineering behind everything. That, and they are so easily adjustable through EQ to help dial things into what your ears are hoping for. Although you can’t always dial in the bass to where you want it (for those who like a lot of it), you can do wonders with your mids with a proper multi-band EQ. This model reacts well to EQ adjustments, giving you plenty of flexibility.

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