Audeze LCD-S20 Evaluation: Your Subsequent Mixing Headphone

After a lot anticipation, the Audeze LCD-S20 is right here! It is a new midrange closed-back mannequin from Audeze, whose open-back fashions already maintain excessive regard within the audiophile neighborhood. This closed-back mannequin comes as a complement to the MM-100, the midrange open-back that’s used for studio mixing. Is the LCD-S20 your subsequent reference headphone? Or will it not stay as much as the months of ready? 

This Audeze headphone shares the same type to those that got here earlier than it. The LCD-S20 is over-ear in type and fully round for the ear cup form. The ear pads themselves are extra ergonomic and are snug to put on over your ears for prolonged listening periods. The supplies that make up the headphones are very sturdy and dependable for multi-year utilization. Whereas sporting these headphones, I might really feel their weight very early on. The LCD-S20 is a really heavy headphone, with a free clamping drive to make it simple to take off rapidly.

Just like the MM-100, the LCD-S20 comes with a single-ended 3.5mm to six.35mm cable. The headphone itself has twin ports, however it’s as much as you to determine which aspect you need to put on the cable on. The headscarf can also be adjustable, with three completely different tiers of peak on both aspect. 

For my style, the LCD-S20 headphones weren’t that snug; the load made them fatiguing, and the free match made me really feel like they’d fall off if I moved my head too rapidly or sharply. Maybe I simply have a smaller head, however it’s value noting. 

SOUNDSTAGE & IMAGING

Now we’re on to the listening portion of our overview. The Audeze LCD-S20 was enjoyable to take heed to, particularly paired with lots of completely different DACs and amplifiers. The soundstage on the headphone was fairly vast and had correct instrumental placement. I used to be undoubtedly a fan of how the stereo area expanded in width, although that was form of the place it stopped. The LCD-S20 does not present any vertical peak, and the depth is quite restricted. In tracks with giant instrumentation, the sound stays very impartial and flat on the stereo aircraft. 

The general sound signature on the LCD-S20s is impartial and exact. You do not have lots of bass response, and midrange element is available in full drive in any observe. The V-shape signature places the midrange proper on the entrance, with the bass and treble accentuating these particulars. For a headphone marketed as a reference pair of cans, that is to be anticipated from the LCD-S20. It is an amazing impartial floor so that you can begin engaged on. If you’re on the lookout for a enjoyable, closed-back listening expertise, I might see the LCD-S20 being a bit disappointing. 

BASS FREQUENCIES

Merely put, the Audeze LCD-S20 has a really weak bass response. Tracks that I ran by way of the headphones that I knew to be bass-heavy simply didn’t ship the identical slam or punchiness I anticipated out of an Audeze headphone. It was undoubtedly extra recessed than even another treble-heavy headphones, and the coloration of the sound is extra the main target than the physique. You get a good quantity of element from this vary and tonal accuracy that leans in direction of the highest fringe of this vary quite than the opposite aspect. Sub-bass rumble is unquestionably lacking from some heavier pop and EDM tracks.

Nonetheless, I’ll say that the LCD-S20’s lack of bass is not essentially a nasty factor. For mixing functions, having little or no bass makes you capable of hear the extra pure tones of your devices. You aren’t getting overwhelmed by heavier frequencies, and you’ve got extra room to play with how a lot you dial it up in your private EQ. 

MIDRANGE FREQUENCIES

That is the vary within the LCD-S20 that will get essentially the most consideration. The midrange comes ahead to create the V-shaped signature observed upon a primary hear. You get to listen to vocals and lots of different melodic devices come proper to the entrance and be the focus, with all the pieces else filtering barely backwards and extra sideways. Each factor within the midrange comes throughout in spectacular element, the place you are not left questioning or greedy for lacking items. 

I actually appreciated the coloration of the devices on this vary on the LCD-S20. Vocals sounded crystal clear and pure, as if the singers have been within the room with you. Acoustic guitars and grand pianos had the timbre you’d anticipate from these devices, added with intense element so that you did not miss any of the finer particulars. This vary made it apparent that this headphone might undoubtedly be used as a reference headphone, with its flat high quality and impartial tuning throughout all components. 

TREBLE FREQUENCIES

The treble vary will not be as sturdy as one thing just like the midrange, nevertheless it actually got here by way of to ship readability and area to the headphone. The LCD-S20 has a good quantity of area on the high finish, with a pure roll-off that does not lower off the ultra-highs. There’s a sure airiness that this vary possesses, giving a thinner presentation than one thing as closely textured because the midrange. The treble is an efficient steadiness to the LCD-S20’s bass response, the place you get the readability and area to stop a very compressed and heavy combine. 

It is a vary that may be heard all through your entire signature of the LCD-S20s. Between the ring of a snare drum, the treble twang of a bass guitar, and the reverb that dies out in an orchestral symphony, the treble works time beyond regulation to provide you unbelievable readability and element all through your entire sound signature. The analytical listener will certainly respect the eye to element they get when utilizing the LCD-S20.  

The LCD-S20 does not want an amplifier attributable to its low impedance and excessive sensitivity, however I used one for my take a look at listening anyway. I used a variety of transportable and desktop DAC/amps, as this headphone could be simple to make use of on the go in addition to at a desk. 

• Fosi Audio ZH3
• iFi GO Blu
• FiiO BTR15
• FiiO QX13

I discovered that DAC/Amps just like the iFi GO Blu and the FiiO BTR15 have been nice choices, however there have been additionally fairly just a few desktop amps that paired effectively with the sound signature. The flatness of the LCD-S20 could be fairly jarring, so pairing it with one thing that may mess around with the filters and tunings means that you can embrace the SLAM expertise with planar driver precision. I appreciated the iFi GO Blu the very best, with the XBass filter on to fill in what the headphone itself was lacking. 

The Audeze LCD-S20 proves itself to be a real powerhouse in its class. The construct is sturdy for lengthy listening periods, and the sound delivers simply what you should begin working immediately at no matter undertaking is in your record. The LCD-S20 will not be a headphone for informal listening, nevertheless it actually does pair effectively with DAC/amplifiers and allows you to hear their distinctive filters. 

I feel it is a headphone that recording artists will love as an improve from their present fashions. Mixing engineers who desire a good worth headphone will need to get their palms on certainly one of these. The perfect take a look at will likely be to return in and take heed to the headphones your self. Your ears would be the final decide if the LCD-S20 is the subsequent pair of cans so as to add to your audiophile arsenal. 

The Audeze LCD-S20 is accessible at present at Audio46.