After 2 solid years of using my Harmonicdyne Zeus as daily drivers, I started looking for a little bit of a planar upgrade this year. I was about to pull the trigger on an Edition XS, but by chance this popped up for a bit more than my original budget. As a long-time Head-Fi lurker, I jumped at the chance to own a pair of classic pre-fazor Audeze's - and boy they do not disappoint!
These are an early rev. 2 pair (2011/2012) with the second headband version but lacking the black angled connectors seen on ones made after 2012-ish. Unfortunately, this pair does have the cracking wood issue seen at those connectors but it shouldn't be a huge deal going forward (fingers crossed!). Compared to the fazored versions of the LCD-2, the pre-fazor versions have a warmer, richer character which appealed to me. Having owned the HE-4XX and heard the Sundara, I preferred the tonality of the Zeus compared to the Hifimans and the 6XX.
Sound-wise, these are everything I could have wanted in an upgrade from the Zeus and then some. Bass has a similar impact and slam to the Zeus without the mid-bass hump/bloat and much better extension. The amount of rumble and texture brought out by the LCD-2 is the biggest upgrade in my opinion, which absolutely satisfies my basshead tendencies. Infected Mushroom, Carpenter Brut, KOAN Sound, Ghost Data, and drums in general have never sounded so good!
Mids and treble are where my preferences probably differ from most, as I definitely prefer a warmer tonality and have some sensitivity to upper mids and treble. Detail and separation are a clear step up from the Zeus, even with the mids being a tad recessed in comparison. Despite the "hole" in the upper mids seen in graphs, I really don't mind the level of the mids - they're perfectly usable stock, and only need 1-2 dB between 2k and 4k for a little more bite to guitars and clarity in female vocals. Treble is perfectly smooth and silky and honestly, I couldn't ask for anything more. For certain K-pop/J-pop songs, I even end up turning off the 2-4k boost which can make things a little shouty. Maybe I'm the weird one - but even stock, these are incredible.
Soundstage width is good, comparable to the Zeus (if maybe a little bit smaller) and much more open-sounding, almost effortless in its presentation. The biggest downside coming from the Zeus to me has been depth of stage where the Zeus had a better sense of depth, especially with vocalist placement. The LCD-2 is closer to the 6XX, where the vocals are a little more intimate and in-your-head.
EQ was loosely based on the frequency response for this pair given by Audeze. Didn't do too much, just a generous bass lift and a slight boost to 2-4k as mentioned. This is as much as I would really change on this pair and it's close to perfect for my preferences.
The sound definitely makes up for the heavy, clampy nature of the headphones. The older style headband also sucks hard but after modding some jank padding (yes I know it looks terrible, I'll keep working on it) they're quite comfortable! These are truly the definition of rich, bassy, non-fatiguing fun and I couldn't be happier to own a piece of early Audeze history, to exaggerate a bit!
Thanks for reading and sorry about the length!