Introduction

Anyone remotely involved in the headphone market knows of Audeze. Back when Picky Ear was still a thing, Audeze ended up besting every other brand after a database search of over 300,000 reviews to go over the best overall audio solutions, which the founder and CEO of the brand took delight in mentioning to me when I had the pleasure of having a long chat with him at CES a couple of years ago. The California-based company is synonymous with its planar magnetic headphones as well as the tuning people swear by. The LCD series of Audeze headphones is its bread and butter, although it has recently gone down the gaming road as well with the Mobius and Penrose headsets, as well as a collaboration with HyperX in the form of the Cloud Orbit. If all goes well, we'll have the gaming division covered on TechPowerUp as well, but for now, let's thank Audeze for helping out with a test sample of its LCD-2 Classic headphones!


When Audeze approached us through a marketing partner, the original plan was to do a review of the newer LCD-1. Then I remember how much adoration the founder of Audeze had for the LCD-2, which had (then) recently come out with a rework in the form of the LCD-2 Classic. One thing led to another and here we are with the LCD-2 Classic, also referred to as the LCD-2C for short. It is part of the Audeze's LCD Origins line, which owes dues to the LCD-2 as well since that put the brand on the map. Not to be confused with the LCD Reference line which is more for monitoring as an accurate and neutral audio solution, or the LCD Flagship line that bumps up everything, including pricing, the LCD Origins ends up being a sweet spot for those wanting to try Audeze's warm tuning touch, and the LCD-2 Classic is the perfect starting point, too. There have been some recent updates, including new ear pads as well as a new case design, which is why I am referring to these as the Audeze LCD-2 Classic (2021) in the title—these are the latest version. Whether you know what pre-Fazor refers to or not, you will definitely know more about the LCD-2C by the end of this review that begins with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications